Spanos did not support programs aimed at curbing crime

To The Daily Sun,

When Peter Spanos called me a few weeks ago to ask me to endorse him in the Laconia mayoral race, I declined, explaining that I liked both him and Andrew Hosmer and thus planned to remain nuetral. Despite my reservations about Mr. Spanos based on his voting record, I believed that honest debate on the issues would make clear which man would make the better mayor.

Since that conversation, I have been deeply disturbed by the Spanos campaign emphasizing a central theme of protecting Laconia from becoming a sanctuary city, implying that his opponent is in favor of such. This “issue” is one totally created by Mr. Spanos and promoted by his supporters despite a complete lack of factual basis. To make matters worse, when confronted with this fact, Mr. Spanos has not only failed to repudiate his emphasis on the false issue, but has talked about “crime” — as if that explains it all.

In fact, the first mention of Laconia becoming a sanctuary city was by Mr. Spanos when he chose to make it his campaign issue. My disappointment with this deceptive tactic is what leads me to publicly endorse Mr. Hosmer.

Although Rep. Spanos supposedly brought up the sanctuary city issue because of a concern about crime, it has been clear for years that addiction and mental health problems, not immigrants, have been fueling the increase in crime. With over 70% of the county jail population suffering from addiction or mental health problems, or both, treatment of these problems and prevention are recognized as key to addressing the crime problem.

In 2016, when N.H. began to seriously address the addiction-mental health impact on crime, three bills (S.B.533,534 and 576) passed both chambers of the state legislature by margins of more than 2 to 1. These bills were aimed at drug prevention and treatment and mental health programs for children to head off future criminal behavior. Mr. Spanos voted “NO” on all three; Andrew Hosmer (then a state senator) voted YES on all three.

The refusal of Peter Spanos to support programs aimed at curbing crime has not been limited to his votes in Concord. When the Belknap County Delegation approved construction of the new community corrections center, it was with the knowledge that the whole purpose of the facility was to treat the substance abuse and mental health problems of the inmates. Mr. Spanos, however, was the sole Laconia representative who voted for the initial 2018 budget which underfunded CORE (the treatment program) by $75,000 and then voted against a subsequent motion to grant the full funding. The additional funding would have added less than 25 cents a month to the average Laconia property tax bill.

In my view, someone concerned with crime should have been voting for real measures aimed at reducing it. Railing against sanctuary city status when no one is suggesting it solves nothing. Given this background, if I had a vote in Laconia, my choice for mayor would be Andrew Hosmer.

Hunter Taylor

Alton