Special Board of Aldermen 12-21-2020 Page 9
And where are they going to do that? They are likely going to do that within their homes, visiting with
family, with friends, whomever it might be and we are essentially going to have the opposite effect, we
are actually going to compound the situation that is the problem to begin with. So | certainly urge you
not to adopt this.
The other point I’d like to make and ask you to consider is enforcement. You know, if you roll out a
curfew at 9:30 | would assume that there is going to be some enforcement action that would have to be
taken. | think | would make the case that if you are going to make roll out enforcement and take that
action, why not take that time and enforce the guidelines that are in place right now? As a couple of
people have mentioned, let’s focus on the bad apples that are really making it hard for the rest of the
industry to operate. Let’s hold them accountable and let’s reward those who are doing all the right
things, that have made the investments, that are going above and beyond and let’s reward them by
allowing them to stay open. They are going to continue to do the right things as with all the situations
like this, those who are going to follow the rules are already following the rules. Those who are not
going to follow the rules, are never going to follow the rules. So | would just encourage you to oppose
this regulation and, again, not being a resident | am certainly going to yield my time, but! thank you for
the opportunity to speak with you and | certainly hope that you vote no tomorrow as you deliberate.
Thank you.
President Wilshire
Thank you. Maryse Wirbal.
Maryse Wirbal Hi, thanks for having me tonight, good evening. |’d like to just take a moment to touch
upon what Heather had mentioned before. | am Maryse Wirbal with the Front Door Agencies, 7 Concord
Street in Nashua. And one of the things that | am really concerned about if this ordinance goes through
is the demand on the social services network that we are already going to see. We have seen a
significant increase already in the number of requests for people looking for housing assistance with
rent and utilities. And a lot of that has come from the hospitality network already. So | am afraid that we
are going to see a significant increase in the demand for public support through our City Welfare
Department, through our Non-Profit Partners, if this ordinance goes through as many of our families are
already working the evening shifts. So be reducing the number of hours, as mentioned before, and the
number of employees that would then get laid off, that would tax certainly our social service system. So |
would hope and encourage that you think about that as well and vote no for this ordinance. Thank you.
President Wilshire
Thank you. Barbara Harding?
Barbara Harding Hi there, my name is Barbara Harding, | live at 9 Echo Ave. in Nashua. | have two jobs
in the community; | work for Greenbriar as their clinical liaison and | work for Billiards for Kurt and the
rest of the team. Thank you guys for speaking. So | can tell you that as the liaison for Greenbriar, | see
a lot of referrals from the hospitals and a lot of people with COVID. And those people with COVID are
not the people that are coming in at night. It’s a completely different generation, a completely different
group of people. There has been no change in the numbers from Massachusetts. | previously was an
infection control nurse so | have been following this pretty closely.
Making this curfew, all that’s going to happen is people are going to move to the next town or the next
home. They are going to go Manchester, they are going to go to Salem. It is not going to change what
people do, all it is going to do for the people in Nashua, for all the people that work for these
businesses, is put them out of work and cause struggle, depression, suicide. What | have seen go up is
the depression rate and the amount of people that don’t have enough money anymore, that don’t have a
job to go to, that they can’t afford to take care of their own children. If you cut these hours, businesses
are Sure to close.
