Mayoral candidate
Doug Lachance
Age: 42
Rochester res. “Most of my life.”
Occupation: carpenter
Public Experience: mayor of Rochester two terms, N.H. House of Representatives three terms, selectman of Barrington

-If elected, what is the top goal you would like to see accomplished?

There’s really two: traffic and downtown revitalization.

-What kinds of new businesses would you like to see in Rochester?

At this point, I’d like to see any new businesses in Rochester, aside from big box retail. I’d like to see some more high-tech and some manufacturing. We don’t really have a whole lot of manufacturing in Rochester. What we have is excellent. We have Thompson Center Arms, but a lot of manufacturing has left the city.

-How much do you think the city should invest in the Riverwalk project, to connect the northern and southern sections of the city?

I have no problem getting from one end of the city to the other. I think it’s a great project, but I think it’s an amenity, and I don’t think it’s an economic engine that’s going to bring money into town. I don’t think it’s a priority. It’s certainly not a priority for me. It’s nice to have, but we ought to focus on getting more jobs and more retail into town and then build a river walk. We should fix what we have, like Hanson Pines, but I don’t think we should be creating more stuff just to let it deteriorate.

-Would you support a request from the Police Department to add more fulltime officers to its staff?

If they can demonstrate that they need more fulltime officers, yeah, I would support that, but they would need to demonstrate the need. I believe we added seven when I was mayor last time.

-What would you do to promote the arts in Rochester and support the city’s growing artistic community?

I was the driving force behind getting air conditioning in the Rochester Opera House when I was mayor, and I would continue to do whatever was affordable to continue to support the arts. I’m not so naïve to think that the performing arts, with the Internet entertainment industry and the video technology, is going to be able to sustain itself. Even if you look at places like Portsmouth, a lot of these performance centers require some kind of subsidy, so I think it is worthwhile to support the arts. You have to strike  a balance, though, between what the taxpayers can afford. If we were rye, we’d have a lot more money to spend.

-What is your favorite event at the Rochester Fair? 

There’s so many great events. I love the livestock, especially the alpacas. That’s my favorite attraction. If you asked me 20 years ago, I would have said The Zipper.