From Ed Naile at www.NHInsider.com
Give'm Enough Rope
As usual, I got a tip that a public body was going to have a “non-public” meeting which was in all likelihood a public meeting that just innocently wandered off the path. In this case it was this Friday, Sept. 26 morning at the Attorney General’s Office – Charitable Trust Division in Concord. The attendees were to be two Atkinson Selectmen and their new Town Administrator. Throw in another guy, our surprise attendee, an activist Atkinson taxpayer we will call, “Mark”. Mark spotted a posting of a non-public meeting at the AG’s office and called me as well.
Terry Knowles of the Charitable Trust Division let Mark and me into the meeting, which turned out to be more educational than anything - and for good cause. (CNHT LIKES Mrs. Knowles, she is one of the State Employees we count on to do the right thing every time, she rarely disappoints.)
For some time, the Town of Atkinson has had to put up with a big, fat, sore spot known as - the part time police chief/full time huge liability. He is one, Chief Consentino.
Chiefo Consentino has had some “problems” with a slush fund of donated money he has control of. The donations were to the Town of Atkinson Police Department which is dominated by Chiefo Consentino and his merry band of Chiefetts.
Here is how the deal works:
Chiefo hauls grateful senior citizens to doctor appointments in a taxpayer-funded patrol car looking vehicle – at very questionable expense to Atkinson taxpayers, even the ones who don’t use his service. The grateful seniors make donations, write letters, defend the idiot chiefo through his many lawsuits and stupid actions – and prop up his political career with votes.
Nice gig if the Chiefo likes ya – not so much if you are subject to his tiny-minded wrath. (See lawsuits involving this dope on the CNHT web site.)
Enter the AG’s Office and the slush funds. They are not quite LEGAL.
This leaves the Atkinson Selectmen and the Chiefo in a quandary. From what I can see, several of the Atkinson Selectmen want to follow the law and are learning how to set up proper funds for tax-free donations to the PD.
Chiefo Carpentino, on the other hand, has already started his own 501(c)3 to stash donations without any supervision except the Chiefetts. This is most likely doomed to fail but until CNHT gets the MANDATORY filings Chiefo has to submit, we will not know for sure. I have a hunch Chiefo will use his expert bully skills to try something slippery here as well.
Back to the AG’s office:
When Terry Knowles introduced me to the Atkinson Selectmen she mentioned I was a former selectman myself. I let them know I was there in my capacity as CNHT Chairman.
What the Atkinson Board does not know is how far back Mrs. Knowles and I go. They should take a look at what can happen in small town politics, especially in light of what they are going through.
Back in 1991 Mrs. Knowles was a selectman in the town of Weare. My Right to Know case in Deering, right next door to Weare, led to the temporary arrest of three selectmen and the crooked road agent they were hell-bent on protecting. The Deering Selectmen had to abolish the police department and wait out their trial date to avoid prosecution.
Hmmmm, protect bozo, get arrested and/or humiliated. Sound like something that could happen in another town?
Just a few years ago, Terry Knowles, like every other citizen who attended, sat at her Weare Deliberative Session and watched me dismantle the career of the then Police chief, Miles Rigney, someone cut from the same bully cloth as the Atkinson Chiefo. The voters of Weare sided with my arguments regarding a warrant article to make Rigney’s position elected instead of appointed and what do you know – no more Miles Rigney.
Now Weare has gone from the laughing stock of local police departments to a quiet, stable one. There are few areas in need of improvement, but it is vastly improved.
Take a hint Atkinson Selectmen! Do the right thing. It will only hurt for a while but the whole community will be better.
Don’t let yourselves or any portion of your community be bullied.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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9 comments:
Hey why isn't there a meeting tonight?
I went by Town Hall yesterday, no posting, and I looked when I dropped my kid off at the Academy this morning, still no posting.
What's Up?
Well, now our little town is getting negative attention at the state level. CNHT is talking about our chief in articles and on their radio show. It will be interesting to see if it has any affect. Given Mr. Naile's previous alliance with Terry Knowles, I would gather she has the information she needs to know as opposed to the partial truths she's been getting. Good luck Phil, your gonna need it. But then again, everyone else is wrong and you're right so you should prevail in the end, right? Of course you will.
Very interesting. I notice this article references that only two selectmen attended this meeting. In a previous post Mark mentions that the two selectmen who attended were Sullivan and Friel. That means Fred "There's nothing I can do, except bully Teddy" Childs was not present. Is anyone surprised by this?
Post this please!
SELECTMEN TO HOLD ILLEGAL MEETING TONIGHT!
The posting for tonights meeting went up sometime AFTER 8:15am THIS MORNING!
The Right to know law REQUIRES posting in TWO public places for a period of at least 24 hours prior to the meeting EXCLUDING Sundays and Holidays!
Even this basic selectmen's duty, our board can't get right. This is not the first time this has happened, there have been many occasions where the meeting is posted on Sunday. Or only in one publicly accessible place.
Falling apart at the seams..
Did these guys sign up thinking this job was a cake walk being backed by Chief "Big head" ?
Thanks for getting involved Mr Naile. This town needs help getting Chief Bigum head under control.
Elected Chief is a good idea but for the fact that the chief drives people that promise to vote his way to the polls. That's how he got elected to the Board of Selectmen. Who thinks he would not do the same if he had to ne elected chief?
Look at the total votes cast in the last board election. It does not take many seniors to keep the Chief until he gets indicted on state or federal charges.
The Selectmen were warned months ago. They didn't listen. There is more coming they don't know about, and we can't wait for the headlines "Chief Consentino Indited by the Grand Jury" "Atkinson Selectmen not far behind"
To Anonymous September 29, 2008 2:10 PM
Of course Mr. Childs would not attend the meeting. It was a waste of his valuable time. He knows he is going to do everything in his power, to negate anything the AG's office tells him to do.
His time will be spent in a non-public meeting with his fellow selectmen, to water down anything the AG's office tells them to do, and then not enforce the policy they put into place.
It's their "Mode of Operation", so don't be surprised when you see it.
Please remember to not listen to their words, rather watch their actions to measure their true intentions and direction. It will always be for their personal gain, not the best interest and direction of us taxpayers.
Mr. Childs will then go back to boring every town employee, by telling him or her about all the horseshit he shoveled out of his barn that day. (He is a waste of taxpayer money)
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