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  • John Lemuel Curry (Saturday, March 28 20 07:06 pm EDT)

    I see that even in times of peril this "site" is still a safe harbor for rubes....

  • City Hall Insider (Saturday, March 28 20 05:46 pm EDT)

    Scuttlebutt at City Hall is that Mayor Lovett is pressing hard for full on virtual meetings that will be completely online with no members of the council present in the Council Chambers. There is also a big push from several councilors for immediate passage of a nine-year moratorium on property assessment increases for the New England Family Housing property at 143 Main Street to begin after the attached property is knocked down and 143 Main St. is renovated with public funds. There is also rumblings about passing local welcoming community legislation by the council during one of these virtual meetings also pushed by the same councilors.

  • Sandi (Friday, March 27 20 03:43 pm EDT)

    There was a good article on the bottom of the front page of the Eagle Times today. It was about government meetings held with the public barred from attending because of the virus. It was an Associated Press article that stated many of the concerns that Jim and AJ already stated on the Sullivan Report several days ago. The concern is that unscrupulous government officials will use the virus and the social distancing orders as an opportunity to pass legislation and other decisions away from the gaze of the public. I believe it is already happening with the County government when they admit that other County government business might be discussed and acted upon during these virtual meetings that are basically closed off from the public and held pretty much in secrecy. The minute taker can write anything and how would any of us know. These are dangerous times for the taxpayers.

  • Todd (Friday, March 27 20 02:19 pm EDT)

    I watched Slick Nick's four-minute video rant about poor me I've worked for umpteen years and I've never filed for an unemployment claim before and now I'm denied and other business owners have been denied oh boo-hoo woe is me. For those of you folks who haven't watched this pathetic video you get the idea. Here's the thing. Self-employed business owners do not qualify for unemployment benefits, they never have. Try applying for something you don't qualify for and see how far you get. Apparently Slick Nick thinks his Claremont City Council status will put some green in his jean's pockets by contacting Gov. Sununu, Sen. Shaheen, Sen. Hassan and anyone else he can think of to complain about his predicament. In the text responses underneath the video Slick Nick mentions two bills that he is worried about business insurance and workers comp. Isn't workers comp one of the things he had liens placed against the business on before? I know we had a lot of liens but I can't remember what they were all for. Anyway, the walls appear to be closing in around Slick Nick and he doesn't seem to be handling it well. Oh, I forgot one other interesting complaint. He complained about government officials speaking about disaster assistance from the small business administration. Slick Nick says he reached out and was dismayed to find out that it is alone with 3.45% interest that has to be paid back. That must've crushed Slick Nick because we all know how much he hates paying for anything. All those liens filed against his business remember? It just irritates me that he feels that he is any different than anyone else and is entitled to anything he wants. He has a real warped sense of reality it has been perpetuated by a city government led by several city managers who have catered to his whims and needs for far too long.

  • NoSympathy (Friday, March 27 20 08:20 am EDT)

    Aww, Nicky is on his Facebook page literally in tears, crying that his unemployment application was denied, and he can't navigate the system, so he tagged everyone from the Governor, The state senators, and everyone else to hear his plight and feel sorry for him. Perhaps if he didn't have so many liens on his businesses from not paying rooms & meals taxes over and over, the state would be more apt to help.
    Karma is a sweet bitch sometimes. I hope this ruins him and he never reopens his crappy restaurant.
    Let's see how long until "someone" starts a GoFundMe for Time-Out, probably one of the same "someones" who anonymously send him money, a.k.a. himself.

  • Simply dont know how to navigate the bullshit (Friday, March 27 20 06:48 am EDT)

    Linda no person with talent would want to lower there selves to run for any of the offices a few people couldn't make a dent in how fucked up our local county and city govt officials are these idiots think they know what they are doing just because they were chosen to take these seats look at each one and really see they could never make anything happen they plain and simply do NOT KNOW HOW to they might even want to do the right thing but can't figure it out no skills in making shit happen or the drive to finish it thru. Really kinda sad alot of the good ideas fall wayside to politics and the gridlock of stupidity all around any one topic

  • Linda (Thursday, March 26 20 04:10 pm EDT)

    I think it's just terrible that County leaders are taking advantage of this health crisis to push their own political agendas in secrecy. Holding discussions and making decisions in virtual meetings without even telling the people in public notices what they will be discussing and deciding on is a complete abuse of their authority. If they have actually done this earlier today or have intend to do so in the future before this health crisis is over then they should be repudiated by the public and voted out of office at our first opportunity.

  • Jim Sullivan (Thursday, March 26 20 12:53 pm EDT)

    New article.

    Sullivan County Board of Commissioners hold virtual meeting today, public not allowed to attend in person. Phone option was made available. The meeting notice states that other County business may have been discussed and decided upon. That other County business (if any transpired) was never publicly noticed.

    Full details on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • Jim Sullivan (Thursday, March 26 20 12:49 pm EDT)

    Al, in my opinion it needs to be a balancing act between seeing the buildings renovated and overall public good and cost to the Claremont taxpayers. Make no mistake, mostly public funds were used to renovate that building. Now the building owner will have five years of frozen property taxes where no real estate assessed valuation will be added to the building. Now there will be at least 10 tenants and their families qualifying for Section 8 Vouchers. Because of privacy laws we will never know how many of those 10 families will be collecting Welfare Benefits from the City of Claremont at an added cost to the Claremont taxpayers. Then there may be more tenants qualifying for Mobile Section 8 Vouchers and they may consume more Welfare Benefits all of which is paid for by Claremont taxpayers as well. Then you have presumably children living within the building that may have not been attending Claremont's School District prior to moving into the Goddard Building. If so then the cost to educate these new students will be added to the Claremont local school property tax rate. It is a vicious circle and the public keeps paying and paying no matter what. Also, will there may be a need for increased Police presence due to domestic disputes, etc. and that of course also comes at a cost to the Claremont taxpayers. There are also probably other hidden costs that will have to be absorbed by the Claremont taxpayers that I didn't think of. So now you have to ask yourself how much cost to the taxpayers is too much just to have one or more of these buildings renovated?

  • Al (Thursday, March 26 20 07:51 am EDT)

    Phil, enough with potty mouth.

    Jim, aside from that, does he have a point? What are your thoughts?

    I don't like section 8 housing but is it the lesser of two evils? Otherwise it's an empty hulk waiting to be demolished at taxpayer expense.

    Who else is going to invest? There are plenty other empty buildings.

  • Phil (Thursday, March 26 20 06:46 am EDT)

    Chad, you are a complete f**ktard. You had a chance to buy that building
    and fix it up. mr. dealmaker. more like mr. f**kstick. WHy didnt you?
    You can shit on lacass all you want but you should face facts. like a
    shithole building with bed bugs and an owner who didn't give a shit and
    wasn't going to spend shit on it. what you think it was worth before?
    You f**king morons think you have all answers and everybody out to f**k
    you over and your too goddamn stupid to face reality. this shithole
    building would have been a pile of bricks some day just like the pile of
    shit on main street. but goodard bldg won't end up like that now bedause
    lacass spent a shitload of money to fix it up. duh. F**king f**ktards.
    Oh, boohoo, so he gets a tax break for a few years. big f**king deal.
    who the f**k else is going to spend that kind of money in this town? You?
    Jim? Who? maybe easter bunny it;s almost easter. you should be shaking
    his hand and kissing his ass and telling him thanks for being only
    f**ker crazy enough to try. F**king f**ktards think itll ruin pleasant
    street. open your f**king eyes. F**king dummies.

  • Andy (Wednesday, March 25 20 02:49 pm EDT)

    I just know they are going to use secret meetings to approve sanctuary city! Jim please be on guard and protect us. I dont trust them.

  • Jim Sullivan (Wednesday, March 25 20 01:48 pm EDT)

    Chad, if you are referring to the Goddard Building the Council of 2018 with the exception of Councilors Kier & Zullo who were absent for that meeting unanimously granted the owners of the Goddard Building a five-year property tax assessment freeze to begin upon renovation completion. Meaning that the present property assessment of $443,700 will stay the same for the next five years even though the property assessed value should now be considerably higher because of the multi-million dollar renovation. In regards to their 147 Main St. property that is still awaiting approval of the $500,000 CDBG Grant to fix up that property using public funds to create seven low income apartments at a cost far more than the building will ever be worth. City Officials had agreed at one time to give the owners a similar property assessment freeze on that property of up to nine years. Presently the assessed value on that property is $194,500. However the Council never did vote on that measure because as of yet the project is not moving forward as funding is not secured. However that can change at any time.

  • Chad (Wednesday, March 25 20 01:00 pm EDT)

    Councilors gave 10 years no taxes to kevin lacrosse wtf is that fucking morons trump says it best our leaders are STUPID really really STUPID not a one know how to make a deal and so a deal good for him and is to get a project done not pull your pants down and take it what a fucking disgrace

  • Brad (Wednesday, March 25 20 11:46 am EDT)

    Kevin Lacasse and his partners have certainly done well for themselves with all the public funds they received and it looks like the special VIP treatment will not be stopping anytime soon.

  • Dan (Wednesday, March 25 20 11:41 am EDT)

    It certainly seems that if you are a friend of the city then the sky’s the limit for what you can get on the taxpayer’s dime.

  • Trish (Wednesday, March 25 20 09:58 am EDT)

    I’m surprised that Nick Koloski doesn’t have his hotdog cart out selling hot dogs and taking advantage of the cheap electricity that the city is providing to certain outdoor vendors. Nick sure loves his freebies.

  • Adam Smith (Wednesday, March 25 20 08:44 am EDT)

    Richard, you make good points. Can you run for school board or mayor please? Let's get rid of these tax & spenders!

  • secret agent man (Wednesday, March 25 20 08:42 am EDT)

    Jim, LOL...wrong. I'm a concerned citizen. Under 40. Own a home in Claremont. can walk to downtown. And happen to think you are full of shit 99% of the time. I care about the city and think you are nothing but a troll. you stir up shit and get your idiotic minions fired up for what? any jackass can sit on sidelines and criticize. that's what you do best. go back and read what you wrote. there's always a conspiracy angle. get a life!

  • Jennifer (Wednesday, March 25 20 08:30 am EDT)

    It will be interesting to watch tonight’s meeting on CCTV and see how the Council handles virtual meetings. I still don’t trust them and it would be an easy matter for them to claim increased worry about spreading the virus and make the transition to a completely virtual meeting using computers as was stated in the Sullivan Report article. Particularly if one of the many controversial decisions coming up must be made and our public officials would feel more comfortable doing that under a cloak of secrecy.

  • Chris (Tuesday, March 24 20 07:25 pm EDT)

    No way do the public employees ever take a hit. Teachers and other employees just got raises and the new city manager got the councilors to all get on board to hire a consultant to justify big raises for all city workers. It's practically a done deal. Of course roads will never get paved and the seniors will never get a fair shake on tax exemptions because the councilors and city administrators only care about their people and not the general public.

  • Charles (Tuesday, March 24 20 05:50 pm EDT)

    Are the taxpayers of Claremont going to get a rebate or reduction in our taxes since both the schools and most of the city is shut down? I think that both the school and city side of the tax bills should at least be cut in half.Many of us have lost a great deal of income because of this virus.

    Shouldn't city workers and teachers lose too?

  • Jim Sullivan (Tuesday, March 24 20 05:43 pm EDT)

    Secret Agent Man you are more like Inspector Clouseau because you entirely missed the point. I never said in my previous Public Forum posting or even in my article that this was some kind of conspiracy. All of these new measures are clearly being done to comply with reasonable guidelines to deal with the COVID-19 Virus to prevent its further spread among the populace. In regards to my article the entire point of it is that the public needs to remain vigilant that liberties are not taken in regards to government transparency for any government entity. How can you possibly be against that? Are you really that thin-skinned or are you secretly a public official that doesn't like having the public spotlight shined upon them?

  • Big Dick (Tuesday, March 24 20 04:58 pm EDT)

    RIchard lets see you point out stuff Mcnutt and Goodwin did. maybe you haven't noticed but they are gone? How many votes did you get when you ran for council? Oh you didn't? maybe you should shut your pie hole then. Or were you another disgraced one term looser like your boy Jimmie? we all now what a bangup job he did when he was on council. and why ar you posting shit in middle of day? Are you sitting at home waiting for your government handout.

  • Secret Agent Man (Tuesday, March 24 20 04:47 pm EDT)

    Jim, or maybe its a clear attempt to comply with gov sununu executive order? only a complete jackass would try and twist this into yet another conspiracy by the city. Wait--I think I just anssered my own question

  • Jim Sullivan (Tuesday, March 24 20 02:22 pm EDT)

    After our article was published this morning a notice appeared on the Council page on the City website reiterating the notice at the bottom of the revised meeting agenda requesting that members of the public call in during the Council meeting if they wish to participate and stating the phone number to use (1-800-875-3456 and request City Council Meeting). A clear attempt to limit the number of people in the Council Chambers because under the new guidelines it cannot exceed 10. This new notice also states that the Council meeting will be televised live on CCTV.

  • Richard (Tuesday, March 24 20 12:45 pm EDT)

    There are two types of lies there are lies of omission and then there are bald-faced lies. The city government is the most nefarious when it comes to lying to the public but lately the county government is coming in as a close second. The Topstone building bailout with the back taxes of nearly one-quarter of $1 million forgiven and the large property assessment abatement and all of the government freebies that the owners have received such as free environmental studies and then there is the hands-off policy by city leaders to not enforce an environmental cleanup at the owner’s cost and refusing to shut down the building by condemning it because of public safety. Despite Councilor Koloski’s repeated denials does anyone honestly believe that his being the largest tenant in the building doesn’t have anything to do with the special treatment that has been given by more than one administration and the city council? Then there is the sham paving plan and the pending water and sewer rate increases for residential users only while commercial and apartment owner users will all receive a reduction in their water and sewer bills. Thank goodness the Sullivan Report delved into the proposals and revealed the truth. The County has been less than forthcoming with the nursing home renovation and the sober house project. The schools under the previous administration hid many things from the public such as settlement agreements and the fact that their finance officer was working two jobs and not doing the Claremont and SAU #6 job well at all costing Claremont taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Paperwork was not filed on time which almost cost us even more money. Then there is the issue of the Steven High School Principal’s failure to properly deal with a sexually charged incident that has now led to criminal charges being filed. The Principle should have been fired for not adequately protecting that special needs student when staff members reported a prior incident to her that if handled properly at that time would have prevented the subsequent incident. Administrators and the School Board have refused to take appropriate action against the Principal rewarding failure and ambivalence which I find to be highly disgusting. Then there was the debacle regarding the proposed grammar school reorganization that would have turned the entire school district on its head. Once again the Sullivan Report did a wonderful public service by informing the public about the plan and all of its deficiencies. A public uproar occurred and school officials quickly backed off at least for now. These are just a few examples of why I do not trust our government officials, they are inept and they have a political agenda that is not conducive to Claremont’s best needs and interests.

  • Scott (Tuesday, March 24 20 11:03 am EDT)

    Richard what lies are you talking about?

  • Richard (Tuesday, March 24 20 10:19 am EDT)

    Jim and AJ raise a very good point. Our local officials can certainly take advantage of the temporary squelching of government transparency laws because of this medical emergency. Speaking only for myself I do not trust our government officials because they have lied to us on more than one occasion and this would be a great way to slide things through that fit their political agenda. Much like the Democrats are trying to do with their political agenda and trying to tie it to the aid package to United States families and businesses. It is truly reprehensible what the Washington Democrats are doing holding all Americans hostage because of politics. Many of our local officials are Democrats and they act the same spoiled way. I think someday real soon the voters will rue the day that they elected these officials.

  • Jim Sullivan (Tuesday, March 24 20 08:11 am EDT)

    New article.

    Council to hold virtual meetings. Will government transparency be cast aside?

    Full details on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • Donk (Monday, March 23 20 12:05 pm EDT)

    Can't wait until the roving gangs of diversity start breaking in and stealing everything in sight.The police aren't even holding thieves.They're processing them,and sending them on their way.Claremont is going to look like Mad Max in a minute and we all know who is responsible.Tar and feathers,or being run out on a rail comes to mind.
    IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT THAT JEANIE BACK IN THE BOTTLE ONCE THEY ARE LET INTO OUR COMMUNITY.

  • I bet you get free electricity from welfare (Sunday, March 22 20 08:41 pm EDT)

    Another scumbag bernie lover or just a faggit either way same thing

  • In Jim We Trust (Sunday, March 22 20 08:31 pm EDT)

    LMAO. It won't be china virus that kills this town it'll be the fucking morons on this page bitching about $1 a day in electricity. LOL. Bunch of retards. worry about stupid shit like that. DOnt worry you dumb shits will be dead soon anyway. LMFAO. Just make sure you inahle deep when someone sneezes on you. WHy is everybody so pissed off about claremont being a sanctuary city? ITs the best hope ole jimmy boy has of getting laid!!!!!!!!!! That is if he ever comes out of his moms basement long enough. Anybody dumb enough to read this page should be castrated. Now THAT would give claremont a brighter future. Maybe I'll run it by the mayor. LMFAO!!!

  • Terri (Sunday, March 22 20 05:26 pm EDT)

    Councilor Koloski said one time at a televised council meeting that he owned a hot dog wagon. Could the cheap electricity be for his benefit? Maybe this summer? Is this the plan? Another gift for him?

  • Jeff (Sunday, March 22 20 05:10 pm EDT)

    Newport doesn't want them unity can't take them no police but sheriff part time or state police maybe we can control them in claremont 1 guy will be watching them and they can get around in Claremont and get to all the services easily as most dont have licenses or any way to do it so claremont is the really only choice

  • Thank you (Sunday, March 22 20 04:58 pm EDT)

    Free electricity no shit and just fyi a ex convict is a friggin convict the ex is if you got divorced or separated lol we are screwed neck tattoo having scumbags everywhere thank you ignorant representation of claremont and this dump of a county representatives free needles for all soon gonna need it to want to live with these loosers that think they run this place

  • Skip (Sunday, March 22 20 03:52 pm EDT)

    It is illegal for a private business to tap into the city electricity but let’s remember how this permit process was corrupt from the start.
    Councilor Koloski spearheaded the effort and what a coincidence, one of his former employees benefits from his actions.
    So why is it a surprise that the city is also providing electricity. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are providing the food also.

  • Dennis (Sunday, March 22 20 11:52 am EDT)

    I just looked up online the new city fee for food trucks to use city electricity. It’s only $25 per month. Cheap taxpayer subsidized electricity for any food trucks that are using city power. Once again friends of councilors and city employees get a sweet deal and the taxpayers paying for that electricity get taken advantage of again.

  • Lisa (Sunday, March 22 20 07:54 am EDT)

    Don’t worry Claremont is on the move. Just ask Mayor Lovett she will tell you so. Of course the direction we are heading in is that we are sinking to the bottom of the murky depths because the good ship Claremont has sprung too many leaks and is taking on water fast and our city is unable to remain afloat. But the good news is we are making great time sinking. Glug, glug, glug.

  • David (Sunday, March 22 20 06:13 am EDT)

    Downtown Claremont is going to be a shitwhole very shortly. Once the sober house opens up with 50 ex-convicts recovering from drug addiction and the Goddard building fills up with Section 8 recipients many of them probably needing welfare benefits that we will all pay for the downtown will be fixed up just fine. Then there is the question of how many of the restaurants will survive the current pandemic situation. Right now many of them have furloughed their workers and are hardly thriving on take-out and/or delivery alone. They still have bills to pay and depending on how long the pandemic situation lasts they may not be able to reopen their doors to the public because of lack of funds or inability to rehire their former workers. Empty storefronts will be disastrous for downtown building owners because a large part of their revenue comes from the bottom floor leaseholders. The virus may end soon but the repercussions will last for a very long time.

  • Rent cheap (Saturday, March 21 20 03:46 pm EDT)

    I can't wait either to get free welfare power in broad street park for my food truck to plug into

  • Jim Sullivan (Saturday, March 21 20 03:40 pm EDT)

    Claremont Firefighters seem to be okay. Details on the News Flashes page of this website.

  • Kevin (Saturday, March 21 20 01:49 pm EDT)

    Why does the Mayor and city council have such raw hatred for our senior population? They refuse to increase the senior exemption and raise the income and asset limits to a reasonable level so more low-income seniors can qualify. But they had no problem doing an early citywide revaluation of all properties that raised the property assessments on many residential properties that severely increased tax bills for many people including senior homeowners while others including one former city councilor received very large property tax bill reductions. Now the plan is to raise water and sewer rates on residential customers while greatly reducing water & sewer bills for commercial property owners and property investors, many of whom do not reside in Claremont. This will also adversely affect senior homeowners. The city’s priorities are all out of whack and our public officials do not seem to care one bit.

  • Donk (Saturday, March 21 20 12:26 pm EDT)

    I hope that the firefighters other FULL TIME JOBS are understanding of the situation.

    It's not many people in this country that can work 2 Full Time Jobs.Hope they're saving because civil servant pensions are probably going to be 50 cents on the dollar after the dust settles.

  • City power (Saturday, March 21 20 09:18 am EDT)

    Epic food truck plugging in broad street park new program we have I need long extension cords to get some for my business too

  • Abby (Saturday, March 21 20 09:14 am EDT)

    Patrick Adrian never reported about the water and sewer rate presentation and the follow-up proposal to raise rates on residential customers and decrease rates on commercial customers to include residential apartment buildings. Adrian probably does not want to pull the curtain back on the very real hidden political agenda to increase the financial burden on senior citizen property owners to reduce their number in Claremont and to give cost breaks to those with close political connections to city officials. This is government at its worst and the press is suppressing the news. As far as the Eagle Times is concerned I would say good riddance.True professional journalism does not seem to be the newspaper's priority.

  • Richard (Saturday, March 21 20 08:22 am EDT)

    The Eagle Times reporting for Claremont is especially lame. Patrick Adrian has a conflict of interest because his wife works for the city. Nothing bad has ever reported about the city. That cannot be a coincidence.

  • Tom (Saturday, March 21 20 07:41 am EDT)

    The Eagle Times announced today that they are suspending the printing of their newspaper with the exception of Saturday's for at least two weeks. They state the reasons as the Covid – 19 virus and deep reductions in their revenue. Monday through Friday editions will be online versions only. In my humble opinion this is a trial period for the Eagle Times to transfer to an online edition only on a permanent basis as they are suffering from deep financial troubles and in my humble opinion management is trying to forestall closure. I know one thing the reporting is terrible as it only looks at the surface and not at anything else. I look at the reporting staff and see that they are not what anyone would call seasoned journalists. For example the Union Leader released important limited information late yesterday regarding three of Claremont's firefighters. The Sullivan Report professionally crediting the source as the Union Leader published in news on their website to inform Claremont's populace. Not a word about it published in today's edition of the Eagle Times. Professional journalists should have their finger on the pulse of the communities they cover. This is major news and yet the reporting staff is oblivious to what is going on around. So is the Eagle Times relevant anymore?

  • Jim Sullivan (Friday, March 20 20 06:27 pm EDT)

    Three Claremont firefighters exposed to CORVID–19. See News Flashes page for details.

  • Todd (Friday, March 20 20 11:16 am EDT)

    The Union Leader says that Nick Koloski has three employees. It was co-written by reporter Damien Fisher, a close personal friend of Koloski, who takes every opportunity to prop his friend’s ego up in the press. .

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