A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, February 21, 2017, at 7:00 p.m.
in the Aldermanic Chamber.
President Brian S. McCarthy presided: City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia D. Piecuch; Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane led in
the Pledge to the Flag.
The roll call was taken with 15 members of the Board of Aldermen present.
Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steven A. Bolton were also present.
MAYOR’S ANNUAL STATE-OF-THE-CITY ADDRESS
Mayor Donchess
| want to thank everyone for coming tonight. We have a number of guests, so | really, really appreciate
everybody coming.
Good evening President McCarthy, Vice President Wilshire, members of the Board of Aldermen, Board
of Education members, BPW Commissioners, other elected officials, Police Chief Lavoie, Fire Chief
Galipeau, Superintendent Brown, city division directors, city staff, community members, and guests.
First, | want to thank my wife Vicki, daughter Caroline, son-in-law David and new grandson Ajax for all
the support you give me.
A year ago right here | called upon my fellow Nashua citizens to come together, and by using all of your
talents, your know-how, your skills and imagination to join me in the work of making Nashua a great city.
And | told you that | want Nashua to be a city for everyone, for senior citizens and young families just
starting out, for high tech professionals, for artists, for lifelong residents and new Americans. | told you
that | want to make our city government more open to all of our citizens.
Let’s think about everything we have accomplished in just one year by working together. We are growing
our economy and adding jobs. We have new housing in the works. We are improving our schools, and
we are lifting up our downtown. We are meeting the challenge of the opioid addiction crisis. And we are
making Nashua city government more inclusive and transparent for all of Nashua’s citizens.
This past October Money Magazine — based upon its survey of more than 800 communities — honored
Nashua with the 16" spot on its annual list of the “Best Places to Live in America.” In July WalletHub
ranked Nashua the 10" “Best-Run City in the US.” In addition we have maintained our strong bond
rating which is Triple A with the Fitch rating agency.
Working with me we have a Board of Aldermen whose members are thoughtful and dedicated to the
good of our city. | am privileged to be working with them and to be leading 2,800 city employees who
every day are working hard on behalf of the citizens of Nashua.
In short, the state of our city is strong and getting stronger.
On the jobs front, our unemployment rate is a low 2.5%. We are adding more jobs — 300 at BAE
Systems’ South End campus, 150 jobs at Prudential Linen, a new cleanroom services business that will
be opening later this year, and more jobs at UPS. These jobs and the ripple effect they create will add
many millions of dollars to our robust regional economy.
