Portsmouth needs a better city council
Oct.16 − To the Editor:
While I consider myself a progressive Democrat, local elections are usually not about partisan issues. Party affiliation can be a help to voters, but more important is the quality of the candidate and their willingness to ask hard questions and make hard decisions.
In recent elections, a political action group (Progress Portsmouth), endorsed candidates that were favorable to a developer that has sued our city for millions of dollars. It is important that voters ask for candidate’s definition of progressive. I certainly hope that former mayor Steve Marchand stays out of this election, considering his 2021 campaign violations, and because he does not live here anymore.
The current council has been weak and ineffective regarding the entire McIntyre project resulting in significant costs to taxpayers. At the same time, they often remained silent instead of asking important questions during council deliberations (leaving the public in the dark).
I am planning to vote for candidates who put residents first, not businesses and developers. Our zoning laws are there for good reasons, and variances should not be awarded, just because a developer wants to increase their profit (not a real hardship).
The candidates that I plan to endorse should have these top 3 issues: maintaining our good city services, keeping our tax rate increases reasonable (thereby affordable), and support restrictions on new development. They also need to involve our neighborhoods more in decision-making.
That is why I am planning to vote for some of the former Beckstedt 5 including Rick Becksted. I am also considering current city councilors who can stand up to aggressive developers and who do not delegate city policy to the city manager, but set those policies. Finally, I am also considering some of the new candidates to give the council some fresh ideas.
Regardless of your political view, please do not rely on social media alone to decide on a candidate, and be suspicious of mailer sources you do not recognize. Attend candidate forums either in person or by Zoom, and check out the questions and answers provided by the candidates to media outlets, e.g. Seacoastonline etc.
Peter Somssich (former Portsmouth Democratic Chair)
Portsmouth