13-02-2025
In 'State of the City' address, Ruais cites past accomplishments, teases future initiatives
Feb. 12—Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais continued to hammer on a hot topic currently in the news even while looking ahead during his 2025 State of the City address Wednesday.
Speaking before a standing-room-only crowd of members of the Greater Manchester Chamber, Ruais once again took aim at one of the state's new magistrates who released a man accused in a stabbing outside an Elm Street convenience store Friday night.
Kyle Bisson, 25, was arrested on Bridge Street on charges of second-degree assault and two counts of falsifying evidence.
At a magistrate hearing Saturday, police argued for Bisson to be held on preventive detention. But Magistrate Stephanie Johnson released him on personal recognizance bail, "despite the extreme violence and randomness of the crime," police said in a news release.
"In what world does that make sense?" Ruais asked Wednesday. "This is especially maddening when we learned more — the man arrested for stabbing had a conviction for domestic violence on his record. Where is the justice for the victims? Where is the justice for the police? Where is the justice for our residents and businesses?
"What is it going to take for this madness to end? We need bail reform now more than ever."
Ruais said in 2024 that there were 2,971 adults arrested in Manchester. Those individuals would account for 4,551 arrests, Ruais said, because 27% of them were arrested more than once. Of the 2,971 arrested, he said 715 — or 24% — were out on bail at the time of their subsequent arrest.
"This is entirely unacceptable," Ruais said, to a round of applause. "There could be nothing more transformative in Manchester than taking nearly 1,000 criminals off our streets. The city would literally change overnight."
'Thriving,' amid challenges
Among several topics in his 20-plus minute speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, Ruais said Manchester has been designated the hottest housing market in the country, and ranked one of the top places to live.
"It means our city is a destination for families and businesses and we're thriving — but it also creates upward pressure on housing prices, and with a .6% vacancy rate, presents challenges in affordability," Ruais said.
The mayor said in 2024 the city issued 535 certificates of occupancy, 600 new dwellings came online, and 707 units are in active construction.
"We also have an exciting project we are working on that has the potential to greatly increase the number of transitional units in our city, while getting more unhoused off our streets," Ruais said.
"We have a real opportunity to change a significant number of lives. I only wish this address were a month later so I could tell you all about it."
Ruais said city budget talks are ongoing for fiscal 2026, mentioning that two years ago the Manchester School District entered into contracts that brought their employees to market rates, giving the district a competitive chance to land the best educators.
"This year, we have a similar opportunity on the city side with our own comprehensive compensation study that was completed," Ruais said. "I am committed to ensuring our city workers are compensated fairly, while continuing to ensure our taxpayers are protected. I will never gut essential city services, and I will always put the taxpayer first."
Looking to the future, Ruais — who has already announced he will seek a second term — said in the coming weeks he plans to unveil "Together We Rise: 50 Initiatives, One Future," a collection of plans officials hope to implement in the coming years.
"These ideas come from our countless town halls, community and aldermanic meetings and more," Ruais said. "It's aggressive, but that's what people expect from the city that is as enduring as its iconic mill buildings."
Some of the ideas include:
* Allocating funds to better light downtown at night to deter crime and create a warm, welcoming environment.
* A commitment to making a "historic investment" in city roads.
* Developing an AI Policy Guide for Manchester, and plans to implement items like an AI Chatbot to facilitate user interaction between city departments and residents.
* Creating an action plan for local seniors to address the need for programming at the William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center on the West Side.
Ruais said he genuinely loves "every second of this job."
"While my time in office is finite, my duty to the city is indefinite," Ruais said. "It's incumbent upon us to leave Manchester a better place. I want to be able to look back and say, we listened, and we got things done."
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