Mayor James Donchess (right) and Hillsborough County Commissioner Michael Soucy faced off in their final debate before the Nov. 7 election. Courtesy photo/Nashua Community Television

NASHUA – Five days before the general election, Mayor James Donchess and Hillsborough County Commissioner Michael Soucy squared off for one final debate at Nashua High School South.

Regarding the ongoing opioid crisis, Donchess said OxyContin was the drug of choice when the epidemic surfaced in New Hampshire more than a decade ago. Over time, OxyContin gradually gave way to heroin. Now, both drugs have been replaced by fentanyl.

“We’ve seen fentanyl completely take over,” Donchess said during the Nov. 2 debate.

Looking at the recent situation in Ward 7, Soucy said the mayor made the wrong decision in moving 45 homeless individuals from the railroad tracks on Temple Street to an encampment behind the Crown Street Park and Ride.

“It was the wrong location, it was the wrong solution,” he said. “A lot of these people just want to be left alone.”

If it were up to him, Soucy said he would have invested up to $1 million from the city’s $10 million Housing Trust to provide those individuals with temporary housing.

However, Donchess said there were reasons for setting up the Crown Street encampment.

“At least the people should be given the opportunity to move to a single location,” he said. “If you want to know them and get them into treatment you kind of have to know where they are.”

Donchess also reminded Soucy of how the trust fund works.

“This is citizen-supervised, it’s not me,” he said. “This is a group of appointed citizens who are making recommendations on how to use the money. They want to use the money on long-term solutions.”

Donchess said he had requested funding from the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners to assist Nashua’s homeless population.

“Commissioner Soucy said ‘no, we’re not going to give the city any money,'” said Donchess.

In response, Soucy said the mayor provided no explanation as to how the money would be used.

“There was no plan in place, of course the answer was going to be ‘no’,” he said. “We have to track every penny of that money. How do we track that money if it’s sitting in the trust fund commingled?”

In contrast, Soucy said the county awarded $515,000 to Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.

“She had a plan,” he said.

Soucy also called attention to the city’s finances, saying Nashua is $175 million in debt.

“I find that even more frustrating than our property taxes,” he said.

Soucy said that for fiscal year 2024, the Board of Aldermen passed a $412 million budget to support Nashua’s 91,322 residents. However, he said Manchester’s budget is $370.4 million and services 115,644 residents.

“We’re paying too much for the city,” he said.

Going into the Nov. 7 election, Soucy trails Donchess by 592 votes.