BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Name: Jay Kahn
Age: 73
How long have you lived in Keene? 35 years
Family: married to Cheryl. We have two children and two grandchildren
Education: Ph.D in Public Policy Analysis, University of Illinois-Chicago
Occupation: Retired from Keene State College where I served for 28 years as Vice President for Finance and Planning, Interim President and Adjunct Faculty.
Organizations to which you belong/have belonged: past Chairman of the boards of Cheshire Medical Center, Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, and Monadnock Economic Development Corporation. Currently serving on NH Civics as Treasurer, and Board member on National Alliance for Mental Health-NH, Southwestern Community Services, Southwest Regional Planning Commission
Public/government service: City Councilor 2016, State Senator 2016 to 2022
QUESTIONS (Limit is 200 words per answer)*
1). Why are you running for mayor?
I can bring experience and relationships that add value to the mayor’s position. I’ve effectively led Keene State College, local organizations and in the State Senate. I can leverage local, state and national relationships to advocate for and benefit the lives of Keene residents. As my Senate record demonstrates, I’m an effective advocate on workforce, infrastructure, education, and health and mental health care.
I love our city and want Keene to sustain a reputation as a great place to live, visit, work, raise a family, and retire. That will take a communitywide effort. I believe I can bring groups together to face our challenges, identify opportunities and work in partnerships to accomplish big goals.
2). What is the mayor’s greatest responsibility, and how would you meet it?
Leading the City to thrive in the next decade, the 2030’s, is what I see as the big goal for Keene’s next mayor. That takes a number of strategies to retain Keene residents and businesses by controlling taxes and maintaining high-quality services and quality of life. Keene must be a city that’s attractive and welcoming to new people: a college town; locally accessible health care; good schools; recreational, arts and multicultural activities; and a vibrant downtown. Housing needs to be affordable and available. Our population needs to grow enough to have the workforce to sustain and attract local businesses and services. The mayor needs to sustain citizen, business and organization engagement in planning and decisions, so we’re all in this together. This is how I’ve worked in leadership roles at Keene State College and in the City.
The mayor also needs to be a consistent advocate for the City’s needs. That requires strong communications with state and federal leaders. My successes advocating for our region as its state senator will carry over to my ability to work with other mayors, state and federal officials.
3). Amid a statewide housing crisis, what can the city do to alleviate housing insecurity and better serve those who have either lost their housing or are on the brink of doing so?
Supply and demand for housing are out of balance and unsustainable, and it’s driving people away. A sustainable solution is to make better use of vacant and underutilized properties, including city-owned land, to increase the availability and diversity of housing. When the city has an inventory of potential building sites, we’ll market those opportunities for development.
Access to services needs to be maximized with case work support that meets people where they are and helps them advance to self-sufficiency. We need systems that provide rapid workforce training; direct people to income, food, shelter and childcare supports; accessible mental health and substance use recovery services; and transportation services.
Housing shelter spaces should be prioritized for local residents. We need to work with the state legislature to prioritize policies to alleviate homelessness. I’ve proposed means by which communities hosting services can recover costs from towns sending their homeless. Everyone should have skin in solving this problem. We need a means for community action programs to provide short-term income assistance for people in need to avoid eviction and cover rent deposits. I will organize action among NH mayors and legislators to act on these proposals.
4). What should the city do to minimize the disruption the three-year infrastructure project slated to start in 2025 will have on downtown businesses?
We can’t let the downtown infrastructure project take all the energy from other important issues. Let’s agree to our objectives and manage the project’s scope to minimize the cost and time for completion. Apply project management techniques, including engaging citizen and business stakeholders, to shrink the schedule and minimize disruption. Safety and access need to be given priority during the project. Let’s secure property use rights to provide alternative parking arrangements to increase access to downtown and alleviate conflicts that complicate and delay project completion. Just as during the pandemic, the City can help downtown businesses thrive by mobilizing buy-local initiatives and continuing to promote downtown events.
The City has additional infrastructure needs like renovating Robin Hood Park, sidewalk replacement, roadway improvements and complete streets, improving infrastructure to support new housing, and additional wastewater treatment systems that provide cost savings. These need to move onto city priority lists so we don’t lose momentum for other city improvements that provide visible returns for taxpayers.
*Note: Word limits do not include the text of the questions or biographical prompts; numbers and abbreviations will be counted as individual words.