BRISTOL — Wayne Anderson has decided to bring his business background to bear on the issues confronting the town of Bristol and is throwing his hat into the ring in hopes of winning Paul Manganiello’s seat on the board of selectmen.
Manganiello, currently serving as vice-chair, is not seeking re-election in March, which leaves the seat open for a new face. Anderson, current vice-chair of the Bristol Budget Committee, will be facing Budget Committee Chair Robert “Rob” Glassett, who also wants the job as selectman.
“We have people with goodwill and good intentions,” Anderson said, “but the town has a lack of acumen in taking it where it needs to be.”
Anderson said he approaches matters from the center. “Some people will want to spend any amount of money, and the other side gets disappointed and angry,” he said. “Neither one is able to persuade the folks in the middle. If I get elected, I hope to bring a more cogent center argument. There’s plenty of money to do what we need to do, and people are paying enough taxes. What we need is to make a business decision on where to spend that money.”
He believes the town’s leaders are caught up in the way things were done in the past and don’t see how to move forward. A particular target for savings, he believes, is the Bristol Police Department.
Anderson surveyed towns of similar size as Bristol and came up with a five-town comparison to show that Bristol is overspending on its police department. Of the five towns — Bristol, Campton, Greenland, Lancaster, and Sunapee — Bristol has the highest number of full-time police officers, at 10. Greenland, with a higher population (3,554 to Bristol’s 3,058), has eight full-time and four part-time officers. Campton, with more square miles (51.9 compared to 17.1 in Bristol), has seven full-time officers. Sunapee, which also has a tourist population with its lake and mountain, has five full-time and six part-time officers. Lancaster, with the second-largest territory (50.2 square miles) has five full-time officers.
Likewise, Bristol has the the highest police budget and Lancaster has the lowest. Greenland, with the same approximate number of reported crimes (200 compared to 223 in Bristol) has a budget that is $60,000 lower than Bristol’s.
Bristol is often described as the “hub” for the Newfound Region, with residents of Alexandria, Bridgewater, and Danbury coming here to do business and people from all of the surrounding communities enjoying the lake and other amenities. Anderson does not see that as a reason for more police coverage.
He points out that the New Hampshire State Police patrol Route 104 and says there is no need to have Bristol officers doing traffic stops along that stretch of highway.
“It’s a managerial matter,” he said, saying the police chief should find a more efficient use of taxpayer money. “We could pull out two full-time officers and augment it with part-timers,” he said.
Looking at other towns that are Bristol’s size, Anderson said a full-time fire department is not necessary, but he noted that there is an aging population and the people have decided they want it this way. “It seems highly valued, and that’s fine,” he said.
He thinks most of the town departments are well-managed and do a good job, and he is particularly impressed with Town Administrator Nik Coates, who came with a planning background that Anderson thinks has enhanced the town by bringing a broader perspective.
“The problem comes in the support from the select board,” he said.
“The search for a new police chief is a great opportunity to reassess what we’re doing,” Anderson continued. “We can’t do any worse.”
Anderson supports the town hall project, but said the town needs to find a way to pay for it. He credits Manganiello with seeking a solution to limit the tax impact by reducing the requests for money in capital reserve accounts. “But I’m not sure it goes deep enough.”
The proposal solves the problem for one year, he said, but it does not address the increased costs in future years. Reducing the number of police officers could solve that problem, he said.
He also is worried about the impact of tax changes at the federal level that may hurt the second-home market that Bristol relies upon to keep tax increases in check. “That can catch up with us in just a couple of months,” he said.
Anderson said that, when he retired from his career in sales with Dow Corning, “it was great to have a chance to play the golf I never got to play, but if things here could be different, and I do nothing, woe to me.”
8 February 2018