Special Board of Aldermen 6-13-2022 Page 20
Laurie Ortolano, 41 Berkeley Street. | want to thank the Board for holding this meeting. It was very informative,
interesting to hear the perspective, and | appreciate the questions everyone brought to the table. | would have liked to
have heard some of the people who worked on the spending cap speak and have an opportunity to have a little bit of
time to present their positions because | think interpretation is always a little complicated and it’s not a black and white
issue. | hate to see things come down to arguments that are we’re going to court on it, we’re going to sue on it, we’re
force it through that hole. I'd like to see more consensus building done so that is not the case. It’s not often
productive and these are complex issues.
| tend to agree that | do not think the grant money belongs in the calculation. | think grants are different. They really
are different. There’s the money you're appropriating for departments to run and operate and then grants come in and
it's not money that you are necessarily in need of appropriating. When | looked up “expenditure”, the term “total
expenditure”, and “municipal expenditure”, GAL, or any type of organization, accounting organization, it really talks
about the monies required by schools, police, fire, all your departments. No language that | reviewed it for definitions
on my phone came up with grant money included. So | do think that’s separate and | think that’s a legitimate point.
I’m not certain we’re at that $113 million under the cap. | think there is some skew there that | don’t fully understand
and I'd like to understand that a little bit more. Yeah I'd like to see us work together more with the public and gather
the views of those that have been around longer...
Alderman O’Brien
One minute.
Laurie Ortolano
..-and value the input that they have because there is perspective there. For whatever reason in 2017, 2018, 2019,
we went along with the calculation done this way. We had virtually the same management leadership team here that
applied it that way and then it changed in 2023 and for somebody looking in from outside, it’s a red flag. It’s a little bit
of a hey what’s going on here? Why the need for the switch?
Alderman O’Brien
30 seconds.
Laurie Ortolano
So again, thank you very much for holding this. | think it was informative for everyone. Appreciate the time you all
gave this. Thank you.
Scott McCullough
Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Scott McCullough, 49 Congress Street, Apt. 6. I'd like to say thank you to the
Board of Aldermen who showed up - Lopez and Kelly | think it was. Thank you very much. My goal is if you guys can
help, if Lopez can help, | need to raise — I'd like to raise $1,500 to get these awesome Best Buddies shoes. The ear
piece is probably not this time because they are $2,500 that | have to raise. | think he can help me. | greatly
appreciate it and I'd like to come to the chamber maybe sometime in September. Miss Co-Chair if that’s alright with
you Lori. | called you and left you a message. If you could check your schedule and let me know what the best time
to come to the Chambers and present an award. I'd like to present an award and do a thing on the big screen and
show you what Best Buddies is all about. When is a good time? Maybe some time in September if you could let me
know please. Thank you.
Matthew Gouthro
Matthew Gouthro, 104 Fawn Lane in Nashua. | really want to thank you guys for hosting this opportunity to listen to
how the spending cap is being put together. | agree with many of the Aldermen who spoke up concerning grant
funding. | think anytime we can offset the tax payer dollars with grant funds, | think it’s an optimal solution that we
should all be in favor of. | think that this is a great opportunity for us to look at doing stuff like that. | came from a City
four years ago in Florida. It’s about the same size as Nashua and we had a full time staffer that was looking for these
grant fund opportunities. So | think if we can find opportunities to offset taxpayer dollar with grant funds, | think it
would be beneficial for us and for our budget, especially if we’re looking at the cost of living increases and everything
