If the at-large Portsmouth City Council race is the royal rumble of Seacoast municipal elections, then the Dover City Council race is a run of the mill title bout. Unlike Portsmouth, where the top nine vote-getters are placed on the City Council (and the overall top vote-getter becomes mayor), the race in Dover is divided by wards, and there are only four contested races this time around. But though the race in the Garrison City isn’t as flashy or frenetic as that in Portsmouth, it’s just as crucial to the city’s future. The Wire polled only candidates in contested races in this year’s election.

Every now and then you’ll hear someone describe Dover as “the new Portsmouth.” It’s not an inaccurate assessment. As the Seacoast population booms, communities like Dover find themselves flush with the possibility of renewed economic growth, revitalized downtowns and more residents. But as more restaurants, bars and shops open up in the small city nestled along the Cochecho River, Dover is finding it has some growing pains to get through.

The words on all the candidates’ lips this year are spending and secrecy. Almost all of the 10 candidates polled agree that Dover’s spending habits need to be reined in, but the strategies differ on how to do that. The more than $68 million budget passed last June is a 7.4 percent increase over last year’s budget, and while some candidates are OK with that amount, others want to see the city tighten its belt: some want Dover to attract more large businesses like Liberty Mutual in order to expand the tax base and bring revenue into the city; others want property taxes kept under control, to keep the cost of living in Dover affordable. Ward 3 candidate David Scott is concerned about how much the city is doling out in payroll to civic employees. A particular sticking point for Scott is City Manager J. Michael Joyal’s salary, set at $136,000 a year.

Scott’s efforts to obtain a list of the names and salaries of city employees earning more than $60,000 a year led to a much-publicized lawsuit against the city. While Scott emerged victorious and the list was released last Thursday, the lawsuit stirred up debate over how transparent Dover’s city government is.
The physical landscape of Dover is changing, as well. The city is moving ahead with plans to renovate the McConnell Center and use it to house Dover’s youth and senior recreation programs. There’s also talk of redesigning the downtown traffic loop, which could cost as much as $10 million, as well as plans to construct a parking garage in the heart of the city. Both projects could spur even more development downtown, bringing in more of the types of restaurants, bars and boutiques that have energized Portsmouth. Unlike Portsmouth, though, Dover’s population is growing. Part of that growth is an increasing number of immigrant families settling in the Tri-City area.

At the end of the summer, Dover gained a new cultural institution when the Children’s Museum of Portsmouth announced plans to move across the bay and into downtown. The Children’s Museum is scheduled to move in 2007 into the former Butterfield Gym, near the city’s waterfront district, the development of which has become a hot topic among Dover officials. These 35 acres of city-owned land along the Cochecho could give way to a mixed-use zoning area filled with retail shops, apartments and other economic generators. Or, it could be converted into a park and recreation area for Dover residents, depending on which candidates make it to the council.

The Candidates:

Ward 1
Name: Dave Mincin
Age: 57
Occupation: realtor
How long have you lived in Dover? two years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? The free and open market should decide how best to fill the needs of downtown. What we do not need is central planning from our municipal government.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I believe the free market and the people should decide the best use of this property, as well as explore the possibility of this land being brought back onto the tax rolls.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Yes, it’s the law. We cannot begin to control spending until we know who is earning what and what their responsibilities are.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? Yes, the city manager should not make more than the governor of New Hampshire.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? It is not the role of the city to provide services for the growing immigrant population.

What are Dover’s strengths? What sets Dover off from most places is its people.

What needs to be changed? The idea that somehow our local government can solve all our problems, if we just give it enough of our hard-earned money, needs to change. The secrecy must stop. The folks have a right to know what is going on.

Ward 1
Name: Bob Keays
Age: 73
Occupation: retired
How long have you lived in Dover? lifetime

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? What we do need, and I don’t think we’ll ever see it, we need a store that’s going to attract people, (like) a nice clothing store.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I discussed this many a times and as far as being a native of Dover, my whole outlook on to this is I think it should be up to the people of Dover to decide what they would like down there, because the land belongs to them. It doesn’t belong to a certain clique or a certain committee.… It belongs to the people of Dover. I personally would like to see a park, a nice park down there, I would like to see a couple of boat ramps, I would also like to see some ball fields, … and I’m sure we would see a few tennis courts. I would also like to see some bicycle paths and some walking paths and I would like to see (a place) in the park where they could hold band concerts or have picnics and stuff like that.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? I certainly would. I worked for city for 37 years, I worked for the Water Department, and my salaries were published every year right up until the last 10 years when they stopped doing it, why I don’t know. But I think they should be made public to the people who pay their salaries.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? I voted for the city manager. We have a city manager in Portsmouth and I think he’s getting around $118,000 and we’ve got a city manager in Rochester, he’s over $100,000 and I think Somersworth is $90,000 over there and I think in Dover, we’re paying $106,000, so I don’t think his salary, as long as it doesn’t mushroom, as long as he gets the 2 percent raise a year, is out of line. I hope that we will control the salaries on these department heads and the city manager.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? Dover, they used to call it the immigrant city years ago, because most immigrants landed right here around Dover. There was a big population of Greeks and like I say, I think Dover does well with the immigrants that we have in here. I think they have always been treated … I grew up with what they call on Cochecho St., and that’s where all the Greek people lived and I have a lot of good, good friends who are Greek and I hope that they treat the immigrants as they should be treated.

What are Dover’s strengths? That’s a good question. We don’t have what you call a lot of factories. I’ve always called Dover for the past 10 years a bedroom community, because we’ve got so many condos and houses in Dover. In the last 10 years in Dover, I call them carpetbaggers, we got more carpetbaggers in Dover than we have native people (people born and brought up here). If you check the history of these people, they’re people who roll in from Massachusetts or wherever, because they don’t want to pay the high taxes and stuff. They come to Dover and taxes look pretty good to them. So they settle here, but once taxes start going up, they’re the first ones to leave. I know Dover has a good recreation program, they have an excellent program, it’s like any place else, you have to pay. I know if children don’t have the money, they do play. Dover’s changed. It ain’t the old Dover, it’s changed a lot. I’ve got people living on my street that bought homes here in last 10 years and they leave in the morning and don’t get home till 6 or 7 at night, so you don’t get to know your neighbors like we used to do. Maybe it’s a good thing, I don’t know. I feel that Dover has changed a lot and I think we could improve on a lot of  things.

What needs to be changed? I think in City Hall, I think we’ve got, my own opinion, I think for one thing, we’re paying our department heads way, way too much money, way, too much money. I personally would like to see a more industry in the city. I look around me and Somersworth, they’re getting a good share of different things and Rochester and Portsmouth, I don’t know what the problem is in Dover, I don’t know if our economic director is doing what she should be doing, I think we could be doing a lot better with industry in Dover.

Ward 3
Name: Matt Mayberry
Age: 40
Occupation: realtor 
How long have you lived in Dover? 12 years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? Dover needs a balance of commercial, retail, cultural and residential entities to keep downtown vibrant. I’m excited about the Children’s Museum, I’m excited about the new restaurants that have come to town. I’m most pleased with the ability of existing businesses to stay in Dover, such as Nicole’s Hallmark, Harvey’s Bakery, Alley’s jewelers, River’s Camera, you’re talking about businesses that have been there 20, 30 or 40 years. I’m looking forward to potential a hotel and conference center in the downtown. I think we have the infrastructure, both socially and structurally, to support another hotel and a conference center.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I’ve been instrumental in making sure the river got dredged…. I want to see a public boat launch, I want to see a large swath of park space, of walkways and benches and swings, tying the downtown together with the riverfront, with children’s museum and to our downtown.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Yes.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? No.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? The same services we provide to every taxpayer and every citizen, with no one treated more special than the other. In recognizing we do have a growing population, we have the Dover Adult Learning Center that has an outstanding English as a second language program. I voted to help move them to the McConnell center so the DALC can actually expand the classes that they offer and the programs. But I think we should provide opportunity for everyone in Dover to have jobs, to have their children educated and raised in a safe environment, and that’s one of reasons I brought forward the predator-free zones around schools and daycares, which provide a half-mile buffer that a sexual predator cannot live in.

What are Dover’s strengths? Our strength is the diversity of our economy, our ability to react quickly to the needs of the taxpayers, both residential and businesses. We are geographically just primed for continued growth, with our proximity to Manchester, Portland. We have available space in our industrial parks to grow. I think waterfront is going to be a vital part of our continued economic growth.

What needs to be changed? We need to do a better job of communicating projects and our ideas to the taxpayers, those who vote, the citizens, the 27,000 people that live in Dover. We need to try harder to get word out about public hearings … but there always seems to be people left out of the loop. I do think we can always do a better job of communicating where we’re going with the city. I think we need to work on stabilizing our tax rate, because … it’s tough out there for taxes, they’re very expensive. The values of homes in Dover are increasing … 10 percent a year and that’s just homes, so their assessments are going up … The way to (check) that tax rate is expand our commercial industries. We can do a better job of economic development. We do a good job, but we can always do a better job.

Ward 3
Name: David Scott
Age: 76
Occupation: business consultant, commercial real estate appraiser
How long have you lived in Dover? six years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? As far as businesses are concerned, let the private market decide that. In my opinion Dover does not need any additional cultural institutions. We have a good library that is responsive. There is a good university 15 minutes away. We have a good adult education program. There is no need in my view of additional cultural institutions. Any new institutions would of course add to our tax bills, which already are much too high.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized?
As a park for all families present and in perpetuity. This city land should be used for the benefit of Dover families rather than for the benefit of some real estate developers. Also we should not allow private developers to utilize the borrowing capacity of the Dover homeowners for their private benefit.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Absolutely. It is state law. I don’t understand what the city manager has been trying to hide and why the stonewall. Our present city manager has been responsible for wage and salary administration for many years. For him to avoid all appearance of conflict of interest I would have expected that he would have been immediately forthcoming to respond to the request for this public information. Rochester, Londonderry and Hudson to name just a few communities I know of, publish salary information on all municipal employees on the payroll every year.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no?
Much too high. I don't understand why our city councilors were so overly generous with our tax dollars. The average annual compensation for city managers for the top 30 communities in New Hampshire, according to statistics compiled by the New Hampshire Municipal Association, is $86,400. Similar data in Massachusetts is $84,000. The total annual compensation excluding benefits, to be paid to the Dover city manager, approved in June by Mayor Myers, Bob Keays, Matt Mayberry, Otis Perry, Darlene Colwell Ellis and Bob Lewis, is $118,000.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population?
There should be no discrimination in favor of or against any immigrant.

What are Dover’s strengths?
A beautiful historical town whose small town character should be preserved. I have found that Dover is full of warm and friendly people.

What needs to be changed?
The council members should assert themselves and let the city manager know that he reports to the council and not vice versa. We should be looking to the council to be setting policy, rather than doing the work of the city manager. There should be openness and transparency in all disbursements of the city. We need to know where all of our tax dollars have been going.

Ward 5
Name: Don Andolina
Age: 71
Occupation: retired
How long have you lived in Dover? three years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? First of all, I would say we need to concentrate on both business and culture. A good example of that is the Children’s Museum and we should have others.… It would be very nice to have some theater, for example like the Garrison Players, except in downtown. We have to attract people to the downtown area. Why we didn’t get the Garrison Players to stay there I don’t know. Businesses, that’s also very important. When I talk about businesses, I mean shops, and perhaps, something in the nature of shops to attract people. One of the things that should make that all possible, because we’re not doing too good along these lines, is development of the waterfront and also part and parcel with that is to make some changes to traffic patterns and to open up some parking because you can have all the shops in the world but they’ll all go out of business if people cannot get to the downtown area or, once there, cannot park.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? There’s a separate group that’s working that and I pretty much agree with some of their conclusions where it would be a mixed use. Certainly some shops and a walkway … and also if possible, maybe that’d be a great place for a cultural location and we know that the Butterfield Gym area, if taken over by the Children’s Museum, would be right in that area, and also perhaps an inn for visitors to stay overnight or to spend some time Dover, like a hotel, and then perhaps some apartments. But I would say for the most part, that should be the last thing we consider. I think it’s more important for there to be activity for visitors to the community of Dover, and if you know anything about what that group has been talking about, it has been pretty much been on those lines and that ties in with parking traffic and so on. One departure from this whole thing is the cost associated with that and I’m not in favor of the city itself underwriting or guaranteeing these loans. I think development should be undertaken by private investments.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Of course, that’s public information.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? That question is difficult because everything is relative and certainly, in Dover alone, it’s relative to everyone else that’s making over $60,000. I would like to see it lower, let me just say that. I think we can get a very good city manager for less money.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? I don’t know that the services for immigrants should be any better or any worse for anybody else. Services are available, should be available to them and if they don’t speak the language, we should try to accommodate that, but I don’t think we should have anything special beyond that. I think they should be treated like everybody else.

What are Dover’s strengths? I think that the city itself being founded in 1623, with all its history and location, really represents a little gem on the Seacoast, a very attractive city, a city of people who are friendly, not only to people been around forever but to newcomers. It’s attractive because of its history and because of people’s attitude towards (native) people and newcomers.

What needs to be changed? I think we have to, what needs to be changed of course is things we talked about. It’s time now to start making downtown area more attractive, to bring in more people. The Children’s Museum alone is going to be very beneficial to the city because not only will it bring in the area of about 80,000 (patrons as reported by the CM), I expect that it would be much more because of fact we have rail service to Dover where Portsmouth does not. What I envision is people will be coming to Dover with their children from places like Exeter and places like Portland, because trains from both of those go right through Dover and perhaps even as far away as some points in Massachusetts.

Ward 5
Name: Daryn Gladstone
Age: 32                      
Occupation: owner/operator of Clearview Sunroom & Window
How long have you lived in Dover? 12 years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? The businesses and cultural institutions of downtown Dover should be influenced and shaped by the residents and future residents of the city.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I would like to see the Cochecho waterfront property developed with a mix of recreational, commercial and residential use. It should be a natural complement to the existing downtown area that residents can utilize and enjoy and that will continue to bring visitors to our city.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? This information is public knowledge, and as determined by the court, should be made available to the public. The taxpayers of Dover certainly have a right to know how their money is being spent. We do, however, have to be careful in releasing the names of employees with this salary information due to privacy and job function concerns. I am not sure what extra information can be determined by knowing the specific name of a person that is doing a job instead of just their job title, function and salary.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no?
Yes. The Dover city manager’s salary is one of the highest in the state. However, the city manager position is one of the most important in the city. A qualified and experienced manager runs the city like a business and can save the city money now and in the future. It would be unfortunate to have an unqualified manager cost the city money.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? The region needs to take care of all its residents who live and/or work in our city.      

What are Dover’s strengths?
Dover is a vibrant city whose greatest strength lies in its diversity, strong community and sense of history.

What needs to be changed?
In recent years, the city government has improved in its ability to work together, but more still needs to be done to work with each other and its residents to ensure that we are getting things done in the best interests of the city in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. In addition, residential growth and development needs to be slowed.

Ward 5
Name: Catherine Cheney
Age: 45
Occupation: software engineer, Liberty Mutual
How long have you lived in Dover? five years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? Culturally, Dover has plenty to offer. The Library, the Woodman Institute, on the streets, in our Mills, and soon to come, a new Children’s Museum. Dover also has many events for people to attend such as the concerts, special presentations at the Library, Heritage Walks, Garrison Hill Players, The Bell Center and Apple Harvest Day. Dover has great restaurants and small shops. I want them to stay and flourish. I would like to see the old Ames Store being utilized by a department store type business. Dover has to attract more manufacturing and industry to improve its tax base.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? This project is very large and there are only 35 acres to work with, including the privately owned parcel of five acres. I am pleased the citizens have opted to open up this area and make it more accessible and habitable. I think I would like to see it done in phases, first repaired and then developed. There is an old seawall to address, moving the pedestrian walk, and I understand the developers will avoid the hazardous waste when positioning structures. With the new Washington Street vehicular bridge complete and the seawall repaired and pedestrian walk moved, we will have more bargaining power with the two developers. This project is moving forward, and I am pleased the council did not choose to micro-manage it. In the same breath I understand the developers are very receptive to public input. My concerns would be: traffic, ratio of open space to closed commercial, office and residential space, and access for handicapped people.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Of course! This should not even ever have to be asked. The public needs these facts and figures as well as other information to formulate opinion! How can the taxpayers intelligently and confidently convey their interests without knowing where their money is going?

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? I have worked closely with three city managers in New Hampshire. The city manager works directly for the taxpayers. For Dover, it is possible the objectives of the position have been forgotten, overlooked or neglected. I have heard the city manager is a good man and he wrestled with whether or not to take the position. In order for him to do what is expected of him the objectives will have to be clearly outlined, then he can deliver. Now, Dover is getting a human resource director for between $50,000 and $70,000 requested by the city manager to help with the job. Taking everything into account, yes, the salary is too high.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? Contact the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension and the University of New Hampshire ESL (English as a Second Language) program and let them have a brochure area set up in City Hall for new Dover settlers. Immigrants need information as to these types of resources available to them. If the city wanted to initiate a change in policy with the state, they may make it easier for immigrants to get a driver’s license locally. Currently, they have to get a letter from the city and go to Concord.

What are Dover’s strengths? Dover is a beautiful city with a wonderful small-town feeling. It is great that we have amenities making our lifestyle easy and exciting. I love the rail system. Our strength is in the diversity of the citizens.

What needs to be changed? Dover’s books have to be fully opened up. I am very excited that with the public’s awareness level so high, this will be the easiest part of what I hope to change. The Annual Report will be made clearer, concise and have all the financial information for the citizens of Dover. The rate of tax growth in Dover has to be changed. Dover cannot continue to spend at the rate we have been. I know seniors that have had to move from Dover, people that have paid taxes here their whole life and can’t afford to stay because of the taxes. I want to be a part of a council that is ready to change, ready to say “No, no more.” This city is for all.

Ward 6
Name: Mark Moeller
Age: 55
Occupation: attorney
How long have you lived in Dover? five years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? I believe the town presently has a very interesting mix of cultural (institutions) and businesses, which include some retail, some excellent restaurants. The city has recently built a music venue at Henry Law Park, we have a rail station that’s close to downtown, the city’s in the process about what to do of McConnell center … and the Woodman Institute is an important part of downtown. I also believe the city council’s efforts to bring the children’s museum to downtown is a wonderful event for the citizens of Dover.

I think again as we talk about the waterfront … as city goes forward … more diversity downtown. I’d like to see some nice restaurants, maybe a new marina, a riverwalk and eventually, even a parking garage would be a welcome addition to downtown.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I’d like to see it done in a way that makes it very attractive to both residents and people that might be visiting Dover. I like what Portsmouth has done, and I’d like to see Dover do something similar to that, with a mix of outside restaurants in summer, a new marina, a river walk where people can stroll, maybe condominiums, as well as retail establishments, have a nice mix of residential and commercial development in that area.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Absolutely.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? I don’t know what the city manager’s salary is. I think … there was a lawsuit that was recently decided by superior court, requiring the city manager to release names and amounts, but I don’t think that’s been done yet.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? That’s really kind of an odd question. I guess as a starting point, I was not aware Dover has a growing immigrant population. I went to a public meeting for review of the Capitol Improvement Plan, and included in that packet was info about the make up of the Dover population. My recollection was that the makeup of the population has about 95 Caucasian and only about 5 percent would be black and Asian and other, so based on that  2000 survey, it appears that Dover still doesn’t have a lot of immigrants. If we did … I certainly would support some of the programs we have ongoing now, which would be continuing adult education programs. I believe there’s a course offering for ESL and other services to help these people find suitable living quarters, suitable education and suitable employment.

What are Dover’s strengths? I think one of the reasons I moved to Dover is I see it as a community that’s very beautiful, a community that’s growing but has managed to keep its small town charm. I come from small town in Iowa … and I still see that in Dover. I believe there’s a lot of challenges Dover faces in terms of trying to keep taxes at reasonable rate … while there’s a lot of residential development going on, schools that need to be renovated, rapid growth up in area where I live. Eventually there will have to be a new fire station, road improvements. Dover already has an excellent police department, education department, and continue to fund those and at the same time keep tax rate as low as possible is certainly going to be a challenge.

What needs to be changed? I think there needs to be more of an effort to make it clear to the public that government is open and accessible and there isn’t information being withheld. I think the good coming out of the suit that was brought, giving the public have access to information which I think they should have had all along.

Ward 6
Name: Harvey Turner
Age: 40
Occupation: design illustrator
How long have you lived in Dover? 10 years

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? We just got the Children’s Museum. Beyond that … there really isn’t much more. Dover has everything, now that we have the Children’s Museum. We have all the shopping centers, plazas, right next door in Somersworth. Dover has it all.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? What I would like to see is not the full-blown vision that is posted and currently approved. What I’d like to see really is a park, I’d like to see the whole thing beautified with grass, just an area where people can take their dogs, throw a Frisbee around, sit on the grass, the trees. Going forward down the road, fine, maybe we can build a retail corner and a parking garage, but for now, for next two or for or six years, it’s empty, wasted land and it’s available to the public yet we can’t do anything with it. Given the constraints (of the budget, property taxes, etc), I just don’t think it’s feasible to try and tackle something of the magnitude and scope of the waterfront project. If private industry wants to come in and do it, fine, but not as an issue that the city needs to try and motivate. Try and think of the last time city tried to motivate construction of a waterfront district. Right now we can’t even fill up McConnell center, never mind anything else.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Absolutely. I cannot believe, in fact, when I first became an advocate for Bob Lewis, I was involved just for my end of town, just trying help out Ward 6. What I’ve learned since I got into this thing … it’s a whole bucket of worms and that one just shocked me. In Rochester, you can (get that information), other towns you can get that stuff and Dave Scott had to sue the city to get that information? That’s absurd. Absolutely absurd. And to think the city had to spend money to defend themselves.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? I don’t really know the city manager’s salary. People theorize. I talked to Matt Mayberry, he encouraged me to run for city council. He didn’t tell me, but pretty much hinted, it’s about the same. I don’t know.

What services, if any, should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? I know Dover has pushed pretty hard to get reasonable apartment prices for a while. Getting an apartment in Dover was pretty expensive. Thanks to Windshire Gardens, there are several hundred new apartments there, and they were created to be competitive or not exceptional, such as you might find anywhere else in Dover. The city of Dover saw there was a market for less expensive apartments, and they created building permits for that and several others.  

What are Dover’s strengths?
Dover strength’s rely on how we’ve made the area so attractive to businesses. That’s the first one, it is profitable … to start a business here in Dover. We’re right in the border, people from Maine come to Dover; my in-laws come all the way from Kennebunk to come shopping here. It’s attractive to businesses and I wouldn’t change that. I would not tax businesses further. We’re right on the highway, we’re centrally located. Dover strength’s rely on how we’ve made the area so attractive to businesses. Also we have an excellent school system and we’re a short commute to Portsmouth and Hampton and Kittery. It’s an excellent location. 

What needs to be changed? I’m an advocate for my ward and I believe Ward 6 has grown greater than any other ward in city. I feel the infrastructure for Ward 6 has been ignored … the first thing I want to work on is getting Ward 6 the revenue we deserve, having been fastest growing corner of town. Sidewalks, crosswalks, all the things we don’t have. Secondly, after that, is city spending and justifying these huge salaries and justifying some of the spending that’s been voted in by the existing city council. We can take, and I think we need to take, a “can do, make do” attitude to the city level.

At Large
Name: Dennis Ciotti
Age: 48
Occupation: president of Defense Manufacturers Incorporated

How long have you lived in Dover? Lifetime resident

What types of businesses or cultural institutions does downtown Dover need? Two different things. They’re not going to put another Liberty Mutual downtown. It’d be nice to see another large company move into the mill building; another large company downtown to put some people downtown during the week. With the addition of the Children’s Museum and another restaurant or two or three or four more would not hurt. That’s what Dover is slowly becoming; old buildings that hadn’t been used are being turned into restaurants. There’s quite a variety of restaurants in Portsmouth and the same thing is happening in Dover, and I think you’ll continue to see that to grow.

How would you like to see the Cochecho waterfront property utilized? I believe it should be developed without taxpayers’ money, it should be an individual or corporate project. I think the land should be sold outright to a developer by the city, as long as we have a definite set plan in place as to what’s going to be there.

If you were city manager, would you make city employees’ salaries, complete with names, available to the public, yes or no? Absolutely.

Is the city manager’s salary too high, yes or no? I don’t know and I can’t qualify an answer on that because I haven’t compared it with others. For a city this size, I think it’s just, from what I’ve read in the papers … I think it’s in line.

What services should the city provide to the region’s growing immigrant population? I had not heard that; just saw something the other day about black people in Dover and that (population) hasn’t changed in the last 10 years. I think as far as different populations in Dover, when someone is new like that to a city, you have to make the public aware they are out there and then see what their needs are. You can’t just put up an Indian center … letting the public know who’s out there first and foremost and recognizing who is out there once we figure it out.

What are Dover’s strengths? It’s functionality for families; Dover’s a great place to live, I’ve been here all my life. People want to come back here because of its proximity and what it offers families as a whole. We have great schools, a great library … plenty of activity for everyone from children up to seniors.

What needs to be changed?
Keep (Dover) affordable. We need to work on keeping property taxes in check, work on keeping community services at present level. I think the McConnell center … is going to be a fantastic place for families to go if you need fuel assistance or WIC assistance. All the other non-profit agencies out there will be centered in that building. It will be a great family resource place.