Kessin, longtime community activist, runs for Statehouse seat

LACONIA — Lois Kessin, longtime community activist and women’s soccer pioneer, is running for a seat in the Statehouse with a focus on housing affordability, restorative justice, and protecting the environment.

Kessin is seeking public office for the first time, although she has long been involved in advocating for her community.

Kessin is running alongside Democrats Denise Riley and Marcia Hayward, who will all go through the primaries Sept. 8. They’ll face Republicans Timothy Minor, Cody Pfaff, Paul Rossi, and Rep. Mike Bordes (R-Laconia), also the city’s mayor, in the General Election, on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Rep. Charlie St. Clair (D-Laconia) died Aug. 22.

Four of those candidates will earn seats in the Statehouse for a two-year term, representing Wards 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Who is Lois Kessin?

Kessin moved to Laconia when she was 3 years old, attending nursery school through high school graduation in the Laconia School District. She left Laconia in 1967, to attend New York University, later moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and living there for over 40 years.

While in Cambridge, Kessin was incredibly active in her community, advocating for progressive housing programs and rent control. Kessin was also involved in the fight for equality in women’s soccer for nearly 30 years. She coached women’s soccer at all levels, and rallied at Cambridge City Council meetings for better preservation and maintenance of fields for all players. She also helped start and sustain the Eastern Women's Soccer League. For her efforts in improving opportunities for women’s soccer, Kessin received the Governor’s Award and was inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame.

Looking to slow down and prepare for retirement, Kessin moved back to Laconia in 2017, exactly 50 years to the day of her graduation from Laconia High. Since her return to the Lakes Region, Kessin has done everything but slow down.

Community involvement

After moving to Laconia, in 1953, Kessin’s parents were involved in bettering their community, while owning a business in Tilton. Her parents petitioned the government to establish the first private business to distribute food stamps, after finding out women receiving nutritional assistance had to travel to Concord to receive stamps. Her father was a veteran, and both of her parents served on community boards.

Kessin said her mother never missed an election, and always took her to the polls, remembering when women got the right to vote.

“Whenever I see a parent with a kid at the polls, I just go, ‘Yeah, this is great,’” Kessin said. “In life, there are two obligations: voting and giving blood, if you can. It's very simple.”

Exposed to community advocacy at a young age by her parents, and after moving to Cambridge, and finally back to Laconia, she carried on their legacy.

Kessin worked with fellow community members to restore Primrose Cemetery, which was overgrown and forgotten for years. She first came upon the site when she was just 8 years old, later becoming part of its restoration.

Kessin also maintains the veterans gardens at Bayside and Union cemeteries, honoring her father’s service as well as that of many high school classmates buried there.

Kessin is an active volunteer, serving on the Laconia Heritage Commission for her ninth year, the board of the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation, her homeowners association, and is currently contest organizer for this year’s Pumpkinfest. She has volunteered extensively with the New Hampshire Music Festival, which she has attended for the past 72 years. Kessin also helped organize local efforts with Hands Across the Table, volunteered at a women’s shelter, and put on food drives at Temple B'nai Israel.

Affordable housing

Before Kessin moved back to Laconia, she made her mark in Cambridge. She was part of a group of community members who wrote the city’s rent control law. Kessin said this law made Cambridge one of the safest cities in the country, with neighbors looking out for one another.

Kessin said the housing models used in Cambridge would work as a great template for Laconia. They entail zoning requiring  certain percentage of units in larger developments to be priced below market rate.

As Kessin was preparing to leave Cambridge, the city was starting a new program. The city would take over an old building, for example, a nursing home in Kessin’s neighborhood. They would renovate the space and put in condos you could buy, only from the city, and had to be sold back to the city, no rentals.

“You couldn't rent it, and you couldn't do an Airbnb out of it, and you couldn't make a ‘skillion’ dollars off of it. It had to go back for the same amount of money,” Kessin said. “And that would be fabulous for young people. I mean, how are we going to keep you here if you can't afford to live here? What's the point?”

Restorative justice

Kessin said many years ago, she was listening to an NPR program that caught her attention. A man who owned an upholstery and carpet company went to Rikers Island, a jail in New York City, to provide prisoners with a work release program to teach a skillset useful when it was time to rejoin society.

“They had a job, they had money, and there was very little recidivism. And so, ever since then, it's always interested me. And there was a restorative justice program here, and I want it back,” Kessin said. “We have kids who make dumb mistakes. We all make dumb mistakes even as adults, so, I want to see that for these kids, or young men and women. I don't want to punish them for a lifetime.”

Kessin said she plans to talk to the people who previously ran the restorative justice program.

Environment

Kessin emphasized how heavily the Lakes Region economy relies on the environment — Gunstock Mountain Resort and Lake Winnipesaukee, most notably. Kessin is critical of funding cut from programs such as the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension's Lakes Lay Monitoring Program.

Kessin noted there is currently a cyanobacteria bloom in Winnipesaukee.

“And with one bloom, you're going to lose that, because, 'Wait, I can't go swimming in the lake I wanted to go in. I'm not coming,'” Kessin said, referring to tourists.

Public education

Kessin said she had a great education at Laconia public schools. She attended St. Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program, a summer program in Concord where high school students took college courses and were interviewed by colleges. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) and former Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH) also attended the program.

Kessin is critical of school vouchers, and the “downshifting of money in education.”

“You read these articles that say the state is giving us all we need. They're not, the towns are,” she said.

“There has to be some way of bringing money into the town, cities to help with school. Because right now, our schools are run by the property tax. I don't care what people say,” Kessin said. “Oh, the state gives us enough, they don't give enough. And with the cutting of the business tax, the corporation tax, I mean, we've lost millions on that one.”

Next steps

As the primary is not competitive, with just three Democratic candidates running, Kessin said she's focused on getting her “ducks in a row” for the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 3. After the primary, she plans to canvas Laconia, listening to the concerns of constituents.

Kessin said she was originally asked to run because no one else was stepping up. At first, she considered herself a placeholder, but now, Kessin said she's “running reasonably hard.” She has spoken with a few representatives, and plans to continue to listen and talk with them.

“I've got meetings with a bunch of others, and because I believe in across the aisle collaboration, I'm talking to Republicans,” Kessin said. “I want to know what they're thinking, and what we can do to make Laconia even better. I mean, I love this city.”