Also on today’s menu:
Education Is The Key To Overcoming Prejudice
State Adjusts Medicaid Eligibility Reviews
More People Turning To Local Welfare Assistance
Executive Councilor Ted Gatsas of Manchester, who had voted against a purchase-and-sales agreement with prime developer Robynne Alexander for redevelopment of the former Laconia State School property due to concerns over Alexander’s legal problems and her failure to complete other projects, asked for an update with her firm, Legacy at Laconia LLC, two weeks ago and he still did not have answers at the September 20 Executive Council meeting.
Governor Chris Sununu, who had pulled the consideration of the State School’s future away from the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission established by the state legislature and placed it in the hands of Commissioner of Administrative Services Charlie Arlinghaus, said he has “no question” that the $21.5 million sale will close, attributing the delay to title considerations and relocation of a snowmobile trail on the property.
Arlinghaus had brought the agreement with Legacy of Laconia LLC to the Executive Council last year but ran into resistance when journalists uncovered Alexander’s fraught history with smaller development projects. Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer, at first expressing surprise and dismay that Administrative Services would fail to look into a developer’s past before bringing such a proposal forward, has since worked with Arlinghaus and Alexander to see that they exhibited due diligence.
Alexander’s original plan for the property was to build 1,900 housing units, including affordable housing for senior citizens, but it has been scaled back to about 1,260. Scott Tranchemontagne, speaking for Alexander, said there have been changing market needs, and they had to “right-size certain elements,” including reducing the number of units for seniors.
Education Is The Key To Overcoming Prejudice
“The world isn't going to get repaired with a conviction of trespass or vandalism, or perhaps even with a hate crime enhancement on the penalty,” said David Osman of the Laconia Human Relations Committee while discussing antisemitic graffiti that was discovered on the former Laconia State School property which threatened a Jewish resident. “I mean, that is about punishment — and punishment sometimes is not only earned, it's deserved — but that is a narrower, more limited lens through which to view this.”
Rabbi Ira Keltz of Temple B’nai Israel in Laconia, agreed, saying, “We need to focus on the education of our young people. The people who may be doing this, whether they’re in their teens or young adults or older, we’re not going to change them or their opinions or their beliefs. It’s got to start with the schools early on. ... That’s where we can make a difference in the years to come.”
The city is coordinating with the FBI and the Civil Rights Unit of the Attorney-General’s Office in its investigation into the graffiti and other evidence of antisemitism in Laconia.
State Adjusts Medicaid Eligibility Reviews
New Hampshire Medicaid Director Henry Lipman says the state has adjusted its eligibility review procedures to meet new guidance by Daniel Tsai, federal director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services. As a result, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has reinstated Medicaid insurance for 3,176 people, including 1,351 children. The change will allow nearly 1,200 people who are up for renewal in October to keep their Medicaid.
Lipman’s office is launching a separate effort with schools and after-school programs to ensure that families have access to Medicaid-covered services.
Tsai told reporters in August that the agency had become concerned that some ex parte reviews led some states to overlook individual situations that affected Medicaid coverage. As an example, a single parent whose income exceeds the eligibility limit for adults may be low enough for the child to qualify because the income limit for children is higher.
More People Turning To Local Welfare Assistance
Todd Marsh, president of the New Hampshire Welfare Administrators Association, said the high cost of living is resulting in an increase in first-time and elderly clients seeking financial assistance.
A recent report from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute noted that one in three adults say they are struggling to pay for household expenses, due in part to New Hampshire's high housing and child care costs and inflation.
Even though unemployment is low, Marsh says people with steady incomes still struggle to keep up with high costs. More housing capacity could help decrease costs, and Marsh suggests that arrangements between social service agencies and landlords could help tenants remain in their homes, which would lower the amount of municipal assistance.
Marsh noted that pandemic aid had helped many welfare clients to pay their bills, but when that aid ended, more people turned to local welfare services. Some clients struggled to get back into the habit of paying rent and budgeting because they had become used to rental assistance that went directly to landlords.
A Note On The Café Door
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