City Council

Minutes were approved by the Government Operations & Ordinances Subcommittee on May 12, 2026. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Government Operations & Ordinances 6:00 P.M. City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber 3/4/2026 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bogert called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Councilor Conant led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Katie Gargano, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Clerk Gargano called the roll of the following committee members: Councilor Hoffman, Councilor Bogert & Councilor Conant. Chairman Bogert confirmed that all committee members were present and a quorum was established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Kirk Beattie, City Manager 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 6.A. Government Operations & Ordinances - Minutes of 1/28/2026 Minutes of the January 28, 2026 meeting were distributed to committee members on February 9, 2026. With no corrections submitted to the clerk, the minutes were accepted as distributed. 7. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Councilors Hoffman, Bogert and Conant) 7.A. Discussion regarding Ordinance 2025-5-20, 5-32, 5-33, Section 5-32 relating to the Human Relations Committee At the February 9, 2026 City Council meeting a motion was approved to send discussion regarding Ordinance 2025-5-20, 5-32, 5-33, Section 5-32 relating to the Human Relations Committee back to the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee. A copy of that Ordinance is attached to the agenda. Discussion:  At the February 9, 2026 City Council meeting a motion was approved to send discussion regarding Ordinance 2025-5-20, 5-32, 5-33, Section 5-32 relating to the Human Relations Committee back to the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee. A copy of that Ordinance is attached to the agenda. Discussion: The committee then began reviewing the following sections of the ordinance: Amending 5.32 A. & B to: The Human Relations Committee shall consist of 7 members; they don’t have to be from a specific ward. 1 member will be appointed by the mayor, the rest appointed by the appointments committee. Members shall be appointed for staggered 3-year term. Starting with 2 positions for 3-year terms, 2 positions with a 2-year term, 1 position with a 1-year term. The mayor’s appointee will follow the mayor’s term of office. 1. C. No Changes. 5.32 D. No Changes. Manager Beattie will make the proposed changes, will send it through legal to review again then will send it back to the committee to review any comments prior to bringing it to the full council. The committee then came up with the following purpose statement: The Purpose: The purpose of the committee is to handle on going events seen in the past like Martin Luther King Day, the Holocaust remembrance event, “Kristallnacht” or the night of the Broken Glass and to assist as participants in Laconia’s Multicultural Day. And/ or any other projects as approved by the city council with a majority vote by the city council. Powers & Duties: l The Human Relations Committee shall work under the guidance of the City Manager and or their designee on City events. l Financials should be approved by the City Council; Grants shall be approved by the City Council prior to application. l The Human Relations Committee shall not give any public speech on behalf of the City unless directed by the City Council or by the City Manager. l The committee shall serve as an advisory committee to the City Council. l Meetings do not need to be monthly; they can meet as needed. l Meeting agendas need to be posted timely and meeting minutes need to be posted according to NH Law, meeting locations shall be at City Hall or a location with suitable parking. There was a discussion about the committee being authorized to conduct fundraising events to further its goals. The committee questioned the city conducting fundraisers and giving funds to other entities like a church. This may cause issues with others that would want the city to facilitate the same for them. The committee did agree that all gifts and donations presented to the human relations committee should be formally accepted by the city council. Manager Beattie stated that he would ask our legal counsel about the fundraising. The committee agreed that expenditures shall be approved by the City Manager. Councilor Conant would like to see the costs up front prior to an event. 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS Patrick Wood, Ward 3. Wanted to speak to the committee about the Fundraising and budget. He stated the committee tried to keep within the $2,000.00 budget on things, they have been fortunate to have the grant to fall back on. An example is the rental fee they had to pay for the use of the colonial for 2 years in a row. 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS Patrick Wood, Ward 3. Wanted to speak to the committee about the Fundraising and budget. He stated the committee tried to keep within the $2,000.00 budget on things, they have been fortunate to have the grant to fall back on. An example is the rental fee they had to pay for the use of the colonial for 2 years in a row. This year they decided not to return there to try to stay under budget, but they are seeing many increased costs. He suggested increasing the budget to 3,000.00. He also gave an example of the fundraising or the donations that were collected at the homeless forum. What they have found is that food doesn’t necessarily work; monetary donations work out better for the church, because they can purchase food that is easily prepared for the food pantry. He does agree that the council should be updated regularly about what they are working on. When they had the graffiti issue at the state school, they worked quickly to address it with the community. He wants to know how the committee would quickly get approval to act upon something like that in the future if it was to ever happen again. He mentioned financials are important and he is working with the finance director on the items that have been charged against the grant. Manager Beattie stated that bullet point #2 “The Human Relations Committee shall work under the guidance of the City Manager and or their designee on City events.” should cover the need for a rapid response. Matt Souza, Ward 4 thanked the committee for their attention to this. He agrees with what he has been hearing. He is glad to hear about a closer relationship with the city and city hall being built. 9. Any other business that may come before the Council Councilor Bogert would like to see the committee members given the current ordinance of performance zoning and to ask Planning to go through it with them at a work session. Councilor Hoffman thinks this may be addressed with the Master Plan Process and other zoning ordinances. 10. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Bogert adjourned the meeting at 7:00 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk