Commissioner Pappas Speaks Out - Part 3

It’s nice to see an elected official raise concerns about the process and transparency in the city of Nashua. This memo was written the day before the Public Works Board meeting that the public could not access – mentioned previously on GoodGov.

 The mentioned property in the letter, 141 Burke Street, was not sold, and it’s a grave miscommunication or deception that was never corrected. The bond for the public works office facility, approved on December 23, 2019, was premised on the fact that the Burke Street building was sold. The Aldermen, the final oversight board, did not ask questions to know this major piece of property was not a done deal. If the City wants to correct this mistake, this bond should be rescinded now in light of this “news”. The Board should also perform a full review of the finances for the new facility, and hold another public hearing. I sense, the saying “there’s never only one cockroach” applies here by analogy.

 The Aldermanic body is too trusting of the administration; we need more public officials to perform due diligence on their decisions. It shouldn’t be too high a bar. Kudos to Commission Pappas for calling this out. She was rightfully frustrated with the misinformation or deception. For the record, as a Public Works Commissioner, she was opposed to this project bond.