Board of Aldermen 08-09-2022 Page 7
From: Mayor Jim Donchess
Re: ESRI GIS Enterprise Agreement Renewal in the amount not to exceed $115,308 funded from 54407 Software
Maintenance/General Fund
MOTION BY ALDERMAN MORAN TO APPROVE THE RENEWAL OF THE GIS ENTERPRISE LICENSE AND
ANNUAL AGREEMENT FOR THREE YEARS BETWEEN THE CITY OF NASHUA, PENNICHUCK CORPORATION,
AND ESRI IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $115,308. FUNDING WILL BE THROUGH: DEPARTMENT: 106
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES; FUND: 54407 SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE/GENERAL FUND
MOTION CARRIED
From: Lori Wilshire, President, Board of Aldermen
Re: Zoom meetings
MOTION BY ALDERMAN O’BRIEN TO APPROVE TERMINATING THE PUBLIC ACCESS TO ZOOM MEETINGS
ON THE QUESTION
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you. This is what I’m saying is pretty radical. | heard exactly what the people had spoken about and what have
said but | copy and | mirror what is good for the State of New Hampshire should also be equally and legally good as well
for this particular chamber. | think Alderman Klee could agree that within the State, we use very sparingly Zoom. There’s
a whole set of rules. This turned into something else.
| want to hear from the public. The answer is yes. The thing is I’m not the one that took the liberties that one particular
citizen did and came out and introduced us to a whole new set of words of vocabulary that | can assure you that are not
spoken even in the fire station. The term that was used was derogatory to women and therefore | find it particularly
disgusting but what is the safeguard? There is no safeguard. None at all. We don’t even have a switch to shut it off. It’s
uncontrolled. Raise your hand if you were at the Budget meeting like | was and saw five people that took our meeting on
the budget as important as the budget was and just got off and round robin and came up and used their time. It was their
right, but they went off subject and we know that they went off subject. We heard it. It’s on tape. People play it back.
You can see.
Therefore, what is the safeguards to what this is? We're not the ones in this chamber. We follow our rules and our
decorums to a tee. It seems the public is not following our decorums. We don’t use this type of language. We don’t
disparagingly attack our employees. Whenever we have an employee that’s up for some other form of things, we go into
closed session to discuss that employee but the public can’t and yet they can lambast an employee on their opinions and
not really based on any type of fact. Something needs to be done. Maybe after some time of terminating the Zoom
meetings, we can come up with rules and guidelines that maybe more appropriate. As it sits right now, there is no
guarantee that what had happened in the past will not happen again. Therefore based upon the past practice, | am very
guarded. Like | say with the deepest of regret but | think those who have been an Aldermen for a while when | started if
you couldn’t make a meeting, you were encouraged to be at the meeting but you called in on a telephone. | understand
that technology is lagging. I'd like to have Zoom for us that we’re able to contact and come on to Zoom in order to record
our presence and to be at the meeting.
From what | understand and the question could be asked and answered by Corporate Counsel by New Hampshire State
law, | don’t think there’s any guarantee to have public comment at any of these really proceedings. So that would need to
be clarified because you heard in somebody’s comment, it’s covered under the Right to Know Law. SO within that
clarification, that needs to be discussed. So the whole thing needs to be taken a look at and maybe we should have the
time out and come up with better rules on it and then we can make a better educated discussion. It doesn’t have to last
forever. Thank you Madam President.
President Wilshire
Can | ask you to respond to that?
Steve Bolton, Corporate Counsel
Alderman O’Brien is absolutely correct. The law does not require public comment be afforded except in specific incidents.
The annual budget, issuance of bonds, supplemental appropriations all require this Board to have a public hearing on
those issues otherwise, public comment is your choice. It is not imposed upon you by New Hampshire law.
