Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee

PERSONNEL/ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 22, 2014 A meeting of the Personnel/Administrative Affairs Committee was held on Monday, September 22, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chamber. Chairman Paul M. Chasse, Jr. presided. Members of the Committee present: Alderman June M. Caron Alderman Ken Siegel Alderman Michael Soucy Alderman Sean McGuinness Also in Attendance: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan Alderman Dowd Alderwoman Brown Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman David Schoneman PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Weston Lu – 109 Perimeter, Nashua Airport I own a hangar at the airport and I’d like speak tonight about the nominees for the Nashua Airport Authority. We have talked about things like conflict of interest and what not and I’d like to offer a couple of examples for the folks who are not familiar with some of the relationships at the Nashua Airport in terms of what kinds of relationships we don’t worry about at all and which can be very challenging. Many people own airplanes at the airport. If a Nashua Airport Authority owns an airplane; they buy fuel, maintenance, and services but for instance, one of those suppliers, if Infinity Aviation were to say well, we don’t like your vote, we don’t want to sell your fuel, they’d go down the line and buy fuel from Nashua Jet. If one of the mechanics like John Leland up at Leland Arrow says you know, you ought to vote a certain way or I won’t work on your airplane; there are about three other shops they can go to. The ability to improperly influence someone just isn’t there. In the case of Ms. Adams, the Midfield Café is a tenant of Nashua Jet. My understanding is that they are at will, they don’t have a lease so to a certain extent, that restaurant has to have an interest in the health and success of their landlord. We have two 800lb. gorilla operations at the airport. We have Nashua Jet and we have Infinity. They provide fuel, hangars, and they compete pretty hard. The Nashua Airport Authority is and does and is going to here lots of requests from both of the companies and for better or for worse, a vote by Ms. Adams on those issues will cause a certain amount of concern. In fact, we are having a very important issue come before the Nashua Airport Authority that affects one of those FBO’s; Nashua Jet. The airport is looking at having to remove or replace a fuel farm due to regulations. There are presently two fuel farms at the airport. One is leased to Nashua Jet and one is leased to Infinity. They are capital assets of the Airport Authority and the Airport Authority leases them and gets a fuel flowage fee from the fuel that is stored in them and sold by those businesses. The Airport Authority for reasons that I am not privy to is having trouble with the plan to replace the fuel farm. I’m not sure what free funds are available for that but I get the impression that there hasn’t been a lot of financial planning for this event. Fuel sales are regarded by these businesses as a life or death thing. It is a main source of revenue so we’ve already started to see Nashua Jet writing very forceful letters to the Airport Authority pushing them to come up with a plan to get this done. The restaurant being the tenant of Nashua Jet, you have to question whether this nominee can participate in that discussion. Right now we have a four person Airport Authority and for important discussions like this you have to ask whether you would still have a four person Airport Authority. That is not to say that Ms. Adams wouldn’t do the right thing but certainly there’s going to be the appearance that her vote might be influenced intentionally or Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 2 unintentionally by what she thinks about how it will affect the health of her landlord. I’d also like to speak on what we have heard folks say about how hard this committee is to stand in front of for better or worse the Airport Authority meetings up until July were so full of hard questions and heated exchanges that you observed the chairman resign. He said it was the most miserable time of his life. That makes speaking in front of this committee look really easy and I would, on behalf of the nominees, folks that think she got beat up here were either underestimating the strength of her character or maybe they think that she might wilt under the commissions at the Nashua Airport Authority, I can’t tell you what the right answer is. I would like to also talk about your nomination of Mr. Moushegian for five more years on the Airport Authority. I have to say that of a forged lie, the way that the Nashua Airport Authority meetings were run, a whole bunch of us, perhaps unfairly, thought that the Airport Authority was a chairman and there were four statues sitting around him. We did not hear much of anything from the other Airport Authority members. With the change in leadership, I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised to speak with and watch Mr. Moushegian on the Airport Authority for the past two meetings. He has what appear to be very thoughtful opinions about how the Airport Authority business should be done. I’ve watched him listen and respond to folks in the audience and in two months a bunch of us have realized that Mr. Moushegian appears to be very qualified to be on the Nashua Airport Authority. We have realized that he is not a potted plant. I would support or I ask you to support his re-nomination. I’ll mention that a whole bunch of people who have gotten up here have talked about how they were at the Nashua Airport when the earth cooled and dinosaurs roamed the earth and their pilot licenses from a relative of Wilbur & Orville. I guess I should say that I am a relatively newcomer to the airport, I’ve only been out there for about 25 years, perhaps since Al Gore invented the internet. My commercial pilot’s certificate was only issued in 1976 when we were still landing men on the moon and my pilot log book does not have entries measured in solstices, they are listed in thousands of hours. I hope that none of that matters to your decision making process. I think we are talking about whether these two nominees will be able to get the job of the Nashua Airport Authority done so I am here to urge you to vote no on Ms. Adams, although I think she is a wonderful person and yes on Mr. Moushegian. Alderman Chasse Before we go any further, how many people are planning on speaking tonight? WOW! I’d like to suspend the rules and have the review of the other two people that are not with the Airport Authority and we can take up the rest after that. MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE THAT THE RULES BE SO FAR SUSPENDED TO GO OUT OF ORDER TO THE INTERVIEWS FOR REVIEW AND COMMENT AND THE PLANNING BOARD MOTION CARRIED INTERVIEWS Review and Comment Commission John Cepaitis (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 Mayor Lozeau Before you tonight to my left is Mr. John Cepaitis who I am recommending for Review and Comment. Some of you may recall that Mr. Cepaitis has been very involved in our community for as long as I can remember. He served as an assistant superintendant of schools. He led the initiative for the 21st Century Program at the schools, and he has been a volunteer on Review and Comment for a very long time. This is an opportunity to sit as a commissioner. I think he brings a wealth of experience, knowledge of our community clearly, and a willingness to serve having been a volunteer for so long. He is also certainly well aware of the process of Review and Comment and I think that he would be a welcome addition to the Review and Comment Commission. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 3 Mr. Cepaitis As Mayor Lozeau was so kind in her remarks, I have been part of the city for some 50 years and I think I can still offer something at times and I am willing to do that. Alderman Siegel I’d like to thank you for stepping up to the plate, I appreciate it. Alderman Soucy I’ve known you for many years. I’ve worked with you in the schools and the Century 21 Program and I know your character and resume and I’m proud to support you for this position. Alderman Wilshire I echo what Alderman Soucy said. Alderman Caron I echo it too. Mr. Cepaitis I’ve worked with just about everyone here. Alderman Chasse Not with me yet. We will take up your nomination in a few minutes. Planning Board Suneela Mistry, Alternate (New Appointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2017 Mayor Lozeau Sitting to my far left is Suneela Mistry who has come to the city voluntarily seeking a position on the Planning Board. After I checked to make sure that she was sure that was where she wanted to serve, I was happy to interview her about that position. As you know the land/use Boards are probably one of the biggest commitments that somebody can make in our community. My nominee comes to you with some years of experience at the UniClean Clean Room Services for UniFirst hear in Nashua has felt as though, the way she presented it to me was “I’ve done a lot of different things in my life and I’ve done a lot of firsts in Nashua and I would like to take on responsibility for how my community develops and progresses and I think I have something to offer.” She, like all of my nominees to the land/use Board has met with the City Attorney, reviewed what the responsibilities are, has looked at the minutes of meetings and understands the commitment involved and is still willing to serve. With that, I very much appreciate that and I am happy to present her for your consideration. Ms. Mistry Thank you Madame’ Mayor for the kind words. I’ve been a resident of Nashua for the past 14 years and I’ve also worked in Nashua for the past 14 years. I have an engineering background and I believe that can be an Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 4 asset to the Planning Board. I also oversee various projects, facility improvement related projects so I have a bit of background in that. I also serve on the Safety Committee at my company. I hope to be an asset to the Board. Alderman Siegel I appreciate your stepping forward to volunteer and I am glad that the Mayor has gone over with you the difficulty involved in being on a land/use Board. I appreciate your experience and it seems to be good for what you do and I know it’s fairly complicated. The one problem I have is that while your experience is good and I have no doubt that you will put in the effort and the time, because of the nature of the land/use Boards and especially the Planning Board; I think there’s a particular background that lends itself towards, which isn’t exactly industrial engineering clean room management and so hopefully you can address that concern of mine in that you have an excellent track record in something that is not directly related to that type of thing. Ms. Mistry As the general manager of my company I oversee various projects; facility improvement and facility expansion so I am aware of the various things that are involved in construction projects. Alderman Siegel Have you been involved in the actual site selection, site planning, and the upfront work for any of the sites that you have been involved with? Ms. Mistry We’ve done facility expansions within our building, for example, we have switched out equipment so we’ve had to check the various foot plates of the equipment, move walls around, and I have a thorough knowledge of understanding and reading blueprints - the whole process of project management. Alderman Siegel So have you had to go through the various Planning Boards of any other city and worked in conjunction with them in seeing the other side of the coin at all? Ms. Mistry On the projects that I was involved in it didn’t really involve the expansion of the building, it was mostly within the building itself so we didn’t have to go to the Planning Board. Alderman Deane Have you, other than being at home, have you attended any of the Planning Board meetings? Ms. Mistry Yes, I have. I attended one in July. Alderman Deane What did you think? Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 5 Ms. Mistry I felt they were very thorough. I understood the process. I didn’t have the maps to look at but those were reviewed and it helps to be familiar with the city because then you can understand exactly what the discussion was about. It was very interesting to me. Alderman Deane So, you would be willing to go out and do site visits and things of that nature? They also require some educational instruction so that you can get up to speed and I’m sure your colleagues on the Planning Board would be more than happy to help you out. What made you want to do this? Ms. Mistry To be honest it was just the willingness to serve. I wanted to get into understanding the community more and I just wanted to volunteer and I felt that the Planning Board was definitely where I felt I had the background and the expertise. Alderman Deane Was this your first selection? What was your second pick? If you don’t want to answer the question you don’t have to. Ms. Mistry It was related to the Planning Board as well. It was the Nashua Regional Planning Commission and the Arts Commission. Alderman Deane Sometimes I think it’s good to put someone on the Board that has a different perspective but that’s just my opinion. Alderman Chasse Mayor Lozeau, do they still have a training period? Mayor Lozeau Yes, I have offered my nominee as an alternate on the committee which also I think is helpful because it provides generally a nice learning curve. I think what Suneela brings to the table is a different perspective yet I think that the way she approaches a problem follows the perfectly logical way we’d like people to look at the issues that come before the Planning Board. There are some things you can do and some things you can’t do, but yes, there is training and I expect there to be more. Actually, the new Director of Community Development is looking at brining the Zoning and Planning Boards together to meet and talk about the different issues that come before those two Boards so they have a chance to get to know how they work together and I think that will be another great opportunity as well. Alderman Siegel I think given that Ms. Mistry is being nominated for an alternate, I think that’s helpful because it’s experience that is up close but not right in the thick of things. It might be good to then see if you still want to do it. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 6 Alderman Deane Mayor, as long as the Community Development Director is bringing the Zoning Board and the Planning Board together, I had spoken to Mr. Dufour and Mr. Reppucci about continuing on-going problems with our land/use codes that they see all of the time. I said if you have problems why don’t you bring them to our attention so that we can correct them and I have received (this was a couple of years ago) nothing. I know we went through our land/use codes and I think it took an entire term to do it. If you could ask the director if they have anything that constantly rears its ugly head that might need to be looked at it would be helpful to everyone. Mayor Lozeau I would do that, it was actually one of the things that we talked about when we talked to the chairmen of all of the Boards together to meet the director for the first time and we had some discussion around that. I do know that the issue surrounding the number of Zoning Board members seated to hear a case came up and Mr. Reppucci has brought this to the Board before and came in and spoke to the Board. That’s the only one that I am aware of that has been discussed but I will certainly make that request. Alderman Chasse Thank you for your willingness to serve and we will take up your nomination in a couple of minutes. COMMUNICATIONS – None APPLICATION TO LICENSE HAWKER'S, PEDDLER'S, ITINERANT VENDOR'S LICENSE - None APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR Review and Comment Commission John Cepaitis (New Appointment) Term to Expire: December 31, 2015 16 Shakespeare Road Nashua, NH 03062 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF JOHN CEPAITIS TO THE REVIEW AND COMMENT COMMISSION FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE DECEMBER 31, 2015 MOTION CARRIED Planning Board Suneela Mistry, Alternate (New Appointment) Term to Expire: March 31, 2017 15 Wild Rose Drive Nashua, NH 03063  Tabled 8/25/14 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF SUNEELA MISTRY AS AN ALTERNATE MEMBER TO THE PLANNING BOARD FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE MARCH 31, 2017 MOTION CARRIED Alderman Chasse We will return to the regular order and go back to public comment. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 7 PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Sam Stein I am the Treasurer of the New Hampshire Flying Association and aircraft club of 14 members. We fly a Beachcraft Bonanza’s that are somewhere in the neighborhood of $75,000 - $100,000 per year flying and using the Airport Authority and facilities. I am here in support of Sandy Adams and I would also like to rebut at least some, if not all of what was said before me. I think being a tenant on the airport is not a conflict of interest. Sandy has been at the airport for many years. She started a business there and sold it and then successfully bought it back. She is a person who knows virtually all sides of everything that is going on at the airport. I believe she has a completely open mind and I think having knowledge of the airport should be a pro and not a con when discussing her nomination to the Airport Authority. I think she would bring many good qualities to that authority that may or not be lacking but certainly would be added to by her. I can’t imagine her being in conflict because she doesn’t have a lease and I think that has more to do with Nashua Jets’ business practices than it does with her. I would like to comment on a comment that was said earlier about Chairman Davidson. I was at the meeting where he discussed how difficult things can be and how much of an annoyance there could be between people and first of all, none of those were aimed at him and secondly, I don’t believe he resigned because of that, I believe he resigned due to health reasons. I know that everyone in my club all feel strongly that Sandy would be a tremendous asset to the Board so I speak in favor of that. Our club, by the way, was founded in 1961 so we’ve been here for a while. Alderman Chasse I’d like to remind everyone that we are not here to talk about Mr. Davidson or the manager down there. We are here to talk about the two candidates that are up for nomination. Mr. Dave O’Sullivan My paradise is Broad Street in Hollis and a corner of my land is in Nashua. I am a retired army pilot, a retired civilian pilot, and a retired FAA inspector. I have been flying out of the Nashua Airport since 1970. Sandy is qualified to serve on that Board. She holds a pilot’s certificate and she trained at the Nashua Airport. She has a business degree and is the sole proprietor of the restaurant in Nashua. She’s responsible for the payroll, budget, maintenance, and personnel and she’s quite successful. She has a strong dedication to the Nashua community and she is what the government would call a SME, a Subject Matter Expert. She would bring surveillance and is in the front line on the Nashua Airport. She can observe the taxiways and the people. The airport manager and those folks are in a hangar and offices that are kind of isolated. She’s always been a positive contributor to Nashua and the people associated with the Nashua Airport. She is independent, insightful, and always fair. I don’t know of any complaints against Sandy about conflicts and she’s been there for many years. I attended the prior meeting and some Board members stated that the sole function is determined if the appointee is qualified. Sandy is qualified. I believe there is some overreach by the Board or some members of the Board regarding the situation regarding Sandy. Is there transparency in this process? Is the Board elected to service any specific or special interest group? Please don’t make our community look like Washington, D.C. and please appoint Sandy to the Nashua Airport Authority. Mr. Roland Noyes, 16 Colburn Avenue I’m not sure but I think I’m that ancient dragon that the first speaker was talking about. I was born in 1932 and I have lived here since except for some military service and a job I took oversees for two years. I have attended the Nashua Airport Authority meetings from the very beginning in 1961 to the present time. From the beginning, the Aldermen have had the power, by law, to approve the Mayor’s nominations. For 53 years these nominations have been affirmative and now, in 2014, we have a controversy based on the assumption of conflict of interest. Why? Because the Mayor’s nominee owns and operates a business at the airport, so what! If you review the Nashua Airport Authority members from the first group of five and every Board makeup since, you will find members who own businesses at the airport, owned or rented hangars and/or Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 8 aircrafts, were employed at the airport or in some other manner was directly associated with the airport. These past members free from any encumbrances from the city have taken the small general aviation airport 2,000 foot runway and two buildings and perhaps 20 airplanes to what we have today, 6,000 foot runway, all- weather capability, about 300 aircraft and numerous buildings. If we apply the conflict of interest to past Nashua Airport Authority members, probably 50% or more would not have served. The conflict of interest is a phony argument. It’s like saying the owner of a condominium should not be on the Board of Directors of the condo because he or she has a conflict of interest. Sandra Adams brings a business education and knowledge of FAA rules and regulations. She also brings one very important factor. She’s at the airport every day. She meets and talks with the business owners and the users and she has the pulse of the airport. Sandra Adams is the perfect candidate to fill the vacancy on the Nashua Airport Authority and I strongly urge this committee to reconsider your past vote. The users of the airport and the taxpayers will all be winners. Mr. Rex Lindt, Merrimack, NH I watched with interest the video of your last committee meeting and I was distressed that you accepted the objections of the NAOPA representatives without any question. The basis of their claim of a potential conflict of interest just can’t be substantiated. Anyone with enough interest in the airport to do a conscientious job on the Nashua Airport Authority will have opinions on issues that exist there. To call these conflicts of interest is inaccurate. I was a college student when Joe McCarthy chaired the House on American Activities Committee and he used many underhanded techniques to smear fine upstanding citizens like you did a couple of weeks ago when you put forth an argument that Mrs. Adams was unprofessional. You criticized her because she responded to an issue by quoting the term “idiot,” a term that others used in an e-mail to her. To use this as a reason to reject her appointment is illogical and not based on fact, but then to further imply that you have other e-mails that you were unwilling to share but you would refer to them vaguely as “many other such e-mails” certainly reminded me of McCarthy waiving the documents in the air threatening his opponents. This is pretty underhanded and I expect better of you. The issue of whether or not there should be an Aldermanic Liaison to the Board is another red herring. You asked her if she supported such a post or not. She said she hadn’t thought long and hard about it but she didn’t think it was necessary but she didn’t oppose it. Your reaction was way out of proportion to what she said. You made sure to imply that if she did not actively support it then you would not support recommending her for appointment. You acted like she had attacked you personally. Overall, I felt sure that you had absolutely no dialogue with her. You listened to the NAOPA representatives without any question whatsoever and your minds were made up before she even came in here. At least you did not discuss any of the questions of the claims presented by the issues I discussed above specious, falsely appearing to be fair, just, or right. That’s what these claims are, carefully crafted and accompanied by crocodile tears of she’s such a good person and it pains me to say this about my friend – all of this, rather than stepping up and addressing the real issue of her supposed support of the airport manager. I think if all of the cards were on the table concerning the behavior that the NAOPA finds fault with, if it warrants dismissal, Ms. Adams would do the right thing and if it’s not warranted, she’d see that position was taken too. I expect you folks will now raise another specious objection, her appointment is too controversial. Well, just who raised the controversy? We would not be here tonight had you not taken the steps that I outlined above regarding the bogus objections to her candidacy. You are the ones that have made this controversial. Had you been fair and treated Mrs. Adams with respect, there would be a lot less controversy. Your rush to satisfy a small group got my attention as well as the attention of many of us sitting here. I expect more you Aldermen. Let’s ask your colleagues on the Board to set this straight. Mr. Dennis Stevens, Interim Chairman, Nashua Airport Authority The current Board has 100% support for the Mayor’s nomination, Sandy Adams. I feel she would be a very strong asset for the Board as well the airport. Sandy has something the four old men on that Board not have too much of and that’s people skills. The current lack of communications with the airport users; Sandy would be extremely valuable in resolving that. She’s on the airport. Community members and users talk to her daily whenever they are at the café. Sandy seems to know everything that is going on on the field. She can put her thumb on the issues; she already understands the issues and problems and has twenty people’s recommendations of possible solutions. I can’t overstate the improvement in communications that Sandy Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 9 Adams will give to the Airport Authority. Concerning the conflict of interest statements, I can’t think of a strong member of that Board who wouldn’t have a conflict of interest in some area one way or the other but the bottom line is that we are a simple, friendly, flexible, no-rules airport where everyone has fun. That’s our number one objective, to keep this airport friendly and flexible for everyone. In the last 6 years, the Board has voted 100% (5-0); I can remember one vote where it was (4-1) and the one was a nay on the part of the chairman and it was based on principle on a situation. The Airport Authority has five members, if there is a conflict of interest in one area we recues ourselves and abstain from voting on that issue. I can’t think of any conflict of interest in impairing the actions of the Board when we are so much in tune with each other and the needs of the airport and how simple it is to manage the field. Mr. Steve Cunningham, 39 Dorchester Way I have been a resident of Nashua for 15 years and I have been a participant at the airport since the late 80’s and operated two businesses at the field. I would like to speak in favor of Sandy Adams as a representative of the flying community to represent us on the Airport Authority Board. I don’t share the notion that has been bantered about regarding conflict of interest. Sandy approaches everything in the 15 years that I have known her with a sense of passion and with a sense of honesty and objectivity. I think she will deal with the issues as an adult so I urge you to vote in favor of Sandy and let’s get on with moving the airport ahead. Mr. Ron Barrett, 9 Moe Street I am here to support Sandy very much. She’s very successful at her business, she’s a pilot and she’s very knowledgeable in aviation and has a beat on the airport. I didn’t say anything at the first meeting because I was overwhelmed at the way she was being hit but she stood up very well. Ms. Shirley Tipping, 4 Hampton Drive I come here in support of Sandra Adams. I’ve known Sandy for 15 years and I know her to be a hard worker and I think she’d be an excellent addition to Nashua Airport Authority Board and I’ve worked with many of them. I served at the Airport Authority in the role of office manager for 14 years so I have worked with a variety of people that have served on that Board. I did want to put a rest to a couple of things that I have heard. It is continually said that Sandy rents from the largest landowner on the Nashua Airport and that’s not true. The individual she rents from owns the most individual pieces of property but he is not the largest landowner. There are four other places that pay more monthly for their rent than that individual. I hear tonight that they feel there will be a conflict because of the fuel farm. I feel very sure that if that fuel farm were to close, her landlord would not be closing her restaurant because he would need the revenue even more. The other thing I hear is a conflict of interest. I don’t believe there is any conflict of interest; I believe Sandy was singled out by a group because she refused to bow to the pressure to make commitments to them as to how she would vote of future agenda items. I thought at the last Aldermanic meeting that the vote was going to be taken and someone asked that the vote be held until tonight because an individual had called and said he couldn’t attend. That individual is not here either to speak. I hope you appoint Sandra. Mr. Tom Kovacks I believe that Sandra Adams is an excellent candidate for the Nashua Airport Authority membership particularly because of her capacity as manager of the Midfield Café. Therein, she is in a position to meet the public including both those that have an interest in aviation and those that don’t. Her involvement there allows her the dynamic opportunity to engage in conversation with airport constituents much like Aldermen herein could be engaged with the constituents with the City of Nashua at a regular public forum such as a shopping center like Gabby Gifford used to do. I believe that Sandy being at the airport for as many hours as she does allows her to have a listening ear for controversial airport issues and act as a conduit of public opinion through the Nashua Airport Authority and between formal meetings. It also provides her the opportunity to hear all perspectives even though some may be impractical. I have found Sandy to be of sound and competent mind fortified by a kind spirit and endowed with a brave heart all residing within a beautiful soul void of contentious Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 10 or self-seeking unsavory manner. She isn’t one that’s commonly known in the Nashua public arena; however her thinking is based upon common sense void of political opportunistic influences much like Kenney Howe used to do. I have personally concluded that politics is not leadership; accordingly I believe that Sandy can initiate and perpetuate practical solutions to complex issues on the Nashua Airport that will fulfill the desires of most airport constituents. I strongly implore the Alderman to approve her selection of the Nashua Airport Authority. Mr. Peter Stein I have a small business at the airport. I own planes and keep them at the airport and I’ve known Sandy for a long time. I’ll just state that what you have actually been given is an opportunity; you are really looking a gift horse in the mouth. You have been given a person with high intellect that loves the airport and knows the airport and loves flying. People like this just don’t come along that frequently. I thought I would be a good candidate, she’s a better one. The conflict of interest is “foobah” it’s as simple as that, it’s obvious. Why not vote yes? It turns out that somebody – it’s the tip of the iceberg – the $150,000 fuel farm that truthfully there’s no business sense whatsoever for that fuel farm to go into that airport right now. It just doesn’t meet the capacity so you are being pushed into it. The only reason to get that fuel farm is because someone is going to sue you and here’s somebody that wants to say “hey, wait a minute, is there something we can do about this?” You either vote for her and make a good change or you set us back again. We are starting to recover; it’s got an upbeat feel to it. Drone training is coming into the airport, some big stuff. INTERVIEWS Nashua Airport Authority Richard Moushegian (Reappointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2019 Mayor Lozeau To my left is my nominee for reappointment, Mr. Richard Moushegian, who has served four or five years now on the Nashua Airport Authority and the reason that I appointed Mr. Moushegian in the beginning was because I was impressed with what he brought to the table, particularly as we were looking at the runway expansion at the airport. As you may have seen on his resume, he worked for the FAA for a time, and was able to really contribute I think in a positive manner to that growth. I think Mr. Moushegian is a thoughtful, dedicated professional on the Airport Authority. I think he treats people respectfully and is interested in doing his homework and he’s demonstrated that. I think that there are tough decisions to come and I think having people on the Airport Authority that are willing to make the tough decisions with all of the information available to them and some background, will be very helpful for the future of the airport. With that, it is my honor to present Mr. Moushegian. Mr. Richard Moushegian I come here tonight looking for a re-nomination. I have had an enjoyable time on the Nashua Airport Authority even though it has been eventful. I like the challenge and I’d like to say that the Board and the users are professional people. There have been some instances of contention and I think you will find and most people will agree, that in the last few months there have been open sessions and discussions and that’s the way we like to conduct business. I do want to say that I do enjoy the opportunity and we are dealing with professional people and we are conducting ourselves in that manner. Alderman Siegel I just wanted to say to Mr. Moushegian that I am sorry if you are caught up in this vortex. The timing in unfortunate but I appreciate the fact that despite everything, you wish to consider to serve on the Board and I Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 11 hope that you will continue to have something to offer and everybody can move forward in a constructive fashion. Alderman Soucy I had the privilege of attending their last meeting and I thought it was very well run and very professional. On the good side, I’ve heard of nothing bad, you have been under the radar. The liaison issue is a moot issue now and I appreciate your past service and I find no cause to say no. Alderman Schoneman I appreciate the service that you provided to the Board. You and I had a private conservation a few weeks ago and I appreciate your time with that as well. There has been controversy but I think you are right to say that the tenor of the last couple of meetings has been remarkably different. One of the contrasts is really the way that the Board seem to regard user’s at the field before and how I think they are regarding user’s at the field now. In any life situation, there’s always providers and customers. The customer relationship is one that exists way beyond a retail store for instance. We are all in service to somebody. I wonder if you could share your view of the Airport Authority and the user’s at the airport in terms of who is a provider and who is a customer. Mr. Moushegian I think it’s an equal responsibility. We are there to serve and not to try to keep users as recipients of our authority but as part of it. I think you have seen that in the last few meetings. We need their support to move on. The situation that we have had in the last 5 years is of course due to the economy and has put a strain on the airport. I think you will find that the change of personality of the management of the Board is different and I think that the users recognize that too and I think that there is a spirit of cooperation that should continue. Alderman Schoneman I agree with that. I think that cooperation is key. Acting Chair Stevens said at the meeting last week “we the Airport Authority are here to serve you.” Would you agree with that? Mr. Moushegian Yes, I do. Alderman Schoneman The Mayor aluded to making tough decisions and I think sometimes we use the phrase “making tough decisions” meaning we have to make a decision that is going to disappoint the people that we don’t want to disappoint. It’s difficult to ask a question about it but how do you see your role in serving the customers that are the users when the potential to make a decision that disappoints those people comes into play. Mr. Moushegian You are never going to make everybody happy but we’ve had quite a ration of letters in the last few months and I don’t ignore those letters, I read the information, and I absorb the information. I have to make a decision when it comes time to vote on an issue and I feel qualified to do so and I know everyone else on the Board does the same thing. We don’t treat the issues lightly because it’s a very serious business. All I can say that every member on the Board gives 110% on these issues but we will not every make everybody happy. We realize that people have invested their capital but that the economy is working against them. We are here to support them because when they are successful, we are successful. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 12 Alderman Schoneman I think that making the tough decision becomes easier when it’s not forgotten who the key customer is and I don’t think you should see this Board of Aldermen as your customer or the state but that the people who have attended your meetings and those of a much larger number are your customers. My personal view about leadership is that politics is not leadership. I think that if we do what our core constituents want then in the end we are going to be okay. If we decide in favor of the people that we serve then even if later we need to change our mind and do something different, that will be better than doing that different thing to begin with if it’s not what people want. Mr. Moushegian I agree with that. Alderman Schoneman I would hope that the authority would keep that in mind when they make decisions and I’m confident and comfortable hearing you say that is your personal view. Alderman Sheehan One of the things that you brought up earlier leads me to something which is why I am here tonight. I have gotten a lot of phone calls and letters and it seems that there are some key issues that people have expressed in the past. Someone referred to them as a Litmus test of whether or not they would be supported and with the conflict of interest, I have been asking around. It seems like a lot of these issues right now are 2 -2 and that if someone had to recues themselves really would be the hang. That led me to the obvious. It’s a very small Board. Do you think that it would be less contentious this way than if it were perhaps a larger Board? Mr. Moushegian We operate under New Hampshire law, Chapter 343 was determined as to the size of the Board. I think 5 people are adequate. We are fortunate to have people with varied skills on the Board and it is representative of a diagonal slice of aviation. I’m happy with the 5 personnel. Alderman Sheehan I would like to add that leadership vs. politics have come up and sometimes you have to do the opposite otherwise we would still segregation, we would not have had the Civil Rights Act to pass. Sometimes leadership is different and sometimes you have to know when it’s time to do the right thing and not just when it’s time to do the popular thing. Alderman Soucy I agree with Mr. Moushegian on the size of the Board. The Police Commission runs with 3 members and the Fire Commission runs with 5. Alderman Schoneman I’d like to follow-up on Alderman Sheehan’s comment. I think there are issues that have a moral component and issues that do not. If there is an issue that is a mortal component like segregation, that’s entirely different. We need to make decisions as leaders that are in keeping with our view of the world and with a sense of morality that we have. However, if a decision comes up that does not have a moral component and many decisions do not, then we are best off to do what people as us to do. That’s just my personal view. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 13 Alderman Wilshire Thank you for your willingness to serve. I’m not a member of this committee however, when it gets to the full Board, I will be supporting your nomination. Alderman Deane I have a procedural question for Mr. Moushegian. I went through the meeting minutes and I discussed this with Mr. Bourque as well. There seems to be an awful lot of non-public sessions. It’s my understanding that there was a property acquisition and a personnel matter. As we all know, you try not to teeter off the path of the original motion that was made and when you look at the law and the way the motions are transcribed in the minutes, there are supposed to have a specific purpose named and I don’t always see that. Is it usual and customary for the Board to have a non-public session at every one of their meetings? Mr. Moushegian No, that is not customary. It’s only been recently because we are trying to expand our base and we are doing business with Gale Associates who is our engineering firm. Alderman Deane Is that the SGB18? Mr. Moushegian Yes. Those are state budget grants that we apply for to accomplish tasks and we don’t want to make that public information because there would be competition and that would be to our disadvantage. If we do have a non-public session you will see that statement in every one of them and when we come out of the non-public session, you may see something or you may not. I would say 80% of those non-public sessions is information given to us by Gale Associates as to the status of the condition of that adventure. It’s not like we made a decision, it’s just transferring information to us. There are a couple of occasions you will see after those non- public sessions when we go back to open session that there is a statement there. We might give the chairman permission to sign a Purchase & Sales Agreement or authorizing the acting chair to sign for a line of credit with the Nashua Bank. Those are not made in secret. We don’t make motions in closed session but if we make a decision in closed session then it is shown on the record. Alderman Deane I guess what I am looking at is that the recorded process doesn’t seem to be right to me but I’m not a lawyer and I’m not saying that you are doing anything wrong. You are sealing the minutes but there is a way to seal the minutes that defiantly seals the minutes. I can send you some contact information and help you along. Chairman Chasse Thank you, we will take up your nomination up in a few minutes. Let’s bring Ms. Adam’s up. Mayor Lozeau I believe she is here but I don’t know that she was aware that she would be interviewed tonight. Chairman Chasse I believe Alderman McCarthy requested it. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 14 Mayor Lozeau Okay. Alderman McCarthy I said that I thought it would be appropriate that she be here to address any issues that might have come up. Mayor Lozeau I knew that you were going to talk about Mrs. Adam’s appointment tonight. I wanted to share some comments with you and then I’ll be happy to step away if you will indulge me. I wanted to take the time to tell the committee that I’ve given a lot of thought to all of the appointments that I have brought before the committee for consideration. This is the first time that I think I have had a really controversial nomination. As I told Alderman Schoneman after the last Board of Aldermen meeting, I was not aware that this would be a controversial appointment until I heard about letters coming and going. I stand by my nomination of Mrs. Adams for a position on the Airport Authority for any number of reasons, not the least of which is what has happened between during that meeting and how she conducted herself and since that meeting and today is exactly the reasons why I think that she is a great candidate for you to consider. Part of that is because what occurred after your meeting is a lot of discussion where Mrs. Adams was reaching out to people and talking to them about their concerns, asking them if they had questions of her and I think that is exactly what we want of public servants when they here that people are concerned about what they do. Having served on the Airport Authority and having owned a few restaurants in my time, I can tell you that in order to be successful in a restaurant you have to hear your customers and understand what their needs are. You have to make decisions based on how to see those needs. The experience that this candidate brings to the Airport Authority I think is different than many of the other members. I just wanted to take the time to mention that. At the Board of Aldermen when I heard that normally the Mayor would withdraw an appointment if that appointment didn’t pass the committee, I just wasn’t aware of that. I don’t believe that’s ever happened since I’ve been here and to me, that would be something that I would leave to the nominee or if I learned something that I didn’t know that I thought would make them not a good candidate. I don’t see that here but I will tell you that I did invite Mrs. Adams and her husband back to my office after the last committee meeting and I asked her if she wanted to withdraw her nomination and her husband said yes and she said no. It reminds me of a husband that I have at home myself. I think that the one thing that you have heard from everybody whether they supported her nomination or not was that they liked her and they respected her. From my perspective, that’s more than half the battle in having somebody on that authority that is going to be able to do the work that needs to be done. I just wanted an opportunity to be able to put that out there and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity for that and on a different note, Mr. Chairman, I know that there is still an item on the agenda that has nothing to do with nominations. I don’t expect that you will take it up tonight relative to the merit plan. I know that you are waiting on information from myself and I would be happy to talk to you about when you would like to have that. APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR Nashua Airport Authority Sandra Adams (New Appointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2017 5 Scarborough Drive Nashua, NH 03063 MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF SANDRA ADAMS TO THE NASHUA AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE AUGUST 31, 2017 Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 15 ON THE QUESTION Chairman Chasse The last time Mrs. Adams was here I did not get a chance to ask her any questions but during this whole process, number one, Mr. Davidson came up here and chastised this committee. I’ll tell you right now that I back this committee 100%. Mr. Davidson has forgot that he used to be in this horseshoe and believe me, there was some nasty battles in here and he was the culprit that started many of them. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Secondly, after the meeting was over, one of you gentlemen confronted me and said I was nasty for me voting my way, pointing your finger at me. I hope that is not the way you do business at your meetings because that is not the right thing to do. When votes are taken in this horseshoe and we leave the horseshoe it should be done with. I did vote against Mrs. Adams for one reason – conflict of interest. I work in human resources and there is a conflict of interest. She works at the same place as her husband regardless if she has no direct control over him, she may make some decisions that will affect him in a good way or a bad way. It could happen and you don’t want it to happen. The woman is more than qualified and I’m not questioning her dedication but that one conflict of interest is the one that stands out. As a human resource guro, I will not vote for her nomination. Alderman Siegel I’d like to address some of the statements that have been made with regard to whether we had our minds made up. I will tell you that I didn’t walk into the committee with any preconceived notion of voting against Ms. Adams. I came in with an open mind. I have no agenda or Litmus test on the airport manger. In fact, as I said to Mr. Stevens, who happens to be my neighbor, I don’t feel qualified to make any decision about what should or should not be done with the airport manager. My inclination would be that it’s not my decision. I do believe that there is a conflict of interest but even then I was willing to be open-minded and let the candidate explain how it would be dealt with. The problem is that throughout the course of the discussion, what I thought was most needed at the Airport Authority or perhaps any authority is a sense of diplomacy that at this particular point in time, given all of the amount of conflict that there’s been, we need someone whose primary qualifications is an ability to really smooth the waters. I have limited contact with the candidate. I have heard nothing but good things and I have no ability to judge whether or not she would be qualified with the specific merits of her experience. I like the idea of her having eyeballs on the airport, I think that’s great. What I didn’t see was a diplomat and what I didn’t hear from the people that came up here, except for one comment by Mr. Steven’s who said that this is a diplomat, this is someone who will come in and get party’s together and smooth the waters. Look at what’s going on in the Airport Authority, there’s all this public comment. This is out of all proportion as to what normally goes on there and if you think that I or anybody else is politically pressured by this but I don’t feel any political pressure. I’m just trying to vote as I believe my job is. I’m sorry Mr. Noyes does not believe that this committee’s job is to properly interview the candidate and make an informed judgment. Apparently, our job is to nod our heads and every Mayoral nominee that comes through here, our job is to just say yes. I beg to differ. Sometimes we have questions and I stand by my vote. Alderman Soucy We got dragged into a fight that I really wanted no part of. It started with an organized effort, a campaign of letters and e-mails coming in, phone calls mostly speaking against the nomination of Sandra Adams. Then later on another organized effort in favor. So there’s some controversy. I want to start off with the conflict of interest portion of what I see. I’m kind of in agreement that it probably is minimal. That everybody who is on the board has some type of interest and that this conflict of interest argument may be somewhat valid in their mind but may also be a sidebar issue of a bigger, larger underlying issue that hasn’t been presented. So that’s minimal for me. When we talk about the liaison, although I wasn’t pleased or agreed with Sandra’s opinion on the liaison, I think more now than ever it would be a great time to have a liaison, even the last couple of years because that liaison would have had a direct ear to find out what’s going on and have a better understanding. Again, not too much of an issue. I guess my biggest issue is controversy. I don’t want to be put in a position where I’m taking sides. I’m not sure if it’s a small group that’s against or if it’s a larger group. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 16 I just don’t know. Based on that, my feeling is it’s probably going to be taken off the table and there will be a more discussion on it but it’s something the Board of Aldermen can’t fix. To you, the community, Nashua Airport Authority, you’ve got to come together. You’ve got to figure this out. You’ve got to fix it. Right now it’s not fixed. I’m not sure by having a controversial candidate that it can be fixed this way. I would caution the other side that is against Sandra’s nomination that if you were to put your own candidate up that’s controversial, no way would I support that either. I would like to see the Airport community figure this out and work this out. Alderman Deane In my time on this Board there have been members that were nominees that were put forward to the Airport Authority that were rejected. I believe one was Paul Connolly. The other was Lee Zompetti. The comment that was made earlier about the appointments being approved all the time is not quite correct. Alderman Sheehan I would echo that it’s not this Board. It happened with the Pennichuck Board as well. There was a woman who was nominated who had been on the previous Board and we were pretty emphatic that we thought we could do better and we tried again. It has happened before. I will address the conflict of interest because that comes up all the time. It makes me think of when I first ran for office. It was brought up all the time because my husband at the time was working for the city. The point was I would recuse myself if it was something that would affect him. In my first term when he was working here, it didn’t actually come up. I think what that gets to is the fact that there is actually another issue. That is something to bring up in a public way that there’s other things that haven’t been brought up. False controversies have been brought up. Using the fact that it’s controversial as a reason not to do it, I don’t think is fair or right because it is rewarding someone for pitching a fit because they are not liking something. I don’t agree with doing that. Creating a controversy about something that may or may not be legitimate doesn’t legitimatize it. The real issue I think was brought up a couple of times tonight in public comment while I was here. There’s been a litmus test. If there has been public expressions about a position on something that may or may not come before the Board it gives people an opportunity to cry foul. I think that is what has happened here. It’s the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. People who have been on the Board have expressed opinions that are going on. New members that may be coming in who have an opinion are going to ring in on one side or another for a group of people that may or may not be affected by any decisions that are going to be made. The reason question should be: Do we think that Mrs. Adams or anybody coming in can be impartial and look at something in a way that will stand up legally. Whatever decisions are made that may or may not affect people’s livelihood will likely be challenged in a court of law. Do we think someone can make an impartial decision based on the facts that they have moving forward. If someone has expressed an opinion, maybe they recuse themselves for that particular issue moving forward if that’s what the fear is. I think that’s when we get down to brass tacks is the issue. There has been opinions expressed in the past on different things that are in the process. Anybody who has expressed an opinion that might effect somebody negatively that’s where we’re going to see this. I’m not on the committee. When it gets to the full Board, that’s what I’m basing my decision on. The rest to me isn’t really a valid reason not to or anytime somebody comes in and just creates controversy, are we supposed to run away from it? No. We’re here to make decisions that may be tough. To me it is can somebody be impartial or not, will it stand up to a legal challenge if they can’t. That’s what it comes down to. Alderman McGuinness I was not at the original committee meeting that took this vote, but I did watch it on TV. It was interesting. I don’t’ believe there’s any doubt that Ms. Adams is a very talented woman and very well like. However, I put a lot of weight on the fact that she is controversial. Very controversial indeed, so much so that it rises to the level that we’re having this meeting again tonight to revisit a vote. There seems to me there are two camps here with very strong opinions on each side. There has been a lot of cooperation between these two camps for quite some time. It just seems to me that the Airport Authority should be finding ways to bring things together. I think Alderman Siegel alluded to what we really need here. A diplomat. She maybe a wonderful Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 17 lady but as has been demonstrated, I think what the Board probably needs now is a less controversial person. I think you’re always going to and with any vote there’s going to be suspicions about why the vote took that course. We’re going to have one camp that’s just going to be unhappy. It’s going to go on and on. I think fighting over at the Airport could continue for some time. I think if I was Ms. Adams I would respectfully withdraw my nomination under those circumstances. I think the nature of the conflict is so great that that is important. It is an important consideration. Alderman Caron I was the only one who voted for Ms. Adams. As I stated at the last meeting if you take into consideration all the members of the Airport Authority, they could all have a conflict. Unfortunately you have commissions and boards and you will always have controversy. Although this one has come up and has divided the camp, but I still feel that Ms. Adams could bring something to the table. Her table is for only two years. If she gets appointed, she may just find out that this isn’t what she really wants to be a part of if people can’t get together. Usually it’s something that’s strong and people get this in the head that they are doing the right thing, and they may not be. I really don’t think that conflict is quite as important as whatever the controversy is between these two groups. Unfortunately we have no control over bringing them together and trying to get them to work together. I agree with Alderman Soucy. The airport community has to work together. It’s a small group of people. They are the ones who would have to come together to make the Airport as good as it is and better. We over here at the Board, all we can do is appointing those members and hope that everyone does the same thing. As far as Mr. Moushegian, I think that having him as part of that continuation would be a good thing. I am not going to change my vote. I’m still going to vote yes. I may be the only one on the committee, but that’s okay. I’ll stand by my vote. Alderman Schoneman I’m not on the committee either, and I don’t have a vote here although I certainly will when the time comes to bring it before the full Board. I just would like to comment in much a way as I can to begin to bring peace to the airport community and to talk about an appointment to anybody on the Board. I want to address first the question of conflict of interest. I’ll be brief on it; it’s been talked about a lot. I think when people talk about a conflict of interest, we should understand that there is a size and a scope of a conflict that may be different in different cases. While somebody can say anyone who is a tenant has a conflict, the degree of tenancy and the dependency of that tenancy on livelihood is different than a tenancy for a place to store an airplane or anything else. I just throw that out there. Secondly, I would say that clearly there is controversy. While it may not be possible to eliminate controversy in all cases, I think a possibility exists that there could be someone named that would be less controversial. I would add that all the things that Sandy does that are so beneficial to the Airport, and truly do serve the community, are not loss to the community if she is not on the Authority. I think that’s important to remember. She is well liked; she is well connected. All those things that exist don’t go away if she’s not on the Authority. I would offer only that we do need to move forward with the Airport and have decision made that don’t immediately call out questions. I think that any time an individual member makes a decision that is contrary to the interests of a group of people on the Airport, there’s going to be continued controversy. Let’s be aware of that and strive to find a path that is less controversial. Thank you. Alderman Dowd I’m not on this committee, and I’m not going to make a recommendation one way or the other because I’m not on this committee. I do have one issue with not appointing somebody because they are controversial. I think in November we’re going to have a real problem trying to elect someone. There’s the issue of conflict. As have been stated there has been conflict on the Board; there’s been conflict on many boards. When I went on the Airport Authority and I was on the Airport Authority for 15 years, I served with Phil Labombard, who at the time, owned the largest building, the largest aircraft and other aircraft and had a fuel farm. Also I served with John Potfora who owned a hanger and had an aircraft. All the time I served with them, there was never an issue of controversy because they would recuse themselves from anything that directly impacted them. I would expect that from any board if somebody has a conflict on a particular interest. I have to say that would Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 18 there be conflicts? There may well be. Is every issue that comes before the Board going to be a conflict of interest? No. The only thing I’m going to say and I was lobbied hard by both sides because of my history with the airport. I listened. I didn’t make any commitments one way or the other per se, but I just want to make sure that Mrs. Adams’ appointment is treated fairly, that the Board thinks very carefully about whether she can make decisions that are in the best interest of the Airport Authority. I have to say that trying to predispose what decision somebody is going to make before they’ve heard all the facts on something is not something we ought to do when we’re looking at appointments. The key is can somebody make informed, good decisions and are they willing to serve. That’s all I have to say. Alderman McCarthy With regard to the conflict, I just don’t see it as an issue. Frankly, I don’t buy the argument of scope. People on this board, many of us, have various small items that we have conflicts on. I do. Alderman Deane does. Alderman Wilshire does. Alderman Sheehan did. I think Alderman Soucy may if certain issues surrounding retired police officers come up. We all know to recuse ourselves on those things, and we all know to say that’s why we’re doing it. If it’s a conflict to be a tenant at the Airport, it’s a conflict at the Airport. By the way that means people who are tenants at the Airport shouldn’t be the liaison from this Board to the Airport for example if that’s a conflict. It’s a conflict or it’s not. I think it’s a conflict that is manageable the same way we do it everywhere else. With regard to Ms. Adams’ skills of diplomacy, what I watched a couple of weeks ago when she was here was somebody who showed some of the most grace under fire I’ve ever seen in this Chamber including from people who are elected that are seated here. Which one of us hasn’t gotten upset about the questions we were asked on some issues that was in front of us. Yet, I saw Ms. Adams calmly and peacefully respond to all the questions we asked her. I haven’t seen how she’s going to behave in an issue that deals with the two sides of the Airport. She’s not in a position to do that. I think she’ll do just fine. I think she’ll do much better than most people could do. That’s one of the reasons that I think it’s a good idea to have her. As far as the controversy is concerned, it’s there and we’re in the middle of it. You better not make any mistake about that. Alderman Schoneman said we should support our constituents which in this case is the users of the Airport. I couldn’t’ agree with him more. But not all users of the Airport have exactly the same interests in the Airport. There are conflicts in interest between the people at the Airport that stand up at that microphone and tell us what to do. There are people that have interests other than just making sure the Airport exceeds. There are people that have interests in making sure their personal interest in the Airport succeeds. What the Airport Authority has to do is to balance those and make the best decisions for the Airport as a whole and for the Airport as it relates to Nashua. We’re in the middle of that. We don’t understand what the conflict is, don’t just say we’ll vote for somebody that’s non-controversial because that is basically picking a side in the conflict and saying the louder side gets the win. We’ve got to be very careful about that. I’m telling you, I have some idea what’s going on. I don’t think it’s an easy thing for anybody to navigate their way through. I think there are decisions that have to be made that are “hard decisions” because some faction or other at the airport is going to wind up in a position they don’t want to be in or the taxpayers of Nashua, as a whole, are going to wind up in a situation they don’t want to be in because they have to pay for something that’s not necessarily to their benefit. I am glad that we have a set of people that are going to sit down and look at those things and figure out in a rationale way. I think Sandra is a perfect addition to that, and I think we would be foolish not to put her in there and use her skills as part of the group that does that. I understand that we have some lasting prejudice from the process that we’ve gone through based on things that have been said about this Board, things that have been said about individuals, and whatever. Put those aside and just look at, do you think this person can sit on a board that has contentious issues to deal with over the next couple of years and apply rationale skills to find the best solutions for those. I think she does. I intend to vote for her. I would urge this committee to do the same thing. Alderman Wilshire I agree with Alderman McCarthy. I think putting her on this Board would be the best thing we could do for the Airport Authority. I think she has the integrity to recuse herself if there were a conflict of interest. I’ve been accused of a conflict of interest, myself. I’ve been there, done that. I certainly know when I have to recues myself. I don’t think that’s a really big issue. I intend to support her. I think she will be a good addition. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 19 Alderwoman Brown I would like to thank Mrs. Adams for sticking with it and staying with us and for having the courage and the guts to come back here tonight. I’ve met with Mrs. Adams and I have absolutely no doubt that you are an exceptional candidate, that you are a gift. You are educated, you have a business there. You are dedicated to the Airport Authority. Even meeting with you this afternoon that has completely convinced me of that. Also thank you to all of you who have come here to show your support. Out of all the letters and all the individuals that have come forth, I would say that at least 75 percent of the individuals have been in full support of Mrs. Adams’ candidacy. I’m very surprised there are members here that are still in doubt of that. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja I watched the first interview and certainly was here at the last full Board meeting and again tonight because I wanted to be here in person to get a sense of the room. I made notes about words that just keep coming up about Ms. Adams: knowledgeable, experienced, honest, objective, a communicator, diplomatic. I’ve also been out at the restaurant to have lunch and breakfast, and I’ve overheard her having conversations. Sometimes she agrees with people, sometimes she didn’t but they were always friendly conversations and a sharing of information. The whole conflict of interest, as others have said, there’s probably isn’t one member on that Authority who doesn’t have some sort of conflict of interest. You certainly want people on that Authority that are interested and committed to what’s going on out there. I just can’t buy that. I think when people get to that point in leadership, like people around this horseshoe, you have the sense and if you don’t, your peers will point out to you, when you have a conflict or a potential conflict. I just don’t buy the whole conflict of interest piece. Then to the controversial nature of this, I agree with Alderman McCarthy. I think that to say I can’t support this because it’s controversial is just putting yourself right in the middle of it. I think that any other nomination that’s going to come forward, you will feel that same sense of controversy. People who are in favor that are highly outspoken about this nomination are going to come and maybe speak about another one. So, I don’t buy that either. When the nomination comes to the full Board, I intend to support it. Thank you. MOTION FAILED TO RECOMMEND THE APPOINTMENT OF SANDRA ADAMS TO THE NASHUA AIRPORT AUTHORITY MOTION BY ALDERMAN CHASSE TO FORWARD THE APPOINTMENT OF SANDRA ADAMS TO THE NASHUA AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE AUGUST 31, 2017, TO THE FULL BOARD WITH NO RECOMMENDATION ON THE QUESTION Alderman Siegel We didn’t make a “no” recommendation, we said no in committee. Is that not an option? Chairman Chasse It failed so I’m sending it to the full Board with no recommendation from this committee. Alderman Siegel Okay, thank you. MOTION CARRIED Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 20 Alderman Deane I believe it’s going to be on our agenda tomorrow. Her placeholder is on tomorrow’s agenda just if these folks want to know. Chairman Chasse This should be pretty easy tomorrow night because it’s going to the full Board. It’s nice to see that we had 13 of the aldermen out of 15 that were here to listen. It shouldn’t take long tomorrow night, folks. As soon as it gets on the agenda, it should come right up and we will vote on it. If she passes, she might get sworn in right away. Alderman Deane She will. If it passes, she will unless the City Attorney doesn’t show up. Stranger things have happened. UNFINISHED BUSINESS – None NEW BUSINESS - RESOLUTIONS– None NEW BUSINESS - ORDINANCES O-14-028 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan Alderwoman Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja Alderman June M. Caron Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire RENAMING THE ETHNIC AWARENESS COMMITTEE THE CULTURAL CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE ON THE QUESTION Alderman Sheehan When the Ethnic Awareness Committee was created, I want to say in the mid-80’s, the ethnic diversity of our city was very different from what it is today. It was mostly I want to say like 94 percent looked like me. We had foresight to say that the recognition that differences can be enriching and form a committee about that. It became about increasing awareness. We have grown as a city, and we’ve become much more richly diverse. The term has kind of changed, and the use in what it carries for meetings. A lot of people hear the Ethnic Awareness Committee and people say: I’m aware. I don’t need to be involved in that, when the mission is actually to build on the connections and the richness the diversity brings. The group has been asking for quite some time to have a name change to more reflect what it is and to be more inviting for people to get involved. We had a change in chairmanship that has really catapulted the level of activity, the level of engagement from the community. This has come from the group which has grown from a group of about 6-8 people who didn’t really get too much done to a group of about 20 people that actively work on different events. I would say there is at least one community event each month. For example, this weekend the block parties were well represented. You may have seen the picture in the paper of Tom Lopez doing the drum painting. That was done by the Ethnic Awareness Committee. The Water Street Ramp Art Festival the week before that was also a part of the Ethnic Awareness Committee. They’ve asked us to recognize their request with their chosen name which is the Cultural Connections Committee which has come out of a few months of working on what would be the best name for them. They are asking for your support in changing the name. They think it will encourage more people to become involved. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 21 Alderman Deane Why would we remove the Ethnic Awareness? Why wouldn’t we just put the word “and” there? I hear what you are saying and I know things change. Alderman Sheehan The word “ethnic” has become offensive. If I asked you: How are the ethnics doing? You would be like: Oh, Wow, did she just say that? It’s offensive now. It’s become a word that is not what it originally had for their social connotation. Alderman Deane I guess that’s not a good word then. Thank you. Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja As someone that was involved with that committee when it began and then has served as the liaison, I think that in conversation with the members of that committee they also realize that it’s beyond awareness. People are aware, but they are looking for something deeper and people being connected and understanding what’s going on. I would say that the police department is a prime example. The Police Department has representation on that. They certainly bring to the table information that helps educate the rest of the members of that committee. I think the idea is this is about taking the many cultures within our community. The ones that have been here as well as the new ones and cultures that are coming in and helping build connections between individuals that represent those different groups. Alderman Siegel It sounds like a really good idea. I appreciate this coming forward. If the committee wants that done, I don’t see any reason why not. MOTION CARRIED TABLED IN COMMITTEE Appointments by the Mayor MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY TO TAKE FROM THE TABLE THE APPOINTMENTS BY THE MAYOR MOTION CARRIED Nashua Airport Authority Richard Moushegian (Reappointment) Term to Expire: August 31, 2019 78 Tennyson Avenue Nashua, NH 03062  Tabled 8/25/14 MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY TO RECOMMEND THE CONFIRMATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF RICHARD MOUSHEGIAN TO THE NASHUA AIRPORT AUTHORITY FOR A TERM TO EXPIRE AUGUST 31, 2019 MOTION CARRIED Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 22 Resolutions MOTION BY ALDERMAN SOUCY TO TAKE FROM THE TABLE R-14-054 MOTION FAILED R-14-054 Endorser: Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan ESTABLISHING A TREE STUDY AD HOC COMMITTEE  Tabled – 8/25/14 O-14-017 Endorser: Mayor Donnalee Lozeau ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO MERIT EMPLOYEE RULES AND REGULATIONS EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2014  Amended & Tabled 4/21/14 O-14-020 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large Diane Sheehan Alderwoman Pamela T. Brown ESTABLISHING A GREELEY PARK ADVISORY COMMITTEE  Also assigned to the Board of Public Works; Tabled 4/24/14 MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO TAKE FROM THE TABLE O-14-025 MOTION CARRIED O-14-025 Endorsers: Alderman-at-Large David W. Deane Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire Alderman Ken Siegel AMENDING THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE TRUSTEES OF TRUST FUNDS  Tabled – 8/25/14 MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO RECOMMEND FINAL PASSAGE OF O-14-025 ON THE QUESTION Alderman McCarthy I had asked that that get held while an amendment get prepared by legal. I met with Attorney Clarke a week and a half or so ago. I had actually thought she might have had the amendment done for today, but I guess she didn’t have time to finish it. I would ask that we hold it for one more meeting until that amendment is available to discuss. Alderman Deane Could you discuss your proposal? It’s been a month, if you don’t mind. Alderman McCarthy I don’t know if it was a month ago. I had discussed it here at the last meeting when it was held. The proposal is basically to merge the CERF process with budget. What would happen is we’ll see a resolution that says here’s the stuff that’s covered by CERF. It will be the list of stuff that’s in there. Coincident with the budget Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 23 every year, any changes to the CERF plan would be submitted by resolution or that could be done elsewhere during the year if there are emergency things. The cases we’ve seen where Park and Rec says we don’t want to replace the 6-wheel dump truck. I want to buy a tractor and a bunch of implements to go with it would be reviewed by the Budget Committee during the budget deliberations. The CERF Committee, itself, would only be responsible for the like-for-like replacements where there is adequate money in the account plus the description isn’t changing of what the equipment is. I think that covers the cases you were concerned with which are the ones I have seen when we’ve been dealing with CERF stuff in the past few years. Alderman Deane That was one of my concerns. I’m glad that you looked to address that. One of my major concerns is the inability to keep people appointed on this committee. That’s exactly what this ordinance does. We have one appointee whose term expired in 2005. We have another one that expired in 2012. What that does is that leaves the Board President, because those two have not attended, the City Treasurer who works to the pleasure of the Mayor, and the Mayor. Obviously if you’re on a committee and you want to call a meeting, it takes a majority. This Board could do it if you get eight aldermen or whatever but in this case, there’s no recourse to call the meeting. In this case you have somebody there casting a vote that works to the pleasure of the Mayor. My thought was to ease the whole process since we’re elected and since we’re appointed to different committees and liaison assignments that this would really be no different. In fact, it would probably be more of a matter of convenience than anything else. On top of that since we approve the budget, basically the policy of the purchasing, this is just a recommendation that’s brought forth to the Finance Committee who still has to make the recommendation of the purchase. I’m just looking at maintain a makeup of the committee by people that are going to be here and serve, whether it’s an alderman-at-large. I would imagine it would just be a two-year term. When the term started that’s when the appointments would be made. Alderman McCarthy The other part of it would be to reduce that to a smaller set of perhaps just the President, the Mayor and the Treasurer. Since there’s no policy essentially asserted by that Board anymore, if it’s only judging like-for-like replacements, then all we have to do is look at it and say is this like-for-like and if there is money in the account and then send it forward to the Finance Committee. The decisions about what does and doesn’t qualify as replacement equipment would be left to the Budget Committee and the Board of Aldermen by ordinance as part of the budget process. I thought that was a substantially better process than the one we are using now because it gives all 15 members of the Board of Aldermen visibility to how the CERF program is being implemented and reduces the CERF trustees to just the administrative function of saying we’re going to replace a truck and send that to the Finance Committee. Alderman Deane If you’re having a purchase that’s being requested and it’s not like-for-like then currently the CERF committee doesn’t have to do anything with it. A case in point, the police department vehicles that they use for traffic violations. These electric cars and smaller cars, that’s not like-for-like. There’s a blazer down there that I’m of the opinion that although Ford just came out with an F-150 that has a snowplow package that’s it’s not an approved vehicle. We don’t own any other vehicles in the City of Nashua that has plows on it that are F-150. They are 250, 350 and up. That’s something else that’s sitting in committee. How is that a like-for-like? I just think the way it is set up now, I don’t know how we would go with dealing with the fact that right now at this current point in time the Mayor has total control over the CERF committee for obvious reasons. If I work for the administration and work to their pleasure and I served on that committee, voting no might be a difficult thing for me to do. It’s not just the police department, it’s the whole process. The committee should have the five members, and it doesn’t. I just think that’s a problem. My change to that problem would be to appoint two additional aldermen who are going to be here anyway so we don’t have to worry about people not being appointed to the committee, and the committee would stay enforce. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 24 Alderman McCarthy The way that the issue around reasonable trucks is taken up is one of the things I asked is that a column get added to the CERF thing which is a functional description so that if it says it has to be capable of being used to plow, what we need is another truck that will handle a plow. I believe that will handle the case of the F-150, F- 250 because that’s one of the things that we did talk about in looking at crafting a solution to that. My goal is to get it so the decisions about what we’re buying vehicles for get made by the Board during the budget process. The decisions about let’s buy this one because we’ve done the work to get the purchase ready are just approve by the CERF Committee and then by the Finance Committee. I think that’s a better way to do the policy part of it by having the whole Board involved. Alderman Deane I want to have a CERF Committee meeting, and I want to take something out of CERF. How do I do that? Alderman McCarthy What do you mean you want to take something out of CERF? Alderman Deane Say something comes into CERF that needs to be purchased? You had two CERF Committees in the last term. Alderman McCarthy And that’s all that was ever requested. I don’t know of any requests that didn’t come out of CERF. Alderman Deane What I looked at was a massive amount of vehicles that were approved in one shot. Alderman McCarthy Right because they were done at the beginning of the year, once a year. There was never a request to take anything out of at a different time than that. And I agree, there might have been more meetings had it been easier to have them. It will be a lot easier to have them when you don’t have to get five people together because the purpose of the committee is not for five people, two of whom have nothing to do with it, and one of whom works for the Mayor, to get together to discuss what kind of truck we ought to get. Alderman Deane Didn’t you just do that? You mentioned you had discussions about the F-150 and F-250. Who did you have those discussions with? Alderman McCarthy No. I said I knew that issue was there. Alderman Deane How did you know that? Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 25 Alderman McCarthy I had that discussion with Dory about how to resolve, excuse me with Attorney Clarke, about how to resolve that issue in the process that’s being described in the draft ordinance. Alderman Deane How were you made aware of the truck issue? Alderman McCarthy I have no idea. I just know that it was there at some point. Chairman Chasse Can we pull this back in a little bit. You’re talking about the number of membership. We’re talking about trust funds, trustees for the trust funds. You can debate this all night. Just kind of pull it in maybe, and go get a coffee and talk about it. Alderman McCarthy I would just ask that we hold this until a draft of that ordinance is available and then decide what to do with it. Alderman Siegel I’d be interested in seeing what Alderman McCarthy is getting drafted only because I can’t react to it without seeing it so I don’t think it’s quite fair to just dismiss it out of hand because like anything it might be a better solution. I just have no idea. I do take issue with the idea, and now again I haven’t seen the draft so I only know from your description, but you seem to indicate that like-for-like things would continue as they are in CERF. I’m not sure always like-for-like is the right thing to always approve. If we approved like-for-like, we’d still be using VCRs right now. Alderman McCarthy We can fix that with resolutions, however. The process would envision changes to the CERF plan originating with the Board of Aldermen as resolutions. Alderman Siegel Thank you. I guess I’ll just wait to see what comes out. Alderman Deane I have one more question. So the particulars won’t be dictated by one person any longer? Alderman McCarthy I would expect not. Alderman Deane That’s a problem. That’s a big problem. Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 26 Alderman McCarthy That’s the goal. Alderman Deane Don’t you agree? Chairman Chasse Again, back to the discussion. Alderman Deane I just want a simple yes or no. Alderman McCarthy I’m not sure I’m prepared to give one. There is an issue there that I think we need to address. I think the policy on what we do should be done by the Board of Aldermen as most budgetary policy is. I’m not going to get into issues with the particular people involved as to whether I think they are doing a good job or not. I’m trying to propose a solution that allows us to fix the process so that we get better results out of it. I think having that process so that the Board of Aldermen is the one that prescribes what we’re going to pay for with CERF money is the right one to use. MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO TABLE O-14-025 MOTION CARRIED DISCUSSION PUBLIC COMMENT Dave O’Sullivan, Broad Street, Hollis One point. Sandy Adams being controversial, that’s quite true. The reason it is being fueled? It’s being fueled by the people at the airport and it is being fueled by the Board of Aldermen, the controversies. Once she is appointed the thing will run out of fuel. Therefore, the controversy issue will be a short-lived issue. Thank you. Leonard Cushing, 5 Scarborough Drive I’m the husband in question. I’ve sat through almost three meetings biting my tongue now. I want to respond to one statement tonight and this is directed to you, Mr. Chasse. At the end of your comments, you emphatically stated that the one and only overriding reason that you would vote no for Sandy is because of her husband’s employment at the airport. You need to educate yourself with who employs me. I’ve been employed at the airport for close to 22 years as an air traffic controller. I work for Midwest Air Traffic Control. They are based in Kansas. Their contract is with the federal government, not the Nashua Airport Authority. The federal government determined that Nashua needed a tower and met the criteria for a tower. There was a time, 15 years ago, where the Nashua Airport Authority administered the contract. They would take bids from several contractors and they would determine which contract won the bid for the next three to five-year period. Over ten years ago the Airport Authority decided they did not want to be an individual contractor for air traffic control services. They decided to enter into the National Contract Tower program. Now the FAA and the US government, the federal government, administers the contract. The Nashua Airport Authority has absolutely nothing to do with my employment, my wages, which are determined by the Department of Labor, Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 27 my hours, my vacation, my benefits. Now the other bone of contention is my part-time employment as a plower at the airport. I’ll guarantee you right now on public record I’ll end that controversy and conflict, imaginary conflict of interest for your right now. If Sandra Adams is appointed to the Airport Authority, my employment as a part-time contractor plowing snow at the airport will be terminated. I’m not going to miss a four o’clock wakeup call from the Director of Airport Authority asking me to come in and plow. That will be terminated. So that ends that conflict. Now you see there is no conflict, and I expect your vote to be yea now that you realize that and understand it. Thank you. Roland Noyes, 16 Coburn Avenue I’m afraid Lenny stole my thunder. I was going to address the chairman for the same reason. The only reason I saw you voting no tonight for Sandra’s nomination was this conflict of interest with her husband. Lenny put it very strongly and very correctly. There is no controversy between the husband’s employment as an Air Traffic Controller and the Nashua Airport Authority. I thank you. REMARKS BY THE ALDERMEN Alderwoman Brown I am so glad Mr. Cushing spoke and clarified that. I would hope that he could forward that information in the form of an e-mail to the full Board of Aldermen so they understand that that is not a real conflict of interest. I personally believe that this conflict of interest is simply smoke and mirrors. What I see is happening from all the conversations I had, the e-mails that I’ve received is that with new management there has been some rules and regulations that are now being enforced. Nobody likes change. There are some individuals that are particularly interested because their business model would have to change. Now the problem with not enforcing these rules is that it jeopardizes a federal grant that the airport gets so it is critical that these rules and regulations are implemented. My understanding is that this small group of owners banded together. I don’t know if they were the founders of the NAOPA but in looking at the website, even though it appears to be just this happy fellowship, I believe its objective is to get the manager fired and removed. I believe that we really need to look at the truth in this matter. I believe that Sandy Adams is completely qualified. I hope that members of the Board are open-minded tomorrow night when this comes up for a vote. Thank you. Alderman Schoneman I just want to address Alderwoman Brown’s comments about NAOPA. I want to be clear about this organization. I wasn’t planning on speaking. It is not united with a desire to get the manager thrown out. That does not exist. Certainly I think it is safe to say that it was formed because of fear or pressure, not wanting to be told what to do in a bad way. It had nothing to do really with rules, but with an authoritarian approach. I think it was formed defensively. That is not what it is now, and it is not their agenda. I speak now in their defense. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Chairman Chasse I just want to thank everybody for coming out and speaking tonight. I did know about you being a FAA employee, and I knew you weren’t getting paid by the airport. I was well aware of that. I was also well aware of your part-time position. Like I say, tomorrow night will be the big vote, and we’ll see what happens then. POSSIBLE NON-PUBLIC SESSION Personnel – 09/22/14 Page 28 ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY ALDERMAN DEANE TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED The meeting was declared closed at 9:16 p.m. Alderman Michael Soucy Committee Clerk