NASHUA — Mayor Jim Donchess took to the airwaves Wednesday, appearing live online from City Hall to reiterate several points supporting his campaign to change the way the city’s police commissioners are appointed.

“This just seems like such a small step … what we’re proposing is very modest reform” to the appointment process, Donchess said in his roughly 15-minute talk.

Donchess scheduled the afternoon air time because, he said, he and five other individuals who wished to be part of the discussion at the Oct. 21 meeting of the Study Group committee but were denied, he said.

The ongoing back-and-forth over the proposal, which seeks to move the process of appointing police commissioners from the governor and Executive Council to the mayor and Board of Aldermen, has been ramping up over the past couple of weeks with the approach of Tuesday’s municipal election.

That’s when Nashua voters will choose whether to approve ballot Question 2, which would amend the city charter with language that would give the mayor and aldermen the authority to appoint police commissioners, or reject the proposal and thereby leave the current process in place.

Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess

At the same time Nashua was revising its city charter back in 1891, Donchess said, “the state began taking over police departments in many (New Hampshire) cities and towns.”

But over the years, cities and towns began dropping the legislation that authorizes the governor and Executive Council to appoint police commissioners in favor of returning to so-called “local control,” which years ago was referred to as “home rule.”

When Portsmouth approved a measure not long ago to return the appointment process to local officials — making it the 233rd municipality to do so — Donchess said it left Nashua the only one whose commissioners are appointed by state officials.

The decision regarding who sits on Nashua’s Police Commission should be made “right here in Nashua, rather than by the politicians in Concord,” Donchess said.

“We can do much better with public interviews and conducting an open process. It would be much more transparent,” he added.

Addressing opponents’ suggestion that bringing the appointment process under local control could open the door for “undue influence (or) corruption,” Donchess was dismissive.

“Thing about this for a minute — 233 cities and towns all have local control … (and) there’s no evidence that local control leads to any kind of corruption,” Donchess said, suggesting that such allegations “represent scare tactics.”

He also criticized opponents of Question 2 for filing a temporary court injunction to keep the question off the ballot by claiming the petitioners didn’t collect enough signatures to put it on the ballot.

“That’s not true … they followed the law, step by step,” he said of the petitioners.

As a practical matter, regardless of how the judge rules on the matter, Question 2 will appear on the ballots, which were printed before the court hearing took place on Oct. 7.

Superior Court Judge Charles Temple said following the hearing that he’d take the matter under advisement and issue a ruling soon, but as of yesterday the ruling had yet to come down.

Later on Wednesday, Police Commission Chairman Jim Tollner refuted many of Donchess’s assertions, describing as “disingenuous” the people “who are pushing for ‘yes’ on Question 2 to be saying ‘we want local control.’

“We have local control. Two of the current police commissioners have lived in Nashua all their lives. I’ve lived here 32 years,” Tollner said.

He also took issue with the claim that Donchess and other proponents of Question 2 have made regarding the lack of diversity on the commission.

“The opportunity (to serve on the commission) is available for both men and women, for everyone,” Tollner said. “I don’t understand when the mayor says women haven’t had the opportunity” to be appointed.

Tollner pointed out that Donchess “has not put forward one recommendation for the commission in his six years as mayor,” referring to his current stint as mayor.

“I don’t see how someone can say they’re being ignored when they haven’t put forward one name for consideration.

“Ignoring the opportunity to participate in a process is not the same as being excluded from the process,” Tollner said.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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