Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee

SPECIAL PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE APRIL 20, 2011 A special meeting of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee was held on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Chairman Ben Clemons presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman Kathy Vitale, Vice Chairman Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. Alderman Richard P. Flynn Also in Attendance: Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly PUBLIC COMMENT INTERVIEWS Nashua Arts Commission Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2011 J. Christopher Williams (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2012 Bonnie K. Guercio (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 Charles E. Matthews (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 Frank Teas (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 Elizabeth “Liz” Racioppi (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2014 Eric Valliere (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2014 Chairman Clemons I would ask the Mayor to come forward with all of the appointees. Please feel free to take any open seat up here. Typically we take up appointments one at a time, but in this case, we have a whole brand new commission, and everybody is being appointed at the same time. Alderman Chasse I’d just like to know any particular reason why we’re having this special meeting of the Personnel for these appointments? Chairman Clemons There are two reasons. One is it made sense that we were able to interview everybody at the same time because it is a new commission and because all of the appointments are going to be new. The second reason was we had a pretty full agenda the other night. I didn’t want to pack full the agenda the other night, so it seemed to make sense to separate this out on a separate night. Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 2 Alderman Chasse So there really is no reason to hurry up on this committee other than this special meeting just to get everybody at the same time? Chairman Clemons Well, we want to get the commission going. That certainly is part of it. Doing it now before the next full Board of Aldermen meeting enables us to move forward with the commission. Alderman Chasse Thank you. Chairman Clemons With that, Mayor, I’m going to turn the floor over to you and also note for the record that Alderman Cookson has arrived. Mayor Lozeau Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. The group of folks before you tonight, many of whom have served on the steering committee that was created… so, actually two year’s ago, a little bit more than that maybe, we had an Arts Day where we spent a little bit over a half a day having a work session about arts and the community because one of the things – are you working on volume? Chairman Clemons No, that’s okay. Go ahead. Mayor Lozeau Okay, Thank you. When I became mayor I met with a lot of different groups relative to the arts – performing arts, visual arts, all different types - and talked about their needs and the community. It became very clear to me that there was no single direction and that people had tried to do that before: The City Arts Nashua Group, the Nashua Area Artists, many different groups looked at trying to get their arms around things. After meeting with the different groups it became clear to me that if I could bring everybody together maybe we could really start a community-wide dialogue. So we did that. At the time Alderman Cookson came and participated as one of the facilitators for some of the work sessions. What came from that day was a steering committee who I appointed asking them if they would look at the arts in Nashua and tell us whether or not it would be valuable to have an Arts Commission. So instead of a non-profit that was trying to get their arms around different things that it would be a city sanctioned group where policy makers and others could go to have as singular a voice as we could about where the arts could or should go in the community. As you know, legislation came in from that steering commission, and I wanted to read its purpose. “The Nashua Arts Commission is hereby established. The purpose of the Nashua Arts Commission is to serve the community as Nashua’s cultural resource which facilitates advocates, coordinates and educates on behalf of the arts and cultural assets of the City of Nashua.” Of course that really turns out to be an acronym that says “FACE”. So the FACE of arts in Nashua. That legislation passed this board unanimously, as some of you recall. The steering committee was co-chaired by Alderman Cookson and Liz Racioppi, who has been involved with City Arts Nashua I think since its inception. Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 3 I think what they brought us was really something that we could all understand and embrace. They made recommendations on who they thought could be members of the Arts Commission, our first Arts Commission and some of those members are here tonight. The legislation calls for seven to 13 members, and an aldermanic liaison. I sent out an invitation to the members and spoke with some of them about serving in this capacity. We had four members of the steering committee or names offered from the steering committee that were unable to take on this responsibility. Before you tonight are six members that are interested in this responsibility. Rather than wait until I got all of them, I thought we would start with this first group, get them seated, get them started and then look to who the other members might be. So, I’ll start here with Mr. Charlie Matthews. I know that you each have a bio on each of the folks here tonight. Some of you probably know Mr. Matthews. He has been working in our city library for quite some time. He oversees the media and arts area within our library. He also chairs the trustees of the Hunt Building. He brings a bit of a different perspective of the arts to the table. I know that many of you have been able to work as well with him as I have. Skipping over Alderman Vitale, is President of the Nashua Chamber, Mr. Chris Williams. Chris has been a huge proponent of the arts in this community, and its connection to economic development and businesses, as well as businesses that get involved in the arts, whether it’s through philanthropy or through using their businesses as a showcase for arts. He has combined some of his business after-hours with the arts and it has been very well received. Skipping over Alderman Pressly, is Liz Racioppi, who as I said, has been very involved with City Arts Nashua, has co-chaired the steering committee, has been very patient with me as she has been excited to get started. I keep saying “I’m working it. I’m on it.” But, has really done a lot of heavy lifting here and I do very much appreciate it. Sitting next to her, Mr. Frank Teas, who many of you know, Mr. Teas is the President of Nashua Bank, has been involved with the Nashua Rotary, took on chairing the sound amplification committee at Greely Park. Frank, of course, has, like his dad before him, has been an amazing community volunteer and advocate. To my right is Mrs. Bonnie Guercio. Bonnie is very involved in the arts community and has a studio in the Picker Building in the Millyard and has participated in the steering committee. I was going to mention that Mr. Teas and Mr. Matthews are the only ones who were not members of the steering committee. Sitting to Bonnie’s right is Mr. Eric Valliere from the Nashua Symphony. I think that clearly tells you that the performing arts is something that Eric is very engaged with, but also values other arts in our community and has been a wonderful representative of those things. I would be remiss not to again mention Alderman Cookson who has played a vital role in co-chairing with Liz and getting this to the Board of Aldermen to represent the city as best as we can. I know they are all looking forward to serving in this capacity. They, as you’ll see, have staggered terms because we set it up with one, two and three-year terms. I know that they will be happy to answer your questions. I’m quite proud of this first group that is willing to step up. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Clemons Thank you very much for the introduction. As is customary, we’ll go through and if any of the appointees would like to say a few words to the committee, you are more than welcome. We will start on this end. I will start with the liaison who was appointed by President McCarthy, Mark Cookson. Do you have any opening statements or anything you’d like to say? Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 4 Alderman Cookson I’d just like to say that I’m very excited about this evening. I’m looking forward to the questions that are going to be asked of us. I think it’s been a long time in coming. As the mayor said, we’ve been working on this since probably November of 2008. Shortly after that, the cultural planning steering committee was formed of which Liz Racioppi was the co-chair. As the mayor said, several members here this evening were actually members of that cultural planning steering committee. I am very active in the arts. I am a patron of the arts. I enjoy the Nashua Symphony. I just had the opportunity to attend a reception at the library this past weekend for Bonnie Guercio which was absolutely fabulous. I think this is a long time in coming and looking forward to the good things that we can provide to this city. Thank you. Eric Valliere I will be delighted to be able to serve the community this way and look forward to getting started. Bonnie Guercio I’m very happy to be nominated. One of the things that I am particularly happy about is that I’m one of the sort of alone kind of by yourself artists, and there are many of us in Nashua - many, many of us. It’s very nice that I’m hoping that I can represent that group of people because there’s a lot of us, and I really appreciate that the city acknowledges us. I’m very happy. Frank Teas I’m very honored to be nominated to the position. In a lot of ways, I’m a late bloomer in many things, but particularly the arts. But what I’ve learned over the course of the last five years is the arts are very important to this community. I’m willing to give whatever I can to help move the ball forward. Thank you. Liz Racioppi Thank you. I’m also very honored to be asked to serve on this committee. I’ve been in Nashua for 15 years. I’ve really seen an incredible amount of talent that not enough people know about. Whatever we can do to help forward that in whatever way that actually just contributes more to the community, itself. I’m just very happy to contribute to that effort. Chris Williams Thank you, Alderman Clemons and members of the committee. I first just want to thank the mayor for the opportunity to be involved on this commission and certainly echo the comments of others that I’m excited to see this get underway after a lot of discussions and conversations about what the purpose and mission of this group would be and should be. Both on a personal and professional level, I’m looking forward to getting involved on this: a) being a personal fan of the arts, but professionally speaking, wearing my Chamber hat, I certainly believe that a city in the 21st Century must have a strong and vibrant arts community if it hopes to continue being a leader, not just within New Hampshire but within Northern New England as a region. I’m excited to see this and help round out the city’s assets that we already have and continue to take it forward into the next several years. Charlie Matthews I also want to thank the mayor for nominating me. I want to thank the aldermen for considering my nomination. I work at the library. I work with film, I work with music, and I realize also that the arts are just an important component to the health of a community. We have a lot of creative people in this city. I think there’s not a lot of coordination. We have some issues with venues and things like that. But I’m really, really pleased that the Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 5 city has seen fit to set up an Arts Commission, and I thank you for the nomination. Chairman Clemons At this point, I’m going to open it up to questions of the committee. Alderman Chasse I really don’t have any questions for anyone of these individuals, but I did read all their bio’s and every one of these individuals have already given back to the City of Nashua. I’m very impressed that they even want to give back more. I hope that everyone of you or your committee reaches whatever goals you’re looking for. Very impressive and thanks for giving back to the city. Chairman Clemons I would note the arrival of Alderman Deane. Alderman Flynn I’d just say when this came forward, it came forward as an ordinance not a resolution. When it comes forward as an ordinance that means that the Board of Aldermen is considering something that they want to have it hard coated. They want to be sure that it lasts over time. It’s not a one-time decision like a resolution might be. A resolution is usually an appropriation. When you want something to last and you want it to be perpetuated over time, you consider it as a city ordinance. This came through as an ordinance. I think the aldermen were very consistent and very unanimous that they wanted this to come forward. Two of you have already agreed to enlist for three years on this, so congratulations on that. I have no idea what that FACE means any longer. I think the last one was “educate”, but I don’t remember what any of the others are. But the first one is “facilitate” Alderman Cookson Facilitate, Advocate, Coordinate, and Educate Alderman Flynn If this guy happens to get approved, if you’ve got him to take care of the facilitating then you would be the “ACEs.” I think that’s probably what I would try to do if I were you. Let this guy do the facilitating. I did see that one of you had some experience in writing grants. It looks like you have a very strong group, and you’ve made a big commitment. Like I said, the aldermen are counting on this to be an on-going and hopefully a very successful endeavor for the city, so thank you all very much. Alderman Pressly I just wanted to comment. As the Mayor mentioned there has been efforts in the past, but this is the first time that it has had the blessing of the city, as Alderman Flynn alluded to. So, I’m really optimistic. I think there is so much talent in this community, and it’s really just wonderful that you are all going to be doing this. I look forward to working with you and best of luck. Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 6 Chairman Clemons I would just like to say that I fully support this commission. I think it was a wonderful idea. I think it’s a long time coming. I’m very hopeful as the committee forms and starts to organize and think about things that need to get done that we hopefully can look and sort of form a unified mission in the city as far as what direction we are going to take in the arts in the next ten years or so. I think there’s a lot of potential in Nashua that we don’t necessarily see right now. Whether or not that includes a new performing arts center or if it includes renovating the existing facilities, maybe in some way incorporating a museum, but getting sort of all of the arts to the table and just looking at what path we’re going to be taking in the next ten years, I think is a very important goal and one that I’m hoping this commission can sort of get their hands around. One point in question, and probably is pre-mature, although I’m sure it was discussed as this idea was coming to fruition, how is this commission planning to coordinate or work with the Keefe Auditorium and the Court Street Theatre Commission, which current exists? Was that under discussion? Perhaps, I can point that to Alderman Cookson. Alderman Cookson Certainly. We’ve actually had conversations. I can’t remember. It was in a “M” month. It was either March or May of last year that we actually met with both committees in City Hall Room 208, just to again share with them what our goal and mission was for this arts commission: that was to facilitate, advocate, coordinate and educate on behalf of the cultural assets of the city. We anticipate that there be a very close relationship with both commissions. I’m sure there will be some things that will need to be worked out, but we hope to work not with just them, but the entire arts community. Chairman Clemons Right, right. Absolutely. Again, I kind of thought that question would be a little bit premature. I didn’t know if it was something that you saw as those two commissions kind of being continue to be an independent commissions or if you saw them as sort of folding into this one in the future. Mayor Lozeau I’ll take that dangerous question. The chairman of those two commissions is the same person. Chairman Clemons Yes, I know. Mayor Lozeau He was invited to be on the Arts Commission. Although he participated with the steering committee, he was not able to make the commitment to the Arts Commission. The 14 Court Street Commission, the truth of the matter is, they are in limbo right now. Is the city going to put money into the building, and if so, how much? Is the city going to keep the building? Is the city going to keep arts in the building? All of that is really still in question. The Keefe Auditorium Commission, I think because it’s a school property and it is made up of people that represent the school as well, I see that one staying for quite some time. I also think if we’re going to invest in facilities, I would advocate and hopefully come to a commission meeting to talk about investing that money in the Keefe Auditorium and looking at Court Street as a different venue. I think the size of the Keefe Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 7 Auditorium, it’s the largest one like it in the state. It’s a niche that if we could add restroom space and a lobby area and things like that, I think you could see us competing with the Palace Theatre to some degree a bit better. Court Street, I see it as the smaller performing arts theatre space, and what we can invest in that and how to go forward, as I said, is still a little bit in question. I think the Arts Commission understands that part of their responsibility is to make sure that they are on top of knowing what the trustees, because the 14 Court Street also has the Friends of 14 Court Street. They are looking at using some of their funds right now for some architectural planning. This commission will have to be aware of all those things and be somebody that can talk to policy makers about here’s what we recommend. Invest here, don’t invest here. Neither one, do something different. Whatever that might be. Chairman Clemons Wonderful. Thank you. Is there any other questions or anything? I just want to thank you all for coming tonight and for volunteering your time to the City of Nashua. You all have a history of doing that anyway, but to start something new like this, I think, is really pioneering, and I hope that it is going to serve the city very well in the future. So again, thank you for committing your time. APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR Nashua Arts Commission J. Christopher Williams (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2012 142 Main Street, 5th Floor Nashua, NH 03060 Bonnie K. Guercio (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 66 Meadow Drive Hollis, NH 03049 Charles E. Matthews (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 17 Shelbourne Road Nashua, NH 03063 Frank Teas (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2013 P.O. Box 486 Nashua, NH 03061 Elizabeth “Liz” Racioppi (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2014 15 Middle Dunstable Road Nashua, NH 03062 Eric Valliere (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2014 6 Church Street Nashua, NH 03060 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENTS OF THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS TO THE NASHUA ARTS COMMISSION: J. CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE APRIL 1, 2012, BONNIE K. GUERCIO, CHARLES E. MATTHEWS AND FRANK TEAS FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE: APRIL 1, 2013, AND ELIZABETH “LIZ” RACIOPPI AND ERIC VALLIERE FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE: APRIL 1, 2014 MOTION CARRIED Personnel – 4/20/11 Page 8 APPOINTMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN Nashua Arts Commission Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2011 18 Inca Drive Nashua, NH 03063 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF ALDERMAN-AT-LARGE MARK S. COOKSON TO THE NASHUA ARTS COMMISSION FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2011 MOTION CARRIED DISCUSSION Chairman Clemons There is one thing I would just like to point out under discussion before we adjourn this evening. And that was at the last Personnel/Administrative Affairs meeting we were talking about the liaison reports. In particular I had made a comment that was erroneous. I had alluded to the fact that I thought that Alderman Deane had…Excuse me, if we could take the discussion in the hall. Thank you. I just wanted to point out that I was in error at the last meeting when we were talking about the liaison reports. I had mistakenly alluded to the fact that I had thought that Alderman Deane had simply submitted the meeting minutes of the BPW as the liaison report. That is incorrect. In fact, there is a lot of work that goes into that that Alderman Deane does behind the scenes, and they are not simply a parrot of the minutes. So I wanted to apologize for making that mistake and also wanted to recognize the effort that Alderman Deane does put into those reports. Alderman Deane Thank you. Chairman Clemons You’re welcome. PUBLIC COMMENT REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 7:30 p.m. Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Committee Clerk