Mark Davie, Ward 4 Concord City Council Candidate

CONCORD, NH — Mark Davie

Position Sought

Ward 4 City Councilor

Family

NA

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

NA

Education and-or work experience

BS Geography & Environmental Planning, Towson Univserity (2020); Masters of Urban & Regional Planning, West Chester University (2022); Census Outreach Intern, Baltimore County, Maryland (2020); Senior Planner, Strafford Regional Planning Commission (2021 to present)

Previous or current elected or appointed positions

Concord ZBA, January 2024 to present

Campaign website

Mark 4 Concord

The single most important pressing issue facing the community is _______ and this is what I intend to do about it

Housing; I want Concord to take the new Master Plan and use it to hit the ground running on a zoning reform.

List three other things you would like to work on if elected or re-elected

I want to improve representation in city leadership and ensure robust civic engagement — I hope to get the ball rolling on this as a younger queer person who is a renter; Safer streets and roads are needed and we will be entering uncharted territory with the I-93 widening, albeit on its potentially delayed schedule. New Hampshire frequently ranks last or near-last for transit funding and while I will advocate for Concord to increase the contribution to the CAT system, we must be calling on our state leaders to fund transit fairly in one of our employment powerhouses; In regard to taxes, a diverse tax base is needed and this is another area where land use has significant impacts.

Name a couple of accomplishments in the past that show you can handle this position

As an avid runner and biker, I have seen all of Concord’s neighborhoods on foot and can reflect on the pedestrian and cyclist environment we have. When I was without a vehicle for seven weeks in 2024, I experienced minimal disruption to my lifestyle because of the walkability of our community. I am familiar with transportation funding and grants that can be implemented more quickly by municipalities than waiting for ideas to become formal projects in the state's Ten Year Plan. Similarly, I have successfully assisted communities in obtaining Housing Opportunity Planning and Housing Champion funding in my day job — these are critical state-level dollars that allow municipalities to overcome the perceived regulatory and infrastructure barriers to new housing. I have served on the Zoning Board for 2 years and have a deep understanding of Concord's zoning hangups that impact our businesses and development.

Share any other thoughts or ideas you would like voters to know about yourself

I love our walkable downtown and appreciate all the hard work that went into giving us the Main Street we have today. As a young person who has proudly chosen to make Concord and New Hampshire my home, I want to continue the work as a community to keep this momentum going!