About Richard Dowd

Lifelong resident of Nashua, New Hampshire – 73 Years

Background /Education:

As a  lifelong resident of Nashua – went through the Nashua School system. Graduate of Nashua High Class of 1964. Graduate of St. Anselm College 1968.

A Commissioned Naval Officer in the United States Navy. Qualified in Nuclear Submarines. Qualified Officer of the Deck (OOD) on surface ships.

Divorced. Father of three daughters, Amy Hill, Emily Bullers, and Kathy Carey. Three grand-daughters: Rebecca Carey (10), Samantha Hill (9), and Aubrey Bullers ( 6 months).

My family on both sides have been lifelong residents of Nashua.

My father was Atty. Karl Dowd, a Lawyer, a Judge and Banker in Nashua for many years. My mother was Edna Dowd (Burque) who taught high school at Nashua High on Elm Street before being married and then later in life taught at Ledge Street school.

My brother, Rev. Karl Dowd,  was the Pastor of St. Christopher’s Parish (now deceased).  Also had a sister, Fran Griffin (deceased) and a brother Tom, also deceased.

Experience/Occupation:

System’s Engineering Functional Manager in Product Support at BAE Systems, Nashua, New Hampshire. I had been with Sanders Associates, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems for thirty years. A Professional Logistician.

Prior to working at BAE Systems, I was a Program Manager at Dynamics Research Corporation, Wilmington, Mass.

Prior to that I was an engineer at VITRO Labs, Washington, DC, working on support for Nuclear submarines.

Prior elected offices:

Thirty six (36) years experience in Nashua Political and appointed offices.

• Former Chairman of the Nashua Airport Authority.  Was on the Airport Authority for 15 years and was also the Treasurer.

• Former Chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) in Nashua.

• Elected member of the Board of Education in Nashua. Served as President and held office for 10 years.

• Elected to the Nashua Board of Aldermen as the Ward Two Alderman in 2011.  Seeking re-election to that position for a forth term.

• Current Chairman of the Nashua Joint Special School Building Committee (JSSBC) and actively heading a new Middle School Project.

•  Current Liaison from the Board of Aldermen to the Board of Education
• Current Chairman of the Aldermanic Budget Committee
• Current Member of the School Construction Committee
• Current Member of the Pennichuck Special Water Committee
• Member of the DPW construction Committee

 

Have been an integral part of the team of Aldermen and Board of Education member Joint Special School Building Committee (JSSBC) (now Chairman) who have successfully completed the following projects over the past 17 years:

•  Built two new large high schools – Nashua High North and Nashua High South
• Upgraded the heating and ventilation systems of several schools here in Nashua:
  • Fairgrounds, Ledge Street, and Charlotte Avenue.  These three projects were all completed on time and under budget.  The savings on cost allowed us to move on to yet another school that desperately required upgrade.
  • Completed a major renovation of the Broad Street Elementary school which encompassed both heating and ventilation, as well as improved site work, improved safety elements, and better overall infrastructure.
  •  Completed a major renovation of Sunset Heights elementary school, again including heating and ventilation as well as upgraded roof infrastructure, Security upgrades, and improved roofs, added parking and traffic regulation.
  • The JSSBC has taken actions to improve security upgrades at all Nashua’s public schools and while some has been completed we are working on several schools over the next months with State funding to help insure the continued safety of Nashua’s students and faculty.

Personal info and interests outside of politics:

I’m an avid golfer.

Season ticket holder of the New England Patriots; Fan of the Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics.

Key Accomplishments in Ward Two?

One of the other key issues is speeding.  I have worked with the Board of Public Works to erect signage to slow traffic down and with the Police Department on enforcement. Recently asked the new Chief of Police to post cars occasionally on Tinker Road and Ashland Streets.

I have worked with the Mayor and the Board of Public Works to get some of our worst streets paved and have set up priorities to address others as we can afford to do the work. We paved some 31 miles of City streets this past Summer.

Another key issue is maintaining the quality of life for our residents while controlling spending to live within our means.  We must look at all of the long-term impacts of spending as well as the short-term spending.  I have spent over 30 years evaluating engineering design decisions and their lifelong impacts on total cost. We have to be careful not to be penny wise and pound foolish.  We must be careful to consider Life-Cycle-Costs (LCC) to the City when spending Tax dollars.