Board of Aldermen — 02/13/18 Page 12
Alderman Klee
| will be voting for the performing arts. Ward 3, my ward, did vote very favorably for the performing arts.
Although | had already gone in with this preconceived idea that | do like the performing arts, | had many, many
questions. | drove many, many people crazy including today. | visited a few people asking questions. | have
gone all the way up to Manchester and spoke with Mr. Ramsey to get questions answered about fundraising
and how it affects the community, much what Mayor Donchess had spoken to prior — are we robbing Peter to
pay Paul kind of thing in the community. | am convinced that we are not. | am also going to make a very bold
statement. | am hoping those in the downtown area that are supportive of this performing arts, dig deep into
their pocket for that $4 million. | hope they will be in the forefront writing those checks. Thank you.
Alderman Gidge
That young man, who made that speech was very clear. He made his point. It was very eloquent. | am sorry
that he mentioned my name in it, but it is that type of energy. Please, come this way when it passes. And,
when is it good to spend $15 million? It’s never good. If | remember, we were number one in Money magazine,
the first city to be number one. No other cities. We were also the last city to be the number one, with no other
cities before major cities took place. How much risk did everyone take to become number one. | know it is hard
for some, and it’s a lot of money but if | didn’t think we could do it and make a success out of it, | wouldn’t vote
for it. But! am going to vote for it. Thank you.
Alderman Loepz
Last time | voted for it, and then | got re-elected. | guess if | just leave everything the way it is, I'll continue to get
re-elected whether or not | want to be. What really gets me is the discussion that has been coming forth, | think
has been extremely productive. When you have people like Tyler, the younger speaker from earlier, who are
coming out and getting involved in local issues and reading through all of the minutes and presentations , that’s
a very good thing for the city regardless of whether | agree with all of his positions. | think that is important.
People are discussing downtown. People are engaging in conversations about economic development and the
arts. For what it is worth, | think this has been a very worthwhile exercise. As my colleague pointed out, we
should never spend $15 million without discussing it very, very, very thoroughly. | haven’t heard any new
arguments or concerns since the original presentation. | think a lot of it has been a lot of close study and
exploration of the discussions that were already had. There were some concerns raised today about a
backroom deal that | know nothing of. | can’t necessarily have my vote be changed by the accusation, but |
would certainly look forward to any kind of revelations or new information as it proposes.
For the decision-making part, it just falls down to us as aldermen to say what is the information that we have, we
were entrusted to make a decision, and it’s not going to be 100 percent popular. We need to do what’s right for
the city. | think downtown needs investment. | think this is an economic opportunity that has been
demonstrated with some statistics and with as predictive a model as you can do. | think it’s time to do it. | think
the energy is here. | think there are a lot of young people who are looking to see which way the wind is going to
blow in Nashua, whether we are going to start being progressive and developing and moving forward. | think a
lot of businesses with follow their lead as well. I’m hoping that this is the first step in many steps, not to spend
$15 million repeatedly but to start investing in a community that is able to bring in more revenue, bring in more
energy, bring in more people. I’m in support of it. | look forward to how it will unfold. | promise the taxpayers of
Nashua that | will be attentive to how it unfolds and the process that is being used.
Alderman Wilshire
| enjoy performing arts. | go to the Palace. | go to Boston. | go to New York City. | think it is time. There is
always going to be other things that need to be done in this city. | think we’ve taken pretty good care of our
schools. To Tyler’s comment about Mt. Pleasant and Elm Street, there are always going to be those projects.
Always. Once we are finished with all the schools, we have to start over again. You can’t keep pushing things
off like the arts. This is something that the majority of voters who went out to vote said they wanted, so | am
going to support that. That's my vote tonight.
