A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held Tuesday, November 23, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. in the aldermanic
chamber and via Zoom teleconference which meeting link can be found on the agenda and on the City’s website
calendar.
President Lori Wilshire presided; City Clerk Susan Lovering recorded.
Prayer was offered by City Clerk Susan Lovering; Alderman Thomas Lopez led in the Pledge to the Flag.
Let’s start the meeting by taking a roll call attendance. If you are participating via Zoom, please state your presence, reason
for not attending the meeting in person, and whether there is anyone in the room with you during this meeting, which is
required under the Right-To-Know Law.
The roll call was taken with 11 members of the Board of Aldermen present: Alderman Michael B. O’Brien, Sr., Alderman
Patricia Klee, Alderman Richard A. Dowd, Alderman June M. Caron, Alderman Benjamin Clemons (via Zoom), Alderman
Thomas Lopez, Alderwoman Elizabeth Lu, Alderman Ernest Jette, Alderman Jan Schmidt (arrived at 7:37 pm), Alderman
Skip Cleaver (via Zoom), Alderman Linda Harriott-Gathright, Alderman Lori Wilshire.
Alderwoman Shoshanna Kelly, Alderman David C. Tencza and Alderman Brandon Michael Laws were recorded absent.
Mayor James W. Donchess, Corporation Counsel Steve Bolton, were also in attendance.
REMARKS BY THE MAYOR
Mayor Donchess
Yes, Madam President. First, again, as has been my custom recently to update you on some of the COVID statistics.
Unfortunately, the COVID numbers continue to rise as we hit really a new peak in terms of the pandemic. We've talked
about the two metrics that are used most often - those being the positivity rate or the percentage of people who test for
COVID who turn up to have the virus and the number of new cases per 100,000 people during the last 14 days. These
are standard metrics used across the State and across the country. Positivity rate most recently has been 14.8%. Up
from 1% during the low. This is higher than during the peak of the pandemic, the previous peak, but there are fewer
people being tested but still a number that is unfortunately high.
Secondly, the number of cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days is 1,018. This is 150 or so higher than the last time
we met. It’s been rising every week for the last few months. We need to continue to exercise caution. We've said this
over and over but people need to get vaccinated, get the boosters. We currently have 52 or so percent of the total
population in Nashua is fully vaccinated, and 57 or 8% with one dose, and about 40% of the 12 to 19 year old population
is vaccinated. So we need to exercise caution, wear masks, and get vaccinated, and try to keep yourselves, your family,
and your friends safe.
One thing on the agenda Madam President that I'm very happy about is the appointment of John Griffin currently the CFO
to also serve as City Treasurer. That nomination came before you and has been reviewed by the Personnel Committee
and they've of course recommended his appointment. We have three principal financial positions in the city, those being
the CFO, the Comptroller, and the Treasurer. Typically one person has held two of those jobs. John Griffin has been this
the Comptroller and the CFO. Before John Griffin, we had Paul Martel who was the CFO and the Treasurer. Now a
person can't hold all three so assuming you confirm Mr. Griffin, as the Treasurer, he would function in that capacity and
we would designate someone else in the financial area as the Comptroller.
Mr. Griffin as you've seen over the last 11 years, and he's been with the city 11 years, knows the city finances very well.
He has been in front of you many, many times on top of all of the city's finances and he has worked closely with Treasurer
David Fredette over a number of years in terms of the responsibilities of the Treasurer, including the supervising and
monitoring the bonding that the city does - the borrowing of money. Also the trust accounts and some of the other
responsibilities under the Treasurer's position. So given our knowledge of Mr. Griffin's competence and our confidence in
him, | believe it is the best step, the best choice to go forward and have Mr. Griffin be the Treasurer/Tax Collector as well
as the CFO and return to, of course, the Martel model that we had before Mr. Griffin was here. So | hope that you will
follow the recommendation of the Personnel Committee confirming Mr. Griffin and I'm sure he will serve the city very well
and follow in the very competent footsteps of our current city Treasurer and friend David Fredette.
Madam President there was one thing | wanted to comment on concerning the various resolutions that are on your
agenda about the assembling the money necessary to move forward with the Public Works garage at the landfill. Total
cost of that project is currently $15 million. Some of the funds are coming from the sale of Burke Street. Other from the
