Three newcomers are vying to replace outgoing councilor Karen McNamara to represent the heart of downtown Concord in the city’s fourth ward.
Two of them, Mark Davie and Jeffrey Garrett Tynes, responded to candidate questionnaires and attended a Monitor Forum. The third candidate, Elijah Wilson, confirmed that he had received the questionnaire but did not complete it and did not participate in the forums.
Davie and Tynes have a lot in common: they’re renters who moved to Concord early in their careers and have come to call it home; they want to see the city expand its housing supply and plan to push for changes that would make it easier to build here.
As a regional planner by trade, Davie has pointed to the idea of pre-approved plans — where the city would craft a small set of blueprints that come with the needed permissions in certain areas — as an option to explore. Tynes has signaled his support.
They also agree that not enough is being done to ease homelessness in the city, though Tynes, an assistant county attorney who highlighted his relationships with police, has been more clearly in favor of greater law enforcement action on the issue.
He has pointed to a need for more sober living facilities and other paths out of homelessness, while also saying he wants police to more strongly enforce loitering and trespassing laws. As a renter, he noted, he felt powerless when tents were set up near his apartment.
“While I don’t think we should be criminalizing the unhoused,” he said, “I do think we need to enforce it for ensuring public safety.”
Tynes does not support the idea of a sanctioned encampment in the city, while Davie has said he’s open to it, depending on the details.
Davie and Tynes, at 27 and 34, respectively, are also both younger than every current city councilor. As people who fell in love with Concord’s combination of a busy main street and ample outdoor recreation, they want to see more younger adults put down roots in the city, and think bolstering nighttime businesses and passing social districts are one step forward.
Davie said he is committed to bringing younger voices into the conversation. That was what motivated him to apply to the zoning board, where he currently serves, shortly after moving to the city and what’s driving his bid to join the council.
“I have found in my day job that I’m often the youngest person in the room,” he said. “I wanted to turn that around in Concord.”