O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.

My name is Woody Bearelson and I’m no politician. Heck – I don’t even believe in the two-party system! I’m just a wood bear that stares out a window on Elm Street in Manchester.

I understand that I am just a simple block of wood, but maybe someone can explain this to me:

How is discouraging commerce in the biggest city in New Hampshire a move that demonstrates that you are a competent leader and deserve to govern the state?

Fearmongering people away from the downtown of the biggest city between Boston and Montreal is a very interesting approach to winning hearts, minds, and political office.

I don’t have a heart or a mind as a wooden bear so it it very difficult for me to understand. We also don’t have political offices; we’re more of an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take turns to be a sort of executive officer for the week. Anyway, I digress…

If I had a brain, I might also think that it is insane that a career politician running for Governor is actively admitting that her party couldn’t get their arms around a revolving population of about 450 unhoused folks in Manchester over the course of many years and millions of dollars. I don’t think I’d want to draw attention to that.

I’m not a politician I’m just a wood bear– but I reside on this patch of planet that you’re talking about. I live in this tiny business on a street called Elm in a city called Manchester, New Hampshire. What you say about where I live impacts the people here.

If people could muster the very little nerve it takes to come here then they could look out my window with me. Maybe they would see what I see: a grandma walking her grandchildren down the road to the Palace Theatre for Summer Matinees without clutching a single pearl. Wedding parties take photos and celebrate their walk from City Hall. There is a band unloading their gear at the Shaskeen for a show tonight. Laughter carries for blocks across assorted outdoor seating restaurants. Chefs are taking deliveries into their restaurants. You can hear the PA system from the ballpark. The sign at the SNHU arena says a big act is coming through. A member of our community has authored a children’s book and our families are lovingly crammed into an indie bookstore for a reading. This is the real Manchester.

I’m not a politician. I’m a wood bear that stares out the window on Elm Street. Every day I see politicians on all sides of the aisle actively make the choice not to solve a problem involving 450 people in a state of 1.4 million.

This election cycle, I see only one politician running for Governor actively telling people Manchester is a place they shouldn’t visit because it’s an unsafe tent city.

Stop running the ads. Find a better way to make your point that doesn’t suppress commerce and confidence in downtown Manchester.

You don’t have to help us; but why on Earth would you actively hurt us?

Kisses and Hugs,

Woody Bearelson*

Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Comment below. Got issues of your own? Write something and send it to publisher@inklink.news, subject line: The Soapbox.

*Woody Bearelson (nom de plume) sees things and hears things while hanging out in Manchester. He may or may not be a wooden bear.