I imagine that being a public servant can be rewarding but also time-consuming and stressful. Sometimes, you may feel like you’re failing your community as you try to keep local government running smoothly, on budget and hopefully, improving your town or city’s quality of life.
Last April and new to City Hall, Ward 1 Alderman Stephen Chess resigned from the Nashua Board of Aldermen. His family had recently welcomed the birth of another child, and there was a lot on his plate. He may have felt overwhelmed and he expressed being unable to give his full attention to the role.
I think Chess was honest, and his words heartfelt, and I hope, at his young age, that if he ever wishes, he can pursue public office again. There is no shame in stepping back and doing what is best for you and your family.
Some might think that a $9,000 annual stipend as a Nashua alderman is a pretty good side hustle. However, the job can be a thankless role that includes many meetings, many hours and many moments away from people you love spent on legislative agendas, municipal budgets, constituent concerns and a boatload more.
Last week, three candidates for the Ward 1 seat left vacant by Chess went before the full aldermanic board to make their case for the position. They included former Alderman-at-Large Fred Teeboom, former Board of Education member Atlant Schmidt and WSMN radio talk show host Jim Ravan. All three are accomplished and able individuals who love the city of Nashua.
In the end, the Board of Aldermen elected Ravan on a vote of 11-1 to fill the remainder of the term. Teeboom received one vote. Teeboom has not always won the hearts of those at City Hall, and although he attends most aldermanic meetings and usually participates during public comment sessions, he can rub some people the wrong way.
Teeboom told the aldermen that if he were elected to fill Chess’s aldermanic seat, he would restore Nashua’s spending cap (his No.1 priority), cut the bloated annual city budget and eliminate supplemental appropriations. Teeboom was the lead author of the city’s spending cap, which became a charter law in 1993. He blames Mayor Jim Donchess and Corporation Counsel Steve Bolton for “managing to corrupt the cap by 2018 so that it effectively expired.”
During the three candidates’ interviews for the Ward 1 seat, Teeboom was asked if he could work well with other aldermen who may not share his viewpoints and if he would continue suing the city of Nashua.
Teeboom answered that one of his lawsuits went as far as the Supreme Court. The last two suits were dismissed, and that “I may or may not, depending on the spending cap and budget. … But I may bring one more lawsuit.” He also suggested that he collaborates well with others, and one fine example of this was his establishment of the first public memorial in New Hampshire to the victims of the Holocaust, which was erected in 2014.
Nashua’s Holocaust memorial is very special to him, and as I recall, Teeboom was a Jewish child in hiding after the Nazis occupied Holland. Sadly, he lost extended uncles, aunts and cousins to the death camps during World War II.
Ward 8 Alderman Derek Thibeault has clashed with Teeboom on policy before but commended him for creating the Holocaust Memorial here. “It’s important to my family. My father-in-law survived the Holocaust. …That is definitely your legacy. So, thank you.”
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