A meeting of the mayors

Economy dominates discussion at Historical Society symposium

LACONIA — Five people who served as mayor for this city talked about the good, the bad and the ugly of their tenure Tuesday night in a conversation that centered on dollars-and-cents issues.

Ed Engler

Ed Engler, who is at the start of his third term as mayor, said he wants to try to jump start the local economy, and that may require changes in the way people think about growth.

“I often joke as a non-native of New Hampshire that the real slogan of this state is not, 'Live free or die.' The real slogan is, 'We've always done it that way,'” Engler said in the symposium at the Laconia Public Library.

The city's population has hovered around 15,000 to 16,000 people for half a century, and some residents don't embrace the idea of new developments, new businesses, or an influx of people, but that's what is needed, Engler said.

“We're just not big enough to sustain a broad spectrum of economic vitality and economic success,” he said. “We just don't generate enough economic output to raise people out of poverty. In my opinion, by far the biggest problem that this community faces on a long-term basis is the systemic, grinding, generational poverty that exists among us.”

He ties the opioid crisis to a lack of economic opportunity and a sense of hopelessness.

“If you talk to the cops, and the social workers and the people who deal with addicts on a day-to-day basis, they will tell you that the root of this in Laconia is poverty,” Engler said.

He is hopeful that a master plan being drawn up at City Hall will make the city more friendly toward growth.

Engler has also been the foremost proponent of a $17 million project to restore the historic Colonial Theatre in hopes that it will become the centerpiece for a revitalized downtown.

The mayor could once veto actions of the City Council, but under the present form of city government, the mayor does not vote at City Council meetings, except to break a tie. The city manager handles municipal administration. The mayor must find a way to lead through the power to persuade.

Questions surrounding growth are nothing new to people who have owned the title of mayor.

Rod Dyer

Rod Dyer was mayor in the late 1960s and early 1970s. All construction was shut down for a time because there was insufficient capacity to treat sewage. Lakes were becoming polluted.

Out of that situation grew the Winnipesaukee River Basin Program, a state-owned sewer system serving portions of Center Harbor, Moultonborough, Gilford, Meredith, Laconia, Belmont, Sanbornton, Northfield, Tilton and Franklin. Creating the system cost about $70 million, and another $2.7 million is spent yearly on operation and maintenance.

Perhaps the biggest controversy for Dyer was passage of the local dog leash law.

“I can't tell you the feedback that came in,” he said. “And they were all phone calls. We didn't have the Internet in those days.”

He said the greatest disappointment during his tenure was when Laconia and Gilford split into separate school districts.

Karl Reitz

Karl Reitz, who was mayor in the late 1980s, had a major disappointment during his tenure that continues to affect the city's economy to this day.

After 15 years of work on a Franklin-Laconia highway bypass that would have made the city more accessible to motorists from the south and west, Gov. John H. Sununu, father of the present governor, decided against the project.

“Many of us spent many, many years making pitches to the 10-Year Plan for state of New Hampshire, studies, $10 million spent on property acquisition, all of that work was wiped away with the stroke of a pen,” Reitz said.

“That was the greatest single thing that had a permanent effect during my term, and I think it was negative.”

Paul Fitzgerald

Paul Fitzgerald, who became mayor in the early 1990s, remembered there were painful decisions to be made after an anti-tax group, called the Straight Arrows, presided over a large reduction in city revenue.

“It was a struggle,” Fitzgerald said. “We were going to need tax increases to provide basic education and public works service. We managed to get through it relatively successfully.”

That wasn't the greatest problem he faced.

A group had emerged that wanted to remove The Weirs area from the city. Laconia would have lost a good bit of its tax base.

“I was absolutely astounded how far down the tracks that project had gotten,” he said. “It was a well-oiled, well-maintained machine with a talented lobbyist. They distributed materials, their arguments were in place and the city was frankly caught flat footed.”

Much of the Legislature had apparently been sold on the idea by the time Fitzgerald and his allies could organize to fight the proposal.

“They had been sold the story about how evil the city was and how badly it mistreated the folks at The Weirs,” he said. “It took a great deal of effort on a very limited budget, but we came back from the brink.”

The city managed to ward off the proposal.

Another issue quickly surfaced that Fitzgerald would also have to fight. The state was planning to house as many as 1,200 prisoners on the State School property.

“We couldn't stop the prison, but we got sunsetting dates and were able to limit the number of inmates to just a few hundred,” he said.

The battles were draining.

'I've often said, 'I'm glad I did it, but I never want to do it again,'” he said.

He also remembered an incident that he now finds humorous. It may not have been funny at the time.

“We got a call at my law office,” he said. “The receptionist answered and she was told that it was the White House calling. She hung up. A couple minutes later the phone rang again. The White House was calling. She hung up again.

“Then Dan McKeever [the city manager] called. He said, 'When they say the White House is calling, answer the phone. It is the White House.'”

Turns out then-Vice President Al Gore was planning to come to the area in Air Force Two, and logistics needed to be worked out.

Matt Leahy

Matt Leahy, who was elected mayor in 1996, remembered capital improvement and tragedy during his tenure.

A 14-year-old boy named Robbie Mills was murdered in the brush between Messer Street and the Winnipesaukee River on Aug. 2, 1998. The violence shocked the community.

The Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region and the Robbie Mills Sports Complex were founded in the wake of his death.

Leahy said he worked hard to make improvements. Projects included the Lakes Business Park, a middle school and improvements at the high school. He is particularly proud of the middle school project.

“The proof was in the pudding, and that is we came out with an extraordinary project,” he said.