I probably shouldn’t touch this one with a 10-foot pole, but here we go.
It was a hot, humid evening on July 1, and Jupiter was squaring Chiron, for what it’s worth. According to astrological experts, this intense square “frequently manifests as performative outrage or a loud, public demand to be seen, recognized and validated by those in charge.”
There was a finance committee meeting in the aldermanic chamber of Nashua City Hall, where Mayor Jim Donchess presided. Several aldermen and city department heads were also in attendance.
When it came time for the public comment session, Nashua resident Laurie Ortolano calmly approached the podium and then unleashed a barrage of profanity at the committee.
As an adult, even I was shocked when she said the city had made her one big (expletive). I’m not allowed to print the word here.
It got nastier as Ortolano lost her temper, and Ward 3 Alderwoman Patricia Klee reminded her that vulgar language wasn’t allowed in the chamber. That’s when Ortolano shot back, dropping the F-bomb on Klee.
Ortolano is no stranger to fighting back at City Hall and has filed multiple lawsuits over the years regarding the Right-to-Know. The New Hampshire Union Leader awarded Ortolano the First Amendment Award in 2023, presented by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. She was cited for her relentless battle against Nashua’s city government “to expand public access to records and champion government transparency.”
I don’t know Ms. Ortolano, but I interviewed her briefly once and found her to be a cordial woman and a concerned taxpayer. As I’ve always believed, if you’re paying rent or own property, you have every right to request public records within reason. It’s also your right to state an opinion at a Board of Aldermen’s meeting or any other meeting, whether anyone agrees with you or not. All individuals are protected under our nation’s Freedom of Speech, something journalists understand all too well, especially during these challenging political times.
During the comment period, Ortolano accused city officials of showing a lack of respect to the public for simply showing up during June’s budgetary public hearings. She claims citizens were mocked and snickered at by city leaders, and she’s exhausted by the negative narrative the city has painted her with. Ortolano says she’s within her constitutional rights and went after Alderwoman Klee once again:
“You’re an (expletive), and you don’t belong in this chambe. … What suggestions have you given and accepted from me in five years to make an improvement in records? … I asked you to load a spreadsheet. Your assessing office has a CFB file with 30,000 properties across 30 fields, 750,000 fields on a website we can download and cut. But you won’t put a Right-to-Know spreadsheet (online) because it’s too much work. We have to file Right-to-Knows to figure out where our stuff is. Just put it on the website!”
It’s all about attitude, and Mayor Donchess told Ortolano, “You have treated employees within City Hall exactly the way you’re speaking now.”
Ortolano F-bombed the mayor and exited the chamber.
This isn’t a good look for Nashua, and the video of the meeting has already had 33,000-plus views and counting on TikTok (https://tinyurl.com/wamyrp6x). I hope the mayor, aldermen and city department heads can sit down with Ortolano and other residents who feel disrespected and hash this out.
But I don’t believe vulgar language ever belongs inside City Hall despite one’s Constitutional rights.
Shouldn’t civility and decorum matter? I still like to think so. How about you?
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