×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Can’t aldermen behave without threat of fine?

By Staff | Aug 29, 2012

Good intentions aside, an ordinance allowing Nashua aldermen to fine each other $10 for uncivil behavior likely would create more problems than it solves. While encouraging courteous discussion is laudable, there must be better ways to achieve that goal.

During its first eight months on the job, the Board of Aldermen has run roughshod over the city’s Code of Conduct. Passionate public disagreements among elected officials are not uncommon and not necessarily a bad thing. But there’s a strong community sense that the too-often petty and rude disagreements among Nashua’s aldermen are getting in the way of good government.

Certainly, Mayor Donnalee Lozeau has felt that way for a while. In March, she admonished the aldermen over unfounded insinuations from some board members that she hadn’t been totally forthright regarding failed efforts to acquire Parcel F, considered the last piece of developable Pennichuck Corp. property in Nashua.

“We are supposed to govern together. So, I would ask you, as you move forward and tackle the next difficult issue, that we remember that we’re in this together, that it’s not personal and we owe each other our respect,” she said.

Then there was the ugly night in June when board President Brian McCarthy and Alderman-at-Large Lori Wilshire lambasted Alderman-at-Large Mark Cookson for his failure to adequately document the proceedings of the Review and Comment Commission, the panel that allocates state and federal funds to local social service agencies.

McCarthy and Wilshire later apologized, and the full board felt compelled to reaffirm its commitment to playing nice together. McCarthy said it was time to set the civil behavior bar higher and “get over it.”

Ward 6 Alderman Paul Chasse Jr. doesn’t believe his brethren have made sufficient progress. He hopes to soon propose a new board rule allowing any alderman to lodge a request for a $10 fine against another alderman for violating the Code of Conduct. The Personnel and Human Affairs Committee would be judge and jury.

The Code of Conduct paints with a broad brush. It not only requires aldermen to treat each other with “respect and courtesy,” but also that aldermen “must provide assistance and support to one another, and work together to accomplish their common goals.” It also states that “each member is responsible for the behavior of his or her fellow members, since inappropriate behavior which goes unchallenged reflects badly on the entire Board.”

Obviously, the code is a set of broad principles designed to guide the board’s actions. It isn’t suited to be turned into statute to allow for aldermen to be punished as if guilty of a violating a city ordinance.

There are other questions as well. Is such a rule enforceable? Would there be an appeal process? Is $10 a high enough fine to really deter bad manners? Perhaps offending aldermen should be sent to “time out” instead.

There is also the thorny issue of a select group of the board passing judgment on other members. The process could easily exacerbate existing political divisions and petrify already hard feelings.

More important, though, is that this proposal undermines the board’s integrity and reputation. What does it say about Nashua’s aldermen that, to behave as civil human beings, they need a self-imposed threat of a rap on the knuckles?

It says they’re a pretty pathetic bunch.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *