Letter to City Manager

There was no way to put my email to the city manager on public record, like you can do when you email city council members from the city webpage. That's ok. I know how to copy and paste. Here is my email letter to the city manager.

Hello City Manager Conard,

I recently corresponded by email with Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine, on the subject of a 24 hour warming center, in which he relayed to me that you would welcome speaking to me about this subject. As you probably know, I reopened the petition on change.org for a 24 hour warming center. I did not receive any acknowledgment that you had received any updates but it is not the only venue I am using to try to raise awareness of this important issue.

I have written several letters to the city council in 2020 about the matter and am surprised at the lack of response on the issue. Jim Splaine was the only one who was interested. I am also surprised that most people in Portsmouth don’t understand that despite help from Crossroads, Operation Blessing, and the city welfare office, there are still people left out in the cold. This is because there are temperature cut off points for receiving help from existing warming shelters and who knows what city welfare criteria is, since they do not publicly put out information in a transparent way, to the public. This is still leaving gaps in the system. I would like you to know that there is NO ONE responsible for helping people who are homeless, but only private, non profit or religious organizations who offer help they can as best they can. The city has not stepped forward to make sure that NO ONE is left out in the cold during the cold months. Please if you do not already know, I ask that you understand about hypothermia, and how it can happen at temps above freezing.

I would be willing to talk with you if you would be open to listening. If you adhere to not having the city involved in opening a municipal building for anyone in Portsmouth who needs to get warm, then I would say it would be quite hard to reason with that… but… I am willing to try anyway. Please let me know when it would be convenient to speak with me by phone. I am pretty much open to any time and or any day.

Whether I am able or unable to convince the city to take a building such as the Public Library and open it up as a warming center, ( it is a huge building where social distancing would be possible)… I have already decided that it will be my life mission to continue to advocate until there is non one left out in the cold in Portsmouth. I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Donna M. Westbrook

76D Manor Drive

Portsmouth, NH 03801

603-957-9054