Board of Aldermen 2-12-2020 Page 21
So | think that we looked towards some of those negative comments as how can we assure the community
that this is going to happen, how can we do this? So | think that it was good to get negative comments
because it makes you, you know, cross you T’s and dot your I’s a little bit better. So | think some of that
was part of the face to face conversations that were happening. It wasn’t necessarily asking for specific
amounts. | believe that some of the questions might have been, would you donate, who would donate, so
on and so forth. So | think that’s where that came from.
Alderwoman Kelly
Just to add to that quickly, | don’t know how many people here have been on a Capital Campaign, this has
been new for me. But! think potentially the other thing that they were talking about it is a longer
relationship kind of thing when you are asking for $1 million dollars. You don’t sit someone down once and
they go, here you go. It’s sit down, you have coffee, you talk about it, you follow up, have maybe another
conversation. So especially in that beginning phase where you are going for the big dollars, it takes a bit of
time to get those conversations going. So the Committee definitely was starting them and were able to
really talk to those people in earnest.
President Wilshire
Just to clarify the deadline for this was February 20", so it’s not tomorrow it is actually a week out.
Alderwoman Lu
| just want to clarify that | was referring to a conference call with the fundraising committee that was
reported in October of 18 in which they were currently actively soliciting funds. So | was just pointing out
that it sounded like that Committee didn’t begin until September 2019.
Alderman Clemons
Yes they were soliciting funds but they didn’t have a vehicle to accept them and | don’t believe that they
had a vehicle to accept them until well after, | think it was right around the time when Alderman McCarthy
might have passed away. | think it was a receivership from the Arts Nashua | think and | think even then,
you know, so obviously you have conversations with people in the community about who you think might
support something or whatever. | don’t think that a comment from 2018 about we are talking to people
should necessarily disqualify us from saying, well they were talking about it in 2018 so we shouldn’t extend
the deadline. Because even if they had that conversation there was no way to collect that money from that
person. And so, | don’t’ Know. | just am going to leave it at that.
Alderman Jette
So | am going to support the amendment to make it August 31, 2021 because obviously we have to change
it. But you know that was based upon stuff that we were told. Director Cummings told us he wanted to
start this project in the fall. That if we didn’t start in the fall, the prices were going to go up and costs will.
He was hoping that in order to start we needed $4 million dollars and was hoping to get the New Market
Tax Credits to do that. So my timing, my date was just going along with his desire to get this thing moving
and again, we are going to — if we don’t get those New Market Tax Credits, we are going to have to figure
out where the money is going to have to come from. And you know, | hear people talk about the $2.5
million; we never voted $2.5 million, the people never voted $2.5 million. That was something that the
fundraising professionals verified as a reasonable goal for this community, the businesses and the
residents of this community is a reasonable goal for them to come up with.
| just got a copy of the newsletter from the Nashua Soup Kitchen. And they are renovating the old Sacred
Heart School on Spring Street into shelter housing. And they, a year ago, their newsletter said, they
identified or they set a goal of raising | think it is $4.5 million. They are happy, their newsletter says, “we
are happy to announce we raised $3.7 million” in a year.
