Board of Aldermen 04-27-2021 Page 16
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you Madam President. If | may to take the liberty. It’s not that | thought anything is funny. | think we all of us when
we become elected officials we give up an awful lot. We give up some of our free time, some of our liberties. We are
spoken to within the street on different matters. We receive phone calls. In some cases, we receive a plethora of e-mails
from one, or two, or many constituents. The thing is to accuse that we have a level of hate, | don’t see anybody and I’m
proud to say serving on this particular Board with many of you that | think | can speak to say that we all do not have any
hate or any contempt to any city resident. To imply such, | do feel somewhat offended. | think all of us have worked very
hard for our constituents and it wasn’t so much as a laugh it was almost like a little bit of shocking disbelief that | would be
accused of anything of hate or any of us be accused particularly the way to serve on this particular Board | think |
encourage others. Throw your hat in the ring if you really love the city and | think we all do. So thank you Madam
President.
Alderman Dowd
Yes | know that Attorney Newman was hired to help with the assessing but | can tell you unequivocally that the Legal
Department is extremely busy and Attorney Newman has helped significantly on many of the matters with the school
projects. So to say that he’s not living up to what he’s supposed to be doing, | think he’s exceeding that. The Legal
Department is extremely busy. They’re busy every single day even on the weekends. So kudos go out to that entire
department.
Alderman Jette
Thank you Madam President. It was good to hear the Mayor say that we are finally — it sounds like we’re getting a handle
on our healthcare costs. | would like to thank all of the employees who have chosen the new health plan option which has
enabled us to lower our healthcare costs. If it wasn’t for them, this wouldn’t have worked at all. My hats off to those
employees. Thank you.
Alderman Lopez
First I'd like to agree with Alderman O’Brien. As elected officials, we do tend to get some push back from the public every
now and then. Largely, personally | see positive comments but there are people who just aren’t going to see you as a
person. They’re going to see you as an obstacle or a stereotype of a politician. There’s a lot of negativity towards
politicians. So | mean | guess | see both sides in this case that maybe some members of the public don't like politicians.
Maybe politicians don’t have a soft spot in their hearts for some members of the public. That doesn’t mean that either
side shouldn't listen to the others when they make reasonable points or reasonable arguments.
| hear what Ms. Ortolano is saying about not being in favor of the budget item for the Right-to-Know office. I’m not in favor
of spending money on it either but | do see the necessity of it. | think the number of Right-to-Know requests | mean | think
Ms. Ortolano herself was cited as drastically increasing the number of Right-to-Know requests so if the public has that
need for that kind of information, then we need to treat it very carefully and we do need to document how we’re treating it
and all those matters. There is some irony | think in having a member of the public come forward and say that we don’t
need a position to be in the Legal Department while also reporting to us that she is suing us again and others are too. |
think if anything that just really drives it down why we need that point and why we need to be very careful and attentive to
Right-to-Know Laws. Because Right-to-Know Laws are important for the person requesting the information but it’s also
important to make sure that the people whose information is being provided to that person, their rights are being
maintained and the city is the custodian of that.
Additional, | would like to express my condolences to the friends and family of Linda Kipnes. She was a long-time leader
in Nashua Soup Kitchen. She did a lot of work for our community and she will definitely be missed in many ways. | think
in a lot of other ways though she started programs and inspired leaders that will continue her work. While | know she will
be missed, | don’t think she'll really be gone.
Finally | would just like to announce — | guess not announce — remind the public that Cinco de Mayo is coming up. If for
some reason you decide to celebrate Mexican heritage by drinking a lot, pick your friends carefully because we are
somewhat still in the middle of an epidemic. No healthcare provider is ever going to recommend a lot of drinking. It does
compromise your immune system. It leads to bad decision makings. Support your local restaurants, get a meal but be
careful how you spend your day. Thanks.
