Board of Aldermen 02-22-2022 Page 41
| want to echo what my colleagues have said. When | did reach out to Alderman Cathey regarding this ordinance, 1)
because he's a decent guy | presumed; 2) he's my neighbor. We both live in Ward 7. If you come to Ward 7 and you've
heard another member of the public from Ward 7 Beth Scaer speak, we have radically different opinions. We hardly ever
agree on anything but you can come down my street when I'm running for election and you can see my sign next to
someone else's sign that's not relatable to me. You would say “wow”, why is that person’s sign on that lawn? | can tell
you why - because | have conversations with my neighbors. When a nor'easter hits, we shovel each other out. We talk
about our kids. We go to football parties together. These are things that neighbors do. These are things that citizens do
together. Like what Alderman Lopez was saying, tribalism will destroy us. It will destroy this country. It will destroy the
city. We have to be able to reach across the aisle. We have to have an olive branch to each other. We have to live our
lives like Americans. Discourse is great. Personal attack is not. I'm prepared for personal attack. | got elected. City
staff, they're just doing their job.
| think, at least for me, you'll see more of this throughout my four years here. Who knows if I'm going past that but | think
whatever happened in the previous boards, whatever grievances there are, you gotta let it go. I'll tell you what | tell my
patients. You let this stuff stew in your brain, it starts to smell. What do you have to do with junk that's running in your
brain, you got to take it out just like take out the trash. You got to hit the reset button. You have to move forward. We
have to move the City of Nashua forward. We cannot get stuck in turf wars. It’s the best thing to do for everyone.
We talked a little bit about mental health. You know when Governor Sununu said shut down the State, he called for
healthcare workers to volunteer. | volunteer for DBAR - the disaster response for crisis clinicians to respond throughout
the State for the mental health needs. It truly is a major part of this pandemic that is overlooked. Some people will say
this is rhetoric from a certain side that you're aligning with but it's true. I've had so many patients kill themselves. That's
just me and my small agency here in Nashua. We don't get the numbers from the State. Why don't we get the numbers
from the State? | can tell you why because I've learned this working in the city. It brings down property values. That's
what the response I've gotten from the State several times. There are so many people be in treatment for depression
right now - kids and adults. | have a waiting list of over 300 people to come to my practice. The Mental Health Center has
a six to eight month waitlist. The majority of those people waiting right now due to COVID isolation and other COVID
factors and we already had a pandemic of mental health and addiction prior to this.
We have to address those secondary concerns. | do respect everyone on the Board of Health but there's one type of
doctor that's not on that Board of Health - a psychiatrist. If there was, we'd be able to hear this perspective more. I'm
literally an expert in mental health. My colleague, Tom, is an expert in mental health. We disagree on certain things but
what we're saying is true. This is happening in the city and it has to be talked about. The crisis team, | used to run it. |
was the Clinical Director. Call them. Call them when you're struggling.
We passed the mask. Hoping to keep that in the past.
The barriers - they're coming to the Infrastructure and the Planning and Economic Development Committee through a joint
committee that both Alderman O'Brien and | will Co-Chair. | promise you we will shine the light of day on all your
concerns. We will take input and | hope city staff that come have a pencil and paper and that they can respond
appropriately talking about steering committees and such.
| also would like to congratulate Chief Rhodes on his retirement. Talk about a class act. | worked with him with the Safe
Station Program to move the crisis there. He really did put in his dues. He is going to be a very missed and valued figure
in the city.
The Downtown Improvement Committee. | would just ask that everything is posted publicly so everyone can have their
input. | think that's all | have.
Oh, yes. There was a conversation about that communication from Ms. Kleiner. | would say my comments regarding that
particular meeting were about the vendor. | don't Know who hashes out who's impersonating who. That's not my job.
That's not something the Board does but the vendor admitted that they were duped. We have to have processes in place
so citizen’s information isn't readily shared. We've already been duped with a cyber-hack with a vendor. Let's just make
sure that vendors know who they're talking to and who the point of contact is.
Alderman Klee
Thank you, Madam Chair and | have to say | feel honored to have to my right here two very good mental health
practitioners. | know I've gone to Alderman Lopez when I've had constituents that have had need and so on and he's
helped me and such.
