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Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 8
Osma Akbar

Hello. Hi my name is Osma Akbar and | am a Nashua resident at 9 Clydesdale Circle. | am here today
from my college dorm in support of this Police Commission referendum. Because | care a lot about this
ballot question as well as the City of Nashua. | would first like to preface the fact that | did not appreciate
when Chief Carignan called me and my fellow young friends out in his clearly political press release. One,
police should not try to influence voters in their right to petition, and two, we are definitely more informed
that Chief Carignan on the goals of this petition and instead of putting young people down for their civic
involvement, you should be lifting us up.

Anyway, getting a referendum on the ballot is the bare minimum. If anyone didn’t Know or needs to hear
this again, this referendum would change the appointments from State to local. Meaning instead of the
Governor and Executive Council appointing people, it would be the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen
which makes sense, right? Shouldn’t local officials be in charge of this anyway? It is literally our city.
What does the Governor know about Nashua?

Next — increasing the number of Commissioners from 3 to 5 is another one of the changes the petition
states. Changing the amount of Commissioners would allow for more representation within the City of
Nashua. Representation is important because there is such a diverse community in Nashua and we can’t
just have every police officer looking the same. Speaking of diversity, it’s literally been 30 years since a
woman was on the Commission. | know your argument against that would be qualifications matter over
gender but YOU CANNOT TELL ME OR ANYONE that there hasn’t been one woman who wasn't qualified
within these past years. One may also Say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well after stating these facts and
reasons why this system needs to be changed, it seems like it’s something that needs fixing.

Anyway, we should just literally be letting people vote on it and let local government appoint the Police
Commissioners for our city. | Know change is hard for some old people but sometimes it needs to happen.
To the law enforcement out there, you should not be trying to sway voters politically. There is literally a lot
at stake to have the right to petition. Thanks.

Mike Ballentine

Thank you Lori. Mike Ballentine, 9 Bartlett Avenue. When | first heard about the Police Commission
reform, | thought it was pretty obvious. Police are inherently local and as much as possible, police
governance should be local. | was surprised that the Police Commissioners are appointed at the State
level but | was even more surprised, and frankly upset, to see the Chief’s reaction to the proposed change.
Calling it an abuse of power. This reaction made me more certain that the reform should take place. The
police should be embracing this change as an opportunity to get closer to the local community. Why fight it
so?

Word | hear a lot from the reform opponents is “independent”. | wouldn’t be surprised to see yard signs
soon with the word “independent” them. | don’t want the police to be independent. | want our police to be a
full part of the community dependent on the people, to be a part of city government, dependent on the
transparency and controls we have there. | support local control. | support the Police Commissioner
reform. Thank you.

Carol Houde

My name is Carol Houde. | live at 25 Eastman Street. I’m a lifelong resident of Nashua and the word |
hear repeatedly used to advocate for maintaining the status quo is the supposed independence of the
current system. | would argue that the independence exists only if two conditions are met. Both conditions
have to be met for there to be this wanted independence. First, the Governor has to have a mechanism,
resources, interest, and time to independently identify a candidate that would be well-qualified to serve as
Commissioner absent input from Nashua, politicians, or residents. Without that, the Governor is left to ask
buddies, get local knowledge of who friends in the know might suggest as a Police Commissioner which

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 9

creates an opportunity for lack of transparency. You don’t know who has suggested the Commissioner to
the Governor because there is no public process by which the Governor can identify suitable candidates.
As aresult, Nashua voters really elected that mechanism to identify was there a conflict of interest in how
this Commissioner was nominated. Unless the Governor has a completely independent way to identify
good candidates, | don’t really see how this supposed independents exist. In addition a Nashua voter will
have a much more difficult time establishing a conversation with the Governor as to why that name was
sent to nomination than would if the nomination came from the Mayor or the Chairman of the Aldermen.
The second condition that has to be met is that the Executive Councilors all five of them have to also have
a mechanism for independently vetting the appropriateness of the candidate absent input from Nashua
residents. Without the mechanism to do this, the resources, the time, the interest especially the four
Executive Councilors who have nothing to do with Nashua who are not elected by Nashua people, are not
responsive to them...

Alderman O’Brien

Thirty seconds.

Carol Houde

... then literally left with just an opportunity to rubber stamp the candidates. So | think Nashua deserves
better. | think the history of the Commission illustrates that it’s not working because there has only been

one woman in the past 126 years. | think Nashua deserves a Commission that looks like Nashua and will
be responsive to the needs of Nashua. Thank you.

Deepa Mangalat

Yes. I’m going to speak for. Is that okay?
President Wilshire

Name and address for the record please.

Deepa Mangalat

Deepa Mangalat, 18 Wild Rose Drive, Nashua. Mike Ballentine has said it all. | don’t want to keep going
on about the pros and cons. All l’m saying is put it before the people. Put it on the ballot. Let the people
decide. That’s all this petition was about. | like the idea of local control. Thank you.

Matthew Gouthro

| am opposed. So you do not want me to speak at this point.

President Wilshire

Representative Suzanne Vail are you in favor or in opposition?

Representative Suzanne Vail

Sorry about that. Thank you for recognizing me Madam Chair. I’m Suzanne Vail and | am a Nashua
native. A State Representative in Ward 3. When this issue came up, | was really surprised. | mentioned it
to a lot of colleagues that Nashua has their appointees selected by the Administrative Branch. So! was
really surprised and as soon as | found out, and | think it was basically out on the table that this is an issue

people are learning about it, | felt that you know the way we do this has been raised to our city. It’s their
awareness and our city is ready to learn about the question and they’re ready to vote.

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 10

| was very concerned about the level of discord in our city and | know the way out of this is through it. We
have an election. We get to vote and we can have faith that the will of the people will prevail. | believe in
the voters. | think they’re smart, they get this, and they know what they think. No matter what you believe,
this is something that we can all figure out no matter which side you’re on. I’m just really concerned with
the amount of force that this exercise in democracy brought out in opposition and | hope that we can get
past that quickly and move on. For that reason, | hope that this measure passes right through because |
strongly would like to get our visions healed. | would like us all to be working together and | would like us to
be focusing on what Nashua can do to come back the extreme agenda being enacted in Concord because
that will have immense impact on public safety in Nashua. The extremists from towns have no mercy on
municipal laws that keep our city safe. Governor Sununu has signed into law extreme policy that has
resulted in protests and has elevated racial tensions and parental tensions across the State. | support the
testimony of Rep. Dutzy. As | know that the State the way it operates right now, there is no question that
Nashua can do the best job.

Along with my concerns about decisions that are being made in Concord, | share my continual horror that
millions of federal dollars are left on the table by this administration. Appointees to departments seem
underprepared and unaware of Constitutional constraints.

Alderman O’Brien

Thirty seconds.

Representative Suzanne Vail

Federal mandates that are attached to these dollars. So in summary, | just want to say that when | see
past this strife and how we’re going to figure this out, | know that we’re going to have a more diverse Police
Commission and | would hope that we have a social worker, a child, someone who struggles with mental
illness, any kind of person you can encounter out there who needs help from the police. This is our change
and we have to do it.

President Wilshire

Time.

Representative Suzanne Vail

Thank you.
President Wilshire

Thank you. Okay, we’re going to switch back to testimony in opposition and I’m going to start with Matthew
Gouthro and then we’ll come back to the chamber.

TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION

Matthew Gouthro

Matthew Gouthro, 104 Fawn Lane. Mr. Mayor, Madam President, and our elected Aldermen and staff,
thank you for hosting this public meeting giving the residents and stakeholders here in Nashua an
opportunity to voice our opinion of this proposed Charter amendment. | feel like it was just a few weeks
ago that we were discussing this topic of changes to the Police Commission board and this body agreed to
send this to committee so that the process could be more carefully studied and if necessary, thoughtfully
presented to our voters. Unfortunately, our Mayor was not in agreement and in haste he went out door to
door with his supporters to gather signatures to get this past at breakneck speed.

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 11

As aresult, the amount of misinformation given to our residents to gain signatures for this petition is
astonishing. | personally witnesses a State Representative — actually two — in their official capacity with
name badges and all from here in Nashua at Market Basket on Amherst Street collecting signatures and
telling voters that the members of the Police Commission were State officials and not Nashua residents.
They also denied that this Board of Aldermen had already weighed in on this issue.

Let me clear up some myths about this issue. The Police Department is not going to become more
transparent with this proposed change. The Police Commission is currently encompassed of local
residents of Nashua and not some nefarious group making decisions in the shadows. The current
Governor Sununu did not appoint one person to this Commission. Rather, he chose to carry over the
appointments by the former Governor Maggie Hassan. The Police Commission is not going to be more
accountable or have better oversight because you the Aldermen under our Charter still have control over
the approval of their budget. This is nothing more than a power grab by our Mayor and the removal of one
Police Commissioner who they’ve gone to great lengths to sully the reputation of and his wife who sits with
you as an elected Alderman.

Finally, | wanted to tell you that | am proud of our Nashua Police Department. It is the envy of all police
departments in this State. Not only are we nationally accredited, well trained, and over seen by a
professional command staff. More importantly, the Nashua Police Department is free of any local political
influence.

Alderman O’Brien
Thirty seconds.
Matthew Gouthro

Thank you. My mother told me nothing good happens after midnight and in that same vein, nothing good
for this city will happen when something like this is rushed and its affects not studied. At the end of the day,
there is no compelling reason to change this and we should keep it the way it is. Thank you.

Diane Lothrop

My name is Diane Lothrop. I’m at 10 Althea Lane in Nashua. I’ve been a homeowner, citizen, and
taxpayer in Nashua for 38 years. | am absolutely opposed to this power grab by our Mayor. There have
been plenty of past indiscretions by Nashua city leaders in the city’s history and we must preserve the
integrity of the Nashua Police Commission to investigate corruption and criminal activity without fear of
reprisal. Most of us remember the Board of Aldermen scandal in 1993 when three BOA members did some
prison time after being implicated in the scandal that involved peddling influence, mail fraud, and extortion.
The three BOA members were prosecuted and convicted after and thanks to the Nashua Police
Department investigation.

Mayor Donchess has tried to downplay the Nashua PD’s role in that investigation and mislead Nashua
voters making false claims saying they had no real involvement in this case and that it was a federal
investigation. That is simply not true. Just look at the case file and see for yourselves that the investigation
began locally by the Nashua PD into a single allegation by one sitting alderman and only after the
investigation grew to three sitting aldermen and more serious charges did it become a federal issue.
Thanks again to the involvement of the great Nashua Police Department. The Mayor knows this but he
doesn't let facts get in the way.

The facts are critical to this whole debacle brought about by Mayor Donchess’ power hungry fight to build
up his empire. Changing how the Police Commission is selected will let politics control law enforcement
decisions. We need to make sure that there is no interference from the Mayor’s office into police matters.
We need to maintain the integrity of the Police Commission as a separate entity...

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 12
Alderman O’Brien

Thirty seconds.

Diane Lothrop

...thank you. As a separate entity from the control of the Mayor’s office. If this gets on the ballot, I’m
asking voters to vote NO. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you.

Alderman Schmiat

She refuses to wear a mask.
Paula Johnson

Good evening. My name is Paula Johnson and | didn’t plan on speaking tonight. | just came here just to
support everybody. In case people want to know why | don’t have a mask on is nobody’s business but it’s
medical. Some people were sneering me already in this chamber which should never have happened at all
under ADA.

First of all, I’m appalled by some of the callers here that is trying to smear a sitting alderman because her
husband is a Police Commissioner. This is outrageous but we will allow members of the same family if
they get elected to sit in this chamber together. Shame on everybody. Just shame on it. Enough is
enough. I’m hearing people talking about uniting, nothing is happening. This whole thing with this petition
should have gone more public hearings so we the people had more of a chance to understand what’s going
on. I’m going to make it a point that | am on the Board of Education and | am speaking for myself and
matter of fact, | just want to let that young lady know I’m one of these old people that she talked about. |
AM APPAULED BY THAT AND IT ONLY COMES OUT OF PEOPLE’S MOUTHS THAT HAVE NO
RESPECT FOR ANYBODY IN THIS CITY! We want to reunite but we have divided the city more and
more. | am awoman. | never asked to be on the Police Commission. Maybe a lot of women never came
forward to ask for that but to make assumptions like this, I’ve never heard any division like I’ve heard in this
city and especially tonight here. One Alderman gets beat up every time by this Board and they should be
ashamed of themselves and the caller should be ashamed of themselves also.

We need to have more facts about this petition Mayor and I’ve heard so much about the corruption and part
of the corruption back in the ‘90s was on Elm Street Jr. High and one alderman went to jail on that and his
company was involved in it. So how do you separate everything here and keep the city’s hands out of
everything? | like it the way itis. | think the Commissioners here and everybody that came to support this,
and our police, and retired police officers — | think they’re the best in the country. When we needed help
last year, they were out there and | stood up to defend my police department. To do this, shame on you
Mayor. | am going to agree with Mike Soucy.

Alderman O’Brien

Thirty seconds.

Paula Johnson

| voted for you twice. | hope you don’t run again because we’re going to make sure that you’re defeated if

you do. You're turning the city into a nightmare. Leave the Police Commissioners the way they are and
stop this nonsense once and for all.

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 13
Laurie Ortolano

Good evening. Laurie Ortolano, 41 Berkeley Street. A couple of things. The Police Commission size as a
group of three | don’t think should be changed. It’s efficient. This Board heard the Board of Health talk
about how important it was for them to stay as a unit of three because they were nimble, they worked well
together, and they were efficient. A board of three as Police Commissioners is just fine and there is room
on that board if there are other people who want to get involved. Diversity you want to include it, that’s fine.
It happens when it happens. You don’t roll these seats over frequently. That’s a given fact and three
members on that commission | think the Police Commissioners should hold firm and the board members
too to say that is a board that is sized appropriately to do the business for the city.

Also, vetting this required so much more care. It wasn’t an open process. It happened very quickly. It was
one sided. There wasn’t the debate that needed to be had. There were questions asked. The petitioners
who wrote this said hey we’re going to run around, gather all those signatures, and then we’re going to
allow the public to ask questions after. The debate starts after it gets on the ballot. | asked questions to
Trish Klee and others why was it not considered to allow citizens to vote on this rather than having the
Mayor appoint. | never received an answer. It just seems to be that well that’s the only option that’s exists.
That’s the one we brought forth and that’s what you get to vote on. That’s not open discussion and | don’t
think it needs to change at all. | think it’s just fine the way it is. | think you’re Charter change that needs to
be look at is whether you need a city manager. Start looking there at a bigger picture on how you manage
your money not how your Police Commission is set up.

As far as putting women on a board because you need diversity, the kind of diversity you need in the city
right now is the diversity of our minds. This is a very closed minded chamber typically and this Mayor is
very narrow minded. He does not respect the broad opinions of other people and in many instance some
of them are women.

Alderman O’Brien

Thirty seconds.

Laurie Ortolano

Now as far as open seats, | applied for a seat on the Board of Assessors. | was never considered. Not
only was | not considered, | never even received a letter to let me know that | wasn’t qualified. Is this how
our Mayor is going to treat candidates who apply? Unacceptable to me. This needed to be vetted.
Everyone should vote no and let this be worked out the way it should be through open communication and
dialog. Thank you.

President Wilshire

I’m going to take one more person in opposition and then I’m going to switch back.

Alderman O’Brien

Thank you Madam President. As a point of order, | would like to update the agenda. We have been joined
by Alderman Lopez who joined the meeting at 8:07 p.m. which brings 10 members in the chamber and 2 on
Zoom. Thank you Madam President.

President Wilshire

Thank you.

NHDES-W-09-024

Page 1 of 4

Exhibit B — Fee Schedule
(Preliminary Design of WWTF Dry Well and Pipe Replacement)

Cost or Price Summary Format for Sub-agreements Under NH SAG and SRF

Part I: General

Grantee/Loanee Name: City of Nashua

Grant/Loan #:

Contractor/Subcontractor Name: Wright-Pierce

Proposal Date: September 23, 2021

Contractor/Subcontractor Address:

11 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 140,
Street name and number

Topsham, ME

City/Town

04086
State ZIP

Services Furnished:

Professional Engineering for
Preliminary Design of WWTF Dry Well
and Pipe Replacement

Part Il: Cost Summary

Direct Labor (Specify labor categories) Hours Hourly Estimated Totals
Rate (Est.) Cost
Principal-in-Charge 8 $67.00 $536
Project Manager 46 $63.00 $2,898
Sr. Lead Project Engineer 110 $44.00 $4,840
Project Engineer 250 $35.00 $8,750
Process CAD 118 $37.25 $4,396
Process Technical Advisor 16 $61.00 $976
Architect 40 $47.34 $1,894
Architect CAD 58 $33.00 $1,914
Structural Engineer 30 $69.72 $2,092
Instrument. Engineer 44 $60.00 $2,640
Instrument. CAD 16 $33.00 $528
Electrical Engineer 22 $66.00 $1,452
Admin. Assistant 10 $24.00 $240
QA/QC Manager 4 $68.00 $272
Direct Labor Total $33,427
Indirect Costs (Specify indirect cost pools.) Rate X Base = Est. Cost
168.7% $33,427 $56,392
Indirect Costs Total $56,392
Other Direct Costs Est. Cost
Transportation
Travel Costs Total | $1,600
Equipment Materials, Supplies (Specify categories.) Qty. Cost Est. Cost
Printing, postage, telephone, fax, etc. 1 $400
Equipment Subtotal $400
Subcontracts Est. Cost
Matter Scan
Subcontractors Subtotal $5,000
Est. Cost
Other Direct Costs Total $7,000
Total Estimated Cost $96,818
Profit $8,982
Total Price $105,800

2021-09

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 14

Alderwoman Kelly

Alderman O’Brien there are 3 of us on Zoom.

Alderman Lopez

Point of order, | was actually on Zoom. | just was on the telephone one so | was muted so | couldn’t
answer the roll call.

President Wilshire

You can come up now. Thank you.

Laura Colquhoun

My name is Laura Colquhoun and | live at 30 Greenwood Drive. I’m here tonight to say that I’m 100
percent against this Charter change. Our Mayor is trying to shove this change down the throats of all
Nashua residents. The Mayor also had his City Clerk certify this petition when in fact it was not following
the Nashua Charter. The Mayor wants the power at any price and will step on anyone to get it. How did
Alderman Klee who started the petition and had Alderman Harriott-Gathright, Tencza, and Lopez agree to
sign a document in order to not let the Nashua residents know exactly what was in it. Why are these
Aldermen supporting this power grab? Could it be that they also want the power and do not care what the
Nashua residents think? What’s the next step defund the police?

Why would the City of Nashua whose police department is rated fifth best in the nation want to change
anything currently? Nashua residents have three Police Commissioners. They all live in Nashua. They
have the highest ethics and do everything by the book. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Maybe our Mayor just
does not want to write any more letters for Sonia Prince to get her out of trouble. Our Mayor does not bring
up the fact that in the late 1990s Nashua had several aldermen go to jail thanks to the fact that the Police
Department gather the information and gave it to the FBI. Do you really think that our Mayor would give
any damaging information on his friends to the FBI? | think not.

This Charter change is a disservice to every Nashua resident. | do not want the City of Nashua’s name
change to the “Kingdom of Donchess”. Nashua residents must keep the City of Nashua honest. Vote no
on this Charter change. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you. I’m going to switch back to testimony in favor.
TESTIMONY IN FAVOR

Sumathi Madhure

Thank you Madam Chairman. My name is Sumathi Madhure and | live at 31 Green Heron Lane in Nashua.
| speak as an Asian American who is a long-term resident of Nashua over 30 years. Nashua has grown in
a number of ways over the past few years. There has been a steady rise in the number of people of color
and Asian Americans who contribute to the vibrant community of Nashua culturally and economically. They
have made their home in Nashua and thus have expanded the purview of the Nashua Police Department. |
think it is of most importance that we represent the unique needs of this community especially as the raise
(inaudible) crimes are on the rise nationwide and bringing those individuals to these positions will allow for
more community engagement, transparency, and improve the Police Department relationship with its
citizens. Increasing the number from three to five will allow for the diversity.

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 15

One of the speakers who spoke against the Charter alluded to the fact earlier that there are perhaps not
enough diverse people who may have the qualification to sit on the Police Commission. That is factually
incorrect and an unacceptable argument and | take offense to that.

Secondly, shifting the nomination process from State to local with the public waiting process will allow for
the community insight into the process. We're citizens of Nashua. We'll have an opportunity to raise any
concerns they may have with the appointees. It will support a more democratic process with the goal of
keeping the Commission a nonpartisan entity comprised of Commissioners from both sides of the aisle. As
Representative Ray Newman stated earlier, for people who fear that this may become a partisan
commission, there are enough safeguards to ensure that that does not happen. As Representative Sherry
Dutzy stated earlier, it cannot get any worse than what it is now. Thank you.

President Wilshire

Thank you. Anyone else who wishes to testify in favor? Seeing none, we'll go to those who want to testify
in opposition.

TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION
Alicia Houston

Alicia Houston, 139 Westwood Drive. I'll keep this brief because | really agree with all of the other
oppositional testimonies. First things first. | cannot imagine a world where Mayor Donchess appoints
anyone. | have personally seen what that looks like towards women. Additional outside of that, | guess the
only other thing that | would be concerned about is the fact that in this city the people that would be
expected to vote for these Commission seats are the very same people that may or may not have
appointed someone by the name of Deanna Lawrence who was one of Americans Most Wanted. So thank
you.

President Wilshire
Anyone else who wants to speak in opposition?
Mike Ortolano

I’m Mike Ortolano, 41 Berkeley Street. The reason | oppose the change is really because | feel like the
process that was used to bring it forward was not thorough and you know a good process brings people
together and | think a bad process breaks people into pieces. What we see here is a lot of that. There’s a
lot of different approaches that could have been taken with the Police Commission. For example, you
could possibly directly elect the Police Commission instead of having it appointed. You could do away with
the Police Commission but you know a lot of times solving a problem the best way to do it is to define it
really well. Once you’ve defined what that, you know, the problem is or what the opportunity is than to look
at different possible solutions to it and to include as many as people as possible in that process so that the
process itself brings people together and makes them want to move it forward.

You know | don’t know if there’s a better way to the Police Commission. Maybe there is | mean but
certainly the process that has been used here hasn’t built confidence that the proposal gets us there.
That’s the basic reason why | really feel, you Know, | urge as many people as | can get in contact with to
vote no. This process has already demonstrated it brought nobody together. It’s busted us into pieces. It’s
made it impossible to heal some of the wounds that exist between these groups and it really is a shame
because it’s a missed opportunity. Anyways, | strongly urge the community to vote no on this thing. It was
poorly executed and it’s going to cause a lot of division in the community.

Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 16

Brady Owens

Hi. My name is Brady Owens and | live on 16 Danbury Road, Nashua. I’ve been a resident for
approximately 11 years here. As you probably can guess by my accent, I’m not from here. I’m here in
opposition. The testimony right in front of me was a great segway to mine. I’d like to know what's the
problem. What problem are we trying to solve? That’s Donchess and this petition has never stated that
there is a problem. We live in a fairly safe city. So to me the police are doing their job. I’m all for local
control. I'm all for independence. It seems that Nashua was set up to have State control over the
Commission for some reason. I’m not you know based — again, I’ve only been here 11 years — but you
know doing some quick searching, you find out that there was some serious problems in the government
here and that probably precipitated the fact that the State government took over nominating the Police
Commission and (inaudible) true, I’m not a fan of Sununu either but the process is definitely broken.

What’s the problem? Why do we need to make this change? Why now? That is a question that no one
has answered. So I’m just here to say that | think this process is broken. | do believe in voters and | do
believe in giving voters a chance to voice their opinions but you know if | go into a ballot and I’m there to
make a choice, | want to know what the problem is. Why do we need Nashua needs to take over
appointing the Police Commission? Why now? I'd also like to know why did Nashua get it taken away. So
that’s my testimony. Thank you very much.

President Wilshire
Anyone else who wants to speak in opposition?
Andrew Lavoie

Good evening. I’m retired Nashua Police Chief Andrew Lavoie and |’m here tonight to ask citizens to vote
no on the Police Commission Charter change. Previous speakers tonight and on previous nights have
clarified the supposed issues and red herrings that have been put forward to the public by the Mayor on
some of those in favor of this Charter change. Although they were few in number, | won’t spend my very
short time addressing all of them.

The Board of Aldermen Personnel subcommittee voted to table this Charter change and form a committee
for further study. The full Board of Aldermen voted against the Charter change being on the ballot. Faced
with these two losses, the Mayor disregarded the Board’s decision and advice and supported a petition
drive to once again attempt to get the measure on the ballot. It is my opinion that Mayor Donchess’
behavior on this issue is refusal to accept the will of the Board of Aldermen is in itself a prime example of
why the Nashua Police Commission should be free of local politics. What happens if this change passes
and the Board of Aldermen don’t confirm the Mayor’s Commission pick? Will he once again refuse to
accept their decision?

The Mayor has publicly stated that one reason he sought this Charter change was the fact that there was
only one female Police Commissioner in the history of the Police Commission. Another reason he feels
that local influence will better control the police budget. | have the utmost respect for the Nashua Fire
Department and I’m only stating facts to clarify a point. The Nashua Fire Commission has never in their
history had a female Fire Commissioner.

The Nashua Police Department submitted their fiscal year budget more than $200,000 above the Mayor’s
request. The Fire Department submitted their budget over $400,000 above the Mayor’s request. The
Police and Fire Commissions submitted those budgets because it is their responsibility to seek appropriate
funding for their departments and the Board of Aldermen agreed with them. If those are two of the issues
that were so important to the Mayor that he had to change the Nashua Police Commission, why hasn’t he
commented on changing the Nashua Fire Commission? | for the record am not advocating for any
changes to the Nashua Fire Commission process. I’m making the point that as my opinion that the Mayor