It must be an election year for the Portsmouth City Council. One can tell because Gerald Duffy has pulled his housing side show cart out of the barn and is dusting it off for the nine-month haul to voting day on November 4. The broken record details of his same ol’, same ol’ can be found in the link below.
Duffy: Portsmouth, we need a housing plan
Here is a suggestion for Gerry’s proposed housing plan. Let’s compare the actual number of Portsmouth’s existing government / subsidized / below market rate housing units to what other local towns are providing. According to the “2023 Directory of Assisted Housing in New Hampshire” published by New Hampshire Housing, (see link below) the tally is as follows:
2023-Directory-of-Assisted-Housing.pdf
Portsmouth: 863 units
Hampton: 106 units
Rye: 22 units
Stratham: 0 units
Hampton Falls: 72 units
Greenland: 0 units
Newington: 12 units (only for developmentally challenged)
New Castle: 0 units
North Hampton 0 units
Portsmouth is pulling well beyond its fair share to supply Rockingham County with lower income housing, and then some. It’s time for other seacoast towns to step up, and give Portsmouth a break.
Where is it written Portsmouth is responsible to solve the housing shortage for the entire county?
It’s time for Gerry to take his act on the road for other seacoast towns to enjoy. Here are some dates for area Select board meetings in February:
Rockingham Planning Commission: February 12, 2025
Newington Selectboard: February 4, 2025
Stratham Selectboard: February 3, 2025
New Castle Selectboard: February 18, 2025
Rye Selectboard: February 10, 2025
Greenland Selectboard: February 24, 2025
North Hampton Selectboard: February 10, 2025
Hampton Selectboard: February 10, 2025
Hampton Falls: February 5, 2025
Go Give ’em hell, Gerry !!!!
