Nashua’s Mayor Bernie Streeter retires from office this January, after serving two, four-year terms.
And the race to replace him is expected to be close.
The top two vote getters in September’s non-partisan primary – Donnalee Lozeau and Jim Tollner – face off on November 6.
NHPR Correspondent Sheryl Rich-Kern reports.
About half of Nashua’s 90,000 residents are registered voters.
But the glare from the presidential primary has distracted voters from what City Clerk Paul Bergeron says they should care more about:
Taxes. Local crime. City contracts.
All managed by Nashua’s corner office.
Bergeron slides a heap of boxes filled with election supplies to make room for the seat behind his desk.
Bergeron: In both of the last two mayoral elections, we had about 15,000 people turn out to vote. In comparison, the presidential election will bring out almost 40,000 people.
Those who do hand in ballots will check one of two boxes for mayor: Jim Tollner, the city’s alderman-at-large and vice president…
…or Donnalee Lozeau, a former deputy state House speaker.
Jim Tollner has spent the last fourteen years in the aldermanic chamber.
Some say that’s a detriment to his campaign, because the aldermen have a reputation for mudslinging.
Tollner: If anyone has watched the Board of Alderman meetings for the last 14 years, they would see I never dive into that type of dialogue. I treat everything as if it was a business.
Litsa Delage (LUT-sa? Dah-LAGE) has lived in Nashua all her 70-plus years.
Recently she attended a meet-and-greet coffee at a South Nashua home.
Delage: I want someone who is capable of running the city financially, intelligently.
Delage says she’s going with Tollner, because she feels that Lozeau doesn’t have the capabilities to run the city.
Delage: Not because she’s a woman. Yes, she can put partnerships together. She’s good at that. But I don’t think she has shown me. She’s worked in Concord. She’s done things for the elderly. Big deal. How many homes can the elderly have?
If elected, Donnalee Lozeau would make history as Nashua’s first female mayor.
But at a recent debate, Lozeau insisted voters don’t see her gender as a positive nor a negative.
I don’t think they look at gender as a determining factor at all.
But many of her supporters have gotten to know Lozeau because she is a woman.
Cynthia Mala directs public relations for a large remodeling firm in Nashua.
I’m connected with something called Girls Night Out, local business women, so I know her personally. She’s been connected with many of the non-profits. That means a lot to me.
My name is Paul Tyree.
Tyree, a former state legislator, likes where Lozeau stands on the potential acquisition of Pennichuck Water Works.
She’s opposed to the city taking over Pennichuck. Jim isn’t. He’s with the board of alderman, and the supposition that we should.
Tollner clarifies that he favors a stewardship arrangement, in which Pennichuck would agree to certain stipulations.
But he also points out that
Roughly 90 percent of the water companies are run by municipalities. This is an exception over here.
While the Pennichuck deal provokes conversation, the topic won’t make or break the mayor’s race.
Susan Haas, a city employee and resident, is looking at other factors.
I think one of the biggest issues is health insurance. Another issue is the Broad Street Parkway. Another issue is to restore respect between the various boards and agencies that deal with the mayor’s office.
Yet, none of these concerns seem to weigh as heavily in people’s minds as where the candidates have spent the last 20 years.
Tollner says he’s the one who knows city government.
Tollner: My experience of being on the board of aldermen for last 14 years puts me in better position than my opponent who hasn’t spent 14 minutes in city hall.
Tollner, director of account management for Harvard Pilgrim, also touts his private sector experience.
But Lozeau quips,
I’ve been a business owner, not just in business.
Lozeau directs a large social services agency in Nashua and has owned three businesses.
Lozeau: To me, a businessman is the person who worries about making payroll, who signs the front of the check, not the back of the check.
Lozeau and Tollner have only a few days left to spell out their positions to Nashua residents.
And then get them out to vote next Tuesday.
For NHPR news in Nashua, this is Sheryl Rich-Kern.
