Silencing the Public at the Nashua Budget Meetings
The City of Nashua has just begun the Budget Review Committee meeting for the 2023 budget. The City will hold 6-7 budget meetings over the next month. Per the City’s NRO 5-14, any committee of the Board shall have public comment at the beginning and the end of the meeting. Alderman Dowd, a seasoned politician, chairs this board.
This year, Alderman Dowd decided to cancel public comment and change the name of the meeting to a “working session”. Nowhere is "working session" defined in the charter, NRO’s or policy. It is the same meeting as year’s past where public input was allowed at the beginning and the end. He believed he had the right to just cancel the public.
On Sunday evening, I put the Alderman on notice, through an email, that this was in violation of the City NRO. I requested public input be restored. Monday’s budget covered the Mayor’s, Alderman, Legal and Clerk’s offices. I had plenty to say in my 3 minutes about those offices, particularly the Mayor and legal departments given the tactics and costs the taxpayer bore to deny the public access to public information. The $120,000 (salary & benefits) Right to Know Attorney should be removed from the budget. This was a big failure and it is clear that Attorney Bolton did not properly manage and provide the oversight necessary for this position.
As Monday evening’s Budget Review Committee meeting began, Alderman Dowd announced that public comment would be allowed. He was unaware he had broken the ordinance. This is unlikely as this is an ordinance he personally revised and presented that garnered Board approval in 2020. He then explained why he cancelled it. He wanted the new two recently elected Aldermen to be able to ask plenty of questions to the department leadership as this would be the only time they would be present for these meetings. Apparently, he did not want the public wasting valuable teaching moments for the newcomers to the Board.
Clearly, Alderman Dowd, similar to many Aldermen, has forgotten who elected him and who he serves. His constituents are the last thought in his mind. Few citizens come out to participate in the budget meetings; more are needed to get involved. I am a citizen who participates and because I am strongly disliked, Alderman Dowd thought it prudent to just cancel public input for the budget meeting. The public’s voice should be welcomed at a meeting involving the spending of our tax dollars. I have every right to express my dissatisfaction in the spending of my money in departments I believe are mismanaged.
Monday evening’s Budget Review Committee meeting lasted about two hours. Public input lasted 9 minutes. Alderman Dowd, was it worth the public dissension and your reputation to violate your ordinance and cancel public input?