3 on ballot for Laconia mayor in Tuesday's primary

LACONIA — There are three candidates vying for one spot: the mayor’s office in City Hall.

Two are experienced policymakers, deeply entrenched in the political machines in Belknap County and Concord. One is an outsider with no political experience, but an ideological drive to reduce government interference in the private realm and influence the perspectives and attitudes of voters. 

State Rep. Mike Bordes, Councilor Bruce Cheney (Ward 1) and Joseph Hart are listed in this story in the order they’ll appear on the ballot during the municipal primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The top two candidates in the primary will appear on the ballot for the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Mike Bordes

Bordes, 48, is a veteran of the New Hampshire Statehouse, first elected to represent Laconia as a Republican in 2022. Bordes, an independent information technology consultant living in Ward 6, is originally from Long Island, New York, and has lived in Laconia for a decade.

"I just fell in love with the area. I feel like I've been a very good voice for the people in this area — I listen to both sides, whether it's Republican, whether it's Democrat, whether it's independent," Bordes said. "I want to see it blossom and be the best we can be. And right now, I think we've been pretty stagnant. We have the increasing homelessness issue, we have the State School property coming up, which I really think we need to focus and keep an eye on, and make sure things are done in the best interest of Laconia."

He’s running to get Laconia’s house in order. 

“I think Laconia needs some changes, the overall environment and the direction things have been going over the past five or so years, a lot of constituents are very disappointed with and concerned about,” Bordes said in an interview. 

He didn’t initially consider a run for mayor, but numerous constituents reached out to him to encourage him to do so. 

“I’m able to work across party lines in a bipartisan fashion. One of my key components is, I listen to my constituents,” Bordes said, referring to his voting record in Concord. “I’ve voted for bills I’ve been in favor of, and voted against bills I was in favor of, because that’s what my constituents want. It’s not about what I want, it’s what the residents and my constituents of Laconia want. At the end of the day, you’re elected to represent them, not your own personal views or beliefs.”

Among his priorities are increasing transparency to the public in City Hall, offering tax incentives to builders plus developing an economy with more good-paying jobs so residents can afford to buy a home, and addressing homelessness in the city, which Bordes described as a “major concern and a major issue” and said root-causes need to be identified and confronted.

“It’s hard to really cut down on the cost of construction right now, so I think that by giving them some sort of incentive, it really could help make a difference,” Bordes said. 

“I think we need to attract more industry,” Bordes said, providing IT, computer chip manufacturing, and steel milling as examples. “We need to give them some sort of incentive, and be more welcoming to new business in Laconia.”

And Bordes said he’s worried about the potential impacts to infrastructure and schools as a result of the forthcoming State School property development, which developers say will create more than 2,000 units of housing along Parade Road.

“It’s going to be a big impact locally, whether it’s traffic, whether it’s impact on the schools, if it ends up being more first-home buyers,” he said. “It’s going to have an overall big impact on the community.”

Before he moved to the Lakes Region, Bordes was a disc jockey.

Bruce Cheney

Cheney, 82, served in the Marine Corps and is a career law enforcement officer, having served previously as city chief of police in Laconia, and in Gilford before that, and has been an eight-year city councilor. He’s lived in Laconia since 1977.

Cheney supports the tax cap and has always voted to retain it, he said, and doesn’t agree with others that Laconia’s city government is not transparent, noting constituents may not understand why councilors have to go into non-public meetings. 

“Those are dealt with because New Hampshire state law requires it,” he said. 

He’s motivated to run for mayor because he loves the community and intended to do so before former Mayor Andrew Hosmer announced his intention to resign, because he sees a different path forward. 

“Mayor Hosmer and I had a gentlemanly and civil relationship. We disagreed on a number of items, I’m sure he would tell you that, and I worked hard at times to oppose his proposals,” Cheney said. “My impetus for running for mayor was because I didn’t agree with some of the issues that he had proposed over the years, and wanted to provide a different perspective for the city.”

One of those issues where Cheney and Hosmer disagreed was the former mayor's response to concerns about the future of Concord Hospital in the city, which Cheney felt was insufficient. 

“I was opposed to his proposal at the end of Old North Main Street,” Cheney said. “We had a difference, though not substantial at the time, we had a difference of opinion about the State School property.” 

In addition to the longevity and improvement of the local hospital, Cheney also thought the city should have a higher level of engagement with Pillsbury Realty Development, the firm who is purchasing the State School property, than it currently has.

“To add the results of 2,000 homes on North Main Street or on Elm Street is a serious concern of mine,” Cheney said. “The State School development has to meet city requirements, zoning requirements, etc. It’s a performance-zoned area of the city, and therefore they can do things that they might not be able to do in other areas of the city, so the city has that control — we can approve or disapprove their choices.”

Paying attention to the development’s impacts will be an important factor of the next mayor’s tenure, Cheney said, noting the mayor’s main power is to break ties at city council and communicate a vision to councilors and the public by way of the bully pulpit. He’ll use that influence to bring constituent concerns to the council. 

“To suggest that I, or the other candidates, are going to control homelessness, or improve affordable housing, or any of the other things that might be suggested that someone plans to do, is negated by the fact that they don’t understand how city council works,” Cheney said. “The city council makes these decisions, the mayor only runs the meetings.

“I hope that as mayor, I can lead the council, or influence the council to head in the direction of dealing with some of those issues.”

Cheney created and operated the state’s emergency communications system in 1993, and it went operational in 1995.

“At the time, the New Hampshire 911 system was recognized as the most technologically-advanced system in the country, and I brought it in under budget and on time,” Cheney said. 

Joseph Hart

Hart, 40, lives in Ward 3 and doesn’t want the government to do much at all. He believes voluntary action among private individuals should be the mechanism by which social problems are addressed. 

Hart grew up in Cumberland, Rhode Island, and moved to the Granite State in 2010. He’s a tour guide for Granite State Railway. 

“I think that the typical outcome for people running for mayor, they want to keep doing the same old thing. I actually don’t want to do much at all, I want the people to step up and do the right thing. Make it community-based in our city,” Hart said in an interview. “I don’t think the government is a solution.

“I don’t want to be the one who solves all the problems,” Hart said. “I want to tell everyone else, ‘solve the problems.’” 

Pointing to problems like homelessness at the gazebo in Rotary Park, Hart said there aren’t government solutions, despite expectations taxpayers may have. 

“That’s a utopian idea, that that’s going to get done,” Hart said. “The only way to really ever get it done is for the community to step up and get involved. To volunteer, to help out, to have boots on the ground and help themselves.”

Constituents need to stop complaining and use their energy to make things better, he said, by doing outreach and volunteering at places like soup kitchens. He also said the city should allow safe use centers, where individuals can use drugs, and promote needle exchanges to discourage littering of needles in public places. 

“It’s not going to stop, but also there has to be responsibility in those centers, too. If they voluntarily go into those places, they have to be able to voluntarily leave, so they have to be sober to leave,” he said. 

Hart said reducing taxes on businesses and properties would make housing more affordable and could increase wages. 

“If [people and businesses] use their money to where they want it to go, it’s going to go appropriately,” Hart said. “The government, they’re only efficient at taking your money, they’re not really efficient at using it for projects or things that actually matter.”

In November 2022, Hart was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after confronting Don Bolduc at a political event at Saint Anselm College. Hart says voters should watch the video for themselves.

“People making claims that I assaulted Don Bolduc — I actually did not,” he said. “I did approach Don Bolduc and I said ‘don’t go to war.' He throws an elbow into my chest and continues to tell everyone [I hit him] and then continues to slander me in multiple news outlets.

“I fought those charges, and I won.”

Hart is a practicing buddhist.