Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais held his 12th and final town hall ward meeting on Thursday at Hillside Middle School in Ward 2. Here’s a recap of what was discussed.
Homelessness/Downtown
Like previous town hall meetings, the mayor began with an update of highlights in city government recently, beginning with an update on the state of homelessness in Manchester.
Ruais stated that there have been over 130 arrests and 450 citations issued following the city’s anti-camping ordinance and the transfer of $500,000 from the budget for urban park rangers into the Manchester Police Department budget. However, Ruais also noted that the ultimate solution to homelessness in the city will come from breaking the cycle of homelessness, which he hopes will come from continuing efforts at the Beech Street Engagement Center such as their weekly job fair, and an initiative focused on finding residences for homeless veterans. Ruais stated that to date, 14 veterans have been housed through the program.
One woman expressed concern over the citations, worrying that it was a criminalization of homelessness, but Ruais responded that arrests were related to more serious infractions such as open possession of alcohol, indecent exposure or assault. He added that he does not want to add barriers to care, but that a balance was needed between support and enforcement against those who do not want to follow community standards.
Ruais also stated that there are several non-profit organizations helping the city’s homeless population and initiatives of city departments as well, such as the Manchester Fire Department’s Squad One.
As in earlier meetings, Ruais also referenced an auction of surplus city owned properties earlier this year that raised money for the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and provided another update on cleanup efforts as the city’s StreetPlus downtown cleanup crews have cleaned 40,000 pounds of trash from downtown and the Department of Public Works have cleaned 300,000 pounds of trash citywide this year.
Transportation
One woman wondered what could be done to help facilitate bike usage or expand other forms of non-car-based transportation, reducing the need for parking lots in the city.
Ruais said he has been in discussion with Manchester Transit Authority Director Mike Whitten about expanding the city’s current bus routes. Another thing that can be done to increase bus usages is dispelling rumors such as the idea that passengers can only bring a certain number of bags on a bus (they can bring as many bags on the bus as they want as long as they don’t block emergency exits).
The next draft of the city’s zoning ordinance rewrite, set to be released early next year, may also have modified parking requirements, although the woman was concerned that there were still too many requirements in earlier drafts of the new ordinance.
Ruais also expressed skepticism regarding the future of commuter rail coming to Manchester, believing that the financial burden to state and local governments in the area would be onerous if a passenger-supported funding model was not sustainable, although other funding mechanisms were discussed as possibilities.
Public Schools
With the Manchester School District Facilities Plan Phase 2 announcement coming out earlier in the day, there was plenty of discussion about Phase 1 of the Facilities Plan, specifically the stalled land swap that would allow the construction of a new Beech Street Elementary School.
Ruais stated that he sought consensus among the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on the matter, and given the scale of the project and lingering questions such as whether the land next to the current Beech Street Elementary would be used for a new public high school (this does not appear to be the case in the Phase 2 announcement). He added that keeping elementary school students within modular classrooms indefinitely is unacceptable and that a quality public school system is essential for the future of Manchester’s burgeoning biofabrication industry.
Opinions among the audience were mixed, with some residents believing that a new edition of the school is an unsound use of funds while others felt that school investment is necessary to retain and attract young professional families to the city.
Ward 2 Alderman Dan Goonan and Board of School Committee Vice Chair Jim O’Connell expressed frustration with the delay. Goonan felt that there were some Aldermen who stood opposed to school funding on principle and O’Connell’s frustration came from trying to understand what information the Aldermen opposed to the Beech Street land swap needed.
O’Connell noted that there have been numerous Joint School Building Committee meetings where information about the facilities plan could be obtained and a joint Board of School Committee/Board of Mayor meeting where questions could have been answered.
Ruais said that there is no deadline to the issue, but discussions are ongoing. Phase 2 will be discussed at the Board of School Committee meeting on Monday.
For previous monthly mayoral ward meeting recaps, see below
- February 16, 2024 (Ward 1) – Ruais discusses city issues during Ward 1 meeting
- March 13, 2024 (Ward 11) – Ward 11 Town Hall: Talking the talk with residents on crime, housing, garbage and West High School
- March 23, 2024 (Ward 3) – Mayor hears from downtown residents at latest town hall
- May 17, 2024 (Ward 9) – Ward 9 Town Hall: Mayor fields questions on tax breaks for developers, bail reform, traffic and school safety
- June 19, 2024 (Ward 7) – Ruais tackles questions from Ward 7 residents
- June 20, 2024 (Ward 12) Sparse crowd at Mayor’s Ward 12 Town Hall
- July 24, 2024 (Ward 10) Homelessness, housing, education and more discussed at Ward 10 town hall with the mayor
- August 28, 2024 (Ward 8) Eighth mayoral town hall held in Ward 8
- September 9, 2024 (Ward 6) Ruais holds town hall meeting in Ward 6
- October 9, 2024 (Ward 5) Ward 5 residents talk about litter, fireworks, illegal parking and more with Mayor Ruais
- November 22, 2024 (Ward 4) Schools, homelessness, Sununu Center and other topics discussed at Ward 4 mayoral town hall