James Lowell: In a growing city, doing more with less simply won’t work

To The Daily Sun,

My name is James Lowell and I am a candidate for police commissioner in the upcoming Nov. 4 election. As a retired Naval officer on active duty during the 1990s, we experienced major cutbacks in defense spending upwards of 40%+. After the Soviet Union fell and we were victorious in Desert Storm, it was determined the military could be downsized. The rub here is our obligations around the world remained unchanged. The point is the phrase of the day was “You will have to do more with less.” That works for a while, but we soon saw morale, retention and equipment readiness suffer, resulting in an overworked force unable to be as effective in meeting our commitments around the world.

Laconia is growing. The building of new housing, condos and the development of the State School property over the next decade will unquestionably require all the services the city provides to evolve and grow as well. Our police provide the safety and security for all our residents, nonresident home owners and tourists. We all deserve and expect our city to be a safe place to live. Our police force does an incredible job of making Laconia a great place to live and visit. If elected, I never want to have to say to our chief, “you will have to do more with less.” It doesn’t work. What happens is they end up doing less with less.

With strategic planning, to efficiently grow our police department over the next decade, by adding the needed officers, equipment and the introduction of new technologies, our police department will be able to continue to provide those services we all expect from them. If elected, I want to be a part of that process. Please vote on Nov. 4.

James Lowell

Laconia