Special Board of Aldermen 09-16-2021 Page 8
Osma Akbar
Hello. Hi my name is Osma Akbar and | am a Nashua resident at 9 Clydesdale Circle. | am here today
from my college dorm in support of this Police Commission referendum. Because | care a lot about this
ballot question as well as the City of Nashua. | would first like to preface the fact that | did not appreciate
when Chief Carignan called me and my fellow young friends out in his clearly political press release. One,
police should not try to influence voters in their right to petition, and two, we are definitely more informed
that Chief Carignan on the goals of this petition and instead of putting young people down for their civic
involvement, you should be lifting us up.
Anyway, getting a referendum on the ballot is the bare minimum. If anyone didn’t Know or needs to hear
this again, this referendum would change the appointments from State to local. Meaning instead of the
Governor and Executive Council appointing people, it would be the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen
which makes sense, right? Shouldn’t local officials be in charge of this anyway? It is literally our city.
What does the Governor know about Nashua?
Next — increasing the number of Commissioners from 3 to 5 is another one of the changes the petition
states. Changing the amount of Commissioners would allow for more representation within the City of
Nashua. Representation is important because there is such a diverse community in Nashua and we can’t
just have every police officer looking the same. Speaking of diversity, it’s literally been 30 years since a
woman was on the Commission. | know your argument against that would be qualifications matter over
gender but YOU CANNOT TELL ME OR ANYONE that there hasn’t been one woman who wasn't qualified
within these past years. One may also Say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well after stating these facts and
reasons why this system needs to be changed, it seems like it’s something that needs fixing.
Anyway, we should just literally be letting people vote on it and let local government appoint the Police
Commissioners for our city. | Know change is hard for some old people but sometimes it needs to happen.
To the law enforcement out there, you should not be trying to sway voters politically. There is literally a lot
at stake to have the right to petition. Thanks.
Mike Ballentine
Thank you Lori. Mike Ballentine, 9 Bartlett Avenue. When | first heard about the Police Commission
reform, | thought it was pretty obvious. Police are inherently local and as much as possible, police
governance should be local. | was surprised that the Police Commissioners are appointed at the State
level but | was even more surprised, and frankly upset, to see the Chief’s reaction to the proposed change.
Calling it an abuse of power. This reaction made me more certain that the reform should take place. The
police should be embracing this change as an opportunity to get closer to the local community. Why fight it
so?
Word | hear a lot from the reform opponents is “independent”. | wouldn’t be surprised to see yard signs
soon with the word “independent” them. | don’t want the police to be independent. | want our police to be a
full part of the community dependent on the people, to be a part of city government, dependent on the
transparency and controls we have there. | support local control. | support the Police Commissioner
reform. Thank you.
Carol Houde
My name is Carol Houde. | live at 25 Eastman Street. I’m a lifelong resident of Nashua and the word |
hear repeatedly used to advocate for maintaining the status quo is the supposed independence of the
current system. | would argue that the independence exists only if two conditions are met. Both conditions
have to be met for there to be this wanted independence. First, the Governor has to have a mechanism,
resources, interest, and time to independently identify a candidate that would be well-qualified to serve as
Commissioner absent input from Nashua, politicians, or residents. Without that, the Governor is left to ask
buddies, get local knowledge of who friends in the know might suggest as a Police Commissioner which
