News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
A field report from seven years inside Nashua’s Right-to-Know trenches I’ve filed hundreds of Right-to-Know requests in this city. I’ve sat through more Board of Aldermen meetings than some Aldermen have. I have, at this point, a working knowledge of Nashua’s assessing department, its Trust funds, its Community Development office, the construction and costs of … Read more
Nashua taxpayers deserve full transparency, accuracy, and candor from their elected officials. Recent developments, however, raise serious concerns about how Mayor Jim Donchess and the Board of Aldermen are managing the City’s finances, and how residents are being informed about those decisions. The FY2026 budget initially presented to residents totaled $474,895,381. Yet the City now … Read more
Loyalty within municipal government often carries a cost, and Nashua taxpayers are paying it without knowing how much. A review of Nashua’s payroll shows that municipal salaries are significantly higher than both the New Hampshire state average and national benchmarks. In 2024 payroll data, the average salary for City of Nashua employees is $84,948, which … Read more
Nashua taxpayers deserve full transparency, accuracy, and candor from their elected officials. Recent developments, however, raise serious concerns about how Mayor Jim Donchess and the Board of Aldermen are managing the City’s finances, and how residents are being informed about those decisions. The FY2026 budget initially presented to residents totaled $474,895,381. Yet the City now … Read more
Nashua taxpayers invest substantial resources in municipal salaries and in the software systems intended to ensure transparent, accessible government. Residents should be able to rely on the city’s website as a complete, accurate, and trustworthy source of information. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. Through a Right‑to‑Know request, I obtained the Land Influence Factors Report, … Read more
Nashua taxpayers deserve public accountability, not silence, and the situation at 181 East Hollis Street makes that painfully clear. City records show: For a 12,000‑square‑foot commercial building, this level of inaction is unprecedented, and it raises serious questions about oversight, consistency, and fairness. I asked the Board of Aldermen, Mayor Donchess, Mr. Cummings and Ms. … Read more
August 19 is a busy day on the calendar. It’s Veto Day, and both chambers convene at 10 am. Also at 10 am, the executive council meets at Cranmore for Kenney’s turn to host in their roadshow series. Later that day (5-6pm) is the 23rd anniversary Nashua Goes Back to School event at Holman Stadium. … Read more
Nashua residents deserve a city government that is transparent, accountable, and respectful of the people it serves. Over the past several years, however, the City of Nashua’s financial administration has moved in the opposite direction, away from openness and toward practices that make it harder for residents to understand how their tax dollars are being … Read more
Nashua residents deserve full transparency into how our City manages taxpayer‑funded housing programs and vets individuals placed in our neighborhoods. Recent events have raised serious and urgent concerns about the City of Nashua’s screening practices, concerns that City officials have repeatedly refused to address. A Nashua resident recently informed me that her father, a local … Read more
Most readers are aware by now that there isn’t much ‘Grok readership in Ward 2, Nashua. Just look at the serial absence of representation in City Hall and the House, election after election, going back several cycles. Having “marked myself safe” from Alderman Dowd before last fall’s election, I can share good news: all of … Read more
Nashua has around 90,000 people in it, give or take, making it the second largest collection of people in a municipality in the state of New Hampshire. As of June 2026, 46,917 of them are registered to vote. As you’d expect, Dems have a registration advantage, but something has happened since 2024. Based on data … Read more
It’s already common knowledge that Rosenwald is retiring from the senate, and the enemy camp has selected Telerski to be her replacement. Queen Sharon called her and Ruth Ward up to her podium to be recognized and receive clocks as retirement gifts and address the rest of the senate. I expected the usual themes a … Read more
A Deeper Analysis of Corporation Counsel’s Role in Nashua’s April 28, 2026, 14 Mulberry Street Secret Vote Preface: Why This Matters Beyond Nashua What happened in Nashua’s aldermanic chamber on the night of April 28, 2026 is not merely a procedural dispute about meeting minutes. It is a case study in how legal counsel to … Read more
How City Hall Used a Closed-Door Session to Hide the Failed 14 Mulberry Street Land Deal from the Public A deep dive into the April 28, 2026 Board of Aldermen non-public session minutes, now unsealed, reveals a troubling pattern of using executive session not to protect the public’s interest, but to shield elected officials from … Read more
I just saw a tweet about some “30-minute warning” announcement about a curfew in a city. The average observer might think of a big box store’s intercom saying, “Attention shoppers, the store closes in 30 minutes, please bring your purchases to the register.” Not me. It triggered my contempt for Alderman Wilshire and her insufferable … Read more
When I opened the Useless Liar’s daily digest email in my inbox, I saw an editorial by Ms. Melanie Levesque and could hardly contain my excitement to read it. Alas, it was a pay article, and I had to ask a paid member to copy and paste it. Grokster Beth Scaer, upon sending it, reminded … Read more
Nashua residents should be paying close attention as the city heads toward what could become an 8% property‑tax increase in 2027. Despite public assurances from Mayor Donchess that departments were instructed to hold budget growth to 3%, many divisions have submitted increases far beyond that limit, and the Board of Aldermen appears content to approve … Read more
Nashua’s “tag line,” nickname, whatever you want to call it, is the Gate City. Narcissistic, Machiavellian, psychopathic Mayor Jim Donchess has repurposed the word ‘gate’ to mean ‘locked,’ thereby turning welcome openness into locked, inaccessible territory. You can come spend money at the Mall or avoid taxes all over the city as a retail tourist … Read more
The Debt Service section of the City of Nashua’s FY2027 Budget raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability. When residents review a city budget, they reasonably expect to see a complete and accurate picture of the debt obligations for which Nashua taxpayers are ultimately responsible. Unfortunately, the FY2027 presentation does not meet that standard. On … Read more
To be clear, the flying of gay flags is not prohibited in the city of Nashua, but a recent settlement has put the city’s citizen flagpole six feet under. Viewpoint discrimination, as it turns out, is unconstitutional in Nashua, too. There is no Nashua Exception, and if the hyper-partisan Mayor can’t limit use of his … Read more