Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee

PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE APRIL 1, 2013 A meeting of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee was held on Monday, April 1, 2013, at 7:14 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Chairman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr., Vice Chair Alderman June M. Caron Members not in Attendance: Alderman Kathy Vitale Alderman Diane Sheehan Also in Attendance: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly PUBLIC COMMENT - None INTERVIEWS Cable Television Advisory Board Brian Geraghty (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2016 Mayor Lozeau Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This evening it’s my pleasure to introduce to you a whole group of volunteers beginning, as you mentioned, with Brian Geraghty for the CTAB Board also known as the Cable Television Advisory Board. It’s actually not an easy board to find folks that are interested in, believe it or not, particularly I think because when people find out that it’s not a committee that deals with complaints about the cable company, it’s a different conversation. If it was only about that, I think the committee wouldn’t have so much trouble getting filled. But it is, as Alderman Pressly I’m sure can tell you, it’s a very collegial group. I think they spend a lot of time paying attention to the issues that surround technology and upgrades and making things happen. If you look at Mr. Geraghty’s resume, I was thrilled that he expressed an interest. He’s got a significant amount of background in the industry yet doesn’t have a connection with the group that is going to soon be coming to us for renegotiation of their contract. One of the things that I think is really important is that franchise agreement which has, I think, just over a year left on it. It’s not going to be long before conversations start taking place about that agreement. I think that Mr. Geraghty, not only does he bring an interest to serving in the community but also he brings some real experience to the table that I think will serve the committee well when the time comes. Thank you. Chairman Chasse Mr. Geraghty, would you like to throw in your two cents? Mr. Geraghty I’m happy to answer any questions you may have, but I’m just happy to be here. Thank you. Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 2 Chairman Chasse The cable board, it’s really frustrating out there to see your cable bill is higher than your water bill, your electric bill and your heating bill. Seeing you have a lot of experience in negotiating contracts, maybe you can help the rest of us out because it’s really getting carried away. I want to thank you for your willingness to serve. Mr. Geraghty Thank you. Chairman Chasse That’s it. We’ll take up your nomination in a few minutes. Conservation Commission Sherry Dutzy, Alternate (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 Richard Gillespie (Reappointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 Peggy Trivilino (Reappointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 Mayor Lozeau Before you this evening, I’m happy to reintroduce two current members for reappointment: Mr. Richard Gillespie and Ms. Peggy Trivilino. Then to my right, Mrs. Dutzy for a new appointment to the Conservation Commission. As we’ve discussed before this is a commission that seats between three and seven members. This will give us a full compliment on this committee from my perspective, each of whom bring a little bit of something different to the table. If you don’t mind me being casual, both Peggy and Dick have had long time on the conservation commission. I think seven and eight years, respectively, and I think are people that are well regarded on the committee, bring a different flavor to discussions, have a bit of a different perspective but have a shared consensus on the committee which I think is serving the committee well. As I’ve mentioned, I’m very interested and will be talking to the committee again about their work at looking at some of our conservation land that can be used for more passive recreation to try to take some pressure off Mine Falls and distribute some of where folks can go for walking and running and even bicycling. I’m quite pleased that both of them were willing to continue to serve. Mrs. Dutzy came to me, and I believe if I’m right, I’m sure she will correct me if I’m not, but read the story in the paper, Alderman Pressly, about you talking about having more women to serve. Actually I had three phone calls that came from either that or from you talking to committees. Sadly, most of them were not interested in planning or zoning, which I’m happy to take any woman who is, but I’m most interested in people that are willing to, as you’ve heard me say numerous times over the years, I’m looking for people that will behave in a professional manner, that will be objective when issues come before them and that will be there to serve the time. Mrs. Dutzy understands that and I think that it’s important to her to give back to the community. I like the skill sets that she laid out on her resume about being a creative thinker, strong analytical skills, ability to learn quickly to work in a group as well as independently. I think those are the kinds of qualities that we look for when we have boards and commissions that serve both independently to think on their own but collectively as a group to take action. So I am very honored to have all three candidates here tonight for your consideration. Mrs. Dutzy I’ve been in Nashua over 40 years. I do have the time now to give back to the community. Mayor Lozeau has kind of summed up my interest. Mr. Gillespie Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 3 I have served on the commission for eight years now and I’m very happy with my performance there, and I’d like to continue to stay on that committee if I could. I’ve enjoyed my time there and look forward to many more years. Ms. Trivilino I echo just about everything Dick said. As you guys all know my concerns are with sustainable development, redevelopment, guarding our natural resources and going into the future as far as Nashua’s progress is concerned with a good balance between the manmade and keeping nature. Put them together to cooperate. I also would like to add I think it’s kind of important as we go into the future to view the City of Nashua as part of the larger region when it comes to conservation and issues of that sort. I think there’s more of a regional conscientiousness that’s been developing for the last few years. What we do in Nashua can affect the communities around us just as what happens in those communities affects us as well. It doesn’t hurt to pay attention. We’re all part of something bigger. Alderman Craffey I just want to touch on Commissioner Trivilino. Might you expand on that a little bit? What do you see the commission’s role in the future? Ms. Trivilino As the mayor has pointed out, management and development of the properties that we have, the conservation areas that we have, to develop them for passive recreation. While we’re doing that, I do think that we need to be judicious in making them too welcoming. We need to have a mix. We’ve got Mine Falls which is a great place to take the dogs and there’s very little kids and all of that. But when it comes to something like the Terrell property, there are parts of that where you can get a real deep woods feeling. There are people in the community who like that sort of hiking experience without having to head out to Beaver Brook or whatever. I’ve done enough hiking in the White Mountains to know that the most popular places end up being trampled. The next thing you know you’re having to re-route trails. They get eroded, etc., etc. There’s a balance between making something available for passive recreation and opening it up to derogation. We need to be careful of that sort of thing. I think it’s wonderful that we want in Nashua to have destinations for people to have an outdoors experience without having to schlep all the way to Hollis or out to Amherst or whatever, but if we want to keep that woodsy experience for most people then we can’t open it up to too much over use. That’s sort of thing. As far as how Nashua fits in regionally, I get a lot of updates from the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. Somehow I got on their e-mail list, somehow, and now I get all these updates and bulletins and stuff and that seems to be a growing conscientiousness in this state, especially in the southern tier. The idea what one community does, whether it’s water sources or whatever, it impacts another community, etc., etc., like all those lovely water chestnuts we got from Massachusetts. Thank you very much. Mayor Lozeau Things float downstream. Ms. Trivilino They do indeed, but I just think we’re all better off. Every community, we’re all better off if we consider ourselves in relation to everyone else and what we do in our little part of the planet effects all those parts around us. Alderman Craffey Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 4 Thank you very much. Mr. Gillespie, over the eight years you’ve been on the commission, what have you seen as the great accomplishments of the commission and yourself over the last eight years? Mr. Gillespie Most recently it would be the Terrell property acquisition that we had. It took several years to do that. We went through a long process of evaluating other properties as well. I think the completion of that property, the acquisition was a significant goal for the city, a significant achievement. I think when I first started on the committee eight years ago, I sat back and wasn’t really a full part of the board. Over the years I’ve developed a little more confidence in speaking out on the board and being able to contribute a little more each time. It’s one of those processes where you grow into the part. A lot of people come and go and you stay. You become the person with the experience after time. I’m probably the oldest person there with the most experience at this point. When I first started I was, of course, the least. I think now people kind of rely on me to provide an experience or a look back at what happened in the past kind of thing. That’s my basic role, I think. Mayor Lozeau That’s his claim to fame. Institutional knowledge. Alderman Craffey I sat on the commission last term, and I very well respect both these commissioners, and Mr. Gillespie’s ability to stand up against the status quo. It’s very well know, and I very well respect him for that. Mrs. Dutzy, given the experience of the two people to your right, Mrs. Dutzy I’m humbled. Alderman Craffey I would take it as a complement to be in their company. Hopefully you will draw on their experience and based on that, my question: How does your experience from what I read here, I see your professional skill set is very, very nice and very, very impressive, but how does this translate, the experience that you’ve used, for the conservation commission? Mrs. Dutzy My understanding is one of the key ingredients would be coming in with an open mind, doing your homework and being prepared and basically exercising good judgment. Those are the skills that I would bring. Like Mr. Gillespie, it would be very much of learning mode over a certain period of time and getting a feel for the decisions that come before the committee, the process that is used. I think my experience in terms of my work experience is basically the foundation for being able to do that. Ask the right questions and hopefully do what’s in the best interest for the City of Nashua and for its citizens. As has been said here tonight, reaching that balance that you have to reach between providing services and land usage appropriately and not doing it in such a way that there’s over use and there’s derogation. Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 5 Alderman Craffey What about the time commitment? There is a lot of time commitment with being on the commission. Site visits and things like that. Have you taken that into account also? Mrs. Dutzy That’s one of the reasons why. I’m at this stage of my life where I do have the time that I can commit to it where it was something I couldn’t do before. Now is the time for me to contribute back to the community. Alderman Craffey Thank you very much for your answers. I thank all three of you. Alderman Pressly I can’t pass up. Thank you, Sherry, for stepping forth and responding to the article. I’ve known her for years so I’m very comfortable calling her Sherry. I’ll see if I can stir the pot a bit more and get more women to come forth. I think it’s wonderful and thank you for doing that. One of my favorite topics for the last three and a half years have been the rivers. One of the things that really has concerned me has been the vegetation. I’m sure they started out as little weeds, but now they are huge trees that are growing out of the riverbanks that have the stone walls. I know this is happening at the library. One of the issues is the difficulty with the federal laws. I know the mayor has talked about trying to work something around this also. I’m wondering, I didn’t hear rivers mentioned. River management, but I would hope that your commission would consider taking a look at that since I do believe it is regional. It doesn’t stop at the boundaries, and it is something that I think is critical. As we’re getting more development along the river, I think it’s really important to get the riverbanks cleaned up and to make sure that the stone walls that protect a lot of the embankment are not overrun with these trees coming out the sides sideways. I guess my question would be: would you be willing to explore a role for the conservation commission. Chairman Chasse Before you answer the question, I want to give the floor to Mayor Lozeau. She has a rebuttal. Alderman Pressly Am I making you nervous? Mayor Lozeau You’re not making me nervous, I don’t want to put the volunteers in an uncomfortable position. What I’ve told the conservation commission and the board of aldermen is we have to find a home for the issues surrounding the waterways. You’re right, you’ve heard me talk about it a lot. We have the six invasive species. We have pollution, particularly around the Main Street Bridge and a couple of other areas. We have the retaining wall problems where there are trees growing out of them. We have stagnation in the canals that needs to be addressed. There are a whole host of things that has to happen with the waterways. I’m in the process of putting a committee together made up of members from the Nashua Watershed group, Kath Nelson and others, that will probably call on some of the members of the conservation commission to look at it. But I don’t want to say the conservation commission, here you now take responsibility for this. I want us to try to figure out what those problems are and how best to handle them. As you know there’s legislation pending in Budget that is going to be taken up soon where we’ve dedicated some funds to the waterways. That’s to try to start that effort up. I think it will be a mix of things. We have people from Mine Falls Advisory Committee that are Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 6 interested in participating. People from Conservation interested in participating. People that aren’t on either one of those interested. I think we just have to find a home. We also have to find a home where some division also has some responsibility. Right now there’s just no home for that. We’re going to do some work there, but I just didn’t want to have it be a situation where conservation thinks that now this is going to be added to their duties. Although I do agree, they play a role. Ms. Trivilino How much jurisdiction does the city have over actual riverbanks? Isn’t that a DES issue? Mayor Lozeau Her question, Alderman Pressly, was how much jurisdiction does the city have over riverbanks and isn’t that a DES situation. In Nashua, depending on where you are, we have the Army Corps of Engineers and DES that have a role in our riverbanks. EPA also plays a role in some. We have a levy we have to worry about. That was my other piece on waterways that we have some work to do on. It really is a combined effort. Really what we have to do is come up with a plan about what are the items that need to be addressed and that includes finding a home and all of those things and how do we move forward. It’s a big undertaking. Alderman Pressly I just wanted to explain that whenever I have the opportunity with conservation people, I mention this. I don’t mean to put you on the spot, Mayor, but I bring it up for 3 ½ years. I know it is complex, but I do think it’s important for them to understand it’s out there. As you’re educating yourself about the different issues before the city, this will be one of them. I hope you’ll be alert to it. Thank you. Chairman Chasse I’m just going to thank you for your willingness to serve. We’ll take up your nominations in a few minutes. Thank you. Ethnic Awareness Committee Tom Lopez (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2016 Dendrea J. Smith (New Appointment) Term to Expire: April 1, 2016 Mayor Lozeau As I think you’re aware, the second member that was going to be interviewed tonight, Dendrea Smith, was not able to be here tonight. We’ll probably see her at the next committee meeting. Mr. Lopez comes to us as a very active, effective community advocate for a number of things. Interestingly enough, Mr. Lopez has been appointed, voted in as the Chairman of the Ethnic Awareness Committee. There was just one little problem, he hadn’t been appointed to the Ethnic Awareness Committee. Now the good news is the reason that that happened is because he’s been an active participant in the Ethnic Awareness Committee without being a member. As many of you know, the Ethnic Awareness Committee has people from our community from other organizations and agencies that participate pretty actively on the group, and Mr. Lopez has been one of those folks. He’s also very involved with the positive street art work that’s been going on. He has a very active interest in the tree streets. He works at the Soup Kitchen. He is out there in our community and has quite a remarkable breath of experience with people of diversity and culture and ethnicity. I think it speaks very highly of Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 7 him that the committee had appointed him although he was not a member. I am pleased to introduce him to the committee tonight for your consideration. Tom Lopez I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with the Ethnic Awareness Committee as I have been doing for several months. For me, ethnic awareness and culture diversity is a tremendous opportunity for our city to build its heritage and I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can do help with that. Alderman Craffey First all, thank you for taking such an active part and congratulations on your election as chairman. Hopefully we can remedy that little glitch tonight. You’ve been active in the committee for how long? Tom Lopez Since last summer. I think we’re coming up on a year now actually. Alderman Craffey About a year now. What do you see the direction of the committee heading? Tom Lopez I think the committee has been finding its legs in determining how it can best meet the needs of the community now. I think bringing people together is its greatest role right now. We recognize that there are a lot of different cultural communities in Nashua. Bringing them altogether in a common community looks like it’s our greatest area of opportunity. Alderman Craffey Given the giant diversity, especially the downtown area and tree street area, all the diverse ethnic groups downtown, I see that as the biggest challenge. Do you have any ideas on how this group is going to try to do this? Tom Lopez Because of that we want to take it on. You’re greatest challenge can be your greatest opportunity. We want to do more cultural events. Not necessarily extremely ambitious but smaller scale ones where we reach out to the community and invite more and more people from different backgrounds to start doing things together, interacting together. We started working with the Adult Learning Center on having video series. We’re working with the library on setting up a series of receptions. We’re trying to identify the places where people are so we can reach out to them and bring them out of the areas that they are used to into newer areas of the city so they can start meeting other people. We think if we build on that then we’ll be in a better position to continue moving forward. Alderman Craffey I ask this not as a member of this community, but also this is my ward that we’re dealing with. A lot of people don’t trust government. They don’t trust authority. How are you perceive overcoming this? Tom Lopez Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 8 I think my role in being active in non-profits is going to be helpful because if they know me from painting murals and from working at the Soup Kitchen, they’re not going to identify me as somebody as other. They are going to identify me as someone who is one of them. That’s the philosophy that I want to guide the entire committee to. If we go out and act as ambassadors and participate in their community then we’re part of it. Then we can bring them into the larger community. Alderman Craffey If you need some assistance, please come fine me. Tom Lopez Thanks, absolutely. Alderman Caron Mr. Lopez, you have a great resume. I just like the idea that you have done a lot of volunteering in these areas that are very important. Now being Chairman of the Ethnic Awareness Committee, I think that’s a big boost. I agree with Alderman Craffey’s idea that sometimes people are a little leery of government. I think you being part of this is a great way, a segway to get into that. I think this is wonderful. I think you’re going to do great things because it sounds like you already have a plan in place to move that group along. They’ve been around for a long time so thank you for your volunteering. Thank you. Chairman Chasse I think we’re even now because that’s what I was going to say. Historic District Commission Norman G. Pare, Jr. (New Appointment) Term to Expire: January 31, 2016 Mayor Lozeau You, like I, a long time Nashuan Pare, you know what we say, right? P-A-R-E is how Mr. Pare likes to say it. I made him tell me twice now. So I’ve written down phonetically for this French girl to get it right. Chairman Chasse So there’s no essenigue on it? Mr. Pare There is a senigue on the e. Mayor Lozeau Having gotten that out of the way, Mr. Chairman, I am pleased tonight to bring in Mr. Pare to talk about his interest in the Historic District Commission. When you look at his resume, you start going down and you think so a guy that works as a senior passport specialist who has served his country, who has been in many different positions: purchasing department, account executive, customer service, plant manager, you think, okay but then you get to his education and you see he has a BA in history. Then you look at his interests and Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 9 you see that he likes historical books and things like that. That’s, I think, part of his love and interest in serving on this committee. Also, I think his caring about the City of Nashua and maintaining some character of the things that we treasure here in the city. I was very pleased to have a conversation with him about his interest and what he might bring to the table for this committee and its work. I am honored to have him here this evening to answer your questions and for your consideration. Mr. Pare It’s an honor to be nominated by the mayor. I’m very happy to serve. I ensured her that I will give the due diligence this position requires and be objective and open minded. I do this for a living, application processes. You apply the same. It’s kind of interesting, you mentioned transparency earlier, people are mistrustful of government. I work for the federal government and I have to talk to people all the time. We adjudicate past replications and citizenship claims, and I believe the problem is the lack of transparency and the lack of explanation. People will get confused by the laws and regulations and they get caught in the muck sort of say. I think it is important that any decision you make is thoughtful, clear, concise and objective. I believe this applies any application processes whether it’s what I do or application to modify someone’s front door or the planks or alter the character of their house or whatever that comes before and try to be objective and balance everybody’s interest. The city’s interest in maintaining the integrity and the history that makes the city unique with the mills and the downtown as well as business interests and economic interests and homeowner interest. I think transparency is the key and being open-minded and objective. Alderman Craffey You stole my thunder. You took away my transparency argument. I just want to say thank you for volunteering. How long have you been a history buff? Mr. Pare My whole life. It’s funny, I was telling the mayor that I had the benefit of growing up in Topsfield, Massachusetts. My father had a colonial house built in 1760 and was the physician. It was unique. It was put on the historical register of the town. I’m acutely aware. I remember my father, any kind of modifications, he had these wide colonial plankings and square nails he wanted to replace. He had to go down to the town hall, apply. I remember his frustration of having to just modify his house that he had. But the town’s interest of maintaining it was on the register. It was a very unique house in town. The tension between my father who wanted to just put new flooring down and the town’s concern of altering the character. It was unique plank back in those days. It was uneven. It was original wood, the original planking in the house. I was very interested in the whole process he had to go through. I remember going down there with him. I am very acutely aware of the tension and the struggle of people wanting to alter their house that’s deemed historical and the town’s interest in maintaining the character of the house and what made it unique and added value to the town, the town’s interest. If that makes sense. Alderman Craffey It does make sense. I know. You want to keep the historical ambience of the area. Especially some of the houses around here are very historic and just driving by them you’re like wow, you just can’t believe they are still in existence now. I see that you’re in the Navy. Were you on a ship in the Navy? Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 10 Mr. Pare Yes. Alderman Craffey What one? Mr. Pare The USS Edson out of Newport, Rhode Island. I was a Navy Corpsman. Alderman Craffey I was a medic. I ended up being a respiratory travel specialist. Mr. Pare Awesome. It was an unique experience. I served four years. I knew I wanted to get out and go to college, but it was a Alderman Craffey Very unique perspective to the world. Alderman Caron From listening to your conversation of what your father went through, I would think that you would be sensitive to the owner’s concerns as well as the historic value of the need to make changes. Mr. Pare Absolutely. I think it’s important, again, the transparency theme here. Obviously you apply the rules and regulations that are in front of you, but also try to be as accommodating as possible to radically altering the historical nature. It could be anything. The property, the house, the business. I think it’s important that you be a listening. I think it’s important to do your homework. I think it’s important to be clear in your decision, one way or another, why you made that decision so the person at least goes away saying you did your home, I respect that, you were transparent, you were objective. In a sense to serve, you have to serve your people and you have to be a listener, you have to be objective. Alderman Caron Thank you very much. I think you’ll be a great asset to the Historic Commission. Thank you. Chairman Chasse How long have you lived in Nashua? Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 11 Mr. Pare Three and a half, four years. My wife has been here for 15. Her kids have all gone through Nashua North. She was a high school classmate of mine. We met five years ago, and I ended up moving to Nashua here with her. I lived on the seacoast. My family is in Hampton Falls. Alderman Pressly You might be pleased to know that our historic district is only concerned with the exterior of the building. You don’t have to critique the interior. Mr. Pare That’s a good thing. Alderman Pressly I thought you’d be relieved to know that. The other thing, I think one of the most difficult thing in serving on a board like this is that you sometimes have to say no. You sometimes have to, many times with people’s property, they just go ahead and do something. You sometimes have to work with them to undo what they’ve done and to try to help them do it in a different way. It is hard to say no, but it is part of the job. I hope you’re prepared for that. Mr. Pare I have no problem saying no. If I do say no, I can give a thoughtful, objective reason why and they can go away or maybe work with them to get to where they want to be without just saying n Alderman Pressly Help them find another way to do what they want to do. Mr. Pare Exactly. I believe that’s responsive government is to work with them. Chairman Chasse Thank you for your willingness to serve. We’ll take up your nomination in a little bit. Planning Board Steven A. Zedeck, Alternate (New Appointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2016 Mayor Lozeau Mr. Zedeck joins us tonight. Mr. Zedeck reached out to me to talk about serving one of the land use boards. He was interested in planning and in zoning. We met and talked about what we thought would be a good fit, where some openings may be, and then as I often do, I make sure that they watch a meeting of whatever they’re interested in or go to a meeting, read the minutes of the last month or two of that same board or commission or committee and then when it comes to the planning and zoning board, I request that they meet with the legal department to be able to sit down and talk about questions or concerns that they may have. Mr. Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 12 Zedeck undertook that challenge. I asked him when he was done with that to tell me which board he would prefer to be on. His choice was the planning board. We have some changes on the planning board right now. We have a couple of long term members that are not going to re-up their term primarily due to time. I think Alderman Pressly that seems to be the biggest challenge to women. The additional time that it takes. Not that men necessarily have more time but depending on where people are in their lives, I think often they may. The three members that I brought in maybe two months ago now, I am going to be bringing back and asking to move into full positions. Mr. Zedeck is going to come in as an alternate. When you look at his resume, it’s similar to what I was just saying about Mr. Pare. You wonder, how does a software engineer, what do they bring to the table for the planning board. My conversation with Mr. Zedeck indicated to me somebody that follows the criteria that I often talk about and that you’ve heard many of the volunteers speak about. But also, I think a software engineer is in a good position to think about things in a certain logical way. With planning and zoning, the law is very clear. There’s not a lot of gray area. I think there’s a skill set that he brings to the table. In addition, I think he really, again like the others, is interested in giving back, has the time right now. He’s been volunteering at the senior center I’m sure Alderman Caron that’s why you knew how to pronounce his name because that’s where you spend a significant amount of your volunteer time. I was really pleased that somebody was interested. As you know planning and zoning are the hardest boards to seat. Right now if the other three get full membership positions and the alternate position is also filled, we will again have a full complement on the Planning Board. Currently with the Zoning Board we have a full complement and two alternates. I’d like to get to five alternates on the Zoning Board, but that wasn’t in the cards with Mr. Zedeck. So I am pleased to present to you another dedicated member of our community who at least has passed the early laitance test with me for this appointment, and I’m happy for you to consider him for this position. I did warn him that Alderman Pressly may be somewhat concerned that he is not a woman, but he was willing to take the chance anyway. Mr. Zedeck Thank you for the opportunity. I’ve been a resident of Nashua now for about 26 years. We’ve raised two young girls, they are both in college now. They’re not young any more. One is got into law school next month. So I follow all the city projects over the past two decades. I’m very involved in that, pretty knowledge about what’s going on in the city. The past few years I’ve been semi-retired. I have much more time on my hands now so I got involved in several non-profits. The senior center being one and some other non-profits. I’ve built some website for them and was involved in training of them on computers for the staff at the senior center. I think my background in engineering should be a good fit. I’ve worked in my past life as a software engineer, and I’ve also been the manager, been a director, (inaudible) throughout my career. I’ve worked cross- functionally with lots of different groups. I’m a very people oriented person. I like working on large projects which I know the planning board is. As the Mayor said the past few weeks I’ve been watching many, many of the board meetings on line, probably 20 or 30 hours worth of meetings. Watching the give and take about the various cases, and I realize that it is quasi-judicial. You have to make an informed decision about things and be transparent. I think I would be a good fit. Alderman Craffey You’re retired right now, is that what you said? Mr. Zedeck Yes. Alderman Craffey That sort of eliminates the times limits. Mr. Zedeck Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 13 Semi-retired, but yes. True. Alderman Craffey Those gentleman commit a lot of extra hours aside of the regular planning board meetings other than the hours they put in the meetings themselves. They can go to 11, sometimes longer than that at night. Mr. Zedeck I’ve watched them. I know. Mayor Lozeau And he still came anyways. Alderman Craffey And he came in anyways, congratulations. How would you solve a typical case? I understand software engineering. When que first came on, that’s what I used to want to be. An engineer, a programmer, and logic and all that. But then all these different languages came, and I said well that ain’t for me. So how would you approach a typical case? Would you explain that to me? Mr. Zedeck First I would find out what the statute is and the various ordinances and all those things and be very transparent in my decisions. I read up on the cases. I am very detailed oriented. I would get involved in the actual details on the case and read it. Look at the actual site the person is asking about. I think over time I’ll develop a really good knowledge of the actual statutes, ordinances and those things. Alderman Craffey How would you make your decision? Based on research? Chairman Chasse Alderman Craffey, that’s probably kind of like a… I don’t know if he’s had his training yet or anything but Alderman Craffey Alright. I was just trying to figure out the logic flow. That’s it. Chairman Chasse I would be hard to answer. Have you been to any of the meetings? Mr. Zedeck Not in person, but I’ve watched about 20 – 30 hours worth of meetings but haven’t actually been there. I watch the give and take with the people. I’ve seen a few of them get very emotional. You’ve got to factor that in also. There’s people that are for and against. You have to weigh all that. The bottom line is what the statute is and what’s right for the city, what’s right for the area Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 14 Alderman Craffey That’s what I wanted to hear. That’s what I was looking for that you review the statute. That’s what I was looking for. Thank you. Alderman Caron Mr. Zedeck, I hope with all these long hours on the planning board, you are not deserting the senior center because we need you desperately to do our webpage and all the other things that you’ve done wonderful for the last few years. Mr. Zedeck I wouldn’t do that. Alderman Caron I think you’d be an asset to the planning board. I know he doesn’t have that experience, but I think you would take your due diligence and look at it based on the rules and regulations and laws that planning and zoning have to go by. I think this is a great fit, and we thank you for your service and volunteering. Alderman Pressly I’m not a member of this committee but I stayed tonight specifically so I could say directly to you that I’m likely to be the only person on this board who is going to vote against you. I hope you will not take it personally. I had taken a stand that I think it’s really important that particularly zoning and planning have a balance, not only of gender but also of geographic. We’re finding out more and more, another alderman has mentioned that we need some people that come from different types of neighborhoods and that we need to get some people that come from a heavily dense neighborhoods and with more variety. I want you to know I just took a very principle stand that I would not be voting for any person until we have a woman on one of these boards. I will also be looking for sort of a geographic balance, an experienced balance, and people that live and work in different parts of the city. I wanted to tell you that directly, and I hope you won’t take it personally. Mayor Lozeau I told you to shave. Mr. Chairman, if I could. If I waited until I had women that were willing to serve or if I waited until I made sure that there was somebody from every ward, we wouldn’t have a planning or a zoning board to take action. We have a responsibility to do that. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I don’t choose people based on their gender. I don’t choose them based on where they live. I choose them based on the criteria that I’ve set and my expectations. I can tell you that I’ve never turned a woman down for one of the positions that they’ve come in for that they’ve been qualified for. I think there’s a way to continue to get women and others in this community interested in serving. I think planning and zoning are tough places for people to be able to dedicate quite this much time. I was very concerned when you said at the last meeting that you feel that we’ve set us back decades. You mentioned that you were around in the fifties when things were changing. I know that women like you that went before me made it a little easier for me to succeed in the things that I tried to succeed in. I’m trying not to take it personal that the first woman mayor has managed not to have anybody sitting on planning and zoning that are women, but I will tell you that I have appointed women both to planning and to zoning. The mayor’s representative on the planning board was a woman for many years. She’s no longer able to serve. I had three other women on planning that did not re-up their terms. Some that left before, and on zoning I had two. It’s a cyclical thing and I will continue to do my best to keep it as balanced as I can. Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 15 Alderman Pressly I just wanted to say, Madam Mayor, that I certainly do respect your position, and you’re doing your job in what you think is best for the city. I hope you understand that I feel I’m doing my job too. Apparently it did pay off to make this point. We have a few more women that have stepped forth, and it seemed to work. So I will keep mentioning. I think it’s really important to have gender balance, geographic balance, particularly on these two boards. These two boards create the flavor and the character of our community. I think what you do is very, very important, and I certainly wish you well. I just wanted you to understand why I would be possibly the lone voice in opposition. I respect what you do, Mayor. I hope you respect what I do too. Mayor Lozeau I do, but I still have to have boards that can serve and make decisions. Alderman Pressly That’s your job, and you’re doing it. Mayor Lozeau I’m going to ask Mr. Zedeck to get in touch with his feminine side as I will the other gentlemen when they come in. Mr. Zedeck My wife, my two daughters, basically I am very sensitive to female issues. In our house it’s all females but me. Chairman Chasse I feel for you. Alderman Pressly You don’t have to explain. COMMUNICATIONS - None APPLICATION TO LICENSE HAWKER'S, PEDDLER'S, ITINERANT VENDOR'S LICENSE - None APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE FOLLOWING APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR: TO THE CABLE TELEVISION ADVISORY BOARD: BRIAN GERAGHTY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE: APRIL 1, 2016; TO THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION: ALTERNATE SHERRY DUTZY, RICHARD GILLESPIE, AND PEGGY TRIVILINO FOR TERMS TO EXPIRE: DECEMBER 31, 2015; TO THE HUNT BUILDING BOARD OF TRUSTEES: JENNIFER HINDERER, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE: DECEMBER 31, 2017; TO THE ETHNIC AWARENESS COMMITTEE: TOM LOPEZ, FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE: APRIL 1, 2016; TO THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION: NORMAN G. PARE, JR., FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE: JANUARY 31, 2016; AND TO THE PLANNING BOARD: ALTERNATE STEVEN A. ZEDECK FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE MARCH 31, 2016 MOTION CARRIED Personnel – 04/01/13 Page 16 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CARON TO TABLE THE APPOINTMENT OF DENDREA J. SMITH TO THE ETHNIC AWARENESS COMMITTEE MOTION CARRIED UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None NEW BUSINESS – None TABLED IN COMMITTEE R-13-95 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Jim Donchess Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman Arthur T. Craffey, Jr. Alderman-at-Large Mark S. Cookson Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly Alderman Diane Sheehan Alderman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CHARTER RELATIVE TO MEETING TIMES OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS  Tabled 2/25/13 DISCUSSION – None PUBLIC COMMENT – None REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN – None ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN CRAFFEY TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 8:07 p.m. Alderman June M. Caron Committee Clerk