Candidates stake out positions during debate

LACONIA — The question over whether Laconia is in danger of becoming a sanctuary city was one highlight of a mayoral candidates forum Monday evening between city Councilor Andrew Hosmer and state Rep. Peter Spanos.

Voting in the nonpartisan election is on Nov. 5. Mayor Ed Engler is not seeking re-election.

The first question from moderator Roger Carroll, managing editor of The Laconia Daily Sun, was submitted by Engler for Spanos to answer:

“You have made opposition to Laconia becoming a so-called sanctuary city a focal point of your campaign for mayor. The public doesn’t seem to be aware that such an initiative has been proposed or discussed locally. What do you know that the rest of us do not know?”

Spanos said residents have told him they are concerned about crime.

“Laconians have very grave concerns about what goes on here in the city, particularly after dark,” Spanos said. “The fact that there is drug dealing, the fact that there is criminal activity, the fact that people feel like maybe they shouldn’t be outspoken in addressing these issues, I think that points us in the wrong direction. I think that creates the possibility where we accept that as a new norm, something that is wrong here in 2019 when it doesn’t have to be.

“I’ve seen what happens to once-great cities like San Francisco, and it would be a crime to see it happen here at home in Laconia.”

San Francisco came to be known as a sanctuary city after passing an ordinance that generally prohibits city employees from using city funds or resources to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the enforcement of federal immigration law unless such assistance is required by federal or state law.

That city has 883,305 residents and has a significant minority population, of which 15.3 percent is Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, while Laconia’s population of 16,492 is 96.9 percent white and 2.2 percent Hispanic.

A question submitted by former State Rep. Norm Silber asked Hosmer if he was opposed to making Laconia a sanctuary city.

Hosmer said that he does not support sanctuary cities and that this has never been a topic discussed by the City Council.

“It seems to me that it is a contrived issue used to maybe stoke people’s fears and divide us as a community,” Hosmer said.

“I think we should all be concerned about the safety of our streets.

“My opponent talks about drug dealing. I agree, people who sell drugs or traffic in drugs should be punished, but the idea that drug dealers are somehow illegal immigrants in our city and somehow we are becoming this sanctuary city, I think is really contrived, it’s fictional, it’s made up and there’s not one scintilla of evidence, again, that this is the case.”

Following this answer, one member of the audience stood up, loudly proclaimed, “I just made my decision,” and left the middle school auditorium where the debate was held before about 100 people. Another 80 people clicked in to the debate on a livestream on The Laconia Daily Sun website provided by Lakes Region Public Access television. It was also broadcast on WEEI radio.

Human Relations Committee

Through other questions, Spanos and Hosmer spoke about the city’s Human Relations Committee, state government’s commitment to sharing revenue with towns and cities, and firefighter staffing, among other things.

Hosmer said the Human Relations Committee allows various groups in the city to improve relationships with one another, and said he would support the panel. Spanos agreed.

In his answer, though, Hosmer referred back to the earlier discussion about crime in the city and said he trusts Police Chief Matt Canfield and his crime-fighting efforts.

“I don’t see him as turning a blind eye toward crime in this city and giving criminals a free pass,” Hosmer said. “I don’t see this and I know him personally.”

Fire Department

A question from firefighter union president Jason Griffin about fire department staffing was close to the news. On Sunday evening, a fire heavily damaged a home on White Oaks Road. Only two firefighters were at the Weirs Beach Station at the time, and they were first on the scene.

Citywide fire staffing is set at nine firefighters, six at the downtown station and three at the Weirs station. About half the time the force is down a person because of vacation, sickness, training or leave. When that occurs, The Weirs only has two people. Firefighters are not brought in from time off unless staffing falls by two or more people.

Griffin asked whether the mayoral candidates support an increase in the budget to allow nine firefighters to be on duty around the clock.

Spanos said Griffin makes a good case that, in the event of multiple emergencies, the department could be considered to be short-staffed.

“I did speak to a couple of sitting city councilmen,” Spanos said. “Their opinion was that, while that may be true, the budget always comes into play. Here in Laconia, we have a budget of around $22 million. That’s a lot of money for a city of 16,000 people, but the fact remains there is just so many dollars to go around and be allocated.”

Spanos said the next mayor and City Council “will have to take a hard look” at the issue of firefighter staffing.

For his part, Hosmer said a way needs to be found to add another firefighter to the staffing rotation.

“We are not staffed the way we should be,” he said. “One of my concerns is that we are gambling with lives in this city, not only firefighter lives, but also people who are in this city. The budget is important, but the question we ultimately have to answer is, ‘How much is a life worth?’”

State support

Hosmer, a former state senator, said Spanos, a current state representative, has not done enough to support bills that would have provided more state funding to cities and towns.

“We’ve had opportunities to vote on bills which have brought funding back to the city,” Hosmer said. “While I was in the Senate, I voted for those bills and pushed for municipal funding, in contrast to my opponent, who has voted against those bills or chosen not to vote on those bills — bills that would bring real tangible benefits, particularly HB 413, which was $600,000 that was going to come to the city of Laconia.”

Spanos is listed as “not voting” on the roll call for House Bill 413, under which the state would pay a portion of the retirement costs borne by cities and towns.

“With respect to that particular bill, when that came up for a vote, funding did not exist in the budget. We always pass a budget based on revenue,” Spanos said. “We never deficit spend. That’s equivalent to writing a check that you can’t cash.

“So anytime I hear from the other side, or my opponent, ‘Well we have to invest,’ I take that as code for tax and writing a check that can’t be cashed.”

Hosmer said the state was running a revenue surplus at the time the bill was considered and, in a sense, owed the money to municipalities because the state once promised to pay 35 percent of retirement costs and has reduced that commitment to zero.

“My question is, if you want to represent the state, OK, but you’re elected from Laconia,” Hosmer said. “We matter.”

Spanos responded that he does represent his constituents.

“I’ve been elected three times as a state representative,” he said. “I like to think the reason I’ve been elected again, again and again, is that I’m very responsive to my constituents. I’m also very proud of my record as a fiscal conservative and feel strongly that maximum funding should be allocated where it is needed the most.”

Closing statements

“I’m running for mayor because I don’t think the city is trending in the right direction,” Spanos said in his closing statement.

“I do believe we can do better in a lot of areas. I believe we should be doing better. I believe I have the private-sector background to accomplish things to work with people individually and collectively and to reach consensus and to keep moving forward.”

Hosmer said he feels Laconia is on the upswing.

“I’m running for mayor because I not only believe in the future of this city and the course we are moving on, but I believe very much in the people of this city as well,” Hosmer said.

“I think Laconia needs a leader right now who has a vision for the city, a vision that is about economic opportunity and economic development, a leader who believes in public education who is willing to support our teachers and make the investments in students that they need and a leader who has a track record of pulling people together from different parties from different parts of the city to find compromises and solutions to very difficult problems.”