Board of Aldermen — 2/21/16 Page 5
| want to thank Michael Reinke, the new leader of the Soup Kitchen, for the inspiration to launch an end
childhood hunger campaign here in Nashua. | know that by working together we can make the lives of
many hungry children a lot better.
We are making Nashua city government more open and accessible. | am reaching out to citizens and
learning from them about their hopes and dreams for Nashua. For the second year | am holding town
hall meetings in all of the neighborhoods of our city. | have also started a monthly Coffee-with-the-Mayor
at Jajabelle’s on Main Street. | have talked with hundreds of Nashuans in these informal settings.
| have also appointed nearly 50 new people to city boards and commissions.
| want to involve leaders from our millennial generation in helping to chart the course of Nashua’s future.
Therefore, a number of my new appointments are millennials — Lydia Foley, Simon Sarris, Amanda
Schneck, Dan Weeks, James Tobin, Alison Bankowski, and Sindiso Mnisi Weeks on boards and
commissions, joining James Vayo, Sarah Marchant, Tim Cummings, and Madeleine Mineau who are
working inside city government. We are also working closely with other young leaders, especially
downtown where the passion of our millennials is clearly focused — leaders such as Aldermen Ben
Clemons and Tom Lopez, Paul Shea, Manny Ramirez, Jessica DePontbriand and Ben Ruddock. Our
young leaders are helping us plan a city that has walkable streets, new housing, a beautiful and
accessible river, and a diverse business community. It is inspiring to me that we have so many talented
Nashuans who are willing to share their time and talents for the benefit of our great city.
In a new effort to open Nashua city government to even more citizens, | am announcing tonight that
starting on March 6, we are launching our first Nashua City Academy. On Monday evenings over the
course of 13 weeks up to 50 citizens will be able to learn from our division and department heads about
the details of city operations and budgeting. Do you want to see what goes on inside a firehouse? Do
you want to learn more about how the city plows its streets or landfills its garbage? Do you want to learn
more about city budgeting? Sign up for the Nashua City Academy right away.
Speaking of our streets, Nashua has not kept up with street paving, and the condition of our streets has
deteriorated over the years. This is a problem that many citizens have spoken to us about. We have
completed an assessment of all of Nashua’s 1,300 streets and have determined the Paving Condition
Index, or PCI, of each street. | am announcing tonight, that in concert with the Board of Public Works
and Aldermen David Deane, Ken Siegel and other aldermen, | will be proposing a big leap forward — a
plan to devote $7.5 million per year to paving and patching our streets over at least the next 5 years.
This catch-up initiative will significantly upgrade the overall condition of our streets.
Our beautiful parks and our active recreation programs are part of the fabric of Nashua. We have
historic Greeley and beautiful Mine Falls Parks. This year through a combination of funds raised
privately and over $175,000 of city funds, we established the state’s first all accessible playground at
Labine Park. Eric Brand was the inspiration and driving force for the Legacy Playground, and many
others contributed including Eric’s Leadership Greater Nashua class, donors, volunteers, and Parks
Superintendent Nick Caggiano. However, there is one area where our recreation programs need
improvement, and that is the number of soccer/lacrosse fields we have. We have only 11 fields, and we
have not added a new one in at least 20 years. Eleven is not nearly enough. We have about 2,000 kids
and a lot of adults engaged in soccer and lacrosse.
The condition of our fields needs to be better, but grass needs rest in order to grow. That is why we
need more fields, so that we can establish a rotation schedule — letting the grass grow on some fields
while kids and adults are using others. Tonight | am announcing a plan to build two fields in the dusty
area next to the Charlotte Avenue Elementary School and a third field at the park on Jewell Lane next to
the school. Our partners in this project are Rob Leonardi and other members of the Charlotte Avenue
Elementary School PTO, the Nashua School Department, and the Nashua Parks Department.
