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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. 

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.

On her way out the door, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and her fellow Democrats approved a $290 million bond to fund new school construction across the district.

The question now is, who’s going to show up to attend them?

For years, Manchester enrollment has declined, even as spending has soared. But the impact of the COVID pandemic has contributed to a new problem: chronic absenteeism. Kids are enrolled, but they’re not showing up.

According to New Hampshire Department of Education data released this week, Manchester’s high school reported an 85.7 percent attendance rate for the 2022-2023 school year, among the lowest in the state.

Chronic absenteeism is when an individual student has at least 10 or more unexcused absences from school per year. The state average for high school attendance in the 2022-2023 school year was 90.8 percent, and the average for all grades was 92.3 percent.

Manchester’s total attendance for all grades was 89.2 percent.

(New Hampshire’s data does not differentiate excused absences from unexcused, leaving the public with just the rate of attendance.)

Manchester is hardly alone.

A new report from the American Enterprise Institute using data from 40 states and the District of Columbia estimates that 26 percent of public school students were chronically absent last school year, up from the pre-pandemic rate of 15 percent. This study defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent of a school year, which is nearly a month of classroom instruction.

New Hampshire, with one of the best-educated states and top-performing education systems, isn’t seeing numbers as low as the national average. But attendance among Granite State students has declined, and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais tells NHJournal city leaders know they need to do more to get kids in class.

“School attendance is critically important, particularly coming out of the pandemic and mitigating the learning loss experienced during these unprecedented times. The Manchester School District initiated an attendance campaign last summer, which has played an important role in increasing attendance in the schools,” Ruais said.

“We are not where we want or need to be, but by embedding attendance goals into the core objectives of every school, we are reaffirming our commitment to providing a supportive and conducive environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed academically.”

Student attendance took a major dip during the pandemic years, and while the rates in New Hampshire are improving, Manchester Superintendent Jennifer Chmiel Gillis said more is being done to get kids back into the classroom.

“In the last year, we hired a district-wide attendance coordinator and launched our Show Up Manchester attendance campaign,” Chmiel Gillis said. “Additionally, schools have built attendance improvement into their yearly goals. We are now starting to see the early fruits of these efforts between the district and schools, with attendance increasing at all grade levels. We have more work to do, but we are encouraged by the progress and will continue moving forward.”

Experts say the social isolation that was created by social media and boosted by extended school closings is fraying the social connections between children and making it easier for less-motivated students to stay home.

A similar dynamic may be at play in schools, where experts say strong relationships are critical for attendance.

“There is a sense of, ‘If I don’t show up, would people even miss the fact that I’m not there?'” Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, the commissioner of education in Connecticut, told The New York Times.

Jason Bedrick, a Research Fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, told NHJournal that while the causes of the current crisis are complicated, the disastrous impact of COVID-related closure cannot be ignored.

“A significant factor is almost certainly the prolonged and unnecessary school closures that the teachers unions pushed. School closures sent the implicit message that attending school in person was not necessary. Putting the genie back in the bottle won’t be easy,” Bedrick said.

Data on private school attendance rates in New Hampshire is not available.

A representative for New Hampshire’s Department of Education told NHJournal that public school attendance is once again heading in the right direction. A decade before COVID, the state’s schools averaged 95 percent attendance. In the 2021-22 school year, it fell to of 90.8 percent. Now attendance is up to 92.3 percent — a marked improvement.

“Following an academic period when respiratory illnesses often resulted in above-average absences, attendance in New Hampshire’s public classrooms are not only steady but strongly improving,” the representative said.

But in Manchester that year, attendance fell to 87 percent, and among high school students, it was a dismal 82.4 percent.

And, critics say, the Manchester School Board didn’t help matters last November when it changed school policy and ended the practice of giving a “no grade” to high school students who have five or more unexcused absences in a class they are passing.

The turmoil over Manchester’s Director of Housing Stability Adrienne Beloin’s firing boils down to a department head who refuses to be accountable to elected officials, said Aldermanic Board Chair Joseph Kelly Levasseur.

“We’ve been blindsided by the lack of information, and when we ask questions, she treats us like we are not experienced enough to even ask,” Levasseur told NHJournal.

Beloin faces a termination hearing on Thursday after she started throwing rhetorical bombs at the board on Drew Cline’s WFEA radio show. On Tuesday, Beloin again took to the airwaves to paint herself as the victim of a heartless board that wants to punish the homeless. When asked by Cline if she would simply apologize for her remarks and keep her job, Beloin said there’s no point.

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Beloin said. “It’s very clear to me it doesn’t matter how polite I am. Even if I were not to say these things, it wouldn’t matter … They have to have something to defend themselves and their actions.”

Beloin describes herself as a “Social Change Agent” on her LinkedIn page. Trouble started last week when, during a Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, she pushed back against questions about policies at the Beech Street shelter.

“We’ve made an enormous amount of progress in this past year that we should be really proud of, and we shouldn’t lose any momentum of where we’re going,” Beloin said at the meeting. “I know it’s very hard for you to understand what the work is that we’re doing, because this is not your field of work.”

Beloin was soon claiming the board retaliated against her remarks by moving her office to the Beech Street shelter. But Levasseur told NHJournal that’s not true. Beloin previously did not have a set workspace, using a table in the city Welfare Department.

“We just wanted her to have her desk in the same building as the people she has oversight for,” Levasseur said.

Levasseur said the problem is Beloin’s refusal to provide basic information to a bipartisan group of aldermen about how the shelters operate, creating a lack of transparency for the board and the public. No other department head in the city would be able to refuse to answer questions, he said.

“I’ve been on the board for 15 years, maybe more. When we ask questions of department heads, they get us the answers,” Levasseur said. “I’ve never seen people fight about being put into a building.”

Beloin says new board members and new Mayor Jay Ruias are pursuing an agenda to get rid of her after she was protected from the board by Mayor Joyce Craig. Since the November election, Beloin said she’s been marginalized and kept out of the policy discussion.

Ruais’s office declined to comment. Levasseur said that under Craig’s protection, Beloin operated with little oversight and was able to get more money in the city budget without providing information to the board, he said.

“We couldn’t get answers,” he said.

Beloin won’t appear at committee meetings to answer questions, the exact type of forum where other department heads help craft policy, Levasseur said.

“She refused to come in front of the committee,” Levasseur said.

He said the board is now trying to see how well Beech Street operates and whether it is really helping people after years of Craig’s mismanagement.

“Ruais won the election, in part, because Craig was awful at handling the homeless issue,” Levasseur said.

Jake King, the shelter manager at Beech Street, joined Beloin on WFEA and blamed Levasseur for the conflict.

“Joseph Kelly Levasseur does not want people who are not him getting things. That makes him mad and angry,” King said.

Levasseur told NHJournal Beloin’s upcoming hearing is likely going to be “her bashing people as she walks out the door.” Beloin is currently on administrative leave. She told Cline she’s considering a negotiated severance package.

“I’m considering what’s best for myself and my family right now,” she told Cline Tuesday morning.

Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais presented his first budget to city leaders Thursday night, telling them he is grappling with lower city revenue, funding shortfalls created by the last administration, and exploding healthcare costs.

But, he added, it’s still a budget that will help the city grow.

“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Ours is a city filled with undeniable and unquantifiable promise, and this budget responsibly funds our potential,” Ruais said.

He presented his proposed $189 million city budget and $227 million school budget Thursday night in the aldermanic chambers. Despite economic pressures that include a more than $3 million hole, Ruais’ spending proposal comes in with a 3.86 percent increase, well under the 5.6 percent tax cap limit.

“We had to make tough decisions,” Ruais said.

Ruais’s predecessor, Democrat Joyce Craig, left him with a $1.7 million funding gap after she used federal COVID relief funds to cover ongoing expenses in her last city budget. Add to that an overage in city employee healthcare costs of $1.4 million, and a dramatic drop in new revenue from $4.5 million last year to $166,000 this year.

Craig is now running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Ruais’s proposal freezes hiring in the city, eliminates funding for vacant positions, and cuts city department requests by almost $2 million. Ruais said his budget focuses on growing the city and strengthening its finances for the future. That means he’s also cutting the bonding that future generations will pay by 10 percent and leveling funding of city departments.

The budget does not include any layoffs, however. City employees will be receiving a 4 percent cost of living adjustment. Ruais’ budget focuses on education, public safety, quality of life, and ending the homeless crisis.

He wants to use $1.65 million in federal funds to build 45 affordable housing units, as well as funding for programs like Families in Transition, which would receive $70,000 for family emergency housing; WayPoint would receive $89,000 for its homeless youth shelter; YWCA would receive $70,000 for Emily’s Place; and 1269 Café would receive $50,000 to double its residential room capacity.

Those investments would help prevent the city from relying on emergency shelters, which are expensive and not long-term solutions for homeless people.

Importantly, Ruais does not want to keep using limited funding to create new and ongoing expenses for taxpayers. The city’s homeless engagement center came together with federal funds which are now running out. Instead of putting that expense onto the tax rolls, Ruais wants to use remaining ARPA funds to keep the center as a non-profit not funded by the city.

“ARPA has fully funded the engagement center since its inception; and those funds run out on June 30. I don’t believe cities should be in the shelter business, and we do not have the resources to fund this in the long term. We should take this opportunity to transition from a city run shelter, to that of a nonprofit,” Ruais said. “What I am proposing today is that we take a portion of the ARPA money we have left to build a transitional bridge to the nonprofit that will take over. This is an important strategy allowing us to address these real challenges without having the taxpayer bear the full burden.”

Ruais also wants to see increased spending in the city welfare department to keep people from falling through the cracks and ending up homeless. This type of humane investment in people is good for the community and the taxpayer, he said.

Manchester’s police and fire departments aren’t expected to shoulder any cuts. Ruais is making sure 10 officers funded through a federal COPS grant will continue, as will the six new officers hired since January. Mental health funding for officers will also continue. Firefighters are getting $100,000 in new protective gear to keep them safe on the job.

“You have our back, and this budget has yours,” Ruais said.

While the school part of the proposal, $227 million, may not be everything the district is seeking, Ruais said it is a solid compromise and a generous allocation.

“We were able to invest an additional $1 million into our school district. The $227 million we are proposing to allocate this evening represents the most ever allocated by the City of Manchester,” Ruais said.

The budget includes more than $5 million in funding for road repairs and funding to incentivize property owners to beautify their downtown buildings with the aim of attracting people and businesses to the city. Additionally, Ruais proposes investing in parks and youth sports to enhance the quality of life.

“We’re being inundated with repeat offenders,” Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said Wednesday, and it’s past time for the state legislature to do something about it.

That was the mayor’s message during a gathering of city leaders in the Aldermanic Chambers to call on lawmakers in Concord to fix the bail system that’s made Manchester ground zero for a revolving door system for criminals.

Of the 817 people Manchester Police arrested this year alone, 306 — or 37 percent — were already out on bail for a previous criminal charge. In the last 12 months, repeat offenders made up 26 percent of the total arrests, with 1,178 people already on bail of the total 4,529.

Ruais gathered city leaders Wednesday in the Aldermanic Chambers to call on lawmakers in Concord to fix the bail system that’s made Manchester ground zero for a revolving door system for criminals.

“People need to feel safe on our streets. The safety of our citizens is non-negotiable. We cannot allow our community to experience this repeat criminal activity,” Ruais said.

As state lawmakers debate different proposals to fix the bail system, Ruais and city leaders advocated for two changes they say would have a meaningful impact: Eliminate personal recognizance bail for all felony charges, and require anyone who is arrested while on bail to go before a judge for a new bail hearing.

Assistant Police Chief Peter Marr said the problem of repeat offenders getting easy personal recognizance bail and then going on to commit more crimes is directly tied to the 2018 bail reform law. The broken system is pushing police officers to the brink, Marr said.

“It’s very tough, it is a morale decreaser,” Marr said. “It does have an effect.”

The most common charges for people on bail are drug possession, being a felon in possession of a dangerous weapon, simple assault, and criminal threatening, Ruais said.

“The questions that I would ask is this: Which of these crimes are acceptable to [allow to] occur repeatedly in our community? And what is it going to take to fix this?” Ruais said.

In the summer of 2022, Raymond Moore, now 42, allegedly stabbed and killed 75-year-old Manchester resident Daniel Whitmore. Whitmore had been walking and feeding ducks when he was allegedly killed by Moore, a man who at the time was on bail for two different cases, one involving an assault charge and one involving resisting arrest. Moore is currently being held after he was found incompetent to stand trial.

Ruais got elected with a promise to tackle crime, addiction, and homelessness that’s impacting Manchester’s quality of life. During a meeting this week with the board members of the 1269 Cafe, a Christian outreach ministry for the city’s homeless located on Union Street, Ruais said the board members expressed concern with safety in the surrounding neighborhood.

Even with statistics showing a drop in criminal activity in Manchester, that is not what is happening around the 1269 Cafe, Ruais said.

“The problem is they don’t see it’s getting better,” Ruais said.

Staff at 1269 were unable to comment to NHJournal Wednesday. Inside 1269’s facility, people were being served meals downstairs while staff upstairs assisted others with rehabilitation intake services. Outside the building a group of homeless people gathered, and there were many small sidewalk encampments throughout the neighborhood.

Manchester’s problem with repeat offender crime is a problem that affects the whole state, Ruais said. Repeat offenders drive the perception the city is not safe for businesses, residents, and visitors in New Hampshire’s largest city. Manchester can be an economic force for good in the Granite State, he said, but it is being held back by the 25 to 30 percent of repeat offender criminals.

“A thriving Manchester is good for the entire state of New Hampshire,” Ruais said.

Less than 24 hours after being sworn in, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais was already at work on one of his top priorities: reducing crime on his city’s streets by fixing the state’s broken bail system.

Ruais led a bipartisan coalition of Manchester officials to the capitol Wednesday morning, where he laid out what he sees as the brutal math from lax bail rules.

“The reason I made this one of my first official acts is to highlight the importance of this issue to our city,” Ruais said. “In 2023, 813 criminals were arrested, released, and rearrested. Many of these criminals were not just arrested for petty crimes but violent assaults, robberies, and other serious offenses.

“There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that would have a more transformative effect on the city of Manchester than reforming our state’s bail laws,” Ruais added.

Since 2018’s controversial bail reform law, thousands of alleged Manchester criminals charged with violent crimes have been released without bail only to get arrested on new charges. Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester) said some of those suspects have been charged with murder.

“Eight is the number of times my constituent was stabbed to death by somebody already out on double-PR bail,” Berry said.

Ruais, a Republican, scored his upset victory over Democrat Kevin Cavanaugh in last year’s election by running on issues like crime, homelessness, and the city’s lack of order. The word is out on the street in Manchester that criminals get a free pass, Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long warned.

“I recall being in a (homeless) encampment in Manchester and overhearing the residents in that encampment talking about no concern with breaking into cars, trespassing. There was no concern (because) they would be back out on the street in a couple of hours,” Long said.

Long is also a Democratic state representative.

The original bail reform bill passed in 2018 was aimed at keeping poor people who are charged with non-violent crimes from getting locked up because they could not afford a $100 or $200 cash bail, according to Sen. Donna Soucy (D-Manchester). Soucy said even in 2018, she and other lawmakers were worried about the unintended consequences.

“This has been an issue for a long time,” Soucy said. “I was in the Senate when we initially enacted bail reform, and although well-intentioned, I think we all recognized this law needs fine-tuning.”

Ruais promised in Tuesday’s inaugural address he would champion bail reform and lobby lawmakers until they got it right.

“The fight for our security will continue today, it will continue tomorrow, and it will continue until everyone in our community feels safe,” Ruais said Tuesday.

Ruais made sure to get to Concord Wednesday, on his first full day on the job, to put friendly pressure on lawmakers as they opened their legislative session for the year. Two proposed bail reform bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, have a good chance to pass this session.

Ruais isn’t saying which proposal he prefers, leaving it up to legislators to do their job in crafting a bill that works and will pass.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted to move its bill, SB-249, to the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Daryl Abbas (R-Salem) said it is past time for a bail reform bill that protects people.

“We have heard testimony for years in both the House and the Senate that we need bail reform. We have dangerous individuals committing crimes, being released on bail, and then immediately reoffending,” Abbas said. “No one should be denied bail solely because they cannot afford it, and this bill will not change that. This bill requires a judge to determine whether a violent offender poses a threat to the public before being released. Senate Republicans have been fighting for years for common sense bail reform, and we will continue to do so to keep our communities safe.”

Voters take to the polls on Tuesday after another violent week in Manchester.

Three people were stabbed Saturday by a man wielding a box cutter at the Capital Auto Auction on Londonderry Turnpike. Byron Bloomfield, 25, is charged with three counts of first-degree assault for the attack.

But, there is a good chance Bloomfield will be back on the streets in time to vote. The Queen City keeps seeing people charged with serious crimes get easy bail.

On Tuesday, Manchester Police arrested Anastase Kabura, 24, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon while investigating a disturbance on Precourt Street. Kabura had been arrested days before on a disorderly conduct charge and was quickly released.

The revolving door at the courthouse is leaving Manchester’s streets unsafe, said Jay Ruais, the GOP candidate for mayor.

“Time and time again, we see violent criminals released on bail and rearrested. We must fix the broken bail system to keep our streets and neighborhoods safe … The safety and well-being of Manchester residents and visitors is at risk every time a violent criminal is released back out onto our streets,” Ruais said. 

In recent months, two men charged in an Elm Street shooting got released on relatively low cash bail. In another incident, 10 people were arrested for being part of a street fight in the area of Auburn and Cedar Streets, where two men were stabbed. Most of the suspects were quickly released on bail.

Ruais is running as a change agent against current Mayor Joyce Craig’s hand-picked successor, Democrat Kevin Cavanaugh. Ruais wants to see the bail system plaguing New Hampshire fixed, he wants to concretely deal with the city’s growing homeless problem, and he wants to get a handle on the opioid crisis.

Critics of the city’s current leadership argue Cavanaugh is essentially running as Craig 2.0, offering more of the same policies the incumbent mayor has already tried. “I want to build on the progress we’ve made in the past few years,” Cavanaugh said in an ad.

Many Manchester residents don’t see the past few years as a time of progress.

Manchester’s homeless population continues to grow, seeing a major increase over the past several years. According to the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness, the Manchester region was home to more than 1,700 homeless people in 2021, the most recent data available.

The homeless population is tied to the city’s opioid addiction crisis, with half the opioid overdoses taking place among that group. 

“We have a city filled with promise, but the drug problem and homeless crisis are contributing to the serious public safety concerns we have and are keeping us from reaching our full potential,” Ruais said.

Manchester is on track for more than 720 opioid overdoses this year, according to American Medical Response data, the biggest number of overdoses since 2016.

Crime statistics show Manchester is the top spot for violent crime in New Hampshire, far outpacing other cities and towns. Data from the Manchester Police Department show the city is experiencing a drop in property crime this year, though violent crime reports are holding steady compared to prior years.

“The status quo that we are seeing here in the city cannot continue,” Ruais told WMUR. “We cannot tolerate the disorder and dysfunction we’re seeing on our streets, and we also can’t tolerate the human suffering we’re seeing.”

Hours after Nashua’s James Morris was charged with senselessly assaulting police officers during a traffic stop, he made bail and was back on the streets.

“It’s certainly frustrating for the officers,” said Nashua Sgt. John Cinelli. 

James Morris

Morris, 32, is just one of the alleged violent offenders who have caused mayhem in recent days in incidents throughout the state, incidents abetted by New Hampshire’s reformed bail system. 

The 2018 bail reform was meant to eliminate the unintended consequence of the cash bail system that resulted in cases of poor people charged with relatively minor, nonviolent crimes but who were unable to afford bail.

People like Jeffrey Pendleton, a 26-year-old Nashua panhandler arrested in 2016 on a marijuana possession charge. Pendleton ended up in Valley Street Jail in Manchester when he couldn’t come up with the $100 cash bail. Five days later, he was found dead in his cell from a drug overdose.

But now, instead of protecting poor, nonviolent offenders, bail reform is letting people charged with violent felonies stay on the street.

Police stopped Morris’ car near School Street Friday night, and he refused to give the officers his identity before he decided to start fighting with them, according to Cinelli.

“We have no idea why he did that,” Cinelli said.

On Thursday, Concord homeless man Victor Manns, 23, allegedly stabbed two tourists on South Main Street and led officers on a prolonged manhunt. Manns’ was walking around despite being charged with assault in June and again in August in separate incidents.

Victor Manns

According to police, the couple were in their car parked in front of a business on South Main Street when Manns, wearing a mask and a hood, approached and began hitting the car. The alarmed couple got out of the car. Manns reportedly brandished his knife, threatened the pair, and then stabbed them, according to police.

Manns ran from the scene of the attack, kicking off a two-hour police search of the downtown area before he was captured.

On Friday, Claremont woman Brandie Jones, 33, allegedly hit a Nashua police officer with her car to avoid a felony arrest. At the time of the incident, Jones was wanted in Londonderry on warrants, including a breach of her previous bail in another case.

Brandie Jones

Nashua police had previously stopped Jones but gave a false name to officers as she had been convicted of being a habitual traffic offender by the state. If caught driving, habitual offenders face new felony charges.

After getting stopped for the second time on Friday night, Cinelli said Jones was getting out of her car as instructed by police when she changed her mind. With the door still open, she got back in the driver’s seat and sped off. The open car door hit one officer, Cinelli said.

Jones made it to Londonderry, where she ditched her car and ran. Londonderry Police eventually found her with the help of a police dog and took her into custody. 

Cinelli said that none of the Nashua officers suffered any serious injuries from the incidents involving Jones and Morris. The couple attacked by Manns both suffered lacerations, and one sustained minor injuries, which required a trip to the hospital. 

Cinelli said the 2018 bail reform law makes it easy for people charged with a crime to avoid jail, get back out, and re-offend. 

“When these guys are getting bail and getting out that quickly, what is going to stop (them) from doing it to more officers or civilians who don’t have the ability to defend themselves,” Cinelli said.

Jay Ruais, the Republican running to replace Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, has been demanding changes to the state’s bail system as crime becomes a bigger problem in the Queen City. In recent weeks, two men charged in an Elm Street shooting got released on relatively low cash bail. In another incident, 10 people were arrested for being part of a street fight in the area of Auburn and Cedar Streets, where two men were stabbed. Most of those suspects were quickly released on bail.

“Violent, dangerous, and repeat offenders should never be on our streets,” Ruais said. “As mayor, I will make sure our police have the resources and tools they need to make our community more safe.”

Manchester’s next mayor needs to deal with the city’s homeless crisis and rampant crime, and members of the Manchester Business Alliance (MBA) who attended Wednesday night think Republican Jay Ruais is the man for the job.

Ruais trounced his three Democratic competitors, Kevin Cavanaugh, Will Stewart, and June Trisciani, in the MBA straw pool Wednesday evening. Ruais got 84 percent of the vote following the group’s town hall forum with the candidates, where he focused his message on making Manchester safe.

“Manchester is looking for solutions and action, not talk,” Ruais said.

Ruais is the sole Republican in the race and the only candidate who is not a member of the Board of Aldermen. He has made public safety — in particular, crime and the city’s homelessness crisis — his top issue. Last month, he laid out a comprehensive plan to deal with homelessness, and he is the only candidate who has pledged to promote a bail reform plan to keep more offenders off Manchester streets.

A homeless encampment at Pine and Manchester Streets near the Families in Transition emergency shelter in Manchester.

“This truth was evident in (Wednesday) night’s straw poll. As the issues portion of the poll indicated, homelessness and crime are the two biggest issues in our city, and I am the only candidate in this race to have introduced a comprehensive plan to end the homeless crisis and make our neighborhoods and streets safer,” Ruais said.

The city’s homeless crisis continues to grow as the number of people living on the streets in dangerous and unclean camps in parks and on sidewalks steadily increases. This week, Cavanaugh, Stewart, and Trisciani all voted against a proposed fix for the city’s ordinance against camping on public property.

Republican Alderman Joseph Kelly Levasseur, who proposed the change, told WFEA’s Drew Cline Thursday that the Democratic-controlled Board of Aldermen is allowing the problem to worsen.

“Manchester has branded itself as the place to come if you are a homeless person,” Levasseur said.

Homeless people are living all over the city, mostly in the downtown areas. Parks and sidewalks have become encampments and no-go zones for some residents.

The sidewalks around the Families in Transition adult emergency shelter at the corner of Manchester and Pine streets host one homeless camp in the heart of the city. Men and women were seen in makeshift shelters there last weekend, sprawled out on the sidewalk. People in the camps were aggressive and violent when encountered by NHJournal.

No one on the Board of Aldermen seems serious about dealing with the immediate problem and its negative impact on the quality of life in the city, Levasseur told Cline. 

Levasseur believes Manchester’s handling of homelessness is in conflict with state law, and he wants city police to have more tools to use to stop camping on public property. The proposed change would have resulted in civil violations and possible fines for homeless people who camp on public property. 

Moving people out of homeless camps on public property is a hot-button issue in the Queen City, with opponents claiming it violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

“I don’t understand why getting a citation is the same as ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’” Levasseur told Cline. “If you want to talk about ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ try being an alderman under Joyce Craig.”

The city opened a new shelter this year after Mayor Joyce Craig ordered one homeless camp cleared. But the problem only seems to get worse, Levasseur said. He argued Manchester taxpayers have shelled out $29 million over the last six years funding shelters, new staff, and other initiatives to deal with the crisis to little effect. 

“Every single thing we can do we have done, but there doesn’t seem to be an end to it,” Levasseur said.