Board of Aldermen 09-09-2020 Page 8
Matthew Sullivan, Planning Manager
Hey everyone, thank you everyone, | appreciate you having me this evening. | want to thank members of
the Board, Director Marchant, Mr. Mayor; | appreciate you taking the time to say hello albeit in the
circumstances that we are this evening, virtually. | don’t know if | can begin to express my enthusiasm for
joining the City. Some background, Mr. Mayor said that | was from the North Country, that is true. But
originally, | was actually born in Nashua, | lived there the first 5 years of my life on Huey Street adjacent to
the Mohawk Tannery. And then subsequently went through education in Milford, just next door so | am
certainly well connected to the Nashua area. And in a way, this is a bit of a homecoming for me so | am
very excited to come back and contribute to a community that’s very near and dear to me.
Just to simply add to that, my family and friends are still located in the Nashua area, many of which are
actually working or living in Nashua. Certainly | understand the role that both Housing & Economic
Development play in Nashua’s character and how they will play a role in Community Development moving
forward. As was mentioned, | was the Planning Director in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire until just recently.
Before that | worked a consulting planner for a Regional Planning Commission in the Seacoast area of New
Hampshire, working in Dover, Rochester and other smaller communities in that area focusing primarily on
land use, economic development and housing and planning. | had a really great experience there and really
gave me a taste of working in a more urban environment, which made me (audio cuts out) to come back
and exercise some of those skills in Nashua. And certainly working with Sarah and the team, | am very
excited about moving forward on efforts like the Master Plan, the Comprehensive Code Update and
subsequent efforts that will come out of that.
| am ready to hit the ground running, | will begin on September 28", | am extremely excited, again | will be,
in light of the circumstances that are before us today, excited to get started with the team and really get
going on the Master Plan. That is one of our highest priority items right now. And | expect that through that
| will get a chance to be exposed to each of you hopefully in one sense or another and certainly get to know
the community in a better way. | am happy to answer any questions that you might have this evening, but
again, | want to thank you again for your time and for this brief sort of chat and get to know you and
hopefully we get a chance to meet in person sometime in the near future.
President Wilshire
Thank you Mr. Sullivan and thank you Director Marchant. | hope that you’re in for a big job because
Nashua has a big job for you.
Mr. Sullivan
Yeah.
President Wilshire
A lot of excitement, right we have a new Master Plan and all these things going on; it’s a great time for you
to be here and | am excited, for one, that Sarah found you. So thank you.
Mr. Sullivan
Well | appreciate that and you’re so right, it seems like the perfect time to come on board. It seems like a
very exciting time and certainly | think both during and after COVID is going to be a very interesting time for
the City and hopefully the Master Plan gives us some direction on what that looks like moving forward. So
thank you.
President Wilshire
Well that’s going to be on you; | mean not all of it.
