Portsmouth elects take their oaths

On Thursday, Jan. 3, newly elected city officials will be sworn into office during a ceremony at Portsmouth City Hall. Nine City Council members, four School Board members, one new police commissioner and one fire commissioner will participate in the inauguration, which takes place in the Eileen Dondero Foley Council Chambers at 7 p.m.

Following the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on local government cable Channel 22, newly elected mayor Tom Ferrini will give an address. The new councilors are Assistant Mayor John Blalock, Nancy Clayburgh, Esther Kennedy and Eric Spear. They join returning councilors Chris Dwyer, Ken Smith, Edward Raynolds, Laura Pantelakos and Ferrini. John Hynes, Harold Whitehouse Jr. and Joanne Grasso did not run for reelection in November, nor did incumbent Mayor Steve Marchand.

The four School Board members include current member Ann Walker, along with new members Rebecca Emerson, Elizabeth Sweet and Dexter Legg. Incumbents John Lyons Jr. and Clay Hayward will be leaving their seats. The other five School Board members were not up for reelection this year. Also taking their oaths are new Police Commissioner John Golumb and reelected Fire Commissioner Michael Hughes.

The event will also include an invocation by the Rev. Father Michael Kerper of Corpus Christi Parish, the Pledge of Allegiance led by members of the Fire and Police Department Honor Guards and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by Portsmouth High School Director of Arts Wendell Purrington. A benediction will be offered by Rev. Fr. Angelo Pappas. During the ceremony, the new Council will adopt its rules and orders for the next two years. A reception will follow the meeting, which is expected to last no more than 45 minutes.

opening the book on affordable housing

Bookstores are a pleasure dome for curious minds. They house an infinite amount of information, mostly in brightly colored book form. In RiverRun Bookstore in downtown Portsmouth, owner Tom Holbrook has introduced a new genre to his shelves: affordable housing literature. Every two months, the bookstore will feature information about a non-profit organization or agency working to create affordable housing in and around the Port City. At the end of the two-month period, Holbrook will donate 2 percent of his sales to the featured organization.

“It’s not really about the money. The money is not nothing, but it’s more about awareness. And we want as many people as possible talking about this issue,” Holbrook said. He believes that a lack of affordable housing is threatening Portsmouth’s unique character and economic viability. “It affects arts, social services and it affects retail. If you can’t live in the town you work in, that’s really terrible, and that’s pretty much where we’re at right now,” he said.

RiverRun has partnered with United Way of the Greater Seacoast to administer the program and funnel the donations. Information will be available in tri-fold brochures in the store. Every two months, Holbrook will rotate an insert in the brochure, which will detail the work of one organization. With each purchase, the cashier will also provide customers with a one-page informational sheet about the program and the issue of affordable housing. The Housing Partnership will be the first organization featured in RiverRun’s “Business Building Community” program.

Over the course of a year, Holbrook estimates the program will generate around $20,000 for the featured organizations.

“If the program works without breaking us, we’ll pick a different issue each year,” Holbrook said. Some of the other organizations that will be featured include the Workforce Housing Coalition, Fair Tide of Kittery, United Way of the Greater Seacoast, Crossroads House and the Seacoast Interfaith Hospitality Network.

primary peace bus rolls into NH

In the final four days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, anti-war activists will rumble around the state in the Yellow Rose of Texas Peace Bus. Orchestrated by N.H. Peace Action and American Friends Service Committee, the bus will pull into the state on Friday, Jan. 4, and remain until Monday, Jan. 7. The large vehicle, emblazoned with bold blue letters reading “Bring Them Home Now,” will be filled with military veterans, family members of soldiers, religious leaders and other peace activists, who will follow candidates during their last-minute campaign stops in the Granite State.

During their journey, those riding the bus will candidly pepper presidential hopefuls with questions about their commitment to ending the Iraq War and bringing U.S. troops home within one year of taking office. They will also challenge candidates to seek out diplomatic solutions to conflicts with Iran, and transfer funds currently spent on the Iraq War to causes like housing, health care, education, services for veterans and reconstruction in Iraq.  

In addition to attending campaign events, organizers will host their own rallies, distributing leaflets to the public and conducting interviews with the media. They will also display large “cost of war” banners and post reports on the Internet at www.nhpeaceaction.org. The bus has not scheduled a specific route but will decide its course as it goes along, shooting from location to location during the four crucial days between the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary.

Those interested in hopping on the peace bus should contact Anne Miller at 603-228-0559 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it The project is nonpartisan and does not support or oppose any particular candidate.

candidates urged to commit to clean energy

While the peace bus is encouraging candidates to get troops out of Iraq, environmental activists are urging presidential hopefuls to focus on putting the United States on a path to clean energy. A coalition of organizations gathered in Concord last Thursday, and Environment New Hampshire released a report titled “Clean Energy for America: Why the 44th President Must Put America on the Clean Energy Path.”

“American voters have the right to know where the candidates stand on one of the most critical problems facing the country: our addiction to dirty energy,” Erika Staaf of Environment New Hampshire said in a release. “All of the candidates for president should pledge to make big, bold clean energy initiatives a centerpiece of their environmental and economic policies.”

According to the report, opportunities for developing clean energy solutions like wind, solar and biomass power abound, and energy efficiency could be dramatically improved. The report includes a top ten list of policies to help end global warming and achieve energy independence. The report can be viewed at www.environmentnewhampshire.org.

The Conservation Law Foundation, Clean Water Action, N.H. Wind Energy Association and Toxics Action Center all joined Environment New Hampshire at the meeting in Concord and echoed the demand for the nation’s next president to meet future energy demands with clean, renewable sources.

“The next president must prioritize harnessing America’s abundant clean energy resources and vast reserves of energy efficiency,” said Farrell Seiler, chairman of the N.H. Wind Energy Association. “It would be highly irresponsible for the next president to pass up the environmental benefits and economic opportunities our nation will see by taking action to put America on a clean energy path.”