On Friday, I had the honor of being awarded the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award by the New England First Amendment Coalition. The awards luncheon was part of the New England Newspaper Awards weekend and was held at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel in Boston. It was an especially great pleasure to meet Mrs. Orfield’s daughter, Rose, and to follow in the footsteps of my friend, Harriet Cady.
My introduction and subsequent speech begins at 7 minutes into this YouTube video:
#tyHarriet
Filed under Sandown Issues
Three board members used the Public Comment portion of the school board’s agenda last night (Feb 16, 2017) to air their grievances. Board members cannot get items on the agenda and so must resort to Public Comment period for three minutes of free speech. The Timberlane board, you see, does not control their own agenda. As a result, their meetings are usually little more than puppet shows — of the Punch and Judy kind. Last night was different. The drama turned against Punch.
Jack Sapia, school board representative from Atkinson, is not running for re-election. Last night was his last meeting as a board member and he decided to go out with a bang. Mr. Sapia read a list of objectionable incidents contrived by Chairman Bealo and then called for Bealo’s resignation from the board. Bealo pretended nothing had happened and moved on. Fortunately social media and the press are not moving on.
One particular incident Mr. Sapia related involved me. According to Sapia, before the October 6, 2016 school board meeting, Bealo bragged to some board members that he was going to “set me up” with an anonymous donation.
Sure enough, I objected to accepting an anonymous donation, as I always do, and Bealo shot back with some quick insults calling me the busybody Aunt Bea from the old TV series, Mayberry RFD. Without knowing** about the “set up,” Sapia joined in disparaging my concerns, although minus Bealo’s personal insults.
Stefanie Dube showed remarkable insight and backbone to call them both out. She was the only person on the board to understand that malicious behavior towards one is a threat to all – eventually. Mr. Sapia now knows it as well. Perceptively, Mrs. Dube told Bealo that he had to have known that the anonymous donation would elicit my criticism. Bealo put on a good show of innocent indignation, showing what bold-faced lying looks like in real life.
According to Sapia, Bealo then gloated about his success and enjoyed a laugh in front of him with the same confreres after the meeting.
You can watch the immature malice in this 6 minute video from the October 2016 meeting:
Mr. Sapia should be given credit for pulling back the curtain on the evil puppet show and I thank him for it. To hear all of Mr. Sapia’s complaints, start at 13 minutes into this video:
Vote wisely in March.
** A previous version of this post reported that Mr. Sapia knew about the “set up” before the meeting. He corrects my misapprehension and affirms that he knew about the plot only afterwards when he was present with the inner circle of board members. I apologize to Mr. Sapia for the error.
Sunshine Week features New Hampshire Right-to-Know discussion
In recognition of Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote open government, the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and New England First Amendment Coalition will present a discussion concerning the key to open government in New Hampshire — the state Right to Know Law.
“The Right to Know in New Hampshire, in Theory and Practice” will be held at the Loeb School in Manchester at 7 p.m. on March 13.
The two-part program will include a presentation by David Saad, president of Right to Know New Hampshire (RightToKnowNH.wordpress.com), a citizens’ group working to improve access to government in New Hampshire, and a panel discussing the law from varying perspectives.
Panelists include:
Donna Green – President, School District Governance Association of New Hampshire and Board Member, Right to Know New Hampshire
Richard Lehmann – Attorney, The Lehmann Law Office
Todd Selig – Town Administrator, Durham, NH
The panel will be moderated by First Amendment attorney Gregory V. Sullivan, a board member of both sponsoring organizations, who represents various media outlets in open government cases.
Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications is at 749 E. Industrial Park Drive, Manchester.
NH Constitution – Part I Article 8 — All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted.
Contact:
NEFAC: Justin Silverman, mail@nefirstamendment.org 508.983.6006
Nackey Loeb School: David Tirrell-Wysocki, dtwysocki@loebschool.org 603.627.0005
RTKNH: David Saad, RightToKnowNH@gmail.com RightToKnowNH.wordpress.com
Filed under Sandown Issues
Less than 1% of the school district’s voting population turned out for Timberlane’s annual Deliberative Session on Friday night, Feb 10, 2017. The vast majority of those in attendance were employees of the district.
Two things of note occurred during the meeting.
As far as I can learn, our district has never changed auditors and we’ve been around 53 years. Best business practice is to change auditors frequently to prevent the parties from becoming too comfortable with one another. “Frequently” does not mean after a generation or two – but this is the irresponsible standard of care your school board and SAU board has for your money.
In support of the motion to gut my warrant article (yes, it was mine…) Peter Bealo, the chairman of the school board said it would be “a recipe for disaster” to change auditors in the same year as changing business administrators.
If the chairman of a publicly traded company made that statement, there would be a run on the company’s stock so severe he or she would be fired that same day.
If what Mr. Bealo said is true, it is a shameful state of affairs. It is isn’t true, it shouldn’t have been said. Either way Peter Bealo should be fired — along with every school board and budget committee member who supported the change to the warrant article, including Mrs. Sherman who is currently seeking re-election.
You get the government you deserve and the tax bill right along with it.
Filed under Sandown Issues
NH’s House Judiciary Committee has voted 10-8 in favor of recommending a bill put forward by Right to Know NH that would lower the threshold for awarding legal fees to plaintiffs who must go to court in order to obtain public information.
Below you will find the majority report on HB 365 written by Judiciary Committee member, Rep. Dan Hynes. It is followed by the minority report written by Rep. Sandra Keans.
This bill amends RSA 91-A:8 to mandate attorney’s fees whenever a petitioner is successful in a 91-A lawsuit at superior court. Under the present law, attorney’s fees can only be awarded if “the court finds that the public body, public agency, or person knew or should have known that the conduct engaged in was in violation of this chapter.” As determined in the methodology related in the bill’s fiscal note: “The Department of Justice reports that during the past two years, 10 lawsuits have been filed under RSA 91-A. The state was ordered to pay attorney’s fees in one matter during the last two years, in the amount of $9,348. Other litigants unsuccessfully sought attorneys’ fees but the court denied the fees because it could not conclude the state knew or should have known there was a violation of the statute.” Since attorney’s fees have been awarded only once (10% of the time), there is little incentive for the government to provide required information under the right to know law. In many circumstances it would appear cost effective for the government agency to deny the request and hope the person does not pursue litigation. Even if the person is ultimately successful, the government agency will not have to make that person whole by paying their attorney’s fees. This bill would encourage the government to provide information under the right to know law. If the government does not properly respond to a right to know request, there is additional accountability. Presumably, more lawyers would take right to know cases and more cases would be filed. The present law already has adequate protection for the government entities. Under RSA 91-A:8, II: “The court may award attorney’s fees to a public body or public agency or employee or member thereof, for having to defend against a lawsuit under the provisions of this chapter, when the court finds that the lawsuit is in bad faith, frivolous, unjust, vexatious, wanton, or oppressive.” If passed, this law would likely only allow fees to the petitioner where they hire an attorney, not where they proceed pro se. Under Rule 3.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers: “A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.” Presumably, there should not be any increase in frivolous litigation as the current laws already effectively prohibit such conduct. It would not be appropriate to allow either party to recover attorney’s fees if they are successful in litigation. This would have the effect of even fewer litigants pursuing complaints if they are likely to have to pay thousands of dollars in the event their lawsuit is not successful.
The minority report on the bill from the committee was written by Rep. Sandra Keans:
The minority of the committee believes this bill is unnecessary and may in fact have unintended consequences. Since the passage of the original right-to-know law there have been changes to strengthen it almost every year, either by the legislature or the court. Plaintiffs currently can make a showing to the court that they deserve reimbursements of their costs if they prevail. Under this legislation, if they win, they would always be reimbursed. That is not true for your local community. That plaintiff may be just a citizen or a huge corporation. Your community would need to appropriate money to cover. Also, through the years, as word of suits become published, more and more communities are training employees to recognize valid requests in response.
Filed under Sandown Issues
Word just out that Timberlane’s Deliberative Session has been postponed to tomorrow night.
Arrive at 6:30 pm to allow time to register to vote.
Filed under Sandown Issues
School District Moderator, Steve Ranlett, we are told, is responsible for calling for a postponement of tonight’s TRSD Deliberative Session.
So far he has announced no postponement.
He says he is checking with authorities about road conditions between 1 pm and 3 pm.
Filed under Sandown Issues
Today I found out that our middle school and high schools will be hosting an “Open House” for out-of-district educational professionals who want to learn about Achieve 3000. You may recall that Achieve 3000 is the on-line literacy program forced down the throat of the school board by two high pressure salesmen in September.
What you may not know is that Superintendent Metzler’s wife was and is an consultant for Achieve 3000, a fact that was not disclosed to the board at the time of the purchase. I discovered this quite by lucky accident.
This Achieve 3000 “Open House” is scheduled for Feb 15 from 8:30 am to 2 pm which is during regular school hours.
Here is an email I sent to the school board chairman today:
Here was my first response from SAU henchman and 9-year board member, Rob Collins :
I certainly hope Mrs. Green will be turned away. My children are in those buildings and I don’t want her anywhere near them.
This doesn’t concern School Board members in any way.
Good afternoon – This is not a parent event or open to the public. Parents are encouraged to contact their building principal if they have questions about their children or the program in general. This is not a “sales event” as conveniently misidentified in the email that has been forwarded. This is an example of colleagues exchanging ideas to improve teaching and learning. We should be doing more of these types of events. Together Everybody Achieves More!
Respectfully, Earl
You will note that my substantive questions were not answered. I suspect visiting professionals will be popping into classrooms to observe the online tool in action. I also suspect our own staff will be showing them around, sharing our student achievement data with them and generally singing the virtues of a program we have been using for a mere few months.
Suddenly our schools, our staff, our students and their data are being used as a sales platform without permission of the board.
The School Board has received no report on the implementation of Achieve 3000, much less any academic results. But evidently it is not too early to proclaim it a success worthy of being shared with the Superintendent’s professional community.
“Together Everybody Achieves More!” Especially when we can use your children, the staff we pay to educate them and our public buildings to sell a product.
Filed under Sandown Issues
What’s easier? Moving to another town or spending a few hours on Thursday night to cast a vote?
Timberlane’s annual Deliberative Session will be a lively one again this year.
This is the year for parents and all taxpayers to stand up to bullying threats and assert their right to an honest budget.
Arthur Green will make a motion to lower the budget.
This is the only time of the year when YOU can affect the budget. A majority vote will change the budget bottom line and your tax bill.
Every year, employees and parents intimidated by false threats to cut services outnumber taxpayers who demand better. As a result, the budget continues to climb even though our enrollment is consistently decreasing, our budget surpluses are in the multi-millions, and our own tax burdens in Sandown and Danville are close to insupportable.
If you don’t come to vote, you are abandoning control of your taxes to others who will not keep them under control.
Deliberative will be held at the Timberlane Regional High School gym. Arrive at 6:30 to have time to register. Session starts at 7 pm. In case of snow, check Timberlane.net for postponement. Snow date is Friday night, Feb 10, and may have to be held in the Performing Arts Center.
Filed under Sandown Issues
The New England First Amendment Coalition will honor the Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine, and New Hampshire resident Donna Green for their right-to-know advocacy and work on behalf of the First Amendment.
The Sun Journal will be presented NEFAC’s 2017 Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award for uncovering a Maine judicial policy that sealed the records of all dismissed criminal cases. Led by editor Judy Meyer, the Sun Journal fought against the policy and formed a coalition of freedom of information advocates to help force an end to the practice. The FOI Award is presented annually to New England journalists who protect or advance the public’s right to know under federal or state law.
Green will be presented the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award for her efforts in requiring New Hampshire agencies to provide documents electronically when requested. Green took a public records battle to the state’s Supreme Court, which last year unanimously ruled in her favor. The Citizenship Award is given annually to an individual from one of the six New England states who has tenaciously fought for information crucial to the public’s understanding of its community or the actions of its government.
Both the Sun Journal and Green will be honored at NEFAC’s New England First Amendment Awards luncheon from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Marriott Long Wharf in Boston. During the luncheon, Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan will be honored with the Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award.
Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased here.
Sponsors, contributors and luncheon table hosts include The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Boston University, Prince Lobel Tye, WBUR-Boston, Northeastern University, University of New Hampshire, Emerson College, Central Connecticut State University, Fox 25, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, The Vermont Cynic, Roger Williams University, Saint Michael’s College, The University of Rhode Island and WGBH.
Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award
A Note about Dr. Orfield (from the NEFAC website):
The Citizenship Award is named after Antonia Orfield, an author, mother, optometrist, clinical professor and active citizen. Dr. Orfield worked to improve the schools in the communities she lived in, serving on one of the first elected local school councils in Chicago. Dr. Orfield operated a vision clinic in Mather Elementary School in Dorchester, Mass., which documented the improvement of children’s grades and test scores with unconventional vision-related remedies to learning problems. The findings were published in several articles and in “Eyes for Learning,” her 2007 book.
I am honored and grateful to be given this award. Thanks always to my lawyer extraordinaire, Richard Lehmann — my wonderful husband, Arthur Green — and the unfailingly supportive stalwarts at Right to Know NH, all of whom were invaluable in making my case.
Filed under Sandown Issues
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