Board of Aldermen 3-31-2020 Page 13
think we have done very well by them in the past and this doesn’t really, it isn’t really a disadvantage, it’s just
a realignment of the plan where people, including the employees, will do better.
Alderman Harriott-Gathright
Thank you. Alright, let me just say this that | hear what you are saying but what you are saying is not the truth
of unaffiliates and | am going to say that OK? Last year when we made the change and | was against that
change of some of the things that were happening with the unaffiliated, OK? | have a background from
Verizon for 35 years, OK? And as management as well as management in the Union, | know the difference.
So what | am saying to you is that when | ask the question about the monies, that’s what it is about the
monies, who is paying what and no disrespect to Alderman Tencza, but it depends on the families involved, it
really depends on the family involved. If your family is fairly healthy and guess what? Usually if you are at a
certain pay scale, your family is. And at other certain pay scale, your family is not.
So when you make those types of changes as to who can afford to pay for medical care it makes a difference
and that is my point. | feel like you’ve got 135 employees OK that you are asking to do this and they probably
will do it not because they think that’s the best for their family but because they want to keep their jobs.
That’s the reality here. And | know that you know that. And I’m sorry if | am getting upset about it because |
am tired of this game that we play, literally play. If you are fairly healthy and even at my age, | am fairly
healthy and | have certain insurance through Verizon, very good insurance. But when | look at people that
don’t have what | have even insurance-wise, there’s a whole different ballgame for those people. And | think
if you were to really, really, | know that you had a meeting | know that Kim had a meeting and Director
Budreau, all of you guys had meetings with these folks. But do you truly believe that they were going to tell
you what they really felt? And that’s where | am struggling with this. | feel as though any employee in this City
should be able to talk and be honest about how they feel about what is happening with them.
Mayor Donchess
Well they would, you know, we asked. If someone disagreed with this, you know, there are no repercussions.
Now these are all fairly well-paid employees, these are not hourly workers, these are middle management
and up. So these aren’t the people down doing automobile registrations, these are people that make
probably at low end, probably $60,000.00 up to $120,000.00 or $130,000.00 apiece. These are not your
hourly workers?
Alderman Harriott-Gathright
$120,000.00 to $160,000.00 a year is that what you’re saying?
Mayor Donchess
Ms. Kleiner and Mr. Budreau can correct me but | think on the low end, these employees make in the $60’s
and on the high end, some of the high end as high as in the $120’s. And a lot of people over in six figures, so
these are not poorly paid workers who are giving a huge amount out of their paycheck to healthcare. These
are employees that at least within the City universe are relatively well paid.
Alderman Harriott-Gathright
If you tell me that somebody is making $60,000.00 a year and they have a family and they live in Nashua and
they are paying rent, you are telling me they are doing OK? Literally?
Mayor Donchess
| guess I’m telling you that if they can save $50.00 a week on healthcare, that helps them.
