Clock Is Ticking On Concord Ward 4 Council Special Election

CONCORD, NH — Any potential candidates who want to run for the Ward 4 Concord City Council special election have three days left to file.

Karen McNamara of Prince Street and Connor Spern of Union Street both filed to run on Friday. There have been no new filings since. The seat was vacated by Meredith Hatfield, formerly of Perkins Street, who resigned from the board last month, after selling her home and moving out of the city.

McNamara is a reading essentials teacher with the Manchester School District and formerly worked with the Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire and the Spaulding Youth Center. She said, after raising her two children in Concord and spending a lot of time giving back to the community, running for the city council seemed like a natural next step.

"We have found Concord to be a welcoming community," she said. "There is a service mentality to the city; I think that mentality, supporting the community, that inclusiveness … I want to be a part of that. I have spent a lot of time giving back; that's who I am and I need to continue that."

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McNamara said she spoke to Hatfield as well as other councilors she knows before deciding to run. She also knows a bit or two about politics — helping Democrat Dan Feltes get elected to the state Senate in his first race in 2014. The conversations led her to think she should give it a try. McNamara called herself "goal-driven" while always "having something to strive for."

When thinking about what she would like to contribute to the council if elected, McNamara mentioned three main ideas that she called pretty basic. Residents, she said, "need to feel safe and respected." Things like where they worship, taking kids to the park, hiking, and other things.

"People need to speak kindly to one another," McNamara said, "(while also) being respectful of opposing views. We have to learn to put aside some of those differences. Those two things (feeling safe and respected) go hand-in-hand."

Also, preserving and making sure city services like water, the public library, police, and fire, were as "excellent" as they could be.

The third issue was the "burden of higher (property) taxes," McNamara said, adding the city should "focus on the basics." She hopes to retire in the city, at some point, and is concerned about the city's affordability for retirees. If officials are doing "an excellent job of managing (projects and services) and doing them well, in the long run, you're going to be saving money." McNamara added, "those drastic things are not going to come up; it will extend the life of the everyday things that we rely on."

Supporting businesses that pay property taxes and employ residents, "especially up and coming business, so they will stay in Concord … I feel strongly (about) that," McNamara said, and will lead to an expanded and preserved tax base.

Public safety, too, was a big issue. COVID-19 had slowed some crime down, she said, but domestic violence is on the uptick and other issues that put public safety on the front burner.

"It is on people's minds," she said. "I really strongly feel that being safe and respected are important. It ties into everything."

McNamara, who is in her early 50s, called herself "thoughtful" and said, "I don't make quick decisions." She added that she thought she had a good sense of humor. Sometimes, she said, things get tense and that might be helpful. McNamara said she would "ask questions while also being an active listener and probing questions about what has been done and what can be done better for neighbors and others."

Housing, too, would be an issue she would like to focus on, especially helping the homeless get the support they need.

McNamara likened a Ward councilor to being a spoke in the wheel and the wheel being the entire city — everyone relies on everyone else and needs to be open-minded.

"It takes everyone," she said. "We can't expect one group to change it."

Spern, a development director for the Friends Program as well as an artist and freelance graphic designer, is in her mid-20s and moved to the city about four years ago. She was interviewed in this post here.

The filing period runs through May 10. Ballot access is a $5 fee or 50 signatures from voters in the Ward. The special election will be held on July 13.

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