Article 1 Section 8 of the NH Constitution states that government should be accessible and accountable to its citizens. This is not the case with the Nashua Performing Arts Center (NPAC).
The 201 Main St. Real Estate and 201 Main Street Finance Corporations have total control of our tax dollars and are managing the construction, change orders, and equipment purchasing of the NPAC.
The Performing Arts Center passed a non-binding referendum vote by barely 100 votes. The City then bonded $15 million to construct a new Performing Arts Center where the Alex Shoe Store was located on Main Street. This became a controversial issue. In 2020, the City increased the project costs to $25 million and began the process to obtain financing through a New Market Tax Credit Program (NMTC).
This NMTC program is an extraordinarily complex shady money shell game with numerous banks and investors receiving the tax credits.
(click to enlarge – and you really should!)
The entire 2020 Board of Alderman voted in favor of this finance mechanism; few, if any, could explain it to their constituents.
Prior to the acceptance of the NMTC and restructuring of the Performing Arts Center, all aspects of this project were subject to NH open records laws. This was certainly public money, and we all had a right to understand how this money was being spent. When Nashua Deputy Counsel Leonard wrote the legislation for the two non-profit entities to become agents of this NMTC, she neglected to identify these corporations as RSA 91-A complaint businesses with records subject to public access.
For over a year, I have attempted to obtain information and understand what aspects of these new entities are subject to the Right to Know Law. Not one leader in City Hall would provide information or assist. The Mayor, Director Cummings, Mr. Lannan, and Attorney Bolton all remained silent.
On June 20, 2022, I emailed Rich Lannan, a Pelham resident who the City appointed President of the Art Center business entities, including the two nonprofits set up to accept this shady financing scheme, to inquire about the public nature of these businesses. Do Citizens have a right to know what is going on with this project? For the first time in over a year, the response was that the meetings are open to the public and noticed under RSA 91-A.
Mr. Lannan was not truthful. These meetings, held in the Nashua City Hall auditorium on no set schedule, are not noticed legally, minutes are not being recorded, and minutes are not posted within the timeframe of the law or made available to the public. Audio/Video recording is available in the room, but no recordings are produced. Records are not available for immediate inspection despite numerous requests. Many records do not exist for his “companies” funded with our tax dollars. The City ignored requests to provide construction schedules, financial information, change orders, etc.
All this is in violation of the law.
Economic Development Director Cummings and Mr. Lannan, non-resident Nashua Appointee, have robbed citizens of our legal rights and are spending tens of millions of dollars without allowing any public oversight.
It is time to end this corruption in Nashua and flush out these unscrupulous scoundrels who believe our tax dollars are their dollars. Mr. Lannan and Director Cummings must go.
