Graham, Donna
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From: Laurie Ortolano Qe
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 10:32 AM
To: Graham, Donna
Ce: Board of Aldermen
Subject: Can you place this in public Board Packet for the next BOA meeting
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.
How much are Nashuans willing to pay for Secrecy?
Citizen’s participation in their local government depends on the good will of those serving. Laws
exist that permit citizen access to meetings and records but without the good will of those serving
to provide access and records, it all falls apart.
Nashua’s officials lack the good will expected of public servants. The City is undergoing a major
expansion and redevelopment effort of our Downtown. Many of these high cost projects are not
open to public participation. Public records of meetings and minutes are not maintained and
provided to the public per the law. Tracking what is really going on is nearly impossible and
extraordinarily frustrating. One such project is the Nashua Performing Arts Center (NPAC}.
The secrecy surrounding this project is so high that the Corporate Attorneys Bolton and Leonard
and Economic Development Director Tim Cummings are not willing to state whether the NPAC
joint committee or the three corporations that comprise the joint committee are public entities.
More to come on this.
The secrecy surrounding this project is so high that the Board of Aldermen did not identify this
committee on the city website. The Board approved 2 of the Corporate entities that make up this
joint committee through Omnibus Resolution O-20-094. They appear to be public entities but the
City will not confirm this.
The secrecy surrounding this project is so high that minutes and agendas have not been posted on
the City website. Citizens had no way of knowing that this joint entity even existed.
The secrecy surrounding this project is so high that the project costs are being withheld from the
public. There is no publicly available history of the change orders approved for the construction of
this downtown facility. This $25 millions dollar project is heading for cost increases. But that too,
is shrouded in secrecy.
The secrecy surrounding this project is so high that the meeting minutes recorded by the Board do
not meet the requirements of the law. These legal requirements are minimal. It is inexcusable to
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