A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, October 8, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber.
President Lori Wilshire presided; City Clerk Susan K. Lovering recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Susan K. Lovering; Alderman-at-Large Brandon Michael Laws led in the
Pledge to the Flag.
The roll call was taken with members of the Board of Aldermen 11 present; Alderwoman Shoshanna Kelly,
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Jan Schmidt, and Alderman Tom Lopez were recorded absent.
His Honor, Mayor James W. Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steven A. Bolton were also in attendance.
President Wilshire turned the meeting over to Alderman Caron, Chair of the Personnel/Administrative
Affairs Committee, to conduct the public hearing.
President Wilshire
| did hear from Alderwoman Kelly that she is unable to join us this evening; Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja is
unable to join us this evening; and Alderman Schmidt is on vacation. | am going to turn the meeting over to
Alderman Caron, the Chair of the Personnel Administrative Affairs Committee to conduct the Public Meeting.
Alderman Caron gave a brief overview of R-19-162 before the Board heard public testimony.
Alderman Caron
Good evening the Meeting will begin with a Public Hearing on R-19-162 relative to a ballot referendum to allow
sports betting within the City of Nashua. So we are going to start with testimony in favor.
PUBLIC HEARING
R-19-162
RELATIVE TO A BALLOT REFERENDUM TO ALLOW
SPORTS BETTING WITHIN THE CITY OF NASHUA
Testimony in Favor
James Rafferty Good evening and thank you for this opportunity. My name is James Rafferty and |
am a citizen of the City of Nashua. | live at Jackson Falls and | also own a business on High Street; 53 High
Street, called the River Casino & Sports Bar. We are very engaged with all things funded exciting for our City.
We are here tonight to talk about Sports Betting. | just want to make a couple of points. | think that Sports
Betting will do several things for us that are positive for our community.
One it will provide more fun for the people of our City and regional sports betters, gamblers, fun-seeking
people who enjoy the environment that | provide at my business; which is, in my view, as solid, good, clean
American fun as can be had anywhere. Sports Betting will provide my charity partners and 35% of all our
proceeds on our gaming side goes to charities, that is over $3 million dollars for the 12 years we’ve been doing
this in the region. It will also help my business become a stronger and more vibrant business, like many
entertainment businesses, | need a new way to have fun almost every year. Sports Betting will give us that
nice boost and a competitive boost as it just gets more competitive in the gaming and entertainment business
in our region.
Sports Betting will also bring dollars through the Lottery Programs, significant dollars through the Lottery
Programs to help education. Sports Betting will also | think bring anew level of entertainment to the whole
region and a way to enjoy, these are some of the favorite things people do in our region, the Patriots and the
