Graham, Donna
From: Nate Healey :
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2021 3:42 PM
To: Clemons, Benjamin; Cleaver, Skip; Dowd, Richard; Gathright, Linda; Jette, Ernest; Kelly,
Shoshanna; Klee, Patricia; Laws, Brandon; Lopez, Thomas; Lu, Elizabeth; O’Brien, Michael
(Alderman); Schmidt, Jan; Tencza, David; Wilshire, Lori; Graham, Donna; Caron, June;
Mayor's Office Email
Subject: Police Cammission: Local Control
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
Hello All,
My name is Nate Healey, and I am a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire, writing to you ail to voice
my support for the removal of the Governor’s power to appoint the members of our city’s Police
Commission. I believe that the question of wether our citizens would support such a change needs to be
placed on our next municipal ballot.
We are living through historic times. This past year has shown us that transparency and accountability
are greatly needed throughout our country’s civil and public services in order to invoke positive change
and maintain a safe community, one that represents our incredibly diverse citizens.
As you know, we are currently the only City in our State that does not maintain local control of our
Police Commission. Allowing the Board of Alderman, rather than our Governor, to appoint the
members of our Police Commission would be a massive step forward in transparency for our City. Our
Governor is nor a resident of Nashua. Therefore it would stand to reason that his selected candidates do
not represent the true interests and concerns of our people, matters he could not know without living
here. It should be up to our Board to vet and appoint the appropriate members, ones who truly know the
voice of our people and are taking up the position with fully transparent personal ideals and intentions
and for our City.
I believe our Police Commission is also due for an expansion of members, as three members is simply
not an appropriate number of people to represent our incredibly diverse population. Adding two more
members would improve not only transparency but also the accountability of our Commission, making
it more of a round table for open dialogue and discussion rather than an echo chamber. Our members
should also be chosen not only for their qualifications, but for their unique and diverse backgrounds,
allowing for greater representation and growth within our city’s police force. Every voice in Nashua
deserves to be heard and represented, regardless of race, sex, orientation or religion, and that is simply
not possible without bringing new voices to the table that challenge the status quo and inspire positive
change.
It is time for Nashua’s Police Commission to truly represent our people. Nashua is an incredibly unique
and diverse City that I am proud to be a resident of, and our Commission must reflect that in order to
truly protect its people.
