Kate Cook

Q1. What is the biggest problem Portsmouth is facing, and how would you solve it?

Lack of affordable housing is the biggest problem our city is facing. It impacts school enrollment, employee hiring and retention, business retention, and demographic diversity. As a community we are aging with young people and families struggling to afford housing. The affordable housing crisis also impacts our arts and cultural community, long the backbone of our local economy. Artists and creative workers need places to live and work. Without the $72 million in revenue they generate annually, and the enrichment they provide to our lives, our community would not be the same.

This is not a problem we can solve, but it is a problem we can better address. The City Council has worked to build more workforce housing in our community, but the public sector alone cannot tackle this problem. We need to enact zoning and regulatory changes that will incentivize housing development, prioritizing smaller homes and apartments, while improving alternative transportation infrastructure.

Q2. Portsmouth’s budget has reached nearly $150 million and its payroll has 260-plus people earning $100 000-plus. As a city councilor, what steps would you take, if any, to address the tax burden on residents?

With a median family income in Portsmouth over $139,000, it is not surprising that the city has over 260 employees earning $100,000. The wages paid to our firefighters, police officers, and teachers are competitive in the region, but do not exceed regional averages. In fact, the city has lost numerous first responders to communities paying higher wages or signing bonuses. As the price of housing has increased in the area, with high inflation rates for the past five years, the city has responded by increasing pay rates to retain workers.

So how do we address the cost of employee retention? High turnover rates often cost taxpayers more in training and recruitment. Supporting existing staff with pay increases that reflect inflation rates keep costs contained. We have a very experienced workforce, which improves service quality but costs the city more in salaries. For example, more than three-quarters of the teaching staff in the schools are at the top of the pay scale due to longevity. As these teachers retire, the costs of employing entry-level teachers will ultimately lead to a reduction in costs. Retirements across the city offer us the opportunity to re-evaluate staffing needs.

The best option available to the city to reduce taxpayer burden is to reduce non-operating costs including capital expenditures. As a councilor, I will continue to push for reductions in non-operating costs, and for budgets that come in under the annual Social Security cost of living adjustment.

Q3. With affordability being such a challenge in Portsmouth, what would you do to make it more accessible to people with a wide range of incomes?

The affordability crisis is the reason I voted against the City budget this year. I do not believe that City budgets that exceed the annual Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment are sustainable for our residents. Unfortunately, Portsmouth is becoming less affordable for many of its residents, beyond just our senior population. This is due to a combination of factors including high inflation rates over the past several years, a national housing crisis and strong housing market, transfer of tax obligations from the state to municipalities, and weakness in the commercial real estate market.

This complex challenge requires a multi-faceted approach. We need to take a conservative approach to budgeting while working to increase the supply of housing and the utility of our commercial real estate. We must invest more in the economic development of industrial and commercial areas of the community to increase their real estate value, and thereby their tax assessments. We also need to continue lobbying at the Statehouse for additional sources of revenue for the City to reduce the property tax burden on taxpayers, like a pillow tax, and for reinstatement of grants and loan funds cut in the last budget cycle. Loss of federal and state grant funding will only exacerbate our financial challenges. We must consider reducing spending, where possible, to contain the impact of our growing cost obligations.

Q4. The Portsmouth Housing Authority has projected rents for the apartments the agency is building on city-owned land at the former Sherburne School will range from $1,580 for a one-bedroom unit to nearly $2,200 for three bedrooms. Are those rates low enough for working people? If not, what can be done to lower them?

The rental prices for public housing are based on the Area Median Income (AMI) of the region and the federal definitions of affordable and workforce housing. As the median income rises in an area, so do the rental rates for affordable and workforce housing. By definition, affordable housing serves individuals making 60% or less of AMI. Workforce housing, on the other hand, is designed to serve individuals making approximately 80% of AMI. Rent for affordable housing should not exceed 30% of household income. In this case, the Sherburne School housing is being designed as majority workforce housing, and the $1,580 per unit price is below 30% of average income for those meeting this definition. These rents are also substantially below market rates in Portsmouth.

Because this housing is heavily subsidized by federal HUD funding and tax credits, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to lower the rents and make the project work. The cost of building has increased significantly in the last five years, and the cost of rent has to be high enough for maintenance on the building, or it will not be sustainable.

Are the rents low enough for everyone? Absolutely not. We have a growing number of working people in Portsmouth living in poverty, including people who are unhoused. The Sherburne project is not designed to meet everyone’s needs, but it will help. We must continue to invest in other housing projects to help those who cannot afford these rents.

Q5. Should the city commit to using more city-owned land to build truly affordable housing or has Portsmouth done enough?

Unfortunately, we are not the only community facing housing challenges. This is a nationwide problem. The entire Seacoast area is experiencing significant housing shortages, and we need regional investment in affordable housing to solve our problems. Portsmouth needs more housing, specifically for our workforce and lower income seniors. It will be difficult for the city to retain workers and for seniors to remain here after retirement if we do not find ways to build more affordable housing. The city government owns very little property that is buildable. The few undeveloped, city-owned, buildable lots remaining should be considered for affordable housing projects. By committing to building housing on those lots, we will have the opportunity to retain more workers and keep seniors in our community.

More importantly, what else can we do to increase housing options for those who cannot afford to purchase a home or condo in Portsmouth? We need to consider changes to our zoning code to gently increase density in our community and provide more rental housing for younger workers and retirees. This can be accomplished by allowing home conversions to duplexes or multi-family units. The density in the South End Neighborhood and the Islington and Middle Steet corridors offer a good example of this type of gentle density. This also allows people to stay in their homes longer, because they can subdivide their homes into housing for their multigenerational families.

Q6. Should the city reconsider the scope of a potential police station and City Hall renovation and upgrade project with a projected $42 million cost?

As one of the co-chairs of the Municipal Buildings Committee, I have worked to get a clear assessment of staffing and space needs for the Police Department and general government. We have already drastically reduced the initial scope of the police station project by deciding not to build a free-standing station. However, to address the needs of the Police Department, we will have to renovate other space within the municipal building. That will require reconsideration of the spatial needs of the other departments in City Hall. We are still working to review the municipal complex with our design team who will help find space efficiencies in the current building, potentially reducing the scope of the project.

While I do not agree that we need all of the items requested by the Police Department in a renovated facility, there are parts of the renovation request that we should address. We do not need to initiate a $42M project all at once. The project could be phased over 10-15 years, reducing our immediate obligation in the capital budget, and allowing for longer term financing, thereby reducing the financing impact on residents. I also believe opportunities remain to lower the overall cost of the project.

The more important question is: what are our city priorities? We currently have elementary schools without air conditioning or special education classrooms. We must decide as a community what our priorities will be before moving forward with any major project.

Q7. Should Portsmouth do something to encourage development at the McIntyre building site, where the owner says city zoning has made redevelopment difficult?

While it is unfortunate that the city has a large empty building in the downtown, it is not the responsibility of the city government to change zoning to make development more lucrative for developers. If we were a community needing widespread redevelopment, then we would consider alternative zoning to make that happen. In this case, the zoning restrictions that govern this area were in place before the sale of the property. Like any property owner, the developer should have been aware of those limitations before purchasing the site.

Q8. The City Council has put forward ideas to address traffic flow and walkability in high-profile locations like State Street and Congress Street. What is your opinion on these efforts?

The planning for our current Market Square occurred 50 years ago. We are now at a different time in history. People are less dependent on cars, the downtown is a vibrant space, and more people live downtown. We also have increasing numbers of pedestrians, cyclists, and scooters in Market Square. Unfortunately, outdated infrastructure, from sewer pipes to an aging electrical grid, will not support current downtown business needs. We are under federal order to separate our stormwater and sewer lines. We must find spaces downtown to house electrical equipment, trash and recycling, and alternative transportation.

We also need to slow traffic through the downtown area so we do not have an accident involving a pedestrian. The 2025 Market Square Master Plan Study, completed by an engineering design firm, studied traffic flow through our downtown and determined that we should reduce the number of lanes on Pleasant and Congress streets. This would allow for more pedestrian flow near critical parking lots, and clarify traffic patterns. The traffic engineer determined that this would not heavily impact traffic in that area. The same is true of the State Street proposal. A traffic engineering study was performed a few years ago that determined that making State Street two-way would slow traffic but not significantly increase back-ups on State Street when the bridge is up. The benefit would be a reduction in speeds on State Street, and a reduction in vehicle traffic in Market Square.

Q9. Should the city begin looking for a site where it can build its third municipal parking garage? If so, what part of the city makes the most sense? If not, how can the city meet its increasing parking demand?

The city should consider additional parking options downtown, specifically an additional garage, according to the recent Parking Utilization Study. While we need to consider this option, the city should also consider alternative modes of transportation and satellite parking to help alleviate parking challenges in the short term. A public transportation loop could alleviate some parking issues in downtown, specifically for workers, while providing them low or no cost parking options outside the downtown area. If we first implement a transit loop and satellite parking, we will be better positioned to delay a major garage project, and we can explore alternative options to address parking needs.

The challenge around building a new parking garage is that the city cannot afford to purchase land to build one without significantly increasing the cost of the project. The logical places for another garage are on existing city property, namely the Bridge Street lot or the Parrot Avenue lot. The city does not own any other land close to the downtown space which could be easily developed into a garage. The other option is to proceed with the underground lot that was proposed in the Worth Lot space in the early planning for a Vaughn Mall redevelopment in 2017. That proposal, while more physically attractive, would be significantly more expensive because it would require extensive excavation. All these options should be considered carefully before moving forward.

Q10. What else would you like voters to know about you?

As a city councilor, I have worked on numerous issues that do not get a lot of media coverage but directly impact the way our city functions. As chair of the Governance Committee, I have spearheaded efforts to improve transparency of local government, ethics and accountability, training for city volunteers, procurement, administrative functions, and committee efficiency. As a member of the Legislative Subcommittee, I have testified in Concord on bills directly impacting our city. As the arts liaison on the Arts and Cultural Commission and Public Art Review Committee, I have championed our arts community and introduced changes to city ordinances and policies to better support their work. On sustainability issues, I worked for adoption of a Climate Action Plan and initiation of a city solar array project, and I introduced a Skip the Stuff policy to reduce plastic waste in our landfills.

While all of my council work is rewarding, my favorite part of being a city councilor is interacting with community members around town and seeing the time each person invests in making our city an incredible place to live. I have been honored to serve Portsmouth for two terms on the City Council, and I would love the opportunity to continue to represent our community for another term.