MANCHESTER — Worries about public safety, especially an increase in armed robberies in the city over the summer, are credited by one challenger for his strong performance on Tuesday’s city primary election.
Bill Barry, an Auburn police officer, topped the field for alderman in Ward 10, leading incumbent Philip Greazzo 313 votes to 265. Former alderman Jane Beaulieu trailed the field with 165 votes.
Barry said he was surprised at how often voters brought up public safety issues when he campaigned.
“In reaching out to them and talking to them, I let them tell me what their concerns were and their biggest was crime in the city,” Barry said.
Greazzo said he recognizes that a series of well-publicized crimes in the city through the summer months — armed robberies, in particular — has voters uneasy.
“There’s been more this summer and people aren’t happy with that,” Greazzo said. “Public safety is a top priority that I work on along with many other things. Public money is a problem — people don’t have a lot of it — and education is another issue a lot of folks are frustrated with.”
Barry said he will continue to press public safety issues heading into the Nov. 5 city election, while Greazzo said school and financial issues will continue to be important in his campaign.
Greazzo, a small business owner, said that aldermen will be faced with approving new collective bargaining agreements with unions, and claimed he would be better able to push the city to hold the line on those deals than someone who is himself a public employee.
“Who do you want voting on a contract for all those people?” Greazzo said.
Barry said he’ll continue to stress public safety issues, but claims there is more to his campaign than the crime issue.
“It’s not just police work, it’s also community service,” Barry said. “They like it when someone goes out and does community service work, too.”