Frank Guinta

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Frank Guinta
Manchester, NH Mayor Frank Guinta
Manchester, NH Mayor Frank Guinta
In office
2006 – present
Preceded by Robert A. Baines
Born September 26, 1970 (aged 37)
Edison, New Jersey
Political party Republican


Frank Guinta (pronounced /ˈɡɪntə/) (born September 26, 1970) is the current Republican mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

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[edit] Personal Life

Guinta, the son of Richard and Virginia Guinta, was born in Edison, New Jersey on September 26, 1970, where he attended public school until the age of 12, when his family moved to Skillman, New Jersey. In his final two years of high school, he attended Canterbury School, a Catholic boarding school in New Milford, Connecticut. He went on to attend Assumption College, a private, four-year liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he met his wife, Morgan in his senior year.

After they married, they moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where Guinta worked for Travelers Insurance.

In the fall of 1999, he began attending Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Intellectual Property.

In 2001 Guinta and his wife, Morgan were honored in the first year of The New Hampshire Union Leader's “40 Under Forty” program. They are the only husband and wife to be so honored by the newspaper.

Guinta has two young children, Colby, 2, and Jack, 1, and a poodle named Abbey. Frank is an avid skier, and enjoys skiing the state's North Country slopes. He also spends time managing rental properties in Manchester.

[edit] Politics

On November 7, 2000, just five months after graduation from Franklin Pierce Law Center, he was elected to a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Manchester. He was reelected November 5, 2002.

On November 6, 2001, Guinta was elected Alderman representing Manchester’s Ward 3. He was reelected to that office on November 4, 2003.

In 2004, he resigned his House seat to take a position as senior policy advisor to Congressman Jeb Bradley, a job which he held until March, 2005, when he left to run for mayor of Manchester on a full-time basis.

Guinta defeated three-term incumbent Manchester mayor Robert A. Baines, a Democrat, in the November 8, 2005 non-partisan election. He ran with an agenda of lowering taxes, reducing the crime rate in Manchester, and improving the performance of the city’s schools. He was inaugurated Tuesday, January 3, 2006, at Manchester's Palace Theatre. [1] He was re-elected November 6, 2007, defeating Democrat Thomas Donovan, a former school board member. [2]

In Manchester, the mayor serves as ex officio chair of the city’s board of school committee. The position has a two-year term.

In May 2008, following a long foreseen decrease in revenues, Guinta favored sending layoff notices to as many as 80 public school teachers. That recommendation was rejected by the city's board of school committee. [3]. On May 8, 2008, Manchester's public school district was cited as failing to make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind act. It should be noted, however, that the Manchester School District received this designation during the tenure of Guinta's predecesor as mayor, Bob Baines.[4]

Despite the proposed cuts, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported that Manchester's student-teacher ratios went from 14.9 students per teacher to 14.1 during the current school year, which was well above the statewide average of one teacher for every 12.6 students. The average salary for teachers in the state has grown steadily over the past five years, from $42,689 to $48,310 this year. Manchester's average salary this year is almost identical to the state average, $48,348.

Supporters of Guinta's cuts noted that pink slips had been sent out in previous years by school officials, but no teachers had been fired.

Guinta has volunteered on several boards and commissions in Manchester, including Manchester Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., Intown Manchester, Inc., SEE Science Center, Hands Across the Merrimack, Inc. and A Way To A Better Living, Inc.

[edit] Electoral history

Manchester Mayoral Election 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Frank Guinta 10,125 51.3
Democratic Robert A. Baines (Incumbent) 9,597 48.7 - 18.0
Manchester Mayoral Election 2007
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Frank Guinta (Incumbent) 10,381 53.9 + 2.6
Democratic Tom Donovan 8,894 46.1

[edit] See also

List of mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links