staff to process voters who wish to return to Undeclared.
2. The current requirements for marking the checklist during an election require serious
concentration by the people checking in voters. This requires giving the staff breaks, especially
during busy elections.
A City Ward is different from a Town in New Hampshire, although both appear to be similarly
organized. The Ward Moderators, Clerks, and Selectmen only have responsibility to run the
polling places for elections. The City Clerk sets the policies and procedures so that all Wards are
doing it the same. This is important to protect the integrity of our elections. The Ward
Moderator is in charge of their polling location in their Ward on Election Day, but must follow
the lead of the City Clerk.
election, whether Municipal or State, is sworn in.
4. If the Mayor's Nominee is not confirmed, a new vacancy is declared, and the process will
be repeated until a Nominee is confirmed by the Board of Aldermen.
To put this in perspective, during last November's midterm election, we processed 442 ballots in
the first hour! And registered 35 new voters that same hour. And even with an extremely busy
election day last November, our turnout was just over 50%.
For both elections, we did this with the same nine (9) Ward election officials and two (2) Ward
Deputy Registrars. In November, our Ward needed additional staff, For the March special
election, we only needed that level of staff as we needed to fill all of roles required by State and
City law.
To: Board of Aldermen, Mayor Donchess,
My testimony is both to speak AGAINST both the current system for filling vacancies on
the Board of Alderman, Board of Education, Board of Public Works, and Fire
Commissioners and the replacement process proposed in Resolution R-18-073 Amended.
Special Bd. of Aldermen — 05/14/2019 Page 4
Testimony in Favor
Special Bd. of Aldermen — 05/14/2019 Page 3
maybe one or two spots. | have seen people circle around trying to vote and they can’t vote. In fact, on that
point | will probably submit a complaint to the Secretary of State about obstruction of voting.
Special Bd. of Aldermen — 05/14/2019 Page 2
Judy Blachek, 560 South Main Street. | am here as Ward 7 Clerk and | just want to say | totally approve of this
amendment. | believe saving the City a lot of money and everyone’s time and effort is just the way to go and |
hope you will support this measure.
A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Aldermanic Chamber.
President Lori Wilshire presided; City Clerk Patricia Piecuch recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Patricia Piecuch; Alderwoman-at-Large Shoshanna Kelly led in the Pledge to
the Flag.
The roll call was taken with 10 members of the Board of Aldermen present; Alderman Gidge, Alderwoman Kelly,
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja Alderman Clemons and Alderman Laws were recorded absent.
City of Nashua
Planning Department rx e035803110
229 Main Street WEB www.nashuanh.gov
Nashua, New Hampshire 03061-2019
MEMORANDUM
Date: May 13, 2019
To: Ald. Dowd, Chair and Members of Budget Committee -
From: Scott LeClair, Chair of Planning Board and Board Members
RE: Support Request to Fund Master Plan Update in Proposed
FY 2020 City Budget
