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Furthermore, the ongoing media frenzy with respect to COVID-19 has focused on the “positive
test result” metric, and not the historically accurate “Cases” metric, instead referring to the
former as the latter, further muddying and confusing things. A positive test is absolutely not a
medical case. All that doing this does is further the irrational panic gripping the nation and, in
fact, the world.

Interestingly, we have seen this before. The following chart shows the progression of the HIN1

“swine flu” virus. There was an actual impact in the 2008-2009 winter season, people died — not
nearly as many as were modeled (see above w.r.t. modeling inaccuracies), and then the medical

infrastructure brought out a rapid PCR test called FluChip.

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This allowed there to be an absolute frenzy of testing during the summer of 2009. The large
number of positive results caused a mass media panic. Nobody died. When the fall of 2009
arrived, various people were predicting a massive second wave — note the name on the top left of
the chart — and again, nobody died even though there was an increase in positive test returns.

SPAIN

Very strong rebound in cases since late June. Nine weeks later, Deaths did not follow.
Only a minor increase of daily deaths in August, up to an average of 18/day.

Cases

August 2B

Deaths

The exact same scenario is now playing itself out across the world. The above chart references
the juxtaposition of COVID-19 deaths against COVID-19 positive test cases in Spain. As is
clearly obvious, the number of positive cases over the 9-week period ending August 28 does not
show a corresponding increase in the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19. We can see the
same scenario play out in Ireland and the UK as shown in the chart below.

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Similarly, across the USA, we have seen mass demonstrations against police brutality. We have
seen mass gatherings in California for prayer meetings. We have seen mass gatherings of
motorcyclists in Sturgis, South Dakota. We have seen similar mass gatherings in Florida on the
beach.

Not one of those has caused an increase in hospitalization rates, or in deaths directly attributed to
those events. However, the media is promulgating the myth of “positive test results” as “cases”,
causing an unnecessary panic.

Concerningly, however, we have just moved through a “safe summer” in the Northeast ~ a time
when the seasonality of Coronavirus is at its lowest ebb. During that time we have isolated
people, we have unnecessarily caused them to wear masks, and we have absolutely robbed them
of the ability to gain immunity by natural exposure to viruses of all kinds, including SARS-CoV-
2. Furthermore, by engendering panic and attempting to enforce a useless mask mandate, the
board of Aldermen has contributed to this situation. In addition to this, due to the mass hysteria
caused by the board, the state of NH, the states of NY, MA, CA and others, the incidence of
visits to primary care physicians for extraordinary events such as cardiac events, routine cancer
screening visits, and other preventative medicine procedures has declined some 20%-35%.

Those underlying conditions have not gone away.

Rather, what people have done has largely followed along the lines of a deferral —I°]] not go to
the doctor because (a) I’m too scared to go because of what they say about COVID-19, or (b)I
refuse to be a party to this insanity and will therefore defer my scheduled appointment until the
world has returned to normal.

As the year progresses, we will indeed see a 2™ bump of mortality. However, that second bump
will be skewed towards cancer deaths, heart disease-related deaths, and other entirely
preventable deaths. This is a direct consequence of your actions.

Conclusion

I want to draw your attention to the fact that the city of Nashua deployed a field hospital in the
Nashua South High School. It was never used. In fact, SNH Medical Center never even came
close to approaching capacity of its 160 hospital beds. Similarly, St. Joseph’s medical center
never came close to its capacity of 206 beds. The same can be said for Eliot Hospital’s 296 beds
and Catholic Medical Center’s 261 beds. Those four hospitals — and there are 26 hospitals in
New Hampshire — have a total of 923 beds. As of September 13, 2020, the state of New
Hampshire has had a total of 721 hospitalizations for COVID-19 since March. Right now, there
are 7 total hospitalizations.

The median age of death from COVID-19 is 82-84, depending upon which state you are in.
Regarding the city of Nashua, 35 of the 38 total deaths have occurred in long term care facilities
— see https://www.nh. goy/covid19/dashboard/summary.htm. Meanwhile, on average, the state of
New Hampshire sees some 2,700 deaths from cancer, 2,700 deaths from heart disease, 1,000
deaths from accidents, some 450 deaths from drug overdoses, 340 deaths from diabetes and more
than 260 from suicide.

We do not ban sugary drinks. We don’t ban cigarettes, we do not caution people to not consume
copious quantities of red meat, we are failing dismally on drug rehabilitation, and we do not do
an adequate job regarding suicides.

Thus far this year the state of New Hampshire has had 435 deaths related to COVID-19, and this
is deemed worthy of shutting the entire state down. Nashua, in turn deems its 35 deaths worthy
of forcing draconian measures onto the populace. Neither of these approaches is backed by real
data or critical reasoning.

As elected officials, it behooves you to analyze data, to not react with panic and lack of
understanding of the facts behind something. Your mask ordinance is one such example. Your
reaction to spend city funds to create a never-used field hospital is another example. The inane
signs that you have spent thousands on and posted throughout the city is yet another example. Do
you for one minute think — to use a phrase quoted by a judge recently ~ that the citizenry have
been living under a rock and are not aware of COVID-19?

Please take all the above under advisement as you consider your next moves with respect to
COVID-19. Start thinking about how you extricate yourselves from a situation that has spiraled
out of control and for which you currently have no end game in sight.

Graham, Donna

From: Laurie Ortolano <laurieortclano@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 8:17 PM

To: Graham, Donna

Cec: Board of Assessors; Board of Aldermen
Subject: New RTK position for the Legal Office

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.

Donna,
Please allow this letter to be part of public comment.

Do we need A Right-To-Know Manager in the Legal Office?

The Board of Aldermen will be voting on a new Legai Office Right-to-Know (RTK}) Management Position
{$100,000}. There is a hiring freeze in the City; this position needs to be carefully reviewed. According to
Attorney Bolton (Personnel Committee Meeting 9/10/20), the courts are taking these requests for information
more seriously which is creating risk exposure for the city. There has been an increase in requests starting five
years ago with a high demand in the last two years.

It is important to understand that one of the reasons for the increase has been due to the concerns of
the national advocates for freedom of information and transparency, They have been worried about State and
local governments stonewalling and using COVID-19 as an excuse.

Nashua is hardly a paragon of virtue in this regard. In fact, stifling public access to information predates the
pandemic. In one of my 2019 requests for sales letters, the legal office responded that it would take the City
almost 4 years to complete. The legal office made no serious attempt to search for the records.

Since the pandemic, a request to review fifty abatement applications was stalled by limiting access to the
information to 15 minute visits. Citing COVID-19 protocol setting 15 minute limits to visits to ensure access to
everyone who might want an appointment, the City, in effect, told me to go away. Despite the fact that only a
handful of peopie were requesting appointments each week, the Director forbade extending the time period
to review the information. This is an unnecessary bureaucratic maneuver that further erodes public trust.

Though a new dedicated RTK manager, possibly a lawyer, might seem like a good idea, this move will not
benefit the public, especially considering that this position will operate within the legal department.
Historically, the legal office is not willing to communicate with the public to explain the information that is
available nor are they willing to work with the public to minimize the burden to the City.

In case this position is filled by a lawyer, we know lawyers are generally may more skilled at parsing language.
This might frustrate the average Nashua citizen making a general request.

Problems with filling Right-To-Know requests exist in many of our City agencies, Assessing, City Clerk, Finance,
Health, Legal, Police and Public Works. All City departments, top management, and elected officials need

immediate training in Right-to-Know Law. What we need is policy development to create uniform standards in
1

all departments. Training through the NHMA should be happening throughout City government, with a staff
member in each department responsible for handling requests for information. Each department should be
capable of determining what reports and documents are public and which may be restricted and why.
Hopefully, the lawyers would only have to get involved in complicated situations.

Why do | believe a decentralized approach is even possible? This approach was working smoothly in the
Assessing office for 20 years until the Director of Administrative Services took over in May 2019 and
dismantled the function that specifically handled public requests for information.

Between September 2018 and May 2019, | was working with the Assessing clerical staff member whose job
description was to fill public requests for information. The staff member was trained in Right-To-Know through
the NHMA. It was simple and produced professional, timely responses. No one was complaining.

The Director of Administrative Services ordered a change in responding to public information requests in
2019. The legal office took over the process, were not familiar with the information requested, conducted
minimal searches in an attempt to fill the request and in the end, could not respond to the request in a timely
manner. Hiring a $100,000 per annum lawyer will exacerbate, not solve the problems.

The Personnel Committee did not vet this position. The Committee spent approximately 3 minutes to vote
“yes” on a $100,000 permanent position, while spending 60 minutes discussing a revision to the facemask
ordinance. If the City is intent on hiring for this position, then we should at least have answers to these
questions before making a final decision:

1) What is the job description for this position?

2) How will the public interface with this position?

3) Will a temporary position suffice until Departments and Divisions are RTK trained?

4) Will the School and Police Departments have all Right-To-Know requests going through legal?

5) Why is the city establishing a centralized permanent system when department employees

have the expertise and knowledge to know what reports and records are available?

6) Explain what the current process and the future process will look like when a citizen submits a

request for information.

Please email the Aldermen at boa@nashuanh.gov and ask them to send this new position back to committee
for review. Support a decentralized Right-to-Know system that is efficient, cost effective, customer friendly
and responsive. Our local newspapers have been leaders in mounting legal challenges to open records. These
struggling businesses may no longer be resourced to pursue these challenges so let’s work together asa
community to make sure records that should be public and accessible remain that way. Open societies and
those who temporarily govern them should not be afraid to let in the fresh air.

Laurie Ortolano
41 Berkeley St.
Nashua, NH 03064

Graham, Donna

eae TER
From: Laura Colquhoun <lauracolquhoun2@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 3:13 PM

To: Board of Aidermen

Subject: Vote NO

CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links‘open attachments if source is
unknown.

I am asking The Board of Aldermen to vote NO on the addition of a new position to the budget,
a RTK manager in the legal department. I do not support this centralized position. It should be
City wide training and the responsibility for maintaining documents open to public access in
each department where they are created. This is a $100,000 permanent position and the
Personnel committee did not review this position nor did they ask any questions. Nashua
residents do not need this "new" position.

Please vote NO on this item. Thank you.

Laura Colquhoun

30 Greenwood Dr
Nashua, NH 03062

[=| eo Virus-free. www.ava.com

APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020

Cultural Connections Committee

Eric Drouart (Reappointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2020
52 Main Street, Unit 206
Nashua, NH 03064

Mohammed Mustak Arif Term to Expire: February 28, 2023
1 Kinsley Street
Nashua, NH 03060

Adelina Hernandez (Reappointment) Term to Expire: July 30, 2023
56 Chestnut Street
Nashua, NH 03060

Jessica Gorhan (Reappointment) Term te Expire: December 31, 2023
97 Western Avenue
Henniker, NH 03242

Nashua Aris Commission

Judith Carlson (Reappointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2023
5 Manchester Street
Nashua, NH 03064

Paul LaFlamme Term to Expire: April 1, 2023
28 Lutheran Drive
Nashua, NH 03063

Steve Ruddock (New Appointment) Term to Expire: July 30, 2023
5 Town Crier Road

Amherst, NH 03031

Travis Tripoldi (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2023
15 Manchester Street

Nashua, NH 03064

Tax Increment Financing Advisory Board

Angelina Spillios (New Appointment) Term to Expire: September 30, 2021

15 Technology Way
Nashua, NH 03060

| respectfully request that these appointments be confirmed.

Jim Donchess, Mayor

AMENDED
O-20-029

ORDINANCE

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS RELATIVE TO FACE COVERINGS

CITY OF NASHUA

In the Year Two Thousand and Twenty

The City of Nashua ordains that the following supplemental regulations are in addition
to the requirements of Ordinance O-20-018 and do not supersede them. Exceptions contained in
O-20-018 apply to these requirements as well. For convenience the numbering sequence
continues from that in O-20-018.

10. All businesses open to the public, including restaurants, retail stores, service providers,
and places of amusement and recreation, and residential and commercial buildings of
greater than two (2) units shall post at each public entrance a notice stating “FACE
COVERINGS REQUIRED.”

11. —_No business and no employee of any business shall provide goods or services to any
person not complying with face covering requirements of this ordinance, O-20-018, or
any other face covering requirements now in force or hereafter adopted. No business and
no employee of any business shall permit a person to remain on its premises in violation
of these requirements.

12. Persons engaged in utilizing cardio, strength training, and other gymnasium equipment
may remove the mask during the actual use of such equipment provided a distance of six
(6) feet from any other person is maintained.

13. Persons at places of amusement, including bingo halls, bowling alleys, charitable gaming
facilities, and similar places where food and drink is served secondarily to the main
activity may remove face covering while actually engaged in eating or drinking and not at
other times.

14. Section 3 of O-20-018 shall apply to indoor dining as well as outdoor dining.

15, Persons receiving personal care services including hair cutting and other hair treatment,
facials, tattooing, piercing, and similar services, may remove face covering during any
limited period during which the face covering actually interferes with the performing of
the service.

Ordinance O-20-029

16. For purposes of this ordinance, O-20-018, and any other face covering requirements now
in force or hereafter adopted the following words shall have the indicated meanings:

“Business” means any manager or supervisor on the premises when a violation occurs
and any owner of the business.

“Owner” means any one or more of the natural persons owning a business; in the case of
a business owned by a partnership “owner” means the partnership and all general and
limited partners; in the case of a business owned by a limited liability company “owner”
means the company and all managers and members thereof, in the case of a business
owned by a corporation “owner” means the corporation and all officers, and directors,
thereof; and in the case of a business owned by a corporation having fewer than ten (10)
shareholders “owner” means all shareholders.

ee The exception to the face covering requirement for health reasons contained in section 7
of O-20-018 shall require a person to have in his or her immediate possession a written
document executed by a medical doctor, registered nurse practitioner, or a physician’s
assistant authorized to prescribe medication which document certifies that the practitioner
has warned the individual that he or she should not wear a face covering because it would
pose a risk to his or her health.

This ordinance shall be effective immediately and shall continue in effect until rescinded by
action of the Board of Aldermen.

The City Clerk is directed not to codify this ordinance in the Nashua Revised Ordinances but to
designate it as Covid-19 Emergency Measure No. (City Clerk to assign appropriate
number upon passage) and publish it and any subsequent emergency measures on the city
website.