October 2009 Archives

Safe Routes to School Part 1 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.

Safe Routes to School Part 2 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.

The Superior Court of Carroll County has spoken in regard to my recent Right to Know petition  which claimed that the police chief screening committee met in illegal non-public session and has ruled, based upon the information it was provided, that there was no RTK violation.

As stated previously this was not about the person selected, Chief Dawson, who is a good officer and a good choice. I support the outcome fully, but I objected to the process.

Equally important, the ruling also determined that the petition was not “in bad faith, frivolous, unjust, vexatious, wanton or oppressive” and denied the towns request for attorney’s fees to be paid by the plaintiff.  The court agreed that erroneous information was provided to the plaintiff by the town, but that by itself did not constitute a RTK violation, which was the only focus of the court regarding this petition.

The court could only rule based upon what it was presented by both parties. The hard copies of the screening committee meeting notices (which no one I know  had ever seen posted), was presented to the court as if they were posted correctly. They played a key role in the courts decision.

The bottom line is that this situation could have been avoided if the town had simply been open and forthright in it’s dealings with citizens. Here is what they should do going forward:

• They should announce in public session (which they did not do for the police chief screening committee until after they already met) any subcommittees that have been formed so that the public will be aware and can look for meeting notices.
• The selectmen need to be much more diligent in how they write and review meeting minutes. The court agreed that although the selectmen said one thing in the minutes, they actually meant something else. This means that they need to actually read and correct minutes (each week if necessary) instead of just making a motion to approve as written.
• Make it a policy to post all meeting notices on the town web and calendar as one of the two official places that meetings are posted. That would go a long way to informing the public and avoiding any suspicion of wrongdoing.

 Will the selectmen do this? I hope so. Will the court’s  decision prevent RTK petitions in the future? No, but petitions  won’t be necessary if the BoS follow the above suggestions.

Paul T. Punturieri

Former member of the Moultonboro Citizens Alliance 

Per RSA 21-J:14-b II and 21-J:14-d III, the New Hampshire Assessing Standards Board and Equalization Standards Board will be holding a series of public forums across the state to hear questions and concerns on assessing and equalization issues from the general tax paying public.

Taxpayers are encouraged to attend one of the following New Hampshire forums:

Tuesday, November 3 @ 6:30 p.m. – Hanover Street School, Blue Activity Room

Tuesday, November 10 @ 6:00 p.m. – Laconia City Hall, City Council Chambers

Wednesday, November 18 @ 1:30 p.m. - LGC/NHMA Conference Manchester Radisson Hotel

Moultonborough Selectmen 10/15/2009 Part 1 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.

Moultonborough Selectmen 10/15/2009 Part 2 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.

The Superior Court of Carroll County heard arguments yesterday afternoon in a Right to Know petition filed by a Moultonboro citizen. The petition  alleges  that the Town violated the Right to Know law by conducting the planning process and appointments for the Police Chief screening committee illegally in non-public session.

The court will render a decision in the next few weeks and a possible remedy would be to negate all the actions to date to hire a Police Chief.

As stated in the Meredith News editorial a few weeks back, shortly after Chief Dawson was sworn in, this is not a reflection on the individual chosen, he is a good person and a qualified law enforcement officer. It's about a governing body that ignored the right of the public to know.

Moultonboro Selectmen Meeting 10/1/2009 Part 1 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.

Moultonboro Selectmen Meeting 10/1/2009 Part 2 from Moulton Boro on Vimeo.