The Democrat running to replace Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais also wants to end Ruais’ approach to addressing homelessness and cleaning up the streets, calling it wrong to remove tents that once dotted downtown.
School board member Jess Spillers, a last-minute entry in the mayor’s race, said during a debate sponsored by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce on Monday that “forcing people out of encampments … is not the way that we address homelessness.”
Ending public camping and forcing the homeless off public sidewalks has been a contentious issue in Queen City politics for years. Ruais replaced outgoing Democrat Joyce Craig in part by pledging to clean up the streets. In July 2024, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed an ordinance banning public camping regardless of the time of day or the availability of shelter beds.
Ruais said the results have been positive and popular.
“I’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback, certainly about the cleanliness of the downtown, both from an encampment perspective and the number of people who are in the downtown,” Ruais told the Chamber. “And also from a cleanliness perspective, when we brought on that new downtown street cleaning team.”
The New Hampshire ACLU and other progressive groups opposed Ruais’ approach, arguing that it violates civil rights to prevent people from sleeping on public sidewalks and in parks.
Spillers said Monday that Ruais’ enforcement strategy is shortsighted.
“We’re playing human Whac-A-Mole by enforcing some of these ordinances and forcing people out of encampments,” Spillers said. “I understand the concerns with the camping, but that’s not the way that we address homelessness.”
GOP Mayor Jay Ruais participates in the Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate on Oct. 20, 2025.
(CREDIT Jeffrey Hastings)
Ruais disagreed, pledging to continue using law enforcement as part of his homelessness strategy.
“I would reiterate again that I think it is incredibly important for us to ensure that we are enforcing our ordinances,” he said. “We cannot have encampments, either in the downtown or around the city. They are not safe for the individuals who are within the encampment, and they’re certainly not safe for the individuals who are trying to walk their dogs along a rail trail or in our parks.”
Earlier Monday, Ruais’ office released a report highlighting what he called “continued progress in addressing homelessness” since January 2024. Among the statistics in the report:
- 69 individuals housed
- 45 individuals entered detox or treatment programs
- 22 people gained employment
- 50 people obtained vital documents such as birth certificates and identification cards
“More work remains to continue addressing homelessness, but these results demonstrate that our comprehensive, partnership-driven approach is making a difference,” Ruais said in a statement. “By combining compassion with accountability, we’re demonstrating that we can make measurable progress for our city and those in need.”
The Manchester mayoral race on Nov. 4 is the most high-profile election in the state and offers an early glimpse into the political climate candidates will face in next year’s midterm elections. It will also be another chance for Republicans to assess Ruais, who won an upset victory in 2023 and is widely expected to be a potential future candidate for governor.
During the debate, Spillers also reiterated her belief that there’s no benefit in passing a city budget below the tax cap.
“Asking for a tax-cap-compliant budget is not unreasonable,” Spillers said, restating a position she has emphasized throughout her campaign.
“When it comes to schools, when it comes to our Department of Public Works, when it comes to firefighters, when it comes to police — all these other departments that rely on the city to fund them — we need to do them a service and fund them at the tax cap level,” Spillers said in an August radio interview. “You know, no one’s getting a check back in the mail.”
Ruais pushed back Monday, saying his “balanced” approach of increasing spending while keeping the budget below the cap is the right one.
“It’s important that we recognize there’s a global aspect to being mayor,” Ruais said. “There’s a balancing act, and at the end of the day, it’s always about protecting the taxpayer as well.”
