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State Approves HCA’s $110 Million CMC Acquisition

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office gave its blessing Monday to the takeover of Manchester’s Catholic Medical Center by for-profit HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Attorney General John Formella announced his office reached an agreement with HCA and CMC to make sure the new ownership will continue CMC’s mission to provide healthcare and serve the community. 

“This settlement represents a thoughtful approach that both addresses the insurmountable financial challenges CMC is facing and ensures that the healthcare needs of New Hampshire residents continue to be met,” Formella said.

The deal has been in the works for years as CMC sought financial salvation. The nonprofit hospital has been losing up to $3 million a year. The Attorney General’s Office review was the last step in finalizing the deal with HCA.

“CMC’s decision to sell the hospital is largely the result of financial distress that has brought CMC to the brink of bankruptcy,” Formella reported in his role as the state’s Director of Charitable Trusts. “On top of large losses over the last several years, CMC has projected losses of $41.5 million for its 2024 fiscal year, and its debt totals around $160 million. In April 2024, CMC laid off 142 employees attempting to reduce its losses, but providers and patients continue to leave the hospital, reducing revenues at a greater rate than any reduction in expenses.”

The purchase, which the report notes is “not an affiliation or partnership,” will provide financial stability the hospital has long sought.

In a statement, the Diocese of Manchester said maintaining the hospital’s Catholic identity “was essential to the CMC Board of Trustees and Bishop Peter Libasci in deciding a future course of action for the hospital. CMC was created in a close relationship with the Diocese of Manchester including that the Bishop of Manchester approves certain activities of the hospital and the assets of CMC transfer to the Diocese upon the sale of CMC. Going forward, these assets will be held and used exclusively by a foundation that will continue the legacy of CMC’s commitment to provide Catholic health care in the community.”

As part of the deal, HCA first got Vatican approval to take over CMC by signing an agreement to operate within the Catholic Church’s ethical standards for medical care.  

Formella’s agreement with HCA will see that the key funding is in place for hospital expansion and as well as continuing charity care for the Manchester community. 

“As part of HCA Healthcare, CMC and our new colleagues will have access to much-needed resources that will pave the way for financial stability and continued growth. We are committed to making significant capital investments and enhancing key service lines that will benefit not only Manchester patients but patients across New Hampshire with expanded choice and ensure they have the highest-quality care available close to home,”  said Dr. William Lunn, president of HCA Healthcare’s Capital Division.

HCA will contribute $2 million over the next three years to local community health initiatives like Healthcare for the Homeless and Poisson Dental Clinic. 

“With HCA Healthcare, CMC’s legacy of excellence will not only endure but flourish — expanding access to care, enhancing services, and remaining deeply rooted in our Catholic mission,” Alex Walker, president and CEO of CMC said.

Mayor Jay Ruais called Monday’s announcement a pivotal moment for the city.

“CMC’s partnership with HCA Healthcare ensures immediate access to the financial and operational resources necessary to sustain its more than 130-year legacy of providing high-quality Catholic healthcare to our region,” Ruais said. “I am pleased that vital and beloved community programs, such as Healthcare for the Homeless and Poisson Dental, will also continue to serve our community for years to come.”

HCA is a Tennessee-based for-profit company that operates 180 hospitals throughout the U.S., including three in New Hampshire. Critics oppose HCA’s acquisition of CMC, pointing to its actions at Frisbee Memorial Hospital, where the company shut down the labor and delivery department after promising to keep it open. 

HCA’s proposed deal with CMC was hounded last year by nurses from HCA’s North Carolina Mission Hospital in Asheville who said HCA operated in an unsafe manner that put their lives and the lives of patients at risk. The nurses came to New Hampshire to stage protests, publish newspaper ads, and talk to the media, all in an effort to stop the sale.

“The community needs to know what happened to our hospital, because the same thing will happen to their hospital,” Kelly Coward, a nurse and union representative at Mission Hospital in Asheville, told NHPR last year.

Those nurses, all members of the National Nurse United union, stopped their protest a day before the Oct. 23 attorney general’s public hearing at CMC. The union kept silent through the fall and had no statement Monday about the deal’s approval. 

On Oct. 22, National Nurse United announced it had reached a contract deal with HCA for 17 hospitals in 6 states, including the Mission Hospital in Asheville. 

Former state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, who represented Manchester for decades, backs the HCA deal.

“CMC must be saved, and we must make sure that all contingencies are met,” D’Allesandro told NHJournal Monday. “I am a strong supporter and will continue to work on behalf of all the citizens of Manchester to have quality medical care continue to be provided.”

Bishop Libasci says he’s pleased with the result.

“We may look forward now to a strong, vigorous, Catholic hospital on Manchester’s West Side and Catholic healthcare throughout the state of New Hampshire,” Libasci said.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this article erroneously reported that the Diocese of Manchester owns CMC. NHJournal regrets the error.

Manchester Mayor Ruais Wants City Auditor Brought Back

Manchester has been operating without an independent auditor for years, despite a city charter requirement, and Mayor Jay Ruais said that needs to change.

“It’s been six years since the city had a charter-required independent auditor,” Ruais told NHJournal. 

The position has been vacant since Kevin Buckley, the last independent city auditor, retired in 2018 during Mayor Joyce Craig’s administration. After Buckley left, the job was never filled, leaving a gap in Manchester’s fiscal oversight system.

“I want to make sure we’re providing the oversight,” Ruais said.

Manchester does get an annual audit from the Melanson Marcum firm, but that’s a process that is supposed to be managed by the auditor under the city charter. The auditor’s position is assigned to work in the City Solicitor’s Office per charter rules.

The auditor is also tasked with regular analysis of all city departments as well as the operations of the ski area, golf course, civic center, MTA, MCTV, and baseball stadium to make sure the finances are transparent, and that the services provided using taxpayer funds are done efficiently.

The auditor is also to perform any particular investigations or research into aspects of city government as requested by committees and the Board of Aldermen.

“The city auditor can examine individual contracts and departments as needed,” Ruais said. 

Ruais doesn’t know why Craig left the position open, but he said Manchester voters and business owners deserve to have a city auditor on staff making sure their taxes are being used correctly, and that their city is running as it should.  

“I don’t know why Mayor Craig never hired for the role, but it’s certainly a priority for me. And with increased inflation and taxpayers fighting different headwinds, it is the kind of accountability we need to provide,” he said.

The city tried to hire a new auditor twice since Buckley’s retirement, but two different hiring committees came up short finding a candidate to take the job. 

Ruais wants to include $135,000 in the upcoming city budget starting July 1, 2025 to cover the $90,000 salary and benefits for the auditor’s position. The proposal so far won approval with the Committee on Community Improvement. Under his proposal, the first year for the position would be paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the city taking over the costs starting the following year.

In 2023, the Illinois-based nonprofit Truth In Accounting gave Manchester a “D” for its city budgeting practices, reporting the city didn’t disclose the level of debt taxpayers were carrying.

“We really believe that our representative forms of government are being harmed because citizens are making decisions on tax policy, spending policy, and who they even vote for based on misleading or wrong financial information,” said Sheila Weinberg, co-founder and president of Truth in Accounting.

“We have worked for years to recast government’s financial reports to show a truer picture of their financial condition, bringing business accounting to these financial statements instead of the political math that is used by the governments,” she said.

Craig Hits Ayotte on Opioids, But Benefited Financially From Drug Crisis

Joyce Craig injected opioids into the governor’s race but may end up in reputation rehab after her GOP opponent’s counterattack.

On Monday, Democrat Craig launched a new attack ad targeting Republican Kelly Ayotte over the opioid issue. It’s the first time Craig has raised it in the general election, though she hit her primary opponent, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, hard over her ties to Purdue Pharma.

But as Warmington pointed out at the time, Craig has her own connections to New Hampshire’s drug crisis that benefitted her financially.

Craig’s anti-Ayotte ad accuses the former New Hampshire attorney general of letting “the companies responsible for this crisis… off the hook” by “refusing to prosecute a leading opioid maker behind the crisis.” It also claims Ayotte “cashed in” by “joining the board of a major opioid distributor.”

The Ayotte campaign notes that as attorney general, Ayotte did prosecute one of America’s largest drug companies, and the state eventually participated in a multi-billion-dollar settlement from Purdue Pharma. And as a U.S. senator, Ayotte helped deliver $1 billion in funding to tackle the opioid crisis. 

As for that “major opioid distributor,” the company referenced in the Craig attack ad is Blink Health, an app that helps consumers find low-cost generic prescription medications of all kinds, similar to GoodRx.

Rather than argue, however, the Ayotte campaign picked up where Warmington left off during the Democratic primary. It hit Craig on the money her family has collected from her husband’s high-dollar defense of some of New Hampshire’s worst drug criminals.

The Ayotte ad also slams Craig’s term as mayor of Manchester as the number of opioid-related overdose deaths hit record highs.

“Joyce Craig let the Manchester drug crisis explode and made a fortune off her family’s work, defending criminals, traffickers, drug dealers, gangs. Craig cashed in off all of them,” the ad claims.

At issue is the work her husband Michael’s law firm, Craig & Gatzoulis, has done representing drug dealers and related criminals in New Hampshire courts.

“If you are charged with large-scale trafficking or simple possession of a controlled substance, the attorneys at Craig & Gatzoulis will draw on their experience as prosecutors to help you fight the charges,” according to the firm’s website.

Michael Craig and his partner Arthur Gatzoulis have represented a rogues gallery of defendants, like Coleman Marcus, who was convicted of selling fentanyl and heroin in 2018; Aweis Khamis, who was convicted of gun charges in 2019 for shooting up a Manchester diner; and accused Manchester rapist Harold Frost, who was busted in 2008.

Warmington pointed out during the primary that “as mayor, Craig signed a form every single year, notarized and under oath, that she had a personal financial interest in the law firm that her husband is participating in.

“I don’t know what that financial interest is,” Warmington said in the WMUR debate last month, “but she had a personal financial interest profiting off the trafficking of drugs in her city.”

Warmington also said Craig was on the attack because she couldn’t defend her record as Manchester mayor, “with overdose deaths up 52 percent per capita.”

Craig would not respond to requests for comment about her new ad or the opioid issue.

Dropping a new ad with a new attack on a topic that hasn’t been part of the campaign is an unusual move, political professionals say, particularly when the issue isn’t a natural fit with the race’s previous narrative. Ayotte’s time as a prosecutor is widely viewed as an asset, and a “weak on crime” attack now, without a major new development in the race, is viewed by some as a sign the Craig campaign is struggling.

 

Manchester’s Ruais Cracks Down on Syringe Handouts

Manchester is trying to stop the tide of used drug syringes washing over the city with a new ordinance aimed at reigning in the groups handing them out.

Mayor Jay Ruais said Manchester is now the first municipality in the state to assert oversight of Syringe Service Programs (SSPs), thanks to an ordinance passed this week.

“On a fundamental, basic level, we can’t allow the unregulated flow of needles into our city,” Ruais told NHJournal. 

Used syringes littering city streets and parks has become an increasing problem since 2017, when the state legislature passed a bill allowing SSPs to operate with little to no oversight. In the last seven years as Manchester’s opioid epidemic and homeless crisis raged, the city didn’t even know how many groups were handing out syringes in the city.

“Before this ordinance, there wasn’t any insight into how many of these programs were operating. There was no transparency or accountability,” Ruais said.

That lack of accountability and transparency contributed to making the city’s drug problem worse, Ruias said. It also put police, firefighters, and EMTs who encountered used needles during their jobs in danger. The situation is also a danger for every resident who might encounter the used syringes just about anywhere.

The tale of Manchester slipping into a crises of crime, addiction and homelessness on former Mayor Joyce Craig’s six-year watch has become part of the campaign for governor. While she’s denied the claim that she left Manchester in a mess, the fact is little was done to get control of the SSPs during her tenure.

Though the city passed an ordinance three years ago banning needle handouts from city parks, nothing else was done to manage the problem. In the meantime, syringes kept getting passed out by the SSPs, and the used syringes kept ending up in parks, city streets, outside schools, and all over.

“We hear concerns from families when they see them in parks or in the streets,” Ruais said. “It’s been a problem that’s been brought up to us on a far too frequent basis.”

The new ordinance requires all SSPs to register with the city, to provide data on their programs —  such as how many needles are passed out — and to take back at least some used syringes in an effort to keep them off the streets. The programs must also hand out information on disease prevention and drug treatment to the people seeking the syringes. The ordinances also codify location restrictions such as city parks, school zones, and state-licensed daycares. 

The original ordinance would have required the SSPs to engage in a one-for-one exchange, meaning they had to collect one used syringe for every new one handed out. But after talking to some of the groups handing out the syringes, Ruais backed a change that does not tie the programs to the one-for-one rate.

“We mandate that an exchange takes place, but not a one-for-one,” Ruais said.

The aim of these programs is to help stop the spread of infectious diseases. Ruais insisted the city is not trying to get in the way of that important effort. A strict one for one exchange may have hindered people from getting help. Ruais also wanted to give Manchester the flexibility to make changes as the city gets more data from the programs about the handouts.

“It’s a good first step,” he said. “Now we’re going to get the data back and see what it tells us.”

Cop Killer Addison Still Wants Death Sentence Commuted

New Hampshire’s only death row inmate wants his sentence for killing a police officer commuted, and his clemency quest may become part of this year’s election.

Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs was murdered 18 years ago, leaving behind a wife and young children. His killer, Michael “Stix” Addison, was quickly caught, tried, and convicted of capital murder. The woman who prosecuted the case and sought the death penalty, Kelly Ayotte, could be the next governor. 

Addison, 44, was in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord on Monday seeking to have the death sentence imposed by the original unanimous jury overturned.

Ayotte told NHJournal on Monday she still believes Addison should face the ultimate punishment for murdering Michael Briggs.

“As attorney general, I sought a death sentence for Michael Addison for his cold-blooded murder of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs. The jury found Addison guilty of capital murder and imposed the death sentence. I testified against the repeal of the death penalty, and I still believe that he should be executed for killing Officer Briggs,” Ayotte said.

Despite having served as mayor of Manchester, the city Officer Briggs served, Democrat Joyce Craig has said little about Addison’s attempt to avoid the death sentence.

Craig would not respond to a request for comment from NHJournal about the convicted murderer’s request for leniency. When asked by WMUR if she supported clemency for Addison, she gave a one-word reply:

“No.”

Manchester’s crime problem on her watch, along with homelessness and opioid addiction, have emerged as key issues in the campaign for governor. Those issues plagued her time as mayor and helped get Republican Jay Ruais elected last year. 

Addison’s attorney, Jon Cioschi, pointed to New Hampshire’s decision to repeal the death penalty in 2019 (HB 455) in his current arguments for commutation. Cioschi said the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the United States Constitution.

But Assistant Attorney General Audriana Mekula said in court that the New Hampshire Supreme Court has already weighed in on Addison’s case, upholding the death sentence.

“As it stands, the historical and textual analysis is the way to look at this, and the New Hampshire Supreme Court has already held that the sentence, the death penalty, in general and as applied to this particular petitioner, is constitutional,” Mekula said.

The state Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence in a 2013 ruling, and in a 2015 sentence review. Both rulings found Addison’s death sentence does not violate the Constitution and that the sentence is appropriate.

“We conclude that the defendant’s sentence is neither excessive nor disproportionate and, accordingly, affirm his sentence of death,” the Supreme Court ruled in 2015.

But Cioschi said the 2019 repeal law is evidence New Hampshire no longer supports the death penalty and imposing death on Addison violates the will of the people.

“HB 455, the repeal, is clear, reliable, objective evidence that the death penalty is inconsistent with evolving standards of decency in New Hampshire.” Cioschi said. 

While the legislature voted to pass HB 455, Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed the law, saying it represented a miscarriage of justice for Briggs and his surviving family.

“This bill is an injustice to not only Officer Briggs and his family, but to law enforcement and victims of violent crime around the state,” Sununu said at the time.

The legislature voted to override the veto, however, and the repeal became law more than 20 years after Addison was sentenced to die by lethal injection.

Addison and his partner in crime, Antoine Bell-Rodgers, had pulled off three violent armed robberies in the days before Briggs was murdered. On Oct. 16, 2006, Briggs and fellow Manchester Police Officer John Breckenridge responded to a report of a fight at the home of Bell-Rodgers and Addison. 

The two men allegedly tried to leave when they saw the officers, but Briggs ordered the pair to stop. Bell-Rodgers did stop, but Addison kept walking away. Briggs again ordered him to stop, and that was when Addison turned around and shot Briggs in the head. Briggs, at that point, had not upholstered his pistol. Addison fled the state, and was later caught in Dorchester, Mass.

Bell-Rodgers is currently serving a 60-years-to-life sentence for his role. 

During his appeal, Addison argued that his difficult childhood, including a drug addicted mother who abused him, were mitigating factors in the crime. Addison was 26 when he killed Briggs. 

Not mentioned in Addison’s litany of mitigating factors is the fact he knew Briggs before the murder. In 2003, Briggs saved his life, giving Addison first aid after Addison was shot by another man in Manchester. 

Judge Daniel St. Hilaire ordered both sides to provide more information for their arguments. The next hearing is set for October.

Manchester’s Ruais Cheers as Sununu Signs Bail Reform Bill

The revolving door that lets criminals loose hours after their arrest is getting shut down as Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bail reform bill into law on Thursday. It followed months of lobbying from Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais.

“We have been fighting for these pro-victim fixes to bail reform for a long time and appreciate Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais leading the effort of local officials to help get it over the finish line,” Sununu said.

Ruais took up the bail reform cause on his first day in office, heading to Concord to demand lawmakers fix the system that he said allowed alleged criminals to go crime sprees with brief time outs for arrests.

“This is a victory for Manchester and every other town and city in our state,” Ruais said. “The safety of our city is non-negotiable, and this bill contains many reforms that will make Manchester safer. I want to thank the governor and legislature for their efforts to work together in a bipartisan way to reaffirm their commitment to the safety of our communities.”

Manchester’s crime problem became emblematic of the problem with the bail system. In March, Ruais said that of the 817 people Manchester Police arrested in the first few months of the year, 306 — or 37 percent — were already out on bail for a previous criminal charge. In the 12 months prior, repeat offenders made up 26 percent of the total arrests, with 1,178 people already on bail of the total 4,529.

Ruais campaigned on the need to fix bail, support police, and clean up the city, winning a stunning victory over Mayor Joyce Craig’s handpicked successor, Democrat Kevin Cavanaugh. 

House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Chairman Rep. Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) said the bill signed Thursday corrects serious flaws in the 2018 law that attempted to make the bill system more just.  

“These flaws allowed offenders to be released despite being re-arrested for violations of multiple bail release conditions. Sometimes these were violent offenders and their release led to tragic results. We heard from law enforcement, that oftentimes, arrestees were released and back on the street before the officer had the opportunity to complete the report,” Roy said on Twitter/X.

The new law saw police chiefs, the New Hampshire ACLU, Republicans, and Democrats work together, said Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth.)

“This bill is the end product of a good-faith effort by legislators from both parties and stakeholders as diverse as ACLU-NH and the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police Association. It shows that enhancing public safety and protecting civil liberties don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’m pleased that the governor chose to sign it into law,” Meuse said.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the need for bail reform even had House Republicans working with Senate Republicans. 

“After years of violent criminals and re-offenders being released on PR bail because of a flawed system, the House and Senate finally found a compromise that will work,” said Sen. Bill Gannon (R-Sandown). “I am thankful for the bipartisan efforts of Chairman Terry Roy, the House Criminal Justice Committee, and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who spent countless hours working on this. This is a huge win for the state of New Hampshire and we should be proud to deliver real results for our communities.”

The new law closes the revolving door by stopping the release of people re-arrested while already on bail, as well as causing certain violent offenders to be only allowed bail after review by a judge or magistrate, according to Roy. The old system allowed offenders to get bail reviews by civilian bail commissioners instead of the the bail commissioner. 

Other changes include having the courts pay bail commissioners instead of the defendants, more training for bail commissioners, and more protections for crime victims.  The bill also requires notification for victims of domestic violence before their alleged abuser is released on bail. 

The law also updates the way technology is used so police officers will be able to check someone’s bail status in real time. The prior system had paper bail orders entered into databases, meaning there could be a lag time before the bail was entered into computer systems police access, meaning officers couldn’t know if someone they had in custody was already out on bail, Roy said.

“Under the 2018 system, officers were often forced to rely on the honor system, hoping an arrestee would tell them that they were already on bail from another charge in a different jurisdiction,” Roy said. 

The 2018 reform sought to stop the unintended consequence of a cash bail system that put poor people to jail pre-trial. In some cases, people would be held for weeks or months in jail without a conviction because they could not come up with a few hundred dollars for bail. 

Roy said the bill signed Thursday will still keep people charged with nonviolent crimes from going to jail without a conviction. Cash bail will not be universal, but set aside for people charged in violent crimes or people who allegedly commit crimes while already out on bail.

“Cash bail remains a legitimate tool available to the courts, but only to assure an appearance by someone who is able to pay. It will not be used as a way to hold people,” Roy said.

In fact, Roy said the new law makes sure that no one will be held more than 24 hours without having their case reviewed by the court, including weekends and holidays. 

Manchester Police Face Uphill Battle Without Bail Reform, Ruais Says

Manchester’s neighborhoods are struggling to keep up with the revolving door criminal justice system that’s releasing violent suspects even before their arrest reports are complete.

Mayor Jay Ruais said Monday city residents are fed up with a system that allows people charged with violent crimes to get out with no cash or personal recognizance bail within hours. In many cases, those same people are arrested again on new charges.

“The safety of our city is non-negotiable, and the men and women of the Manchester Police Department are heroes, full stop. Unfortunately, the state’s current bail system is undermining their efforts to make Manchester safe. When 40 percent of those arrested are ending up back on our streets, and 27 percent of those arrested are already out on bail, our police are fighting an uphill battle,” Ruais said.

Since the start of the year, Manchester Police have arrested 1,646 people, and at least 40 percent — more than 650 of those suspects — were released almost immediately on PR bail. The state needs to finally step in and fix the bail system that’s fueling the problem in Manchester, Ruais insists.

“There is not a single thing that would have a more transformative impact on the quality of life in our city than passing bail reform. It’s crucial for our legislators to take action to ensure the safety of our community and prevent repeat offenders from cycling through arrest, release and rearrest,” Ruais said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte got a look at the problem up close during her recent ride-along with Manchester police. The officer she rode with had just returned to work after a violent encounter with a suspect who was out on bail, she said.

“Last week, I did a ride along with the Manchester Police Department, and the officer I accompanied had previously been injured by a criminal let out on bail, resulting in him being out of work for six months. Our state’s failed ‘bail reform’ experiment has created a revolving door that allows violent criminals back into our communities, putting officers at risk and undermining their efforts to protect Granite Staters,” Ayotte said.

Ruais is focused on seeing bail reform happen. On his first day as mayor, he traveled to Concord to lobby state lawmakers to the cause. It’s a more direct approach than that of his predecessor, Democrat Joyce Craig, who advocated for the lower standards for bail that have released so many repeat offenders on the the streets.

Craig did not respond to a request for comment about her current view of bail reform. Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, the other Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, also declined to comment.

A proposal to change the bail system is currently under debate in the legislature. After the House passed a bill to tighten up the bail system and create a new bail magistrate position, the Senate weighed in with amendments to require that people charged with certain violent crimes have a hearing before a judge before being allowed out on PR bail. Reforming bail is now splitting Democratic unity in the Senate.

One of the three contenders in the Democratic primary for U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster’s seat in Congress, state Sen. Becky Whiteley (D-Hopkinton), opposes pretrial detention, saying it increases the odds an innocent person will plead guilty to a crime they did not commit. 

“Do we want that?” Whitley said during a recent Senate debate. “That’s really troubling.”

But Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) said lawmakers must act as the problem is only getting worse.

“Doing nothing can’t happen,” Soucy said. “We’re never going to get it perfect. We have to get it as close to right as we can.”

Ayotte said as governor she’d protect police officers and citizens by keeping violent offenders in jail.

“As governor I will shut and lock the revolving door to keep our officers – and our communities – safe. I thank Mayor Ruais for fighting on this issue for the people of Manchester and the brave men and women of the Manchester Police Department,” Ayotte said.

Ruais Unveils New Initiative to End Homelessness

Mayor Jay Ruais is moving to address Manchester’s homeless crisis, announcing a new initiative Tuesday to connect homeless residents with the help they need to get into stable housing and improve their lives.

“We got to make sure we’re getting people what they need,” Ruais said. “The ultimate goal is getting them out of this and breaking the cycle.”

While Ruais’ clashes with Adrienne Beloin, former director of the city’s Housing Stability program, dominated headlines in recent weeks, the mayor has been focused on rolling out his pragmatic plans to alleviate homelessness.

Ruais’ proposal for new Resource Fairs at the Beech Street Engagement Center will feature dozens of partner agencies sending representatives to meet with homeless people, connecting them to healthcare and recovery services, as well as education and employment opportunities. 

Ruais has 10 organizations like Hope for NH Recovery, Anthem, Amoskage Health and Workpath joining the new effort, along with long-time partners like Catholic Medical Center, Easter Seals, and the Farm Center. Those providers will be at the weekly Resource Fairs, meeting with people who need help. 

The fairs will be held Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. Ruais hopes to expand the times and days. There will also be a new database of contact information that people can access outside of the fairs to get connected with participating agencies.

The city is focused on addressing homelessness as a solvable problem where people can have hope to get into a better life. Ruais said that requires addressing the reason why people ended up on the streets, and working with them to find realistic solutions.

“Homelessness should be rare, brief, and one time,” Ruais said. “A stay at a shelter should be temporary.”

Beloin took a $57,000 payout to leave her job last month after she publicly fought with Ruais and members of the Board of Aldermen. Beloin accused them of interfering with her job when they raised questions about her effectiveness, while she advocated a slow approach to getting people off the streets. 

Beloin was a holdover from Mayor Joyce Craig’s administration which saw the city’s homeless crisis worsen. After a number of homeless people died in December 2022, Craig called on Gov. Chris Sununu (R) to send in National Guardsmen to fix the city’s problem. 

Sununu declined.

Ruais won the mayor’s race by defeating Craig’s handpicked successor, Kevin Cavanaugh. Ruais made addressing the homeless crisis a top priority. He said Tuesday the drive has been to quickly enact policies that will help people and lift the quality of life for the whole city.

The resource fair announced Tuesday is just part of Ruais’ response. A major barrier for some homeless people seeking services or employment is the lack of a driver’s license or state ID. The city is addressing that by partnering with Catholic Charities and Members First Credit Union. Ruais said 19 people have already been able to get copies of their birth certificates and then state IDs.

The macro-economic challenge facing the homeless is the lack of affordable housing — a problem that impacts the entire state.

To promote the creation of more affordable housing in the city, the Board of Aldermen is set to declare 15 parcels zoned in residential and mixed-use areas as surplus, meaning that property can be auctioned off. Ruais plans to use the auction proceeds to fund affordable housing initiatives in the city. 

He’s also pushing for changes in Manchester’s zoning ordinances to make it easier for people to add so-called in-law apartment units and build multi-family homes. More housing stock would help drive down rental costs and make it easier for people to get their lives on track, he said.