Board of Aldermen 05-28-2019 Page 5
I'll take another example, Nashua Children’s Home, | picked on that in the Committee and are awarded
$39,000.00 for window replacement. They asked for $45,600.00. Now, Nashua Children’s Home has a
$5.1 million dollar budget. They have $4 million dollars in compensation; combined salary and benefits.
The serve 85 children and employee 70 staff; this brings an average compensation salary and benefits
of $57,000.00 per employee. That’s a lot of money. It costs, if you take the $5.1 million dollars of their
budget, divide it into 85 children that they serve, that’s $60,000.00 per child. Is anybody auditing these
things? Is anybody questioning these things? Executive Director David Villiotti did not provide his
compensation. So | researched a bit further, it is a non-profit they have to declare their annual
accounting to the Charitable Trust Unit of the Secretary of the Attorney General just like | do for the
Holocaust Memorial. Lo and behold, 2017 last year of his reporting, Director Villiotti, guess what, he
was making $139,000.00 in 2017. He hasn’t reported this year, he reported to the Charitable Trust
because he had to.
Who has checked on their real needs for funding? Why did he ask for CDBG funding. The Board of
Aldermen’s President Lori Wilshire works as the Business Manager for the Nashua Children’s Home,
being President of this Board continues to serve as the Chairperson of the Human Affairs Committee
and participates in all debate. The only thing she doesn't do is take the final vote. | think that is possibly
a conflict of interest, possibly an ethics violation. | have asked Lori Wilshire when she became President
that she step down as Chairman of the Human Affairs Committee. | think it is a conflict of interest.
Now take a look at Item #11, which is the main reason I’m here; the Housing Improvement Program.
That talks about loans for emergency repairs for low income owners of homes and mobile homes. All
other grantees are for grants, not a single one has to make a loan. Low income owners have to make
loans. Why? That’s how Lynn Barry who is not in a great financial situation wound up with an $1,100.00
mortgage. But organizations with the Chief Executive Officer make $185,000.00; but on the $45,000.00
or on the $37,000.00 no loans, all grants. That’s not right. That is where Lynn Barry, looking for some
help from the City wound up with a mortgage of $1,100.00 through this Housing Improvement Program
that today allows only loans.
Now because | have been making a lot of noise about that, you had a meeting with Mayor Donchess
about it; you had discussions about it during the Committee in April, Alderman Melizzi-Golja made an
amendment. It read “Emergency work costing up to $5,000.00 may be offered in the form of a grant
rather than a loan to owners at our below 50% of the area median income, AMI”. 50% AMI is not a large
income; 50% AMI under HUD guidelines is considered very low income. If you don’t believe that, you
can google it and it will provide the information, for Nashua it tells you what the limits are and you find
50% is very low income. | thought it was an acceptable amount. The meeting following that, the
meeting immediately before this final version came before you, there was a change made. And the
change that was made is to grant between and | am quoting directly and you can see this in R-19-126
on the bottom of the paragraph on Item #11 that says “Grants between $1,000.00 and $5,000.00 for
emergency repairs to owners at or below 30% AMI”. So they changed the 50% to 30%. So only the
very low, extremely low income people that need emergency repairs, if these repairs are over $1,000.00
and less than $5,000.00 can get a grant. If you are over 30%, you get a loan, if you are over 80% then
you don’t get anything. | think that’s wrong, | think the change was wrong. It was argued by Lori
Wilshire, Alderman Lopez, Alderman Caron and | think it’s wrong.
There was a lot of discussion about what is an emergency repair versus deferred maintenance; but you
know, funny thing, none of that was asked to people that got $40,000.00, $50,000.00, $30,000.00
grants. They didn’t say, “Hey you are only replacing windows, was that an emergency repair or was that
deferred maintenance”. They only ask that question of the extremely low income owners. That’s wrong,
it is just not right. It is wrong on two accounts; the language before you Item #11 is wrong on 2
accounts. First, it only provides loans to those making over 30% AMI up to 80%, well it doesn’t define
how high it goes but | presume it is up to 80%. And the other thing that is wrong, if it below $1,000.00
and that means automatically any bidder for these repair jobs, every single one bid is going to come in
over $1,000.00 no matter how small the repair job.