Aldermen Off to Tense, Collaborative Start

A short inaugural ceremony for the city's newly elected officials featured New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster as master of ceremonies, who put an emphasis on cooperation and collaboration. 

It was a theme quickly tested as the Board of Aldermen got stuck on an hour-long merry-go-round of committee wrangling, after some aldermen raised objections to assignments proposed by President-Elect David Deane.

Nearly two hours after the 107th annual inauguration began, the board remained seated on stage in horseshoe formation, painstakingly making changes to the original assignments made by Deane.

The unrest began prior to Sunday's inaugural, when Alderman Brian McCarthy and Alderman Pam Brown each sent out separate emails to fellow board members underscoring the fact that first-choice assignment requests made by each member were not honored in the selection process by Deane.

[CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF THE POST-INAUGURAL MEETING.]

Brown accused Deane of gender bias in his process, saying a majority of the board's four female aldermen did not get their first-requested assignments, and were underrepresented on committee assignments.

That fact was later amended by McCarthy, who said he'd made a mistake in tabulating the committee assignments, and that there were only two female board members who did not get their first choice of committee assignment. (See original memo with addendum here).

Brown said she exercised a Right to Know request to obtain surveys completed by each alderman, a move criticized during the meeting by Alderman Ken Siegel, who told his fellow board members they should accept the committee appointments as decided by Deane.

When the Board initially convened on stage to officially accept the election of Board officers, Alderman Diane Sheehan nominated Lori Wilshire as President, citing the frustration of several board members over the original assignments made by Deane.

Wilshire said she was not expecting the nomination, but would be honored to serve. However, she preferred that Deane instead reconsider the assignments. Alderman Paul Chasse submitted a spreadsheet with first-choice assignments, which a majority of aldermen seemed to accept.

As members of the Board of Education and the public watched from auditorium seating, the board worked through each assignment, extending what should have been a 10-minute vote into more than an hour of deliberation.

Deane told the board he was "offended" by Brown's assertion that he had a gender bias, and told them the reason he got into local politics was his disdain for the way a former female elected official was treated by one of the boards.

In the end, Deane was unanimously elected president, with Brian McCarthy as vice president, and Alderman June Caron took a moment to commend Deane for his leadership in resolving the board's first official dispute.

Brown also commended Deane, and led a round of applause for his handling of the situation.

In her earlier congratulatory remarks to the board, Mayor Donnalee Lozeau encouraged the board to work together for the greater good.

"Regardless of what initially inspired you to put yourself out there for public scrutiny and service or what your long term goals may be, what matters most, is that all of us must find common ground to work together. As I have said before, 'Inside city government we must always remember that we are ONE Nashua. As public servants we are responsible to the citizens of Nashua to maintain a culture of respect, responsiveness, and frugality at all times,' " Lozeau said.

City Clerk Paul Bergeron served as moderator during the meeting debate. 

We'll bring you final assignments as soon as they are available. 

Above are some photo highlights of the inauguration and meeting-go-round. 

Click here for a link to the committee assignment surveys. 

Click here to read the memo written by Vice Chair Brian McCarthy regarding committee assignments, along with an addendum/correction note.

Click here for a link to the memo written by Alderman Pamela Brown.