It comes as no surprise that Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau used a line-item veto to strike down the portion of the Police Supervisors Association contract that allows accrued sick days to be used to pay off retroactive increases in health care costs.

The mayor has repeatedly voiced strong opposition to the contract because she believes it’s more generous than contracts negotiated with other city unions. She’s been particularly irked by the sick-day swap because, while banked sick days have considerable value, they aren’t hard cash that can be returned to health care plans. Because the city won’t see the monetary benefit of sacrificed sick days until employees leave or retire, the budgetary impact is long-term, rather than immediate.

And certainly, the mayor is wise enough not to be seen as supporting something that could be considered a precedent-setter by other unions.

Considering that city aldermen voted 14-1 in favor of the supervisors’ contract, a veto override is likely when the board meets again Nov. 12. In fact, the override decision just might be a harbinger of things to come.

With municipal elections just three days away, many candidates running for the open aldermanic seats have express frustration in the city’s current budget-making process. Some believe the board has surrendered too much control to the mayor and that it needs to reassert its authority.

As Ward 3 Alderman Diane Sheehan has said, the veto override is “an opportunity for the board to “walk the walk.”

Newsletter