Kris Schultz and Andrew Georgevits hail from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but if there’s one thing they can agree on, it’s that the Concord City Council needs to run a tighter ship when it comes to spending tax dollars.
“They voted on a budget that they had no idea about,” said Georgevits, who is running for Schultz’s seat on the city council. “That’s what really scares me, is councilors are voting on budgets that have no idea what’s even in the budget.”
After a late-night meeting discussing the city’s spending plan in June, city councilors authorized the city manager to cut the last bit of spending needed for a balanced budget.
Schultz, who’s seeking reelection in Concord’s ninth ward, voted against that suggestion. She understands longtime councilors trust City Manager Tom Aspell, who’s worked for Concord for more than 20 years. As a newcomer finishing her first term, though, she took issue with it — she said she would have preferred going through and voting on the whole budget, line by line, to the very end.
“We are elected by the people, and we should be the ones that are held accountable for what decisions are approved or not approved,” Schultz said. “It feels to me like we’re abdicating our responsibility as elected officials, and I don’t like it.”
The race sets up a rematch from 2023, when Schultz won by 68 votes. She represents Ward 9, which includes Keach Park, parts of the Concord Heights and other areas north of Loudon Road. Both candidates said they want local officials to pay greater attention to city matters and communicate with constituents.
Schultz said she wants councilors to have more of a pulse on city happenings and said loose ends shouldn’t be left to the city manager’s office. Otherwise, things like budget shortfalls and union contracts come as a last-minute surprise, she said, as they did earlier this month when councilors were caught off guard by slower-than-expected growth in Concord’s tax base.
Another shock for Schultz was the derailing of the Keach Park lights earlier this year, which is in Ward 9. She said she thought the project was a done deal, so it came as a “shock” when a city committee, which had no representation from Ward 9, recommended the Council nix the project. Though it got back on track, Schultz said these things don’t need to be a surprise.
“There’s a layer of this that I’m still learning about that is a big part of the city manager style of governing, that there’s this whole layer of decision-making and agenda-setting that we sometimes don’t know until Council day or the days before a Council meeting,” Schultz said. “I think we just need better communication overall.”
Georgevits said city councilors, including Schultz, should’ve seen the budget issues coming.
When it comes to finances, Georgevits says he wants better explanations from the city manager before decisions are made. Rather than directing an unelected official to tie up all the loose ends, Georgevits said councilors need to be involved in that process, line by line.
“I’m accountable for my home budget of where every dollar goes. We’re not just doing blatant, line-item budgets at my house,” Georgevits said. “I wouldn’t expect that for the city.”
Community involvement
Georgevits took aim at Schultz’s attendance and attentiveness as a councilor, criticizing her for missing some council and committee meetings. He volunteers at the annual multicultural festival and at the Kiwanis Club of Concord, but he said he doesn’t see her out in the community at local events, either.
“She’s supposed to be the voice of the constituents,” Georgevits said, “so if you don’t show up, we’re voiceless.”
Schultz argued she is present in Ward 9, involved with interfaith groups and volunteer work at a shelter. Her father-in-law is sick, she said, so she’s not “as active as I used to be,” but she has served both as a state representative and on four city committees as a councilor. Sometimes, those duties overlap and she must choose which to attend.
If re-elected, Schultz said she hopes to serve on the city’s traffic committee, especially with the recent deaths on Loudon Road, much of which falls in Ward 9.
Addressing homelessness
As with many candidates in Concord’s local elections, Schultz and Georgevits have their own takes on how the city should handle homelessness.
Concord needs to create a “one-stop shop” for resources, Schultz said, and she wants the City Council to spearhead that. The city has a welfare office, and Concord is home to several nonprofits that help people experiencing homelessness. Schultz would like to see them join forces and collaborate more directly. That’d save time and money for the people who need them.
“For people who are already stressed out and trying to do what they need to do to keep their families or themselves doing all that they’re supposed to be doing, I think that we need to do a much better job at being there for them,” Schultz said.
Georgevits said Concord has all the resources and facilities people could need — the onus is on individuals to access them. If they don’t want help, he said, then it’s time to enforce the law.
“You’re not going to go downtown if there’s homeless people sprawled out on the block or if there’s feces or needles,” Georgevits said. “You want to go where it’s safe, and addressing that should be the main concern of the City Council.”
‘Local as it comes’
Schultz, who spent her career in Democratic politics, now serves as a Democratic state representative in the New Hampshire House. Georgevits, who’s running for Schultz’s seat on City Council, chairs the Concord City Republican Committee. He’s also run for the House several times, unsuccessfully.
But city council positions are nonpartisan jobs, and both candidates said they want it to stay that way. Councilors deal more with budgets than they do with ideology.
Georgevits said he hopes Concord voters will “vote for the person.” Whether he’s a Republican or Democrat doesn’t matter, he said, when it comes to residents’ tax bills.
“This is a local, local as it comes, election,” Georgevits said. “It has nothing to do with the state. It has nothing to do with the federal government. It has to do with Concord, New Hampshire, taxpayers.”
Despite that, Schultz said a candidate’s political party can inform their values, no matter how removed from partisan, national politics.
“I respect the fact that the average citizen and my constituents want us to not put party ahead of what we do, and I do believe I’ve done that,” Schultz said, “but your values influence how you make decisions.”