Letters: Joe Kelly Levasseur is his own worst enemy

O P I N I O N

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen must reconsider the motion to remove Joe Kelly Levasseur as Chairman. The initial vote, resulting in a 5-7 split, with Aldermen O’Neil and Barry abstaining, failed to address a very serious issue which has been festering for far too long in the Queen City.

Recently, Levasseur weaponized his social media platform to incite his followers against one of his own constituents, leading to that individual losing their job and livelihood. During the July 6th board meeting, Levasseur openly admitted to contacting the employer himself. This conduct is a blatant violation of Article IX, Section 9.01 of the Manchester City Charter, which mandates that public officials maintain honesty, ethical behavior, and avoid conflicts of interest.

Can you imagine if your own representative used their position to interfere in your personal life simply because you disagreed with them or expressed criticism? For years, Levasseur has engaged in this troubling behavior, including targeting individuals like myself after I wrote an opinion piece in the Union Leader newspaper calling for his resignation. I wasn’t the only one to call for it; does anyone else recall when the entire Manchester police force lined up at City Hall to demand he step down? And who can forget when Levasseur called for an FBI agent to be hung and killed?

Law enforcement deserves our respect, not reckless rhetoric.

I want to express my gratitude to Alderman Pat Long for having the courage to call the motion to vacate. It takes real bravery to stand up to bullies, and we need more leaders like Pat who are willing to address abuse of power the moment they recognize it.

Manchester, like every other municipality in our great state, deserves elected officials who uphold community values, not those who use their positions and platforms to settle personal scores whenever their egos are bruised. It’s time for bullies like Levasseur to step aside and make way for leadership that is ethical, productive, and focused solely on the well being of all citizens because he himself has proven time and time again to be utterly incapable of doing so.

I sincerely hope that we can all hold elected officials to higher standards.

Our kids are watching.

Rosanna McMahon

Lifelong Manchester resident

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