Keene Voters Get to Pick New Mayor

By Donna Moxley on Monday, November 5, 2007.

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The first contested mayor’s race in Keene since 1999 will be decided Tuesday.

It’s a largely symbolic position, but that doesn’t mean candidates and voters aren’t taking it seriously.

The Keene Sentinel’s Donna Moxley reports.

When Keene Mayor Michael Blastos decided not to run for reelection, the well-liked symbol of a green and progressive city left a vacancy many candidates wanted to fill.
After the primary, two remained in a race that has surprised voters with its occasional negativity and the amount of money spent.
Philip Dale Pregent is a city councilor and antiques dealer who says he’s proud of the path the city’s on and wants to continue in that direction.
Bill Beauregard is a former councilor and owns a property rental management company. He’s focused on zoning issues and property taxes.
Beauregard’s campaign has been characterized by large newspaper ads and a glossy mailer that drew disapproval for being too negative. He has criticized city spending decisions and argues for more restraint and lower taxes.
At a debate last week, he said city officials have wasted tax dollars.
“Given the fact that the money raised from city taxes from 2002 to 2006 is up 6 million dollars or 52.66%, I think in fact we do have a spending problem.”
Pregent, the current city councilor, says he has a better handle on what’s happening in the city now, and focused at the debate on traffic issues.
“One of the things that happens in Keene and we get these reports that say well you’re little Keene of about 24,000 people, but that’s not true. We have 24,000 people but 6 thousand students. We also have 55-60,000 people who commute to Keene everyday. This puts a tremendous pressure on the police department and the fire department.”
At the debate, the two differed most on that issue – police staffing. While Pregent said the city probably had enough officers, Beauregard said he thought the department was understaffed.
Within days, the police union had endorsed Beauregard.
Pregent, on the other hand, has been endorsed by most of the city council and by Blastos.

For NHPR news, I’m Donna Moxley in Keene.