Ralph Simpson: Lackluster leadership, no transparency on homelessness

To The Daily Sun,

Richard Littlefield’s self-serving letter makes it clear that Laconia has accepted lackluster leadership that fails at every turn on transparency. Homelessness is one of the most pressing issues in Laconia and there needs to be accountability for whoever elevated Richard to chair of the Homelessness Subcommittee. Did these people review Richard’s lack of education, lack of work experience, perform criminal background checks and ask what qualifications and expertise he brings to the table? Laconia rejected Richard in two straight election cycles because of his aimless agenda, yet someone in Laconia’s current leadership team put him in charge of solving the largest problem facing Laconia. 

What started as a Pallet Village proposal has morphed into “God Pods” making it much more difficult to research the downfalls and impact of this transitional housing approach on the communities. Richard says these projects work well in California and Vermont, which is certainly not a comparison I would relish.

The fact that a city subcommittee meets in a church begs the question of separation of church and state ... but that is a minor detail. The fact that there is no live broadcast or recording of the meetings held at 10:30 a.m. while most people are hard at work is a travesty. These meetings need to be moved to City Hall ... period.

The minutes of these meetings are severely lacking in specificities. The last meeting had four parcels of Laconia land discussed but no locations. What neighborhoods would be impacted?

The next agenda has a discussion regarding whether to hold an informational community meeting. Initial proposals said there will be no taxpayer dollars used to implement this program, and we now know that is a lie. We now know city, county, state and federal money will be the ongoing source of funds.

Ralph Simpson

Meredith