News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Laurie Ortolano 
Mayor Donchess,
Ever since the RTK trial in December, Ms. Kleiner appears to be upset with me. She is no longer exhibiting her more even disposition. She seems angry. Every time I try to right a wrong, the City becomes punishing, including you and Attorney Steve Bolton, Recent issues that have frustrated the city included:
This is a formal complaint regarding the conduct of Kim Kleiner. At my request, the police showed up at City Hall and I gave a statement regarding the verbal assault of Ms. Kleiner against me at the end of the Board of Assessors Meeting.
A Monday visit to the customer service area of the clerk’s office proved to be enlightening. City Clerk Lovering and the Nashua Legal office informed me that my time in the office posed a health hazard. Mind you, neither one of these people was present.
Ms. Lovering, (Attorney Steve Bolton and Ms. Deshaies will need to respond to some of these requests.) This threatening posture from you and the Nashua Legal Office of disruptive behavior, health hazards, refusal to leave, and future arrests is unfounded.
Dear Board of Health members,
I am requesting that you hold either an emergency meeting or move your regular meeting to Monday, February 7th to provide a recommendation to the Board of Alderman to lift the mask mandate for their Tuesday, February 8th meeting.
The Nashua Board of Health is pushing a message of fear creating a deep divide in public support for covid protocols. The best leaders take stock of their decisions and own their failures. Nashua’s stories of failure have not yet been spoken.
I have expressed my concerns regarding the fitness for duty of Steve Bolton, Nashua’s Corporation Counsel, through numerous private communications with the Mayor and the BOA. My concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
Aldermen/Attorney Dave Tencza has equated the choice of mask-wearing to drunk driving. A poorly conceived parallel. “No one has the absolute right to drive drunk.,” said Tencza at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
President Wilshire is a seasoned aldermanic leader, but where is the leadership? Under her leadership, the Board has lost sight of the rules and order of the Board.
I zoomed in to last evening’s Nashua Board of Aldermen meeting. The City is creating TIF (Tax Increment Financing) areas downtown. This finance structure must be set up correctly and in compliance with the law.
Senior citizen newcomers to Nashua filed an abatement on their 2016 residential property assessment believing the assessment unfair. The City denied it. The couple appealed to the Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) and lost the decision.
I have been a critic of the eight BoA members who voted against the City Charter Amendment for the appointment of the police commissioners for failing to engage in educating the public to vote no on Ballot question #2. Seven weeks of silence and finally a letter.
The Three reasons I am voting against this Charter Change The Board of Aldermen voted against putting it on the ballot – a big RED flag The Board of Aldermen voted (8-6) (Note 1) against placing this Charter Change on the November 2nd ballot and instead supported forming a working committee to vet this issue … Read more
I have become increasingly concerned about the negative impact of partisan politics on our local government. While this city is chartered as a non-partisan city, public discussion and communication with some in City Hall has become all too partisan.
COVID, taxes, and surplus dollars have allowed the City of Nashua to give City Hall a makeover. They’ve added Fort Knox like 2-inch thick bulletproof glass – impervious to bullets and (COVID?), and Keypad locks on virtually every door in City Hall.
Mayor Donchess is chartered to select the Corporation Counsel for the City (The City Lawyers) to serve at his pleasure but this should not prevent Aldermen from weighing in on the ethics and fiscal abuses occurring in the legal office.
In June, I learned that the City legal office conducted Right-to-Know training for interested City employees. Learning about this during a deposition for my Right-to-Know lawsuit, my Attorney asked City Attorney Bolton to provide the training material.
Nashua resident Sonia Prince has told us on Facebook that she posts 20-30 times a day and has little memory of what she is actually posting. Apparently, she is so saturated with City Hall information leaks and “me first” posting, it’s all a blur to her. But she often accuses others of failing to ‘fact check.’
The August 10, 2021 Board of Aldermen meeting was laced with more curt comments from Mayor Donchess towards Elizabeth Lu. This is reminiscent of Attorney Bolton’s vile interruption of Ms. Lu in the June 22, 2021 Board of Aldermen meeting.