Mayor Donchess
May 8, 2019
Page 2
To alleviate that vacuum, at a March 7, 2019 Special Aldermen meeting on that
Assessment Management Audit Report, you stated that, in the interim and in defense of
eliminating the Chief Assessor position, “There is a supervisor Assessor, certified as a supervisor
in the Assessing Office who can serve as sort of a working supervisor.” This statement
obviously referred to Greg since he is the only certified supervisor in the Assessing Department.
In response, Ms. Ortolano raised the concern that having both Greg and Gary Turgiss
working in the same department violated the City’s anti-nepotism policy, and that elevating
either to supervise the other a/so violated that policy. Section 4.01 of the policy states,
“Individuals who are related are permitted to work for the City of Nashua, provided that no_
direct reporting or supervisory/management relationship exists.” (The italics and underlining
are not mine; they are in the policy.) Section 4.02 states, “No relatives are permitted to work in
the same department or in any other positions in which the Human Resources Department
believes an inherent conflict of interest may exist.” As you are likely aware, the Turgiss brothers
have worked in the Assessing Department for over two decades. The City’s Human Resources
Director, Larry Budreau, stated, however, that there was no conflict interest, and thus this
situation did not violate the City’s anti-nepotism policy.
The City has recently continued to express support for Greg and the Assessing
Department. At the most recent Board of Aldermen meeting on April 30, 2019, Louise Brown,
an Administrative Specialist, explained that, due to Greg’s “hard work, education, and lengthy
experience,” he was elevated from a DRA Certified Property Assessor to a DRA Certified
Property Assessor Supervisor in 2018. In this role, Greg apparently executes numerous critical
duties for the Department, including, but not limited to, general supervision over re-evaluation
projects, conducting sales surveys, establishing base values for land and buildings, preparing
sales surveys, establishing charts to be used in re-evaluations, preparing reports, supervising
informal reviews of property assessments with property owners, and oversight over any re-
evaluation by assisting the City to ensure the re-evaluation is performed in accordance with
applicable law. In particular, Ms. Brown remarked that she has worked with Greg from 2000 to
the present, and his “growth in the Department is something to aspire to.” She further praised
Greg as “one of the top individuals I have been able to depend on with the changes that have
occurred within” the Department.
At that same meeting, Greg provided his own comments after Ms. Brown. He explained
this period of time is “a very busy time with the April 1* tax date and July bills going out,” and
he explained many of the functions the Department was performing for that purpose. The Acting
Administrative Services Director, Kim Kleiner, made a few remarks after Greg: she explained
the Assessing Department is “extremely busy,” and “you have a group of people that are working
extremely hard to get information and applications processed and reviewed |for abatements].”
Then, the President of the Board of Aldermen, Lori Wilshire, remarked that “the people down [in
the Assessing Department] are working hard, everyone wants to do a good job for the residents.”
' While we understand your Chief of Staff, Kim Kleiner, is currently overseeing the Assessing Department as the
“Acting Administrative Services Director,” Ms. Kleiner has no assessing credentials or experience. It is like asking
a lawyer to oversee a doctor’s office.
