Consentino to bring fresh corruption to selectmen's office

From the Eagle Tribune; December 24, 2013 Ex-Atkinson chief considering selectman bid By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com ATKINSON — Former police Chief Philip Consentino is considering putting his name back into Atkinson’s political circle. Consentino said he is seriously considering another run for selectman. “This is something that’s on the top burner for me,” he said. “I’ve done it all in this town and now, in my retirement, I’ve got a lot of time to do this.” Consentino, 73, retired as police chief after 45 years on Feb. 26. Just one day later, selectmen announced they had dismissed him “for cause.” “Some of the things I see going on in the selectmen’s office, I just don’t know how they are getting away with,” Consentino said. There will be two open selectmen’s seats at Town Meeting in March. Selectmen’s Chairman William Friel’s three-year term will be up for grabs. The final year of Todd Barbera’s three-year term will be open as well. Barbera died in October and Fred Thompson is serving in his place until Town Meeting. Consentino previously served three terms as selectman. He said his primary reason for running is because the town is trying to make the police chief’s position full time in next year’s budget. “People have tried to put in petitions to make it a full-time position,” he said. “They were overwhelmingly told to leave it part time and now they want to make it full time. They should follow the process they’ve done before and should put in a warrant article. Just including it in the operating budget is a sneaky way to get it across.” Voters turned down petitions to change the position to full time in 2000 and 2001. Atkinson is currently looking for a new full-time police chief after acting Chief Patrick Caggiano announced he would be retiring at the end of the month. Consentino said he would be willing to assist in the search. Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Al Brackett was sworn in Thursday as interim chief. “The acting chief is gone, another one of my full-time officers are leaving,” Consentino said. “The department is going to be bringing in a whole new kettle of fish. I’d be willing to serve as a consultant, but I would never take the chief’s job in town again.” Consentino would not comment on the effect the end of his tenure as police chief would have on potential voters. “I’m not going to get into that,” he said. “I never got a chance to say what was going on.” Town Administrator Bill Innes said Consentino is allowed to run for selectman. “He cannot be appointed to any town boards or volunteer with the town,” he said. “But that does not include any elected positions.” He would not give his reaction to Consentino considering a selectman bid. Consentino said many residents have already supported his bid. “It seems that everywhere I go, people are asking me to run for selectman,” he said. In addition to holding the police chief’s position, Consentino was also the town’s elderly affairs director. Consentino ran the Atkinson Police Charitable Fund, which assisted seniors with transportation, household repairs and various other needs. Since leaving the department, he has changed the name of the fund to the Atkinson Senior Fund. “We have changed our name so that it is not in conflict with the town’s police department or any part of town government,” Consentino said. The town budgeted $43,000 for similar services this year. They also hired David Paquette to be the town’s new elderly affairs director.

Another interim Police Chief

Contrary to statements made by Innes, the Town cannot hire a full time Chief without going back to the voters for permission. It matters not that they have enough the money in the budget.

December 19, 2013
Atkinson will get new interim police chief
Sheriff's chief deputy will take over in Atkinson
By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Thu Dec 19, 2013, 12:10 AM EST
ATKINSON — Rockingham County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Al Brackett is expected to be sworn in as the town’s new interim police chief today.
Sheriff Michael Downing said Brackett will serve as interim chief until the town hires a full-time chief.
The town asked the sheriff’s department to provide them with an interim chief, after Acting Chief Patrick Caggiano announced he was retiring at the end of the month .
“Selectmen wanted to pick a chief who was appropriate for the position,” Town Administrator Bill Innes said. “We have lots of good people in our department and we wanted to make sure that the officers we had were doing their job with as little disruption to their routine as possible.”
Brackett, 62, works part time with the sheriff’s department and will work on a part-time basis in Atkinson.
“Atkinson asked us for help,” Downing said. “They wanted to know if they had anyone qualified who can temporarily run their department. We have other part-time deputies who are more than qualified, so he’ll go down there and work until they find an adequate replacement.”
Brackett said yesterday he did not want to comment until he was sworn in.
Atkinson will pay Brackett while he leads their department. The money will come from the $31,000 which has been budgeted for the police chief’s position. Just more than $9,000 has been used this year.
Brackett started his career in Hudson as a patrol officer and later became the chief there. He then worked for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Tampa, Fla., before coming back to New Hampshire in 2003.
He ran the sheriff’s department after former sheriff Dan Linehan resigned, serving until Downing was elected to the post.
Downing said this was the first time any police department has asked them to provide a chief.
“I’m not surprised by anything anymore,” Downing said. “I’m not sure how much notice they had and I know they’re actively searching for a replacement now.”
Caggiano’s official last day in Atkinson will be Dec. 28, but he is on vacation next week.
“(Caggiano) has said he will help through this transition,” Innes said.
The town is just starting to send out advertisements for the permanent position. Innes said the town will use the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police to help narrow down the candidates.
“The selectmen, besides one, don’t have the experience or knowledge of the job to work their way through it,” Innes said. “We want to make sure the candidates have the skills and background to move forward.”
The chiefs association will narrow the candidates down to three to five candidates before selectmen make the final call.
“We want to make sure we do it right and get the best possible candidate,” Innes said. “This process is clean and it’s nonpolitical. There’s also no cost to the town to go through this process, as opposed to a private vendor.”
The position has been part time in the past, but next year’s proposed budget will include money for a full-time chief. Innes said the salary of the chief has not been determined.

Follow the money....

Still clinging to the past and identifying himself as the Chief while talking out of both sides of his mouth and declaring no connection to the Town or the PD. Notice the name of the fund? "Atkinson Senior Fund" - "We have changed our name so that it is not in conflict with the town’s Police Department or any part of town government." REALLY? Notice that it's not a charity now!! "We are not a charitable organization" WOW, as of Dec 2013, the CHARITY is registered as/at #17233 Atkinson Senior Fund 140 Main Street, P.O. Box 484 Atkinson NH 038110484. He even got his own PO Box, now that's big news. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 13, 2013 Letter: What Atkinson Senior Fund can do for you Anonymous The Eagle-Tribune The Eagle Tribune Fri Dec 13, 2013, 12:11 AM EST To the editor: I would like to take this opportunity to advise our seniors what the Atkinson Senior Fund can do for them. I must make it very clear that our Senior Fund is not in any way connected to any town agency or any other donation accounts that are being started by the town. We stand as a completely self-governed fund. All funds that come in to the Atkinson Senior Fund are handled by myself as president and the Board of Directors. We have changed our name so that it is not in conflict with the town’s Police Department or any part of town government. We are here to help any Atkinson senior who needs assistance. We will not ask you to fill out a 10- to 15-page financial report. If you need a helping hand to get over a temporary shortfall, we can help. We are not a charitable organization; we are one Atkinson group of residents helping out our neighbor. As the president of this fund I am trying to get our program up and running like it was at the first of the year. We are not involved with any aspect of the transportation services that are provide by the town. If you need some minor household repairs or special medical equipment, we are there to help provide this type of service. I am in the process of redoing the senior contractors list. We are also trying to find someone who can help us set up a website. If we accomplish that task then the contractors list will be posted on that site. In the mean time, once the list has been updated you will be able to pick up a copy at the community center or just give me a call and I will mail out a copy to your home. If you find that you are having a problem and need some assistance I will be more than willing to look into your situation. If I can not resolve your problem I have the resources that would be able to assist you in your time of need. All calls to my home (362-5627) are kept in the strictest of confidence. If I am not home just leave your name and phone number and either myself or my wife Jody will get right back to you. Please do not hesitate to give me a call if you or a senior that you know can use our assistance. Our objective has not changed, and that is that no senior in Atkinson should go without life’s basic needs. I have been a strong advocate in making sure our seniors are well taken care of, and I will always be there to lend a kind and thoughtful hand and assist them in any way I can. Phil (”Chief”) Consentino President, Atkinson Senior Fund

County Attorney OUT! More Coruption ends.

BRENTWOOD – Rockingham County Attorney James Reams and his deputy Tom Reid were suspended from their offices as part of a joint state and federal probe looking into "managerial and operational" issues of their office. Reams has been the county attorney for 15 years. Attorney General Joe Foster and U.S. Attorney John Kacavas made a joint announcement about the unseating of Reams and his deputy during a press conference in Rockingham County Superior Court. Foster said a former employee made a complaint to his office, which set off the investigation. "The allegations were significant," Foster said. The interview with the former employee "led us to a number of other former employees we interviewed along with agents from the FBI," Foster said. "The interviews corroborated the allegations made by the initial complainant and raised other issues." Foster said the investigation led him to suspend the prosecutorial duties of Reams, who has held the post of county attorney since being first elected in 1998. Last night, county commissioners were informed about the investigation by the Attorney General's Office and agreed to place Reid an administrative leave. Foster said commissioners will be conducting their own investigation into the operations of the office. Senior assistant attorney general James Boffetti has been named interim county attorney while the investigation continues, according to Foster. FBI agents and investigators interviews of the staff and the assistant county attorneys at the office began this morning. "We are hopeful they will be completed in short order," Foster said. Kacavas said last week he received a request from Foster's office for assistance, and that his office has been working "shoulder to shoulder" with state investigators. He said the measures taken by the state were meant to maintain the integrity of the investigation, and that residents should be assured that the County Attorney's Office will continue its work during the probe. "This office remains open for business and the Rockingham County Attorney's Office will continue to function and administer criminal justice uninterrupted and unabated during pendency of this investigation," Kacavas said.

AG mishandled nude photo case

Anyone else see a pattern here? At least this case is playing out in public. How did they get away with having a personnel matter out in the open when our BOS will not ????

– Portsmouth Herald April 8, 2013, via the Nashua Telegraph

What kind of message is the New Hampshire attorney general’s office sending to police officers in the state by refusing to press charges against the New London police chief, who resigned after being accused of trying to coerce a female Colby-Sawyer student into giving him nude photos of herself in exchange for dropping underage drinking charges?

Here’s what the AG said in a press release sent out April 4:

“On March 6, 2013, a complaint was made with the Attorney General’s Office regarding then Chief (David) Seastrand’s interaction with an adult female who had been arrested a few days prior. The complainant reported that Seastrand indicated her charges would be dropped if she allowed him to take a series of nude photographs of her. Based on this complaint, a criminal investigation was initiated. Earlier today, pursuant to a negotiated disposition, Seastrand agreed to immediately resign as the chief of police and permanently relinquish his certification as a police officer. Given this resolution, the state’s investigation will be concluded and criminal charge(s) will not be brought in regard to Seastrand’s conduct on March 6, 2013.”

Reporting on the case, the Concord Monitor wrote: “Richard Lehmann, the woman’s lawyer, said the incident happened three days after she was charged with underage drinking and giving a false name to the police. Lehmann said Seastrand asked her to come to the police department, then harassed her for three hours. ‘There was an extended attempt to bargain away her criminal charges in exchange for her allowing herself to be photographed naked,’” Lehmann said. “’Obviously she refused.’”

These allegations suggest a deeply disturbing misuse of police authority by the former chief. If true (and why would the chief have resigned and relinquished his certification if they weren’t?), this is a classic case of a sexual predator using his position of power and authority to sexually exploit his vulnerable victim.

Allowing the chief to simply resign with all his pay, benefits and pension intact sends the not-so-subtle message to others in the state in positions of authority that they can get away with preying on the vulnerable, and even if they are caught, the worst they will get is a slap on the wrist.

It also sends the message to victims that the state does not stand behind them to the fullest extent of the law.

The Monitor reports Associate Attorney General Jane Young saying her office decided against bringing charges because the alleged victim and Seastrand were the only ones in the police station when the incident occurred.

Sadly, here at the Portsmouth Herald, we have had our own firsthand experience with the attorney general refusing to bring the full weight of its office to prosecute a police officer accused of sexually assaulting one of our reporters.

In that case, as in this one, the AG said it couldn’t do much because they viewed it as a case of “he said, she said,” even though their own investigating trooper reported five crimes had been committed.

What we say is that the victim deserves her day in court. If a victim is willing to pursue charges, the attorney general should be her advocate, not a deterrent throwing up hypothetical roadblocks about how difficult it will be to prosecute the case.

In the case in New London, as in our own experience, smart, strong women with legal representation were able to get some degree of justice, but not full justice.

And we can’t help but wonder how many women are out there who have been exploited or extorted and who are without the means to hire legal representation to fight back.

The attorney general needs to do a better job of standing up for victims of sexual assault and exploitation, and its role becomes even more important when the alleged abuser is a police officer empowered by the public’s trust.

– Portsmouth Herald April 8, 2013

What road building across a neighbor's land will get you in other Towns.

A subject we have all been following for several years now, still raises eyebrows and disbelief that anyone would do this BUT, here we go again....

Nashua Telegraph - Thursday, July 4, 2013

Hollis man charged with building road through neighbor’s yard

A little ad hoc roadwork paved a Hollis man’s way to an arrest this week after police charged him with building an illegal road through his neighbor’s property.

Hollis Police were called on June 17 by a resident of Truell Road reporting that his neighbor had trespassed on his property and that he had cut a road through some woods between the houses, removing numerous trees in the process, police said.

Police investigated and arrested Steve Ducharme, 40, of 58 Truell Road, on Tuesday.

Hollis Police Lt. Rich Mello said police never got a solid explanation as to why Ducharme wanted to build the road, which stretches a considerable distance from 58 Truell Road, through a wooded area and connects to a shared driveway at 66 Truell Road.

“It’s a driveway-width road. Unfortunately he did it across other people’s property. It’s quite a ways,” Mello said. “He couldn’t have in his wildest dreams thought it was OK.”

Ducharme is charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, and criminal trespass, a violation. Ducharme was released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail and will be arraigned at Nashua district court on July 24, police said.

– JOSEPH G. COTE

Plans for Atkinson Elderly Affairs coiming into place

June 12, 2013

By Alex Lippa alippa@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Wed Jun 12, 2013, 12:30 AM EDT

ATKINSON — Just three months ago, many seniors voiced their concerns about the future of the Elderly Affairs Department.
Now, details are being ironed out about how it will function under new leadership.
Town Administrator Bill Innes presented a mission statement to selectmen last week that outlined goals and responsibilities of the department under his control.
“I’ve been really looking to have a definition of the department,” Innes said. “I want to put a foundation in place, but it is not my intent to dictate what the department would be.”
The department helps seniors with transportation to medical appointments and other needs. The town has $43,000 budgeted for the department this year. That money covers the salaries of the drivers, gasoline and maintenance.
Innes pointed to the need for a system that would allow the town to identify problems and evaluate all the funded programs to ensure they are effective.
“We are looking to just get a baseline from where the department can meet its needs,” he said.
Innes has served as the acting elderly affairs director since March, when former police Chief Phil Consentino was fired from the position. After Consentino was fired, Innes spoke about a desire to have the department be more transparent than in the past.
While the town is providing seniors with transportation services, Consentino continues to be available to any senior who needs his assistance, using money from a private charitable fund he presides over.
“Anything that doesn’t have anything to do with a ride, I’m here to help out with,” Consentino said last week. “I just helped a woman put a new heating system in her house.”
Innes said the town hopes to work with Consentino on things that can’t be covered by the town.
“I want to work collaboratively,” Innes said. “We’ve looked through assisted items which the town can contribute toward and items that the charitable trust and some other entities in town can do. I believe we worked out a process where we have defined what each will do.”
Innes declined to go into detail about which services will be provided by whom.
Innes has also defined the two ways which the department will be funded. There is the general fund which appears in the budget and is approved by voters at Town Meeting and a fund that accepts donations from residents and sponsors that is managed by the Trustees of the Trust Fund.
The next step for the town is to find someone to supervise the department. Innes has written a job desciption that has been approved by selectmen. The position is a volunteer position.
“I’d like to get it filled as soon as possible,” Innes said. “I’m not sure it will be a formal job search, but I want it to be filled quickly.”
So far, seniors who have worked with Innes on the advisory committee are pleased with the direction the department is taking.
“The process is going along well,” Alan Phair said. “I feel comfortable that we’ve done our due diligence to put in place something that will be workable.”
Ted Houlihan, a driver for the program, said things have worked out as well as he could have hoped.
“It’s different, but (Consentino) built a great system which is still working in the way we hoped it would,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be a deficiency. Now the town is assuming control of that and that’s probably appropriate.”
Innes has laid out plans for several new programs, including a property tax burden program and a senior connection program that would use active seniors as volunteers to help seniors who need assistance.
One detail that still needs to be determined is the location of the department, which is now run out of the Atkinson police station.