Voters Guide: Tracy Pappas for Board of Public Works

Name: Tracy Pappas

Age: 50

Married to Tom Pappas

Children:  Thomas, 15, Joseph, 11, Mary, 6 

Occupation/Education: UNH BS Family and Consumer Studies

Former Occupation: Teacher

Current Occupation:  Stay at home Mother 

How long have you lived in Nashua:  19 years

Why are you running for the Board of Public Works?

I am running because I am currently the only member on the BPW who serves as a voice for the people.  I have a record of standing up to fellow board members.  An example is the change of meeting times.  The Mayor serves as the chair of the BPW.  The Mayor moved meeting times from the evening to the afternoon.  Residents expressed concern.  It took almost a year, but the meeting times were changed back to 5:30.  

The reason I was so adamant regarding the meeting time change was so the public could participate during public comment, and so folks who might be interested in running for office would able to do so.  The effort was successful, more members of the public show up, during the last election cycle, I ran unopposed, currently there are more citizens seeking election for the BPW.  I couldn't be more delighted!

Please explain how you will assist the city in getting the Broad St. Parkway finished on time and on budget, and how you, in your capacity as an elected representative, help inform the public in the process.

It is important to note the entire BPW with the exception of the Mayor voted against the Broad St. Parkway. I vehemently opposed the project.  The Parkway project is being managed by an outside contractor, so the BPW is informed on what the contractor is doing but really doesn't have a lot of say as to how the project is managed.  Many of the delays in the project are a result of the city waiting for different agencies approving different parts of the project.

My hope is to not only keep neighborhoods informed about how they will be impacted by the construction phase, residents should be informed regarding how the excess traffic will affect their daily routines once the increased traffic is dumped into their neighborhoods.  In addition, I hope to chose lighting which will be minimally intrusive into area homes.  This project will negatively impact homes in its path.  I hope to do as little harm as possible to the residents who live in the path of the Parkway.

How would you grade the downtown sidewalk project so far and explain why.

I give the grade of C.  The problem is we don't have a professional designer for the project.  From what I can tell, the Mayor is the chief designer for the project.  She is a hard worker but she has no background in sidewalk design.  The Mayor and city employees who answer to the Mayor came up with the design.  The Board of Public Works was informed about the design but did not have any input.

I have no problem with the quality of the workmanship on the job.  I support the work DPW employees have done on the job.  The Division of Public Works is set up to maintain our current infrastructure, it isn't set up to be a construction company.  My fear is we are building new infrastructure at the cost of not maintaining existing infrastructure. 

Going forward with the downtown project, what if anything you would propose differently?

The city should get a bid from an outside contractor to get a time line and price for finishing up the project. 

What is your vision for the city's Park Department from upgrading playground equipment to expanding rivers for passive recreation? 

The city has been offered a generous gift from the legacy playground group.  This is a great opportunity to build a playground at Labine Park.  This area is under served in the area of recreation.  That is a perfect spot for the legacy playground.  There is money put aside for an upgrade for the playground equipment at Sargents Park.  That park is very well used by the community and certainly can use new equipment.  There is an effort being made to purchase a shade structure for Roby Park.  It's a great idea since there is no shade at that park.  The Park Department should plant several shade trees at Roby Park so the playground can be enjoyed in warmer temperatures.

I think the Park Department should continue to remove the water chestnuts, an invasive species overtaking the rivers.

Should Nashua consider a more bicycle friendly infrastructure?

Before the city considers becoming more bicycle friendly, it should first invest in being more pedestrian friendly.  

I hope the citizens will consider voting for me so I can continue to serve as an independent voice for the people.