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.
At the last possible moment, there was an op-ed by Lori Wilshire, Mike O’Brien, and June Caron pushing a vote of NO on Ballot question #2.
Eight members of the Board of Alderman voted against this proposal. Why only three names behind this letter?
Lori Wilshire – President Shoshanna Kelley – At Large
Mike O’Brien – Vice President Elizabeth Lu – Ward 6
Dave Tencza – At-Large Member Rick Dowd – Ward 2
Ben Clemons – At Large Member June Caron – Ward 7
Elizabeth Lu, a registered Democrat, has fallen out of favor because of her independent positions which don’t always fall in step with her Democrat colleagues and has been a voice against this change posting weeks ago on social media to vote No.
Why the silence from Attorney Tencza, Ms. Kelley, Mr. Dowd? Simple. They are perfect modern-day politicians. Their political boss (Mayor Donchess), their source of campaign funding and party clout, told them to. And it’s probably not a coincidence that two of the three are running for re-election.
Much of what is wrong with our local, state, and national politics can be attributed to two things. Democrats and Republicans. It just so happens that Nashua politics is brimming with the former. But more specifically, what has earned each party their reputations is the willingness of those climbing the ladder to place their own needs and aspirations above doing right for their constituents.
The party chaos continues because some aspire and rise to the level where they can be bullies (Mayor Donchess) and others such as Kelly, Tencza, and Dowd consent to be bullied.
It is rare that the public is handed an opportunity like the Police Commission Charter Change to bring to light the true character and priorities of our politicians, without it being interspersed with other things. But, thanks to Mayor Donchess, we now have a pretty good read of what we have in the Chamber.
What Kelly, Tencza, and Dowd know is that the public has a short memory, and walking the party line or at least “not opposing” the Mayor’s Charter Change is more in their interest than opposing it. It appears that doing the right thing doesn’t factor as strongly into their calculations. Kelly, Tencza, and Dowd are classic go-along to get along modern-day politicians.
Fortunately, two of them are up for re-election on November 2 and the community can send them packing, which I strongly recommend. Please bring balance and integrity to our elected government. Please vote incumbents Dowd and Kelly out of office and support Donald Scott for Ward 2 and Laura Colquhoun, Don Whalen, and Kristin Wilson for your at-large seats.
