[iw8surf]

Originally Posted by Major

I wish we were tracking for a brighter future, I really do. However, the evidence suggests the contrary. Where is the investment in attracting small businesses and manufacturing jobs? There isn't any, both on a local and state level. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but the city council decided to invest in Section 8 housing and drug rehab centers, and this decision, unfortunately, will follow us in the future. Needless to say we are not attracting the best and the brightest who would raise families, attend our schools, and ultimately increase the value of our properties. We are experiencing one of the greatest economic booms since the mid-eighties, and what has that done to improve downtown Laconia. Not much. Imagine when a downturn occurs, what the economic future will be like at that time.

Like Macbeth, I grew up in Laconia. I am personal friends with the former chief. The police are spinning the problem, and if you think about it, what are they supposed to say? "Laconia is attracting more and more homeless drug users?" Of course they will tell you that Laconia has a bright future, etc. I spend a lot of time driving around Laconia, and my eyes tell me something different. Look at the beautiful homes on Pleasant Street turned into rundown apartments and the homes of a lot of people who make their way into the paper. Look at the abandoned/dilapidated homes along Union Ave and Court Street.

This problem will only grow, not only in Laconia but on the East Coast in general. We have a penchant in adopting the liberal policies founded on the West Coast. Homeless encampments are already here (on the river and off the Wow trail), and will be on full display in the near future. The solutions are available, but the political climate is against them. This shouldn't be the case, but we tolerate it and we get what we deserve.

I agree about not adding manufacturing jobs. I was recruited to the lakes region out of college as a young engineer. After years at the company looking for a new job in the area was nonexistent. On top of that the offers I was getting from southern NH (30 miles south) were literally double the salary I got in Laconia. My biggest gripe wasn't even for my wages but the the hourly wage folks. What they paid people in the area was embarrassing, 9-13$/hr and we worked in "Aerospace" literally building stuff for the military, Space X etc. What kind of talent do you target when you offer those kind of wages? We essentially would just hire people (mostly from Laconia) who could pass the initial drug tests and then they'd work for a short period of time before they would fail the 90 day random tests we told them they'd have to take. Was a vicious cycle of turnover. Got real good at hiring and firing over those years though.