Sununu letter on homelessness rebuked by Dover, Somersworth mayors: 'We're struggling'

DOVER — Strafford County Commission Chairman George Maglaras called it "insanity" for the state of New Hampshire to expect municipalities to shoulder the burden of finding solutions for their homeless populations, with the added complexities of substance use and mental health.

Maglaras was responding to a letter received Tuesday from Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who defended the state government in response to a recent letter signed by eight New Hampshire mayors asking for help with homeless populations. Sununu's response was not what Dover Mayor Robert Carrier and Somersworth Mayor Dana Hilliard were looking for, either.

Earlier this month, the two Tri-City mayors joined six other mayors across the state, including Manchester's Joyce Craig, in signing the letter to Sununu and the state Department of Health and Human Services leaders. The letter asked the state to step up and provide aid to help cities and towns address the ever growing homeless population. Also signing wer mayors from Berlin, Franklin, Nashua, Claremont and Laconia.

The letter came two years after mayors of all 13 cities in the state, including the then-mayors of Rochester and Portsmouth, sent a letter to Sununu asking for help to assist with the homeless.

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This time, eight mayors asked for federal funds to be allocated for more shelter beds and resources, with an emphasis on women and youth. First-term Rochester Mayor Paul Callaghan, a Republican who was endorsed by Sununu when he was elected in 2021, did not sign the letter, stating he prefers face-to-face discussions on the subject.

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Sununu indicated he was setting aside a date and time for a preliminary meeting with the mayors. It will held in Concord, Jan. 20 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the old Merrimack County Courthouse at 163 North Main St.

In the letter Sununu seemed to chastise the mayors, saying "The state has always and will continue to be open to meaningful collaboration on this issue with your cities and other municipalities across the state. However, politically motivated letters merely muddy the water and make that mutual goal of collaboration more difficult to achieve."

Hilliard, a Democrat, responded to Sununu's assertion the mayors' letter was politically motivated.

"If ensuring citizens are not sleeping in tents on city streets, living in cars and the woods and searching for long-term, sustainable solutions is politically motivated, then the mayors are guilty as charged by the governor," Hilliard said. "The hard reality is New Hampshire cities continue to struggle with an issue that is beyond the means of them being able to manage. I am proud of the work the Tri-City mayors and county have done at trying to pick away at the iceberg of homelessness. Our ... approach will make a difference in the people's lives who are struggling the most. However, until the state acknowledges that this is a crisis that must be tackled, and supported through increased means from Concord, New Hampshire cities will continue to pick away at the iceberg with a toothpick."

"We are frustrated," Carrier said. "We just want to be on the same page. We want to be team players but it doesn't seem he wants to work with us."

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In the letter, Sununu spoke about money and programs in place to help the municipalities, including in December adding 10 new contracts totaling $1 million for one-time grants to one vendor in each county for the operation of cold weather shelters or other non-traditional cold weather response. He wrote the funds can be used to cover operational costs of a physical cold weather shelter, hotel stays for individuals/families experiencing unsheltered homelessness who cannot otherwise stay in an emergency shelter or the purchase of cold weather supplies for individuals who do not accept shelter referrals, or for other community specific responses to homelessness in cold weather.

"It's an easy statement for the governor to make," Carrier said. "We are struggling with this. Manchester is struggling. We need the funds, both state and federal, to help us."

Dover, Somersworth and Rochester this winter are opering an emergency cold weather warming center on Willand Drive in Somersworth, with SOS Recovery Organization managing it.

"Of that $1 million, made available to all the counties, we got $60,000," said Maglaras. "That was augmented by $50,000 each from Dover and Rochester. Somersworth contributes in-kind services, supporting calls for services. SOS Recovery runs the program this year, on a $122,000 contract. Any extra of that money goes to emergency needs like hotel stays and emergency responses."

Maglaras said substance use and mental illness compound the homeless problem, but what is really needed are beds.

"This is not a New Hampshire problem," he said. "This is a nationwide problem. If there were institutions to help, half of them wouldn't be on the street. ... Right now the state says the responsibility lies with municipalities, but that is completely unreasonable. We need public and private partnerships to create systems that work. We need the state to be actively involved and I think they should take the leadership role on the need for more beds. To ask municipalities to take this on is insanity and not good public policy."

Strafford County commissioners are looking to build a new county nursing home in Dover, with the goal of converting the current Riverside Rest Home into a transition location for people facing homelessness. Maglaras said they have $15.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and $6.2 million approved by the county delegation for design work, but that solution, if approved, is years out.

"It's a good plan for us, but it will take time," he said. "We need help now."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Sununu letter on homelessness rebuked by Dover, Somersworth mayors