Tin-Eared Bureaucrats - Granite Grok

Tin-Eared Bureaucrats

“Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.” ~Laurence J. Peter

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Barbara Seebart, New Hampshire State Refugee Coordinator didn’t appear to grasp Mayor Ted Gatsas’ assertions that the City of Manchester is not prepared to absorb another 300 refugees. The Board of Mayor and Alderman voted in favor of a moratorium this month given the city’s current financial situation.

Seebart, told the mayor she would pass along his concerns to the hacks in Washington DC, but then ended her response to Gatsas with this little gem: “I look forward to our continued collaboration in assuring refugees are successfully resettled in Manchester.”  As reported in today’s edition of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Gatsas promptly responded to Seebart asserting, “I continue to question how success is measured with regards to resettlement by both yourself and the International Institute of New Hampshire; to date that question has yet to be sufficiently answered.”

 On July 7, the Union Leader reported that Seebart expressed concerns about scarce case management after refugees have been in the Queen city 6-9 months, as well as concerns with the economy and potential welfare law changes. Yet her above statement seems to indicate a tin ear.

On July 10 International Institute of New England Board Chairman William Gillett, in the Union Leader argued against a moratorium stating, “To suggest that refugees resettling in Manchester “are going to suffer because there are not enough resources for them” ignores completely the conditions and lives that the refugees have fled…” Gillett further arrogantly opines, “Any lack of adequate resources is a failure of will, not a failure of ability.” Another tin ear.

The city has cut back on many services; The city has laid off workers; and, the tax payers are facing another tax increase.  Gillett’s organization is not shy about spending the tax payers dollars, either. Gillett points out that, “A significant amount of federal money flows in to Manchester to support refugee resettlement. These funds target refugee employment assistance, health care, English language and citizenship classes and, specifically, the educational needs of refugee children in the Manchester schools.  organization…” What he wants us to believe is that such federal funds are sufficient to do all that he says they are intended to do. Not true. And Gillet’s own organization’s report reflects that where IINH states, “

 “Manchester’s comparatively low 4.9 percent unemployment rate, relatively low rents and high cash assistance result in a large number of its clients becoming self-sufficient by the end of the initial resettlement period…”  

 Congressman Frank Guinta’s office added that the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration provides resettlement agencies $1,800 per refugee and resettlement agencies get to keep about $700 of that money.

Barbara Seebart has no dog in this fight. She lives in Warner, New Hampshire. When she leaves her office in Concord, this city is not even on her mental radar screen. To deny that settling 300 more people here in the Queen City will have a significant financial impact is the kind of stuff to be expected from a bureaucratic hack in Concord. How about giving the Manchester taxpayers a break? Isn’t it time for other communities like Portsmouth, Dover or Rochester to take up this burden for a time?  IINH definitely has a dog in the fight. No refugees, no money for them. Their organization does not sink or swim depending on the Manchester Tax payer. I have a better Idea. lets send refugees to communities like Warner. How’s that for an idea? The Sunapee/Kearsarge region has a bit of ethnic flavor deficit.

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