Portsmouth 2023 City Council candidate Esther Kennedy
Name: Esther Kennedy
Education: Master of science, Antioch Graduate School, Keene. New Hampshire certification in administration. Notre Dame College, Manchester, bachelor science, social studies/history, Mansfield University.
Occupation: Director of student services, Gilford School District. Professor of graduate studies, Plymouth State University. Owner of Esther’s Marina LLC and T.
Political or civic experience highlights: City-wide, I have participated on Portsmouth Listens, served as a Portsmouth city councilor and served on the following committees: Pierce Island, Port of NH, HDC, Skateboard Park, and Rockingham County Planning Commission. At the state level, I have sat on the Governor’s Commission for Marine Fisheries, Governor’s Task Force on Autism, the Advisory Committee to the Governor on Special Education. And NHTI Board of Education.
Are you working with any consultants, groups, or a slate of candidates? If yes, please disclose who you’re working with.: I am not working with registered consultants, groups, or packs. I do support other candidates that are running for a variety of positions in the city as a citizen. I will be hosting my traditional Saturday morning backyard candidates meet and greet, where I invite candidates down to meet residents of Portsmouth in my back yard.
What is the biggest problem Portsmouth is facing and how you would solve it?: The biggest problem facing Portsmouth is: What do we want to be when we grow up? Portsmouth needs to take a pause and think. We are at a turning point with development, and we need to decide what is best for our future. We currently have infrastructure issues with our wastewater, drinking water, and storm water. People are concerned with the amount of over-building in our neighborhoods. Citizens have expressed their concerns with the lack of support for preservation of historical areas by the city and developers. It is clear that people want to live and work in their city. However, this current council raised the budget by $18.2 million and added 36 positions to the budget with zero population increase. This is not sustainable.
My solution: a revision of the Master Plan by the citizens for the citizens. We need to have residents decide what makes Portsmouth great and how we want to look at infrastructure, zoning, and budgeting to meet residents’ vision of tomorrow.
Should the city work to create below market rate housing, and where is the best site?:
We have three options of how to look at affordable housing/below market rate housing in Portsmouth.
1) Work with adjoining communities to support a task force to look at how to handle the need of housing. Affordable housing is a Seacoast problem not just a Portsmouth issue.
2) Amend our zoning laws to ask for financial support or mandate affordable housing to be built by our developers. This is taking place in other communities already.
3) Give property owners tax incentives to offer lower rates to renters and look at taxes for the property owners of multi units.
This brings a point of interest with this current council on affordability. During one council meeting, at the end of the meeting the council voted to let a developer change their incentive to develop affordable housing. To be clear, the Planning Board gave an incentive to a developer to build affordable housing. The developer agreed to sell units at an affordable rate. Unfortunately, almost a year later, the city manager convinced the City Council, without going to the Planning Board, to allow the developer to change their plans, and allow less affordable housing as rental units. This allowed for more financial gain for the. Now we have less affordable housing units in our city. We as citizens figured out quickly there was a problem and we spoke against them voting for this during public comment. Unfortunately, the current council still voted against increasing below market housing.
Should the council continue to try to acquire the Thomas J. McIntyre federal building property?: I cannot give an answer to this given the many unknowns. First, the number of non-public council meetings and the switching of McIntyre plans by the current council. Second, the fact that the federal government’s auction is closing on 9/26/23 with a current bid of a little over $5 million and going up as I write this. Lastly, the lawsuit between Mr. Kane and the city. We have not had any updates from the council on the lawsuit.
One would hope that we could depend on our investigative journalism from the local paper for answers. However, can we trust the Seacoastonline/Portsmouth Herald for an accurate assessment of the situation? There might be a conflict with the fact that Mr. Kane has bought their old building and they have moved to an office space owned by Mr. Kane. Can we be assured that they are not conflicted on the topic?
Do you support the council’s spending level on the last two budgets? If not, what’s an appropriate level?: I do not support the council’s spending level of $18.2 million in two years. I support even less the council adding 36 positions to the budget in two years. I have asked every year that we evaluate all retirements to see if we need to keep the position. This is how many entities look at fiscal management without letting people go. As someone who has run a multimillion-dollar budget for a school district for the past 25 years, I understand fiscal management. At these levels, we are adding employees and increasing the budget at a rate we cannot sustain. With our current rate of budget increases, we will not have a multigenerational, diverse population of citizens in the future.
Should Market Square be open to pedestrian and bike travel only?: This is not a council decision this is a community decision. The decision to shut down the downtown to cars needs to be vetted through a Master Plan process and voted on by the people.
How do you feel about the safety and aesthetics of outdoor dining in the city?: Outdoor dining served a purpose during a difficult time. It needs to be revised as we move forward. However, our city should not hurt any small business and unfortunately, some businesses have been affected by putting dinning in the streets. Our restaurants and stores have lost parking and we have blocked residents’ ability to run into the shops for a quick item. I agree with what the Economic Commission has put forward. The commission is asking the restaurants to pay a more appropriate rate to use the city property.
What’s a bigger priority, building a new police station or an indoor sports arena?: ? In a city like ours, there are always projects. We should not pit recreation against the police. The police station talks have started. I believe the current police facility has a lot of concerns and problems, and we should continue to move forward on either upgrading or building a new station. I do believe the community still needs to give more input on the idea of a new police station and where it should be. At the public meeting on the topic last week 9/21/23, the city shared they will continue to gather public input. There will be a public process and I encourage citizens that have opinions to attend.As far as an indoor sports arena: For those that are interested in a sports arena, they need to come to city council and ask to create a blue-ribbon committee and get started on planning the best way to complete and fund the task. It might be that this group will need to look at a regional center that meets the needs.As an individual who played sports in college and owns a kayaking business, I understand the importance of sports in peoples' lives. Given the mental health concerns in our population and positive data of students involved in sports, I would encourage this to be evaluated by the recreational board.
Should the council address the pace and type of development in the city? If yes, how?: Like many, I feel that the city has gone too far in the development of our city. As a city we have to remember what makes Portsmouth the city we all love. What makes us a city that people want to visit?
I believe it is because of our seaport, history, arts, and culture. We need to stop selling our souls and make sure we can keep what is left of our city for our future. Yes, the city needs new zoning laws and a better strategy for development!
Does the city need to regulate overnight parking on city streets and lots by RVs and campers?: Given our current zoning laws, they have the right to be there. I attended the Parking Traffic and Safety meeting where this was discussed. It was clear the committee did not want to change the ordinance. The fire chief gave a passionate speech about one of his firefighters that lived in a camper van. There were people that felt similar, and also those that disagreed.
I do believe this is a new mode of housing that the Z generation enjoys. I have enjoyed talking with individuals that have come down to kayak and have shared their stories of working here in the summer and working the ski areas in the west in the winter.
We need to address this with our boards and commissions. The committee needs to decide if we want to support this, and if so, what the infrastructure like dump outs, water hookups, and electric power. Additionally, what will the fees and upkeep associated with these new city amenities be. We cannot have people dumping their sewage down storm drains.
I remember the same discussion taking place years ago for the X generation that wanted to live on their boats. We made it through that by creating infrastructure that would come to the boat to pump it out.
Is overserving at city bars and restaurants a public safety issue?: Given the current events that have taken place in our city, I do believe overserving at city bars can be a public safety issue.
Has Portsmouth changed for the better or worse during the past decade?: I have witnessed a lot of change in our great city. I do believe our city has many strengths and that is why we all live here, and why you are reading my answers. However, in recent years our city planning department and city management has let us down as residents. This is why I feel it is time to take a look at what we want to be when we grow up. If we do not visit this now there will be no going back. We need to work on updating our 10-year Master Plan and ask questions like the following:
What does open space look like in our city in 10 years?
Do we continue to allow buildings in our buffer zones or do we look at preservation?
What does it mean to preserve our historical city?
Do we want to keep our neighborhoods traditional and historical, or do we want new architectural changes and more density?
Do we support fiscal responsibility as a city?
What does supporting the arts and culture mean with limited housing?
Do we want no cars in the downtown or not?
These are just a few of the questions that have come up in my talking with residents, but there are many more out there. Portsmouth will continue to change but it will be up to your city council to make sure you have a voice as a resident and make sure you are part of future changes. As a city councilor I will listen and make sure your voice is heard.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth 2023 City Council candidate Esther Kennedy
