More Incumbents File For Concord City Council; At-Large Race Gets A 3rd Candidate

CONCORD, NH — After nine incumbents filed to run for Concord City Council on the first day of filing, two more filed to run on the second day.

Both Jim Schlosser of Ward 7 and Ali Sekou of Ward 8 filed to seek a second term on Monday.

The at-large council race also got its third candidate: Fisto Ndayishimiye of Penacook, a local political activist who works with the Young Adults Development Network.

No one has filed to run for the Ward 4 open seat.

Mayor Byron Champlin filed to run again on Friday, as did one challenger, Kate West, who ran for the open seat two years ago. Both Amanda Grady Sexton and Fred Keach, the incumbent at-large city councilors who have four-year terms, are running again.

Also Read

• 9 Incumbent Municipal Candidates File To Run For Reelection In Concord; Champlin Gets Mayoral Challenge
• Ward 4 Concord City Councilor, Zone C School Board Member Out For 2025 Reelection; Signups Start Friday
• Filing For 2025 Concord City Council And School Board Races Begins Sept. 5
• New Hampshire Officials Remind Granite Staters Living In Cities What Documents They Will Need To Vote
• Do The Mayor, Councilors, And School Board Members Represent Concord?

Brent Todd from Ward 1, Michele Horne in Ward 2, Jennifer Kretovic in Ward 3, Stacey Brown in Ward 5, Kris Schultz in Ward 9, and Jeff Foote in Ward 10 all filed on Friday.

So far, none of the ward council candidates are being challenged.

Two candidates filed to run for a potentially open seat in Ward 6: Aislinn Kalob and Brenna Kehew Sculley.

In a note on Facebook to supporters, Horne said she was “feeling a bit deflated recently,” since she had not achieved as much as she had hoped in her first term. She said, if elected to a second term, she would try to collaborate with other councilors more and had “high hopes of moving the needle in ways that are necessary” for the constituents of the city.

“I have worked really hard to be responsive, to live up to my promises of being fiscally conservative and transparent and to be a voice for Ward 2,” she said.

School Board Race Update

Only one candidate filed to run for the school board on Monday.

Madeleine Mineau, the COO of an energy sector business, filed to run for the Zone A (Wards 1, 2, 3, and 4). She said she offers experience in finance, project, and people management, working in highly regulated industries. Mineau participated in the full-day K steering committee as a parent representative and has also been active with the Christa McAuliffe Elementary School PTO.

“This feels like a critical moment for the district,” she said. “The recruitment and selection of a new superintendent is a major decision that will influence the management of the district for years to come. There are also principal hiring decisions on the docket this year.”

Mineau said she supports the construction of a new middle school, wants to ensure the community gets the best value for each tax dollar spent, and wants to contribute “excellent management and oversight of what is one of the most important resource in our community: our public schools.”

Alexander Dubois, who signed up to run on Friday for the open Zone C seat, has lived in Concord since 2020.

A 2018 graduate of Keene State College, with a degree in history and a minor in political science, he has worked as a special education teacher at two private out-of-district placements for students with special needs or challenging behaviors. Dubois said he believed schools had a duty to educate all children to be leaders of tomorrow, regardless of their levels of need.

“Teachers are the ones who can make this happen, and they are entitled to their own freedom of expression in their classrooms,” he said, adding, “I spent the early part of the summer in a successful effort to convince Gov. Ayotte to veto the controversial Book Banning Bill, HB-324.”

Dubois said one of the most important issues facing SAU 8 was “the overall underfunding of public education and rising costs, especially regarding special education services and transportation.” He said he hoped to address this in Concord if elected.

How To File To Run

For city seats, the filing fee is $5. The filing period runs through Monday, Sept. 15, at the Concord City Clerk’s office at City Hall at 39 Green St. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with extended hours on Thursday until 6 p.m. On Sept. 15, the clerk’s office will be open until 5 p.m.

City ward positions have a filing fee of $1.

Candidates for city offices can also gather signatures instead of paying the $5 fee. The signature filing petition process will run through Sept. 19. See the city clerk for details.

To run for a city position, voters must be registered voters in the city and live in the Ward from which they are running, if they are a candidate for a Ward seat.

Call the city clerk’s office at 603-225-8500 for more information.

Filing for the three school board seats will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays from Sept. 5 to Sept. 15.

To run for a school board position, a candidate must be a registered voter of SAU 8 and be domiciled in the Zone district.

For more information about school board races, call the SAU 8 clerk at 603-225-0811.

City And School Offices On The Ballot

Seats in 2025 include:

Mayor: 1 seat, two-year term.

At-Large City Councilor: 2 seats, four-year term.

Ward City Councilor: 1 seat per Ward (10 seats), two-year term.

Zone A (Wards 1, 2, 3, 4): 1 seat, three-year term.

Zone B (Wards 5, 6, 7): 1 seat, three-year term.

Zone C (Wards 8, 9, 10): 1 seat, three-year term.

Ward seats also include:

Ward Moderator: 1 seat per Ward (10 seats), two-year term.

Ward Clerk: 1 seat per Ward (10 seats), two-year term.

Supervisor of the Checklist: 1 seat per Ward (10 seats), six-year term.

Are You Running?

Please let us know! Email me, Tony Schinella, at tony.schinella@patch.com.

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