It shouldn’t be so hard to be fair to each other, but sometimes, we all struggle to get it right. This is happening now in the aldermanic chambers of Nashua City Hall.
A bill to allow people with disabilities to attend meetings by Zoom over their computers (O-26-002) has been tabled a few times, yet the proposed ordinance seems simple enough to me, and probably to many others, as it reads: “Allowing electronic public comment for people with walking disabilities.” This would include any person with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The proposed measure has been amended to add, “with an effective date of November 15, 2026.”
Nashua’s Board of Aldermen will have its final debate and vote on this issue at its next meeting, tomorrow night. Yes, it’s complicated because the city’s Risk Management Department would decide whether a disabled resident is eligible to participate in public comment at full Board of Aldermen meetings via electronic/Zoom participation.
Currently, only aldermen and city staff can participate by Zoom if unable to attend a meeting in person. Public comment at Board of Aldermen meetings generally requires in-person attendance in the City Hall Chambers. However, some people cannot drive at night; others have trouble walking or are recovering from surgery, etc.
Individuals have diverse disabilities, and Ward 5 Alderwoman Paula Johnson, who introduced the ordinance, says Nashua can and should do better for all its citizens. Johnson is right.
The topic of the stalled legislation has become a robust discussion around the aldermanic horseshoe with many compassionate and strong opinions. Alderwoman Johnson’s heart is in the right place, and she first brought the proposal before the Board of Aldermen last February after she was barred from giving public comment remotely in 2025 when she broke her kneecap. At the time, she was not an alderwoman.
“I don’t know how many of you have had that problem, a disability like not being able to walk, or you can’t do anything, and I understand the pain factor,” Johnson explained. “But it’s denying people who live in this city, who pay taxes, who pay our stipends, the right to come in here and give us their opinion. Yes, they could email, but you know, one-to-one even over a monitor is totally different. An email is taken as a communication, and you don’t get to listen to them and to make a comment later or be able to answer them.”
Ward 8 Alderman Derek Thibeault understands pain and hardship (has experienced it in his personal life) and says it’s wrong to assume that he and other aldermen lack compassion for people with any disability just because there’s disagreement about the legislation. Thibeault is not a fan of aldermanic Zoom access for anyone in Nashua, whether a city official or a resident. He supports public feedback in person, by phone, letter or email.
“I read everything that comes in to me from a constituent, and we can know what they think. I think I respond more than anyone, and I do try to be a good alderman.”
Our country has come a long way in how we treat those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, thanks in part to President John F. Kennedy’s bold legislative program, known as the Community Mental Health Act of 1963. JFK’s policy agenda shifted the national focus toward community care, inspiring grassroots activism that laid the groundwork for the broad civil rights protections of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
I believe Nashua’s Board of Aldermen will ultimately reach a fair and just outcome.
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