When the City You Love Isn't Quite So Lovable!

I have lived in Concord for about 60 years. I grew up here, went to school, worked at a downtown business for 27 years and got to know and love a great many people. In my 2011 book, I shared my feelings about our city and it clearly resonated with readers.

Nothing, however, prepared me for the large envelope that arrived in the mail, addressed to me, several months ago.

I opened it slowly, not sure of what might be contained within and puzzled when I initially studied the dozen or more pages stapled together and listing the names of addresses of people living in the immediate vicinity.

The cover page, signed by a local physician, asked me pointedly to consider running for mayor of Concord, New Hampshire in 2015.

I really laughed out loud until I continued reading the reasons that were spelled out. They were:

1. You clearly love our community, past and present, and would be a tireless crusader for making Concord the ideal place to live and work in the future;
2. You understand people and care what they’re thinking and feeling. Your empathy is genuine and not a façade;
3. You are not someone who would use it as a stepping stone to something else but would truly be a person of the people;
4. The people of Concord need to have their voices restored.

As I perused the pages that contained scores and scores of names, some familiar and some new to me, all pledging to donate no less than $100 each to such a mission, I found tears filling my eyes and spilling down my cheeks.

I do love Concord and the hundreds of blogs I have written for Concord NH Patch which helped me be recognized in December by the NH Press Association as the “Best Blog,” in the state, were mostly about our fair city. I wrote about the past and how I’d experienced it and spoke out about changes I feared would eradicate the very unique qualities that so many have told me made their visit to Concord or time lived here, remarkable and memorable.

I certainly do not oppose change or growth. After all, without that I wouldn’t be able to regularly attend films at Red River and enjoy titles that might never have played in Concord. Nor would I be able to spend hours at the new Gibson’s, discovering new titles and finding hours of reading pleasure. Nothing can stand still without atrophying but I also hear from hundreds of people that they are angry, frustrated or have developed an apathy with regards to their voice or objections not being taken seriously or even heard in some instances.

One sitting city councilor became so annoyed at my frequent tirades against certain changes that they stated, while sitting in a downtown restaurant, “Paul Brogan is a real annoyance and I wish he’d stop running his mouth complaining about what is going to happen, whether he likes it or not. The only time that faggot should open his mouth is when he has sex.”

I do understand the frustration of people. Much of it is justified and when I shared some of those feelings regarding the Main Street Project with another councilor I was told that “It doesn’t matter what they want. We make the decisions. They’ll just have to get used to what we feel is best for them...”

It certainly is another example of why it becomes more and more difficult to channel the good feelings that once were so prevalent in Concord. It’s much more than the loss of beloved businesses that we supported before the Steeplegate Mall. It’s about the level of daily concern and care that we have for one another but also that public and private officials listen and respond with a level of genuine courtesy and concern. Those characteristics should be ageless.

In the era of being able to send an e-mail in a matter of seconds, no longer needing to sit at a typewriter or even a computer and type out a message, I am still waiting – more than two and half years 2 later – for the so-called “Holiday Décor Committee” – to tell me “thanks but no thanks, we don’t like your suggestion” or even say, “Thanks for taking the time to come speak to us and then do hours of research on your proposal.”

At their invitation, I had come up with a proposal that would not cost any member of our community – business or person – even a cent, to decorate and light our downtown area in a similar way to how Portsmouth does it, as a means of creating a welcoming holiday environment for shoppers, locals, and visitors. The listless banners that flap aimlessly in the winter wind just don’t cut it.

However, the silence since my meeting in the summer of 2012 and follow-up work after, is deafening.

The latest example of a seeming lack of recognition for what helps make Concord so unique, was this past weekend’s CCTV “Concord on Air 2015” event on Sunday the 29th of March. I watch and am very loyal to our local community station. I frequently watch city council and school board meetings as well as enjoying the many other program choices provided. It truly amazes me the advances they have made in just a few years and the richly diverse programming that truly embodies all aspects of the city.

However as I watched, I was very surprised to not see a familiar face to Concord TV viewers – Dick Patten.

For some 15 years, Dick has hosted a program on the station called, “Around Town.” During those years he has interviewed everyone from national to local politicians, has been a cheerleader for our local nonprofits and other causes, and has often invited guests whose name we might know but beyond that nothing. His friendly interviewing style put his guests at ease and they would share interesting stories.

The first time I went on the show was back in 2002. Former Concord Mayor Jim MacKay and I were guests as we chatted about a cause near and dear to our hearts. The response from viewers who had seen the show certainly indicated we had chosen the right platform to discuss the merits of donating to MVAP (Merrimack Valley Assistance Program).

I’ve been on a few times since and I am acquainted with Dick because of the thousands of hours he has donated in the past decades in keeping certain traditions alive in Concord. Without his hard work and team building, we would probably not have our annual tree lighting in front of the Statehouse nor would we have the well-loved Holiday Parade on Loudon Road. Dick doesn’t get paid to do these things nor does he receive compensation for doing the television program. He was raised in Concord and learned, from his parents, a work ethic about giving back to the community in which you were fortunate enough to live.

While some may say he sometimes courts controversy, his heart is always charged with trying to make our community the best possible place to live. Seeing virtually everyone associated with Concord TV come on and chat or interview a guest or simply lend their presence to the special day, I couldn’t believe that Dick, who promotes CCTV at every turn, was not a part of the proceedings and became concerned.

I called him to make sure he wasn’t ill and was flabbergasted to discover that CCTV had not even extended an invitation to him to participate in any way, shape or form. How do you not include someone who for a decade and a half has regularly contributed their time and talent to your station? Unfortunately, it would seem that if you are not deemed acceptable by the right crowd, you get left at the station platform as the train pulls out of the station.

When I contacted the local organization responsible for putting out a book about Concord that contained insulting and erroneous information about Theresa Cantin, who worked downtown in Concord for over 60 years running the Concord Theatre, there was not a word or any desire to correct their mistake.

There was a time, not that many years ago, when Concord could have included on their “Welcome to Concord” signs, “Where courtesy reigns supreme.” We cared. We cared about one another, we cared about feelings and we cared about those who made an effort on all of our behalves and it was almost second nature. Should I decide to run for office, my goal would be to, by example, return a level of courtesy and concern to our city and to listen to those who feel their voices are being stifled. You can’t change everything but you can take some incremental steps in the right direction.