Board of Aldermen 08-09-2022 Page 11
times have experts who appear before the committee to offer some perspective on some project or whatever. These
experts, they charge if you have them come to a meeting and they speak for 10 minutes at a meeting, they're clock starts
the minute they leave their home or their office. All of that time traveling here, sitting here, waiting for their time, when
they finally give their presentation, and then all the time they spend going back to where they came from we have to pay
them and a pretty penny for that. Zoom allows them to come in, give their presentation in a very short period of time. It’s
avery cost effective way of getting the advantage of that type of testimony.
| don’t want to repeat what other people have said the reasons for continuing to have Zoom but | do want to point out this
came to us as a result of COVID. Ladies and gentlemen, COVID is not over. We're acting like it’s something in the past.
Most of us feel comfortable coming to meetings without masks now. They’re predicting that there’s going to be another
wave of infections coming this fall. From my own selfish motives, | don’t want us forcing people to fill up this room in
coming here who may or may not be vaccinated, who may not choose to wear a mask. | think it’s putting us ina
vulnerable position. | still think it’s a good idea to refer this to the committee and get the people who know the answer to
these questions to give us the benefit of their expertise. | know this motion doesn’t cut off debate. | would like to make a
motion that it be referred to the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee.
MOTION BY ALDERMAN JETTE TO REFER TO PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
ON THE QUESTION
Alderman Dowd
Yeah, | think it does cut off debate because now we'll be debating whether to send it to Personnel Committee. It didn’t go
to any committee when we started using Zoom. We started using Zoom when City Hall was shut down. We couldn’t have
meetings here. That’s how it started and we started just by | believe the President saying we're going to use Zoom now
because we can’t go to City Hall. It’s closed. | don’t think there’s anything that can be discussed at that committee that
can't be discussed here at the full Board right now because we’re all here. Half of you have already discussed it. | think
the rest of us want a chance to discuss it. If you go to a committee, you only have a handful of the Board unless
everybody shows up in which case you're basically calling another full Board meeting. | don’t think it’s productive to send
it to any committee.
Alderwoman Kelly
I’m going to defer to after the motion.
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you Madam President. Hearing what some of the people have said does not alieve the President of the Board runs
the call of the meeting. If the President of the Board, in my interpretation and I'll ask the question to the President and if
you want to refer with Corporate Counsel, but if the President deems to allow Zoom for aldermanic use or for receiving
testimony, that was the call of the Chair. That is her prerogative as the Chair and | think that is backed by the book of
Mason’s and that is, again, referred to what happens at the State level. What should be good for the State of New
Hampshire should be good for little ‘ol Nashua here. So therefore, the modifications can be made on this through the call
of the particular Chair. If Madam President if you want to refer that question to Corporate Counsel?
President Wilshire
Yes | do.
Steve Bolton, Corporate Counsel
Well yes. The presiding officer, the President of the Board of Aldermen, and in the case of the Board of Aldermen makes
decisions but those decisions are subject to the will of the majority of the Board. If on a particular evening the President
were to say that yes its okay if one of our Division Directors made a presentation on an issue by way of Zoom or other
remote platform, it could be done and unless the majority disagreed with that, there would be no problem with doing that.
Alderman O’Brien
Madam President may | be able to make an amendment to my motion?
President Wilshire
