Thirty-five years have passed since Robert Washburn last served on the city council, but in his view, not much has changed: Concord is still an excellent place to live and raise a family, he said, just as it was then.
What’s different, according to Washburn, is the culture shift among city councilors. He remembers the Concord City Council as a collegial group that worked through issues together. Now, he sees the group as one of “backbiting” and one that fails to serve as a voice of taxpayers.
“Things tend to get glossed over,” he said. “At times, it seems like it’s a get-along-to-go-along crowd. That’s not me.”
Washburn is one of five candidates vying for two at-large seats on the council. He faces longtime incumbents Fred Keach and Amanda Grady Sexton, plus two fellow challengers, Fisto Ndayishimiye and Jeanne Chase.
Keach, Washburn and Ndayishimiye participated in candidate forums held by the Monitor earlier this month. Grady Sexton was unable to attend due to a prior commitment; Chase did not respond to the invitation.
As property owners in Concord face tax hikes with multi-million dollar projects on the way, candidates across the board have questioned the city council’s role and oversight of the budgeting process, as well as ways to expand the tax base to generate more revenue.
One such idea is the redevelopment of Steeplegate Mall into a mixed-use property with hundreds of apartments and major retailers. Concord officials have chosen to go behind closed doors to discuss how much taxpayer money might be invested in the overhaul.
Washburn, who served several terms as an at-large and Ward 4 city councilor, and Ndayishimiye, a local organizer who came to Concord as a refugee, said they wouldn’t want to funnel tax dollars to subsidize the development.
Impact fees would be a fair levy on the Steeplegate developers, Washburn said, and Ndayishimiye wants it the other way around, where developers pay taxes to take the pressure off local residents.
“I think we have to make sure that we’re investing in our community, not taking away from our community,” he said.
Keach said businesses already pay “a huge amount of taxes” in Concord and that shouldering more on them wouldn’t be sustainable. The development at Steeplegate is already planned, he said, and now the city is negotiating how much it might contribute to make the project happen. A public investment would pay off, he said.
Washburn argued the city’s already pitching in through sewer and other infrastructure improvements in preparation for that development. Any further taxpayer expenses, he said, would require strict scrutiny.
“I would really have to see some hardcore evidence,” Washburn said.
Depending on the details of a deal, Keach said he’d be interested in public-private partnerships or forming a tax increment financing district, another way to allow the developer to invest public money into the project.
“The more commercial development we can put on the books, the more commercial taxes that are paid, is less of a burden on residential property taxes,” Keach said. “So, if we can make smart economic development in our businesses and commercial development, it’s only going to help the local taxpayer.”
Attracting new businesses is key, Grady Sexton wrote in responses to a Monitor questionnaire. She said Concord must add tens of millions of dollars in development annually to avoid overburdening taxpayers as costs rise.
“I feel that Concord has gone backwards in terms of economic development, and it’s critical that we re-establish ourselves as business-friendly to attract developers and businesses who are willing to invest in our community,” she said.
Increasing the tax base is just one way to ease the pressure on property owners. Jeanne Chase, a small business owner, lamented some of Concord’s major developments and instead focused on cutting expenses. She doesn’t feel that the current city government has shown much regard for residents on that front.
“My primary concern is that of the ever-increasing tax burden levied on resident homeowners and business owners. The unnecessary spending contributing to this tax burden has to end,” Chase said. “Time after time, I have watched the Concord City Council approve major spending that is clearly neither urgent nor mandatory.”
She did not give any specific examples.
What to do about Loudon Road?
The Concord City Council often discusses public safety, and several candidates have made it a top priority — especially for issues like crime, homelessness and traffic safety.
In the wake of two recent deaths on Loudon Road, notorious for car and pedestrian crashes, Keach and Ndayishimiye said they’d be open to redesigning the area, which is one of Concord’s main commercial thoroughfares.
Keach said he’d be open to narrowing Loudon Road to just one lane in each direction with a turn lane. It currently has two lanes traveling in each direction with no turn lane. That approach proved successful for slowing traffic on Main Street years ago, he said.
Keach also said he doesn’t want Concord Heights, the area surrounding Loudon Road, to be forgotten — especially since residents there rely more on public transportation, bikes and walking than other parts of the city.
“We need, really, to pay attention to the folks that live in the neighborhood because I think oftentimes the residents in the Heights are forgotten,” Keach said. “We too often think of the Heights as just a commercial, big-box commercial zone, and we forget about the folks that are living in the apartments and homes just off Loudon Road.”
Ndayishimiye said safety improvements should be made to help retain more people in the city.
“Concord is still not a welcome city for young people,” Ndayishimiye said. Attracting younger residents and families, he said, starts with “modern transportation” and making the community more accessible in a variety of ways.
Concord residents will weigh in on their hopes for the city’s future in the election on Nov. 4.