Mimicking is something that comes naturally with the human condition. Most of us have early memories of mimicking our same sex parent doing chores. I am here to mimic Grokster Steve, our Editor in Chief. His birthday was last month, and he ran a fundraiser to pay the bills to stay open for business. You might remember some articles and ads noting matching funds. While that arrangement might or might not be over, it’s certainly not too late to donate to GG anyway.
I am mimicking Steve because my birthday is next week, and this article serves as my fundraiser to benefit the campaign of Alderman Dowd’s opponent, Matthew Gouthro, and I hope people will share it with their Ward 2 peeps. I’m not the editor, and there is no anonymous, generous donor out there matching funds, but if someone wants to volunteer to make a liar out of me, please put that person in touch with Mr. Gouthro ASAP.
Many readers already know what I think of Alderman Dowd. I hate his guts, but if you don’t vote in Ward 2, you’re probably thinking, “Why should I care?” It’s a reasonable question, and I hope to convince you that pitching in a few bucks(or more) to the Gouthro campaign is worthwhile. While I was Dowd’s previous opponent, he had acquired many critics long before I started paying attention and became one myself. There’s plenty of archived Grok material on Dowd and not just from me. Please browse and share with Ward 2 voters in your sphere of influence. Not only is Dowd the senior alderman, both in time on Earth and in time in office, but election data available on the city clerk’s home page doesn’t even go back far enough in time to when he first took office. He’s a dinosaur deserving of the moniker “Gate City D’Allesandro.”
I’ve noted in some of my previous articles that Alderman Dowd has had quality opponents prior to my race against him in 2023, including polite people with better name recognition in the city, the church congregation, and even in Concord. My candidacy against him was a last-minute decision to fill that hole in the ballot because I would be darned if he was reelected again for free. I canvassed, lit dropped, placed signs, and waved signs, but there were multiple “Achilles’ Heels” in my candidacy. I won’t get into the things I could have done better, but instead, I want to give a brief pitch to you, the reader and potential donor, why Mr. Gouthro is a good candidate and a serious candidate, and why a victory for him is one of the best investments your donation dollars can make.
Mr. Gouthro is a good candidate because he knows his stuff and has attended many meetings of the body and its committees, regularly utilizing public comment to criticize the current ruling class and offer solutions. He’s also an involved member of his community, as you can see on his website, which leads to why he’s a serious candidate. His candidacy was premeditated, and he filed his candidacy on the 2nd day that paperwork was being accepted. He came right out of the gate with a comprehensive professional website, literature, and signs. He has plans, and I encourage voters to make contact with him, meet him, and learn more. Let’s get to my 3rd reason.
“Why is Mr. Gouthro one of the best investments my donation can make?” That’s a reasonable question, and I will start with explaining my words “one of the” instead of just the word “best” alone, but first, some civics. The mayor(who’s not up for election this year), public works, the school board, and 6 of the 15 aldermen must campaign in the whole city, not just one particular ward. Tyler Gouveia is currently the Ward 1 alderman and is now running at large, so I can’t underscore enough the importance of him winning because he’s the ONLY candidate worthy of such a seat, and there are 3 of those seats up for election this year.
As for all the other offices elected at large this year, there aren’t any candidates that are both decent and viable, except possibly school candidate Mike Hurlburt. As for the seats of the nine aldermen elected by their own wards, some of them are sadly just plain unwinnable, such that nobody steps up to be the incumbent’s opponent in some elections, present and past. Out of the nine incumbents, there’s no shortage of scum across multiple seats. Still, the removal of Alderman Dowd would be the very best improvement to the body among the potential removal of any of his ilk. Furthermore, unlike Wards 3 and 4, for example, it’s a truly winnable race. As a last-minute entrant in 2023, I lost to him, 830-1003, and those 173 votes could have been scrounged by more aggressively convincing more people to get off the couch and show up to vote! That’s where you, dear readers, can help.
Some extra money for Mr. Gouthro’s campaign can make critical resources available in the final days of the campaign. Remember when Lily Tang Williams shredded Maggie Goodlander in a WMUR debate just a few days before last year’s election? It got nationwide attention, but Lily didn’t have enough money to get the expensive advertising that could have gotten her across the finish line. The local level version of Goodlander’s access to infinite resources is the NTU endorsement, which Alderman Dowd always has.
If Dowd drops the ball on something else (in addition to his previous blunders) or any other unflattering information about him comes to light in the last days of the campaign, Mr. Gouthro having some extra funds available to run ads in whatever medium is most suitable for the situation could be the difference between a victory that benefits all of the city and another round of reckless spending(Dowd chairs Finance and the JSSB.), tyranny(He voted twice for Mask Madness.) and lunacy(Defending bad library operations.). Please consider investing in the draining of the biggest sinkhole in Nashua’s Swamp. Scroll to the bottom of this page for donation options, and please don’t wait to make your donation.
