Corinne Alfeld

After moving from Silver Spring, Maryland, to West Lebanon in 2021, Corinne Alfeld and her husband, Greg Ericksen, wanted to get involved in the community and learn more about their local government. The Lebanon Citizens Academy provided the perfect solution.

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“Because New England states are run so differently from other states I’ve lived in, and because I was interested in how a small city operates, I jumped at the chance to participate in the Lebanon Citizens Academy,” said Alfeld. “After the first session, I was so excited about what I was learning that I convinced my husband to attend, as well.”

Participants met weekly to learn about different city departments, such as City Management, Library Services, Public Safety, and Recreation and Parks Services.

“It was a great group of people, mostly long-time residents but some newcomers, and a range of ages,” said Alfeld. “The employees of the City of Lebanon were all so knowledgeable about their areas. The expertise of the water management staff was especially impressive! And did you know that Lebanon has 99 miles of roads to upkeep?”

“I feel really lucky to live in a place with such dedicated city employees, who keep everything running smoothly,” Alfeld said. “Residents sometimes complain about things, but they don’t know how much work—including budgeting, planning, and implementation—goes into it. I remind myself of that every time I see road work or hydrant flushing going on around the city.”

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Alfeld emphasized the importance of showing up to each session. “There is so much to learn, and the staff takes time to prepare and be there after hours to provide detailed information about what they do and how they help your city,” she said. “The second piece of advice is to ask questions! Sometimes the most interesting parts of the session were the staff’s answers to participant questions.”

After completing the 2024 Citizens Academy, Alfeld joined the West Lebanon Revitalization Committee in 2025, which has recently focused on repairs to the pipes, roads, and sidewalks on South Main Street. City residents are welcome to attend any of the various Lebanon committee meetings virtually or in person. A calendar and information about meeting access can be found at lebanonnh.gov/1359/Lebanon-Live-Meetings.

Andrew Faunce

Andrew volunteers for the city in many capacities in his retirement

Andrew Faunce was already involved in the local community in several ways when he enrolled in the Lebanon Citizens Academy, a series of educational, hands-on courses that provides residents with insight into city departments and civic affairs. He volunteers and is a member of the board at AVA Gallery and Art Center, he is chair of the Lebanon Planning Board, and he serves on the Lebanon Housing Task Force and the West Lebanon Revitalization Advisory Committee. “On my retirement, I became invested in volunteering for the city in any capacity that I can,” he said.

His participation in the Lebanon Citizens Academy gave him an even greater appreciation for how the local city government operates. “It really introduced me to how much a relatively small set of city staff does on behalf of the residents,” he said. “I have a tremendous respect for what’s offered here.”

Some of the highlights his cohort experienced included meeting with the Police Department and learning about the K-9 Unit, operating a fire hose and participating in a mock live fire drill with the Fire Department, and visiting the Solid Waste and Recycling Facility and creating a mini landfill out of clay, stones, sand and water.

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In addition to learning about city operations, he also gained a better understanding of the people on the municipal team.

“There’s lots of ways that folks can not only learn about the departments, but also experience the sorts of things that the folks that work in those departments get to experience, and it just gives you a new perspective on some of your neighbors,” he said.

He noted that the Citizens Academy is a good way to learn more about issues affecting residents and to make contacts to check in with later on. “It’s an advantage of being in a relatively small community, where you can get to know the people that are making the decisions that affect your experience,” he said.

Faunce’s advice for other Lebanon residents considering the Citizens Academy? “If you’ve heard about it and are on the fence about it, by all means apply for it, commit to it,” he said. “It’s a really great experience.”

More information about joining the 2026 Citizens Academy can be found at lebanonnh.gov/220/About-Citizens-Academy.

The childcare shortage in the Upper Valley has become an increasingly pressing and widely felt issue over the past several years, affecting not just families with children, but whole communities. In Lebanon, the Early Learning Center of the Upper Valley Project (ELCUV) – a 22-milliondollar childcare facility projected to be in business by 2027 – aims to help address this issue.

A pre-Covid Vital Communities study estimated that there was a shortage of around 2,000 childcare openings in the Upper Valley. Now, with staffing shortages and childcare facility closures increasing, this number presumably continues to rise, putting more and more Upper Valley families in a tough spot.

Certain economic and equity problems within the community are a direct result of the lack of quality childcare in the area, says City Manager Shaun Mulholland, who is leading the team for this project.

“We have a lot of highly qualified people who cannot return to work because they don’t have adequate childcare, or they can’t find child care, or they can’t afford childcare,” he says. “This is a critical need in the Upper Valley – it directly impacts the workforce.”

“That’s one issue,” Mulholland continues. “There’s also an equity issue here. Not always, but more often than not, it’s women who are left unable to return to the workplace… while their peers are advancing in their careers and the ability to gain funds for retirement in the future, that woman is falling behind, and that is incredibly unfair.”

The Early Learning Center – which will be located on City-owned land at the new Airport Tech Park on Airpark Road – is a collaboration between the City of Lebanon and the Boys & Girls Club of Central New Hampshire, who will run the facility and provide on-site training for Upper Valley childcare professionals.

“It’s a good partnership – public, private/non-profit – to try to address this problem,” says Mulholland.

The facility is predicted to meet about 10% of the childcare needs in the Upper Valley, by providing care for 140 children ages 0-5 and 60 school-age children through an after-school program, with 51% of spots dedicated to families with low-to-moderate income (at or below an annual income of $73,000 for a family of four). Financial aid packages will also be available.

The center will serve families throughout the Upper Valley region, and conveniently located near route 12A, it will be a useful resource for employees who work in and around West Lebanon.

Funding for the project will consist of grants, state tax credits, and fundraising. Proposals have already been submitted for a congressionally directed spending grant and a community development block grant. The project team will work with corporate partners and set fundraising goals to meet the rest of the projected budget.

While the primary goal of the project is to address the local childcare shortage, it will also embrace the early childhood education model, which is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S., and has already gained traction in the Upper Valley.

“It’s no longer ‘childcare’ (that’s what it’s commonly referred to as); it’s actually early childhood education,” Mulholland explains. “Because we’re teaching kids at young ages, we’re starting to educate them… that’s what we’re focusing on here to allow these students when they do get to grade school that they will have some of the skills that are necessary to help them accelerate through that and allow them to be more productive and effective in the world that we live in.”

“The world is really changing,” Mulholland adds. “When my kids went to daycare, it was daycare – it wasn’t to educate students, it wasn’t to help them socialize… now there are formal programs and curriculums [for early childhood education].”

With this in mind, the project will take advantage of the natural landscape around the building site, including conservation land that will be easily accessible to the ELCUV and the public. Plans for a public park and nature-based learning will be incorporated into the design for the facility.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here… to help our kids get ahead,” Mulholland says.

In early 2013, former Lebanon City Manager Greg Lewis was looking for a way to ‘bump up’ citizen engagement in the City’s policy and advisory boards. The idea he landed on, creating the Lebanon Citizen’s Academy, was designed to educate residents on the inner workings of city government to spur their interest in volunteering. And by all accounts from the perspective of both the City and Academy graduates, the idea is working.

According to the City’s website, the Lebanon Citizen’s Academy “consists of a series of entertaining, hands-on, educational short courses, and will provide you with the knowledge and understanding of how your city government works for you.” The Academy faculty is the City’s own department heads and support staff, providing an in depth picture of how each component supports the City’s mission to provide quality programs, facilities, and services to Lebanon residents and guests.

While the task of implementing the program falls to Deputy City Manager Paula Maville, Lebanon citizens have stepped up to get involved and three years in the program has indeed met its goals. Says Maville, “We’ve had good feedback so far. I think people leave the Academy with a much better understanding of how the City works.” Maville notes that participants range in age from their early 20’s to residents in their 70’s, and that the program has attracted both newcomers and people who have lived in Lebanon all their life (‘so far’ as the old saying goes). “The Academy opens doors for people who live here and for the people that are teaching the classes, so it’s a win-win experience for everyone.”

One of these new citizen recruits is Amy Motta, who is successfully ran for the office of Ward I Moderator. Amy always had an interest in city government, and recently moved to New Hampshire from Utah. “I thought it would be a good way for me to learn about my new city,” says Motta. As to Motta’s favorite aspect of the Academy? “I loved seeing the antique maps and “the vault” of old paperwork like muster rolls on the City Clerk’s night.” Motta has a better appreciation for the work being done throughout the City as a result of her attendance.

Devin Wilkie is another recent graduate of the Academy, who was inspired to participate in the Academy after Interim City Manager Paula Maville spoke to one of his groups about how city resolutions are introduced and supported. “When Paula mentioned the class to us, I and a few of my colleagues decided to take it to learn more so that we could more effectively speak about Lebanon and municipal governments in general,” says Wilkie. Since participating in the Academy, Wilkie has run for the City Council, attended several board and committee meetings, and is an active member of the Arts & Culture Task Force. “The Academy helped me to understand the city more fully, so that when I make comments or recommendations I am able to consider how decisions might affect other functions in the city.” Of particular value to Wilke was seeing each component of the City’s facilities and operations on its own as well as in the larger context of how they operate as a whole, including the Police Department’s K-9 demonstration. “Visiting the operations it is impressive to see how much the city is able to accomplish!”

Becky Book and her husband thought attending the Lebanon Citizen’s Academy was a great idea after speaking with their City Councilor. They decided to join the Heritage Commission as a result, and note that their view of the City has changed. “There are so many parts to the “whole” business of running a City. I met the people behind the scenes who do the work and that made a huge difference. They are no longer unknowns to me, they are our friends and neighbors, people like us who care about our city and I might add – do a fantastic job. It was a tremendous learning experience, and I loved meeting the K-9 police officers!” The Books are particularly interested in the City’s efforts to restore the Dana House on Elm Street in West Lebanon. “What a little Gem we have here – Lebanon’s oldest remaining home, dating to 1763,” says Book.

For lifelong residents Doug & Lisa Wentworth, the Academy was a way to learn more about the City they grew up in, and something they enjoyed doing as a couple. Says Lisa, “I am not sure that it changed our view of the City, but made us understand more of the details and bigger picture.” With two high school aged children involved in sports, the Wentworth’s didn’t have time to get involved after they completed the Academy, and now as empty nesters, take care of new dogs and are busy volunteering in other activities.

For Devin Wilke’s part, he wishes more people would take advantage of the opportunity to learn about how their government works. “I loved Citizens Academy and wish more people would consider it – it’s a great way to learn more about what we have and what opportunities are available, without the usual access barriers!”

Paula Maville echoes this sentiment. “The one thing that comes out of the academy that’s really important is that it creates that connection with the city staff. Most people understand how to register their car, but this puts the public in contact with the people who are doing the work. If they have an issue, they now have someone they can talk to because they now are familiar with city officials.”

So if you want to learn more about how your City works and get involved in shaping the City’s current and future activities, you can contact the City Manager’s office at 603-448-4220 with questions.