REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE TO LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN. SOME NEIGHBORS IN MANCHESTER SAY LATELY IT FEELS LIKE THE CITY’S PROBLEMS ARE CLOSING IN. WHEN I CAME OUT HERE, THE OTHER NIGHT TO SMOKE, YOU CAN’T SMOKE IN THE BUILDING. AND THEY WERE REVIVING SOMEBODY WITH NARCAN RIGHT HERE ON THE SIDEWALK. IT KIND OF GIVES YOU A SCARY FEELING. DE RUAI, THE FIRST DECLARED CANDIDATE TO ENTER THIS YEAR’S RACE FOR MAYOR, SAYS HE CAN RELATE TO PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS QUEEN CITY STORY. AND I WALK DOWN OUR CITY STREETS OR THROUGH OUR PARKS, AND I SEE PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING. AND I KNOW THAT THEIR BEFORE THE GRACE OF GOD GO I THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY I’M IN THIS RACE. BREWER HE SAYS A DECADE AGO, HE CONFRONTED HIS OWN ALCOHOL ADDICTION AND TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND. GOING FROM WORK AS A CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR AND JOINING THE NATIONAL GUARD. NOW HE WANTS TO BRING NEW LEADERSHIP TO CITY HALL. WE NEED TO GET OUR THE QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES UNDER CONTROL, WITH HOMELESSNESS, WITH ADDICTION, WITH MENTAL HEALTH, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE SUPPORTING OUR COPS 110%. THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN THEY’RE MAKING DIFFICULT DECISIONS, THAT THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE SOMEBODY IN CITY HALL THAT’S BACKING THEM. THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS HAS DOMINATED THE HEADLINES IN MANCHESTER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, CULMINATING IN THE CLEANUP OF A STREET ENCAMPMENT IN JANUARY. ROY SAYS IT’S TIME FOR A DIFFERENT APPROACH. I THINK IT’S ACCOUNTABILITY, COMPASSION AND HOUSING. SO ON THE ACCOUNTABILITY SIDE, WE HAVE TO ENFORCE THE REGULATIONS ON THE BOOKS. BUT I WANT TO ENFORCE THOSE REGULATIONS AND USE IT AS A LEVER TO DIVERT PEOPLE IN TO TREATMENT. AND THEN ONCE WE’RE INTO THE TREATMENT SIDE, THEN WE CAN START LOOKING AT FIXING THE UNDERLYING ISSUES OF THE PROBLEMS WITH ADDICTION AS IT IS. AND ONCE WE GET THROUGH THAT, THEN WE CAN START LOOKING AT THE TRANSITIONAL HOUSING AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING. ROONEY IS A REPUBLICAN WHO HAS THE FIELD TO HIMSELF RIGHT NOW, AND THE ENDORSEMENT OF GOVERNOR CHRIS SUNUNU, INCUMBENT MAYOR JOYCE CRAIG. STILL HASN’T ANNOUNCED WHAT HER PLANS WILL BE FOR THIS ELECTION CYCL