Letters: Elected officials need to stop playing political games

To the InkLink (and our elected officials):

Thank you Manchester InkLink for publishing recent articles regarding the way our elected politicians have been handling the homeless issue in our city.

I hope that these articles will lead Manchester citizens and business owners to call their aldermen and demand change. Our elected officials need to stop playing political games in demanding that everyone “kiss the ring” instead of putting their egos aside and opening their ears and eyes to the FACTS (which have been presented to them time and time again); last Tuesday’s meeting, and the fallout that came after, are a perfect example of this abuse of power. Playing politics and demanding one-way respect without addressing our city’s issues will no doubt lead to the continued waste of time and tax-payer money and an inability to help move this issue toward a solution; meanwhile we ALL lose as a city.

Our elected officials will now push yet ANOTHER professional out because she didn’t bow to their bullying; attacking this public servant but not allowing her to defend herself is ludicrous. Further, because she was unable to “fix the problem and make it go away” with her “magic wand,” of course she is a failure; it’s apparent to everyone watching that this is personal. Should we fire our police chief because we still have crime? Fire our Alderman and Mayor because they have not fixed this issue? Both ideas are equally absurd, and we can only move in the right direction if people are willing to put egos, party, and need for power aside and work TOGETHER toward a real solution. Those who are not willing to do this should step aside and let others lead the charge (which doesn’t mean dumping it all in the lap of our local non-profits without giving them the necessary resources and funding).

It’s only going to get worse with JKL in charge and the wrong people running the narrative. Their blindness and refusal to put in resources and support for our professionals who have been hired with the expertise needed makes them look like a bunch of clowns all running in different directions. I’m also tremendously disappointed that our new Mayor has fallen into this trap so quickly in his term; it doesn’t bode well for the future health of our city.<

In the end – we will all continue to lose and Manchester will undoubtedly continue to receive the bad rap it doesn’t deserve. What’s it going to take for our elected officials to start listening?

John Davenport

Manchester, NH