Mayor Donchess
May 8, 2019
Page 3
She commended “the staff down there for stepping up and wanting to do better and mak[e]
changes that are going to be positive for them and the City.”
Finally, you bestowed additional praise on Greg during Ms. Kleiner’s interview this past
Monday evening. During the interview, Alderwoman Shoshanna Kelly asked how the City
addresses the day-to-day issues that might arise in the Assessing Department as well as public
concerns. You responded, ‘“‘Well we have qualified assessors working in the assessing _
department. They are qualified and certified to answer the demands of the job.... We have the
expertise within the department to do these jobs.”
Ms. Ortolano has, nevertheless, remained concerned about the Assessing Department
and, specifically, Greg’s work ethic and behavior. For example, she has always noticed Greg
exhibit a pattern of behavior in his day-to-day work schedule: Greg leaves City Hall every day at
approximately 12 noon and does not return until 3 or 4 p.m., on the representation that he is
performing “field work.” There are also numerous abnormalities in his assessing practices,
including disparities between the values assigned to various properties and information contained
in corresponding property cards.
Accordingly, Ms. Ortolano hired a private investigating firm, Freyler Investigations,
LLC, in late March to follow and review Greg’s behavior and, ultimately confirm her suspicions
regarding him. A surveillance report, dated April 26, 2019, concerning Greg’s behavior is
attached to this letter (“Freyler Report”). In addition, Ms. Ortolano performed her own
investigation to assist Freyler. Her own report is also attached to this letter.
These reports, unfortunately, not only do not surprise us with respect to Greg’s day-to-
day activities, but they deeply alarm us, should concern Nashua taxpayers, and undermine
virtually all of the accolades recently bestowed on Greg by the City.
These reports demonstrate that, during a period of investigation from April 1 — 26, 2019
(a full month, during which there were 20 business days), the investigator and Ms. Ortolano
personally witnessed and observed Greg take extended breaks on nearly half (eight) of those
days during work hours. During those breaks, he either parked his car in the parking area at the
Rail Trial at the end of Country Side Drive in Nashua and napped or smoked cigarettes for
approximately 2-2.5 hours (on April 11, 15, and 23), or parked his car in a parking lot at a
Holiday Inn on 9 Northeastern Blvd. in Nashua and remained there either napping or smoking
cigarettes, also for 1-2 hours (on April 18, 19, 22, 25, and 26).
The investigator and Ms. Ortolano also observed that, on April 1-3, 5, and 8-10, Greg
disappeared from City Hall for similar gaps in time (from approximately 12 noon until 2 or 3
p.m.) and followed similar driving routes either near or in the direction of the Rail Trail and the
Holiday Inn, but the investigator and Ms. Ortolano lost track of him and, thus, could not confirm
whether Greg engaged in the same activities (taking extended breaks to nap and smoke)
described above. These reports do explain, however, that before the investigator and Ms.
Ortolano lost track of Greg on those days, they observed Greg drive aimlessly around the City
and perform very little field work.
