PORTSMOUTH — Mayor Eric Spear said Wednesday he is putting his push to get the city reimbursed for future presidential visits on the back burner.

PORTSMOUTH — Mayor Eric Spear said Wednesday he is putting his push to get the city reimbursed for future presidential visits on the back burner.



Spear's original intent was to send a letter to New Hampshire's U.S. congressional delegation, asking them to champion legislation that would require communities be reimbursed for additional security required by presidential visits.



He pitched the idea in December to his fellow councilors, asking them to get behind a letter addressed to U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Democratic Congresswoman-elect Carol Shea-Porter. The letter was, however, put on hold after some on the council expressed concern over the difference between a “presidential visit” and a “presidential campaign visit.”



Spear said Wednesday that while he believes the issue has merit, he would rather now focus on other issues in the city.



“I'm working on a lot of other issues,” he said. “I do want to revisit the issue of presidential security though.”



The decision also appears to be related to the apparent lack of support Spear received from his fellow councilors.



“The council had some problems with the letter, and we haven't brought it up again,” he said.



The issue of communities seeking reimbursement from presidential visits has been a hot button issue in Portsmouth.



The city incurred $30,003 in additional costs for police, fire and public works personnel on Sept. 7 as a result a visit by President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.



The visit drew close to 6,000 people to Strawbery Banke Museum. It required nearly a week of advance planning by local law enforcement officials, as well as state and regional authorities, and closure of several city streets.



The council voted to bill the campaign, but has yet to see a reimbursement check. The official request by the city to be reimbursed $30,003 in costs associated with the Sept. 7 presidential campaign stop was also denied by the Obama for America office.



In a letter to City Manager John Bohenko, Ann Marie Habershaw, chief operating officer for Obama for America, said her organization “did not participate in security, traffic control, fire or EMS planning.”



“All such decisions, including their impact on costs incurred by federal, state or local governments, are exclusively within the control of the appropriate government officials,” Habershaw wrote to the city. “Should there be a question about the allocation of expenses among the cooperating authorities, we assume that it should be directed to the U.S. Secret Service.”



The request for reimbursement was also rebuffed by the Secret Service.



A spokeswoman said in December that the Secret Service doesn't have a budget to reimburse communities for presidential security. Further, she said, Secret Service advance teams meet with community leaders ahead of presidential visits and if those local leaders say they can't provide the needed support, the Secret Service arranges to get it elsewhere.



All along, Spear said the reason he wants to promote some form of legislation is because taxpayers end up footing the bill in the long run. Spear said while the visits are welcome, often times the city isn't made aware of them until a week before the event. That, he said, makes it hard from a budgeting standpoint.



“It's very hard to budget for this stuff,” he said in a recent interview.