Articles tagged as

Transparency

nashua city hall

COLQUHOUN: The City of Nashua needs Accountability Now.

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

Cartoon hit with taxes

COLQUHOUN: Nashua Taxpayers Deserve Accuracy and Transparency in the FY2027 Budget

Nashua residents deserve a budget process grounded in accuracy, transparency, and accountability. Yet the FY2027 Budget Book, distributed publicly and posted on the city website, contains significant omissions and inconsistencies that materially distort the city’s financial picture. Whether these errors stem from oversight or mismanagement, the impact is the same: taxpayers are being presented with … Read more

nashua city hall

COLQUHOUN: Nashua Residents vs City Hall

Since moving to Nashua in 2013, I have seen a significant shift in how City Hall interacts with residents. For many years, City Hall operated with an open‑door policy: any resident could walk in, pay or obtain a bill, review assessment files, or speak directly with a city employee without an appointment. Customer service and … Read more

Nashua emials redactions

ORTOLANO: The Black Boxes Weren’t a Mistake – Nashua’s Legal Office Approved the Redactions

The black box redactions on Nashua’s Performing Arts Center legal invoices were not a mistake. They were reviewed and approved by the City’s Legal Office. When I wrote last week about Nashua’s “Epstein-style” redactions, I left open the possibility that the City might claim error. Maybe someone inexperienced had over-redacted. Maybe a clerk panicked. Maybe … Read more

Derek Thibeault

ORTOLANO: Alderman Thibeault – Transparency Is Not Petty

Derek Thibeault used his weekly newsletter to call a request for the August 7, 2025, non-public Nashua Board of Aldermen minutes “petty.” Transparency is never petty; it is the people’s right, and the Board broke the law. The Board entered that closed session without reading the statutory language required by RSA 91-A. That isn’t a … Read more

dust motes window sun original Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

TYSON: Transparency First, Then Reform

Claremont’s fix starts with sunlight, not another check I was born long ago and far away in the East Tremont neighborhood of The Bronx, which, in the early-to-mid 1950s was a dense, modestly priced, prewar landscape of five- and six-story walk-ups organized around a lively Tremont Avenue retail spine; bakeries, kosher butchers, candy stores, and … Read more

Nashua City Hall

Ortolano: When the Response Proves the Point – How Officials Validate Concerns by Discrediting Dissent

Last Thursday, the Union Leader published an op-ed warning about a troubling trend: the politicization of public participation in Nashua. I argued that our city’s leaders—by labeling dissenting voices as “mayor haters” or dismissing ethics complaints as “just politics”—were creating a culture that silences civic dialogue. One day later, Alderman Derek Thibeault responded—not with reflection, but … Read more

Martha McLeod Grafton County

Did Commissioner McLeod End Live Zoom Meetings ‘cuz GraniteGrok?

Grafton County Commissioner and Commission chairman Martha McLeod has been making quite the splash on our pages. She is on the record as being less than enthusiastic about removing illegal aliens or helping the Federal government enforce the law. Two weeks later, people who wanted to listen in but could not attend discovered the Zoom version … Read more

A Nashua DOGE/COGE?

“Yeah, right, in your wildest dreams,” a reasonable skeptic might think when reading this article’s title, but humor me and let’s play this out on our minds for a moment.  I will first credit Grokster Beth Scaer for inspiring the idea.  Beth needs no introduction to the regular readers and her locals, but library lewdness … Read more

Main Street

Nashua’s Disregard for the Law

Nashua Attorneys take orders from the Mayor, but when those orders violate the constitution, state statutes, or City laws, shouldn’t the Attorneys make a hard stop and comply with the law? Not in Nashua. The Budget Review Committee (BRC) holds public meetings starting in May to review each department’s budget. In June, the Board of … Read more

If There is No Fraud, Let us See the Emails

If any Nashua resident feels that the city is transparent, try obtaining the redacted New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) emails that describe the cryptic scheme that resulted in the Performing Arts Center deal. The City does not want residents to see what was done behind closed doors. The Court just denied my Petition for an … Read more

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