Brogan: The Final Stretch!

Next Tuesday voters will head to the polls to make decisions that will help to chart the course that Concord takes in the next few years. With any luck, turnout will be higher than it typically is in a municipal election. Voters have some very interesting choices, across the board, for both Council and School Board seats. There is also a mayoral race of which I am part of.

As the race winds down, I have no regrets. I am glad that I stepped up instead of remaining on the sidelines, being merely an observer. I have had the opportunity to listen to hundreds of people voice their feelings about our community. From those discussions I am compiling the results for a future blog. It clearly indicates the many divergent voices in Concord about virtually every topic. A universal theme I heard throughout, however, was frustration at what people perceived as the deaf ears that greeted them when they expressed differing opinions from what Council and School Board members believed themselves.

From those many discussions I am listing some of the important priorities for me should I be elected Mayor next week.

1. Working 35 – 40 hours each and every week on matters that are of importance to the people of Concord or that will ultimately serve the needs of our residents and business owners. Recognizing that with the current Mayoral salary, that will be compensation of approximately $ 1.00 per hour. The quality of my work, however, will be commensurate to vastly larger amount;

2. Listening to everyone and letting them have a voice, will be an important facet of the job and will hopefully help to change perceptions about city government and how it operates. It will allow for important issues to move forward with support from the public instead of fear or repressed anger manifesting itself as voter apathy;

3. The homeless tragedy that should have been completely addressed many years ago and not become a more focal point once Churches said “no more!”. Had a short-term and long-term strategic plan been implemented over those years, we could have segued into that plan with nary a ripple;

4. As part of my duties as a $ 40.00 per week/40 hour Mayor, I will actively go out and recruit potential businesses that might consider coming to Concord. On my own penny I’ll attend conferences and meet with people nationwide and talk up the city. People listen to a Mayor, because of the title, when they may not as enthusiastically listen to an economic adviser or some other similar titled individual. The position can be a PR resource but also a great boon to the city’s reputation. We must generate new taxable revenue instead of continuing to raise the tax rate for an already overburdened populace;

5. What about Steepelgate Mall? As it sinks into a malaise - nobody says much and we need to begin finding an answer before it’s too late;

6. The make-up of the Council and School Board could be perceived by some to be out of 1975. NO minorities are represented. I would meet with our minority communities and encourage them to contemplate running for Council and School Board seats in the future. They are sadly unrepresented and deserve to be heard and a part of the discussions;

7. If we want to be a destination for tourists, we need to play up our history. There are people who regularly travel to state capitals to find out about the history of the area. Once again, we offer virtually nothing and yet could do so much more. As an example, the Concord Theatre at 18 ½ South Main has sat empty for more than two decades. With its long corridor and large interior, it could serve as a destination stop – a Concord Historical Museum, and generate thousands of tourist visits annually. Tourists that would stay to shop, dine and help generate downtown income. There are grant funds available to restore and rejuvenate historic downtown theatres. I’d be happy to locate such funding sources and to write the grant myself. With its proximity to the Red River, The Capital Center, Gibson’s and other businesses, it would blend in perfectly and be a great site in which to display Concord Coaches, other memorabilia and regular screenings of film about Concord and historic New Hampshire. Anyone wishing to find out more about the historic Concord Theatre can attend the free Concord 250 Chat I’ll be giving on November 19th. It’ll be held at Red River Theatres at 6;

8. I am perfectly willing to invite some of my celebrity friends to come to Concord to help interest people and entities in pursuing these ideas and to entice benefactors to consider ways in which to reinvent our community. These ideas can only work if we allow everyone to offer suggestions and ideas.

9. The Heroin/Opiate public health crisis is something that impacts on all of us. It will take a united community effort to find lasting answers and to provide education to our impressionable young in order to help them to make the right choices and decisions.

Despite the slings and arrows sometimes tossed and the barbs use enthusiastically, I have conducted my campaign with integrity. When a frustrated former supporter of my opponent excitedly came to the door with two manila files which he said, “Contains enough dirt to sink the competition!” I was pleased that I didn’t even hesitate for a millisecond before asking him to leave. As far as I am concerned, the campaign must be only about the many issues facing all of us in Concord

I would like to thank the 218 people who responded to my making available in both Patch and in the Concord Monitor, complimentary copies of my book, Was That a Name I Dropped? As with anything in life, all facts and information need to be made available prior to making a choice.

One gentleman obviously raced through the hundreds of pages because I received a warm e-mail from him on Monday evening.

“Your courage and honesty in facing your demons and becoming a light of hope for so many, is inspiring!” he wrote and that’s what I’ve heard over the past 4 years from thousands of readers and from groups I’ve spoken to.

My favorite book review was written by a famed New York writer, David Kaufman. He wrote:

“Paul has now written a top-flight memoir, which has the narrative flow of a Dickensian novel. What comes across more than anything else is Paul’s unquenchable spirit as well as his compassion for everyone – even the reader he has yet to meet. I can’t decide what impresses me more about Paul’s book: his candor or his ability to recall so many emotional details as he looks back on a life chock-full of one roller-coaster ride after another. But then neither his forthrightness nor his keen memory should surprise…..”

I would now love to bring that same compassion, candor and forthrightness to the position of Concord Mayor. However, even if you do not vote for me on November 3, please exercise that amazing right we have as part of a democracy, and cast a vote for someone.