Nashua residents are being given the opportunity to change the City Charter so police commissioners can be appointed locally. Presently, the 3-member Police Commission is appointed by the Governor and Execu-tive Council. This goes back 126 years when all police commissions in the state were appointed in this manner. Over the years all municipalities, ex-cept Nashua, have changed their charters in favor of local control.

A group of Nashua residents has organized a petition drive to place a question on the November ballot that allows the Police Commission to be appointed locally. It also increases the number of commissioners to 5. Section A-100 of the City Charter will be revised to read “The Board of Po-lice Commissioners of the City of Nashua shall consist of five (5) mem-bers. Appointments will be based upon qualifications, merit and record of community service. The Mayor and the President of the Board of Alder-men should use their best efforts to balance the membership of the Commission to reflect the citizenship of the City. In no event shall a mem-ber of the immediate family or a resident of the household with the Mayor or any Alderman be eligible for appointment.” Currently, the composition of the Police Commission violates this proposed change. Historically, all the appointments, except one, have been white males. The exception was a white female with an exemplary resume.

Fifteen hundred (1,500) signatures of Nashua registered voters are needed to get it on the ballot. The opposition to even placing this ques-tion on the ballot for voters to decide is extremely strong. One has to ask why and who does the current system serve? Remember, signing the pe-tition ONLY allows the question to be placed on the ballot for the voters of Nashua to decide.

Opponents argue that the change will politicize the system, but the sys-tem that we have today is fraught with conflicts and politics. No appoint-ment process is perfect, but the one being proposed has many more checks and balances than what exist now. Bringing the process down to the local level also offers more transparency, more eyes and ears on the process. This is good governance and good for democracy.

If you are interested in signing the petition, let me know and I or another member of the group will stop by.