Board of Aldermen 08-09-2022 Page 27
President Wilshire
Thank you.
Laurie Ortolano
Hi. Laurie Ortolano, 41 Berkeley Street. | would like to ask the Board to consider when you have legislation being
brought forth by the Legal office, because often it's drafted by them, and that legislation is relevant to forming a new
committee, or a board, or advisory group for the city | think it's very important to have that analysis section defined
whether that board is a public body under RSA 91. A. I've been able to see that other municipalities do that and I've
learned that we, in fact, have done that. My concern stems from the fact that you formed two RSA 162-g nonprofit
organizations to handle and address the New Market Tax Credit for the Performing Arts Center and it was coupled with
the NPAC Corporation which is a for profit. Collectively, it formed a joint committee. The analysis provided by Attorney
Leonard said that those two nonprofits under RSA 162-g and RSA 292:1 constituted a public body - a public corporation.
But it seems that no one in the city, the agencies of the city, the divisions and departments, know what that means. The
Legal office doesn't provide advice to citizens, | get that. But when a citizen goes to the division or organization, they
should know that otherwise how are you distributing records for this Performing Arts Center which is controlling probably
upwards of $30 million of city funding from taxpayer dollars? How is that being brought to the forefront for citizens to have
access to information regarding that money?
Donna Graham, Legislative Affairs Manager
One minute.
Laurie Ortolano
You know I'm really disappointed that these kinds of things you have to put into a lawsuit. I'm almost done with that
lawsuit and I'm going to ask the Judge to rule on the public nature of the joint PAC committee, the public nature of the
Capital Campaign Committee, the public nature of the Nashua Community Arts nonprofit, as well as a lot of violations that
have happened with meeting minutes not being posted, meetings not being noticed...
Donna Graham, Legislative Affairs Manager
30 seconds.
Laurie Ortolano
...and not being responded to. In the future, | think it would be enormously helpful when legislation comes forward for a
committee, or an agency, or a board, or subcommittee that you have Legal define how that committee operates. Thank
you.
Matthew Gouthro
Matthew Gouthro, 104 Fawn Lane in Nashua. | guess this is since my last public comment made remotely, | guess | will
make it a good one. | want to thank all the Aldermen today who voted to keep public input at City Hall open, accessible,
and transparent. It's very concerning to hear comments from the members of this dais that we don't have to have public
comment at city meetings at all. | guess we'll all have to wait for that shoe to drop next.
To Alderman Thibeault’s point, | am here to speak with you all intelligently. | don't hide my name. | don't swear on this
platform. If that is happening by a few people, you need to moderate their participation and not eliminate this tool for
everyone. You just essentially threw out the baby with the bathwater. The issue at hand with Zoom is that this Board of
Aldermen does not know how to use Zoom. It's amazing that all of our K through 12 teachers here in the City of Nashua
were able to effectively use this platform and communicate every day with our students during the pandemic. As a result
of the pandemic, this tool has opened up new avenues for engagement around the world but somehow our IT
professionals at City Hall can't seem to make this work. The money is not ridiculous enough to better manage this tool for
the betterment of our city. Our residents want open government here in Nashua. Your vote today took away yet another
engagement tool to our residents and their voice for public comment. This measure is greatly disappointing. You selfishly
voted to keep this tool for yourselves and city staff to work remotely. We the taxpayers will remember this vote in future
elections as another measure to eliminate transparency, accessibility, and public input at City Hall. Thank you.
Sara Gual
