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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.

Hours before her termination hearing in front of Manchester’s Board of Aldermen, Housing Stability Director Adrienne Beloin took a deal to resign her post and end her public spat with elected officials.

Beloin walks away with a $57,000 payment, according to sources, after she spent weeks trashing board members in public when they began questioning her management of the city’s Beech Street shelter. Aldermen complained about Beloin’s condescending answers to their questions and her refusal to follow the board’s guidance.

When asked for comment, Mayor Jay Ruais’ office released a statement: “The personnel matter has been resolved, and the mayor has received Ms. Beloin’s resignation effective tomorrow, April 12, 2024. The mayor will not be commenting on personnel matters.”

Beloin refused to accept the board’s policy and said it lacked the necessary experience to set the agenda for her department.

“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,” she told Aldermen at a public meeting last week.

Beloin doubled and tripled down, going to the media and blasting the board for pushing her out and claiming it lacked the expertise to instruct her regarding homeless policy.

At one point, she claimed the board giving her an office in the Beech Street shelter was retaliation.

Beloin’s lack of a permanent office in city hall was something she wanted corrected, but apparently balked when given an office in the shelter she oversaw.

While Beloin tried to turn the controversy into a personal issue between herself and individual board members, a source close to the negotiations told NHJournal the real problem came down to policy.

It was Beloin’s refusal to be accountable to elected leaders and to follow their policy directive that ultimately ended her tenure.

“This isn’t personal; it’s policy. She refused to do what the board wanted. What else were they supposed to do?” the source said.

Another city insider told NHJournal Beloin was protected by former Mayor Joyce Craig, who kept her away from aldermen who questioned how she did her job.

According to a report by the Union Leader, Beloin’s settlement included $27,064.36 in wages, $25,000 for compensatory damages, and $5,000 for attorney fees.

Manchester’s homelessness crisis, and Craig’s mishandling of that crisis, is seen as a primary reason for Ruais’ win in the mayoral race last year. The Republican ran on a promise of fixing the problem.

Beloin is now the city’s second Housing Stability Director to leave since the position was created a few years ago. The first director, Schonna Green, suddenly quit in 2022 after about a year and a half on the job, citing personal reasons.

Manchester’s homelessness crisis peaked in the winter of 2023 when a homeless woman gave birth to a child at an outdoor camp, and two people died in their tents. Homeless camps dominate parts of Manchester’s downtown, and those camps account for at least half of the city’s opioid overdose calls.

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.

“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.

The check, they say, is in the mail. But where is the Democrats’ plan to end the billion-dollar losses at the U.S. Postal Service?

All four members of the New Hampshire federal delegation held a press conference demanding the USPS keep its processing and distribution center in Manchester fully up and running. 

The USPS recently announced the Manchester facility will undergo a euphemistically titled process called an “operational evaluation.” That evaluation could mean layoffs or closure for the center.

Democrats Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas spoke outside the center Monday, vowing to keep the facility operating in the face of dire financial losses. The four even penned a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding he keep the Manchester site open.

“Our constituents depend on the Postal Service for prompt and reliable mail and package deliveries. Delays of critical deliveries, such as medications and benefit payments, can cause significant harm, especially for elderly Americans and those living in rural areas. The decisions the Postal Service is considering would put at risk the ability for individuals across New Hampshire to rely on the Postal Service to ensure their delivery needs are met,” they wrote.

It’s not clear which member paid the 68 cents for the first-class stamp — or if they simply sent an email.

In November, the USPS reported a $6.5 billion net loss for fiscal year 2023, and that the volume of first-class mail fell to its lowest level since 1968.

Taxpayers have already given the Postal Service and its union workers a massive bailout. In the Postal Service Reform Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, the post office was allowed to wipe out $57 billion in past-due liabilities and eliminate another $50 billion in payments due over the next 10 years.

All four members of the Granite State delegation voted for that legislation, which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion.

Consolidating mail sorting plants is part of Postmaster DeJoy’s 10-year plan to make the Postal Service solvent. If Shaheen and her fellow legislators get their way and force the Manchester facility to continue operating at current levels, what’s their plan to end the billion-dollar losses at the Postal Service?

NHJournal asked all four members of the delegation that question. They declined to respond.

“Sens. Shaheen and Hassan and Reps. Kuster and Pappas are wrong – every USPS facility should be subject to evaluation and review to ensure that the agency keeps costs under control for taxpayers and consumers,” said David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a consumer watchdog group. “An agency or business with losses in the billions needs to be ready to make painful cuts.”

But Dana Colletti, New Hampshire president of the American Postal Workers Union, rejected any proposed reductions in staff or consolidation of facilities. Cutting spending is not the way to fix the post office, he said.

“The answer is never a reduction in service. It would always be to improve service,” Colletti told NHJournal.

Asked how the USPS could continue to operate while losing $6.5 billion a year and with revenues declining, Coletti simply responded, “It’s a national institution.”

There are money-saving steps the agency can take, like ditching its expensive electric vehicle push, Williams said. The USPS committed to buy 66,000 electric delivery trucks last year.

“The USPS can also reduce red ink by halting costly electric vehicle purchases and ending the cross-subsidization of packages, money orders, and money-losing pilot programs. A fiscally healthier USPS would have more than enough resources to fund distribution centers and post offices that actually serve consumers,” Williams 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.”

Joy Douglas and two dozen fellow members of New Hampshire’s Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL) took to the streets of Manchester Wednesday night, chanting in support of Palestine and the “resistance” to Israel.

They were far outnumbered by the 300 or so people who gathered at the State House in Concord to rally on behalf of Israel in the wake of the worst terrorist attack on the Jewish state in its history.

At least 1,200 people were killed by Hamas terrorists, including entire families. There are confirmed reports of infants being beheaded and Israelis being burned to death. At least 22 Americans were murdered as well. Over 150 people have been taken hostage by Hamas, and the terrorists have threatened to execute the hostages and livestream the video.

“We are heartbroken over the terrorist attacks at the hands of Hamas against innocent Israelis – including beloved children, brothers, sisters, and parents,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a letter of support. “New Hampshire stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Israel today, and every day, and antisemitism will never be tolerated here.”

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who has long supported the Biden administration’s outreach to Iran and voted against pro-Israel resolutions in the past, announced Wednesday he was calling for the White House to reverse course on the $6 billion in assets released by the U.S.

“We must use every tool available to degrade Hamas’ ability to wage war against Israel. The Biden administration must re-freeze the $6 billion in assets currently held by Qatar and ensure that none can be used to aid and abet these heinous acts of terror.”

Even far-left progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have decried anti-Israel protests, breaking with her fellow members of “The Squad” like Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)

It might be a change of heart. Or it might be Democrats addressing the new political realities after Saturday’s attack.

A poll released Wednesday found nearly 7 in 10 voters sided with the Israelis (68 percent), while just 18 percent sided with the Palestinians. That included a majority (59 percent) of Democrats, a significant shift over polling in March that found more Democrats backed the Palestinians than Israel.

Opponents like Douglas and the PSL are undaunted.

“We stand with the struggle of the oppressed against the oppressors,” Douglas said. “The U.N. states clearly that those facing oppression, those who are facing apartheid and genocide, have every right to fight back.”

At the same time, Douglas insisted reports of mass Israeli civilian deaths at the hands of Hamas are untrue. No civilians were murdered in their homes, no hostages were taken by terrorists, and no 300 concertgoers were gunned down by terrorists using paragliders.

“There’s no documented evidence that those people are dead,” Douglas said. 

Douglas claimed the stories were lies propagated by a compliant media controlled by Israel.

PSL members are typically found protesting outside city hall, opposing any measure to curb Manchester’s rampant homeless problem. On Wednesday night, Douglas and the dozen or so other PLS members waved Palestinian flags and signs and chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It is a phrase used by Hamas and other antisemitic organizations calling for Israel’s destruction.

Some downtown pedestrians joined the chants, and passing drivers honked and shouted support.

The antisemites of the New England-based neo-Nazis at NSC-131 have also spoken out on behalf of Hamas.

NSC-131 posted a memo on its Telegram channel after the attack with a photo of a Nazi and a Hamas terrorist with the hashtags #DeathToIsreal and #OneStruggle.

Douglas said despite sharing a message with NSC-131 in favor of Palestinian terror against Israelis, the PSL group has nothing in common with the neo-Nazis. Instead, Douglas lumped NSC-131 and the Jews into the same group.

“They are fascists and Nazis; they are a fascist group just as the Zionists are a fascist group,” Douglas said.

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.