Friday’s virtual meeting of the Nashua Board of Public Health concerning establishing a curfew in Nashua was unexpectedly postponed because Mayor Jim Donchess was not able to call in, according to the Director of Nashua Public Health and Community Services, Bobbie Bagley.
Related: Nashua Board of Health to Consider COVID Curfew in Gate City
No agenda was posted for the meeting and no date for the rescheduled meeting was posted on the City of Nashua website and no other information was available.
A Right to Know request has been submitted for emails to and from the Mayor concerning the curfew but based on experiences with recent Right to Know responses from the City, it can take weeks to get a response.
The curfew was originally brought up at the Tuesday, November 24 Board of Aldermen meeting by Dr. Stephanie Wolf-Rosenblum, a member of the Nashua Board of Public Health. She spoke at length during public comment of a need to consider a curfew. She expressed concern about a rapid spread of COVID-19 caused by partying during the holidays, starting with “Drinksgiving.”
The Mayor appeared to be alarmed at her warning and said the Board of Health needs to meet “as soon as they possibly can” to discuss a curfew. It seemed to be the first he had heard of anyone suggesting a curfew and he wanted to take action immediately.
Monday, the Union Leader reported on the planned meeting:
With a 9:30 p.m. curfew in effect in Massachusetts, Nashua officials are exploring a similar curfew to keep Bay Staters from crossing the border to party on at Gate City bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.
“Our intentions in looking at a curfew were based on the fact that we have had substantial increase in our (COVID-19) cases for the past couple of months during this pandemic,” Bobbie Bagley, director of public health, said this week.
“What worries me the most is the bars, not to pick on anyone,” said Mayor Jim Donchess, pointing to people mingling without masks while eating and drinking.
The Friday meeting time for the Board of Health was not realistic since, by law, an agenda would have to be released to the public during the Thanksgiving holiday. And the Mayor was not available to meet anyway.
This hasty and chaotic handling of the serious situation of taking our freedoms away with a curfew is typical of the amateur handling of the city’s affairs by our elected officials and City staff.
