City housing task force creates final report, sets goals

LACONIA — It takes only a couple of seconds to ask the question, “How do we solve our housing problem?” Providing an answer, though, is a process that takes years.

The Laconia Housing Task Force began working on that question since 2021, and last week held its final meeting. Though the problem of affordable and accessible housing is as acute as it was when the committee was formed — likely even more so — the group can point to three outcomes, tangible results that put the city closer to its goal than they were three years ago.

The objective of the task force, by its own definition, is, “An equitable community in which everyone has access to a stable and safe home and the resources needed to maintain it.”

The task force included city leaders, such as the city manager and representatives from the fire and police departments. It has included people from social services agencies such as Community Action Program, Partnership for Public Health, Navigating Recovery, Community Services and Lakes Region Mental Health Center, who often work with people who encounter housing instability. Task force members have also included people from the community who are moved to help steer the city toward a specific future, as well as those for whom the lack of satisfactory shelter is part of their present or recent past.

What has the years of study and work of the task force wrought? First, the city has announced the hiring of its first director of housing and economic development. Second, the task force has completed a “vision map” with specific goals organized into short-term, interim, long-term and ongoing categories, which will be offered to that new city employee to help guide their efforts. Lastly, the fire department and Partnership for Public Health have collaborated to create a new community paramedicine progam, which will bring non-emergent medical services to people in their homes. That might not seem directly related to housing but, task force members say, will help keep people in their homes, and was sparked because the right two people were put together as part of the task force.

“I am incredibly appreciative of all the people, the stakeholders from around the city who volunteered their time to work on this problem, and working on this problem includes defining it in terms that are not necessarily polarizing, and illuminate the nature of the problem and root causes of housing challenges in the city. That’s a tough conversation to have,” said Mayor Andrew Hosmer. Those experiencing homelessness are often the most visible indicators of the housing problem, he said, and often evoke a strong, reflexive reaction in the heart of those who see them. The task force was charged with moving beyond that initial reaction, gathering data and evidence, then using that information to describe possible remedies.

What the task force found, Hosmer said, was the Lakes Region’s housing problem doesn’t affect only those who are without housing. People who make moderate incomes also find it difficult to find a suitable place to live, which gives him concern about the overall wellbeing of the community.

“We always kept coming back around to, 'We need more housing, we need more roofs over people’s heads,' and that is a wide spectrum of folks,” Hosmer said.

Although the task force has disbanded, some members said its final meeting was likely more the end of a chapter in an ongoing story. The incoming economic and housing director was probably going to convene a similar group to help them do their work, and such a group might have many of the same members.

Daisy Pierce, chair of the task force, said she refers to that likely group as “Task Force 2.0. ... What we envision is that the director will pick up this mantle and create a smaller version of this task force and keep this going.”

She added there are four “work groups” within the task force that will continue working: Education and communication, first responders and harm reduction, housing and land use, and pallet village planning.

The map

The Laconia Housing Task Force’s Vision Map has 16 specific goals, divided into categories based on timeliness. In the “short-term” category, the map calls for dedicated funding sources for task force objectives, community support for all housing options along the continuum, having an educational took kit available for the public, and identifying the housing continuum inventory.

The “interim” category objectives are to include a housing continuum chapter in the city’s master plan, hire a city employee dedicated to housing continuum efforts, create incentives for developers and landlords for building and maintaining affordable housing, and create more resources for those who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

In the “medium- to long-term,” objectives include designating sanctioned sites for unsheltered people to camp, ensuring there is sufficient low-barrier transitional housing with wrap-around services, increasing the housing inventory to meet the needs of the community, and the creation of a housing stability safety net to prevent people from losing their shelter.

“Ongoing” goals are advancing the community’s understanding of the causes of homelessness, building public and official support for the task force’s objectives, putting policies in place to address the negative impacts that result from the lack of services, and the implementation of best practices by policy makers.

“This is not going to be a quick fix,” Pierce said, noting the complexities of the problem the committee studied.

Wendy Chase, a resident who observed several meetings, said she found the work of the task force to be “amazing.” She said, “I’m blown away.”

Director of economic and housing development

Kirk Beattie, city manager, said Joia Hughes has been hired as the city’s first director of economic and housing development.

Hughes has previously worked as a grant writer and program administrator, including roles that focused on community development and services for people experiencing homelessness. She has a master’s degree in economic development, with a focus on affordable housing, from Southern New Hampshire University.

Hughes might be familiar to some in the city, as she was a member of the Planning Board in the 2000s. She will begin her role on Monday, Oct. 7.

‘A heavy thing to carry’

While there are tangible outcomes the task force can point to, some said one of the greatest results was the opportunity for people to collaborate with others who also work with best interests of the public at heart, but from a different angle.

“It’s such a huge win to get people around the same table,” said Asheena Miller, of Community Action Program of Belknap-Merrimack Counties.

Tim Joubert, Laconia’s fire chief, described himself as an “action-oriented person,” but that he’s had to consider a different approach as part of the task force. “There’s not one simple answer, there’s not one simple solution, we look at them all for bits of success,” he said. “I’ve learned a ton just by being in this group.”

Yet serving on the task force comes at a cost, Hosmer acknowledged.

“The reason this group is breaking up and handing it over to ‘2.0’ is it’s exhausting work. We don’t make massive gains, we make incremental gains,” Hosmer said. And it can be thankless, as some in the community see unhoused people not as victims of a problem, but as the problem themselves. “The people working on the problem draw the ire as well. That’s really tiring, we all have families and jobs and lives outside of this work, and this is just really, really hard work.”

Pierce said she’s proud of what the task force created.

“I feel great about the work we did, because we were able to finish the strategic plan, what we’re calling the vision map,” Pierce said. “Though it took longer than we anticipated, we took our time to do research, to get input.”

Now it will be up to Hughes and the rest of the city to follow the map.

“I’m really satisfied with the work that has been done, but a lot of people sat around that table and thought, the enormity of this problem is heavy, it’s a heavy thing to carry,” Hosmer said. “What are we going to do? We are going to try to find solutions, bring them to the community, and we as a community are going to decide how we are going to deal with them. Are we going to be a community that takes action, or are we going to do nothing? I am anxious to see what others have to say.”