Byron Champlin has lived in Concord for 40 years and says he has watched as his beloved home transformed from a “city in a coma” to a city on the rise.

His grandchildren are entering the Concord School District, the kids he coached in recreation youth basketball have stayed to raise children of their own and now he is launching a campaign for mayor.

When Mayor Jim Bouley announced his plans to retire earlier this month after 16 years, Champlin said he was encouraged by community members, family, friends and other city councilors to run.

“I have just been blown away by the amount of public support that has just swelled up since I started talking about it,” he said in a phone interview with the Monitor. “I love this city. I know so many people across the town and I have developed so many relationships that make me feel very optimistic.”

Though other names have been mentioned as potential running mates, Champlin is the first to publicly announce his mayoral campaign, nearly two weeks ahead of the anticipated filing period.

As mayor, Champlin, who retired in 2018 from Lincoln Financial Group in corporate philanthropy, said he would make the mayoral position full time with a focus on economic development, homelessness, public safety and continued DEIJB efforts. Though unpaid and generally part-time, the mayor receives $2,000 stipend for service.

By tracking economic development, reinstating the economic development advisory board, furthering rural development, encouraging the addition of housing, addressing homelessness, focusing on public safety retention and recruitment and establishing a DEIJB steering committee, Champlin hopes to attract and retain businesses, create good-paying jobs and minimize the tax burden on homeowners.

“Locally, as mayor, I am going to continue to advocate for and push for a unified approach [to homelessness] which is aimed at getting people out of encampments and off the streets and into permanent housing,” he said. “It may sound ambitious but it’s been done in other counties, but the key pieces will be to have housing available and willing landlords that allow us to place people.”

Though the vacancy rate in Concord is 0.4%, there are around 1,000 new units that will become available over the next two years as several housing projects and developments wrap up throughout the city.

“Housing is absolutely critical and we need places to house our workers and we need more housing to address homelessness,” Champlin said.

Since Champlin became Ward 4 City Councilor in 2014, he’s paid attention to the inner workings of the council and listened to the needs of the community, he said. In 2019, he was elected to an at-large position and has been outspoken and involved on the council and other boards and committees since.

Champlin didn’t envision a career in politics. He’s worked in customer service the majority of his life, an experience that helped him communicate, engage and problem-solve and it’s given him a better understanding of what people want.

“As a municipality, we are in the customer service business whether you’re working in City Hall, general services fixing and plowing roads or the water department making sure there is water when someone turns the spigot,” Champlin said. “That’s what we do.”

Before studying English at the University of Rhode Island, Champlin worked with his father and his grandfather at their general store. From there, he took on summer jobs as a house framer, a short order cook, a groomer in a racing stable, a waiter and a road worker.

After he graduated from Boston University with his masters of science in journalism, he took a job with the Union Leader as a reporter before spending seven years as the public information officer for the New Hampshire House of Representatives. In 2018, he retired from the Lincoln Financial Group after 27 years in marketing, communication and corporate philanthropy.

“As one of you wrote me, Concord is a small city with a big heart,” Champlin said in an email announcing his candidacy. “I’ve talked to so many people who visit, fall in love with our vibrant downtown and neighborhoods, settle their families here and invest in our community. We strive to be a city where the only limits to personal success are one’s ambition and imagination.”

To run for mayor or city council, filing will be open to the public between Sept. 8 and Sept. 18. The fee is $5 for mayor or city council positions and $1 for ward officials.

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