Article submission:
From NH Insider, posted by Ed Naile.
Fat Of Head And Flat Of Foot
Let’s do some quick math – municipal style.
The Atkinson Town Budget has a line item appropriation of $19,000 for Elderly Affairs.
This money pays for the jazzed up cruiser Police Chief Consentino uses to shuttle little old ladies to doctors appointments. This project helps this incompetent, thick-headed, bully in uniform buy grateful votes for Atkinson Town Meetings. Call it a taxpayer funded get-out-the-vote scam.
Up until this year Consentino was getting donations from some of the little old ladies and putting them in the Elderly Affairs account where he had control of the money. Then, along comes the NH AG’s Office and points out to Atkinson the fact that under state law the Trustees of the Trust Fund control these types of donations.
What does Consentino do? He creates his own non-profit 501c-3 to collect gifts. Now nobody is going to tell the bully what to do! He has his own personal slush fund.
But does he?
Last year, Chief Consentino claimed to have made 1,644 trips with his Town Elderly Affairs money. This is the $19,000 voters raise each year as part of the police budget.
Now is when we ask, how is that financially possible?
It isn’t.
The Chief is obviously using much more Atkinson Police Department money to accomplish his goal of dominating Atkinson politics with his legion of Elderly Affairs beneficiaries. This means fewer patrols by police on duty because the appropriation for that town function is being tapped for sleazy politics.
What about maintenance of vehicles? How can anyone make 1,644 trips anywhere with a cruiser for $19,000? Remember, earlier this year I caught Consentino and a little old lady leaving Manchester in the Elderly Affairs cruiser on Rt. 93 going over 80 miles per hour. Someone has to buy, maintain, insure, fuel, and fix this rig when something goes wrong.
Before Chief Consentino created his PERSONAL 501c3 non-profit Elderly Affairs donations went to the Town of Atkinson to offset expenses, now they go to the bully’s private account.
Consentino has even had the gall to ask people who made past donations to the Town account to request those funds back and re-donate them to his stash - $6,500 has been re-donated so far.
I know two of the Atkinson Selectmen want to comply with the AG’s office and get the Town portion of this scam straightened out but there is the nagging problem of the town resources being used for private gain.
It is not good for any community to have a bully or a weasel in the position of Police Chief. In the end it costs much more than the short term pain of dealing with him.
CNHT is going to ask, through RSA 91-A, for all the records of the Atkinson Elderly Affairs appropriation and publish them on line if the Atkinson Selectmen do not take action themselves soon. Being an Atkinson Selectman and having answers about this shady account would probably make the phone calls from reporters much easier to deal with.
(For a look at some of the many lawsuits Consentino has caused over the years in Atkinson see http://www.cnht.org/news/category/police-departments/ )
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38 comments:
I saw the Atkinson Elderly Transport speeding south on Rte 121 in Atkinson on Sunday Oct 5 ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD, PASSING SLOW TRAFFIC, IN A NO PASSING ZONE. I put my headlights on to indicate that there was oncoming traffic with the right-of-way. For a moment, I wished he'd hit me.
Nice article Ed Naile!
Can't wait to see this play out! Maybe with you involved, the selectman will do the right thing sooner.
Could you imagine if he did hit you? New tires $400.00 , tank of gas $50.00, Crashing into oncoming traffic, Priceless!
Priceless is right! The lawsuit would have included his stepping down and tons of cash from the donation account.
I believe it's only a matter of time that he really f's up and does himself in (job wise).
Thank you Ed, your involvement could make the difference!
I know two of the Atkinson Selectmen want to comply with the AG’s office and get the Town portion of this scam straightened out but there is the nagging problem of the town resources being used for private gain.
Ummm...can someone wake-up Fred Childs and see if he wants to comply with the AG's office?
Fred Childs is awake. He doesn't want to put an end to this scam. He would lose control resulting in his being put out to pasture. Can anyone say........GOODBYE ATKINSON MAFIA?
To anonymous October 13, 2008 8:06 PM:
This story you speak of about the elderly transport speeding. Funny, but there was no transports on that day. The car you speak of was the duty cruiser, and with lights and sirens going. This was because of an accident on Rte 121. A very serious one at that. Please get your facts straight before you make false accusations. It is people like yourself that like to start trouble. And further more, have you had your radar unit calibrated? Given the fact that you said the car was speeding, then you must have radar. Again, baseless accusations.
To Anon @9:41am;
What follows is from Ed Naile @ NH Insider, and you can see the incident he was talking about happened on Jan. 10, 2007, and was reported at the time on the Atkinson Reporter, The Atkinson Taxpayer Website, and NH Insider.
Phil, or Billy, or Frank or whoever you are that posted this response, should get YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT! That license plate DOES belong to an elderly car at that time.
Better luck next time.
Today, January 10, 2007 at approximately 10:10 AM, one of the
"Atkinson Community Police Senior Transport" vehicles was clocked at 84 MPH while traveling south on Route 93, just south of Manchester.
This was witnessed and clocked by a NH resident, Ed Naile, who phoned in his eyewitness account of the incident as it occurred. Ed stated the license plate number was G15388. There were two occupants in the vehicle, a "little old lady" and a driver described as "a large, fellow with a large head and thick neck" (sorry, no offense intended,
just conveying the description). Ed stated they were traveling at
such a high rate of speed, he had a hard time just keeping up with the Community vehicle to clock them. Ed also said he thought it was a police car but then noted it had no lights. And he said both occupants looked fine so there didn't appear to be any apparent
emergency. Ed pulled up along the vehicle and said they both looked
at him and seemed OK. He stopped following at the weigh station.
Hopefully, they made it back to Atkinson without incident.
To October 14, 2008 9:41 AM
The Elderly Transport car was out on Sunday Oct. 5, we saw it and we saw who was driving so recklessly, in fact we may have it on the recorder. No sirens, no lights, passing traffic on the wrong side of the road, going OVER the 30 MPH speed limit, coming straight at us...and there was NO accident south of there at that time. In fact, the town line was in view.
I have my facts straight, all of them. We have our radar units calibrated routinely and you are giving the rest of law enforcement a bad name with reckless behavior.
Obviously there are few people who would even know who had that car out that day, but we are two who do know.
To Anon October 14, 2008 12:03 PM
If you were in fact in a marked police unit then why did you not initiate a traffic stop and inquire about this reckless behavior? Why have you not filed a formal complaint. Or are you one of those people that just drive through town and complain about other people. And to the driver who clocked the senior transport car on the highway. You sir were breaking the law trying to prove a point. I think you should turn yourself in to the state police and answer for your crime.
Hey how could we have no transports that day, when the chief says we have 3-5 a day every day. We would have to have transports every day to have 1644 in a year.
Somebody is lying!
Well, Billy, if Ed Naile should turn himself in to the state police for speeding, then so should the elderly affairs driver who put a little old lady's life in danger by doing the same thing!
And as those guys work for you, maybe you should issue a formal reprimand!
Do you really want to keep this feeble defense going?
To October 14, 2008 2:15 PM
I never said we were in a marked unit, nor do we initiate traffic stops or do other police work unless in our own jurisdiction. Heck, that's supposed to be your job Consentino.
I didn't see any report of an accident on 121 that day or any other day recently.
Why don't you provide details about this mystery accident on 10/5 on 121 in Atkinson.
Lies Lies and More lies!
I read and hear so often that the officers in the APD do a good job and that PC is the bad seed.
If they are so great, why doesn't one of them go to the AG with protection under the whistleblower act and turn evidence on this criminal? They have the power to do it. And spending town resources budgeted for the PD on Elderly Affairs would be sufficient evidence to bring this nightmare to an end.
As for Mr. Bill, our unqualified Lt, he made his bed when he sued the town. Trained well we see. There should never be a full time chief position in this town. Once we get a real chief, we will see that when one actually does 20 hours of work each week, we won't need more than that. This is a small town and we do not need the cost because the workload doesn't support it. So our Lt can forget about that career advancement opportunity. There will be no carrying on in the footsteps of his mentor. And we don't need a useless detective that never solves anything. There isn't enough crime in this town to support the position. Besides, he just loses guns, anyway. Another paid supporter of the chief.
Any chance we can get video of the elderly affairs van/car driving on the wrong side of the road? Is the video public property? Let's get that on YouTube and see someone defend it!
And what about the video of Harold Morse at the Zoning Board telling Frank Polito who really owns Atkinson?
To October 14, 2008 4:08 PM:
The accident you did not know about was in the Eagle Tribune. It was the Dodge Viper, that rolled on Rte 121. Any other questions?
To October 14, 2008 4:08 PM:
The accident you did not know about was in the Eagle Tribune. It was the Dodge Viper, that rolled on Rte 121. Any other questions?
That Viper didn't roll until the afternoon, this was earlier in the day.
ps - If there were no transports that day, why were you driving the transport car?
Ah, driving the car illegaly? Wasting more Atkinson Tax dollars? Hey lets drive all 20 town cars everywhere wasting gas on frivaless erands shall we.
I have a question, does the Atkinson police dept have a policy with gas consumption? Anything in place to save on gas? Running cars less, or not driving 100 miles on a daily shift? I do know other towns have acted on driving less to save taxpayers on gas consumption. How much does Atkinson spend on gas every month?
Of course they have a gas plan; they don't patrol any area more than 2 minutes away from the center of town.
I live in the section of Atkinson north of Rte 111; I haven't seen an Atkinson police cruiser in YEARS.
The Chief was quoted years ago as saying that our area wasn't really part of town, that we aren't really "Atkinson"!
If you consider that the smaller lots in this area mean that we pay MORE in taxes per acre, it's ridiculous that we can't even get regular patrolling to protect our homes, property, and loved ones. Patroling is one of the only incentives to protect homes from break-ins in isolated areas, and we get NO patroling or support from the Atkinson Police department.
On the rare (once) occassion I've called the station to report someone driving dangerously on the street, I was rudely told by the officer answering the phone that they couldn't do anything! In a one-horse little town, they were too busy to curb wreckless driving on the street!
Oh well, it's only safety...
October 6 in the Tribune:
Pelham man released from hospital after crash
By Jarret Bencks
jbencks@eagletribune.com
ATKINSON, N.H. — A Pelham man was released from the hospital shortly after flipping his high-end sports car Sunday afternoon.
Glenn Cote, 60, flipped his 2001 Dodge Viper on Route 121 about 1 p.m. He was transported by medical helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was treated and released later on Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
State police released very little information about the circumstances of the accident, including speed or any other factors.
Anyone know where on 121 the Viper flipped over?
The elderly affairs car was driving recklessly just north of the Post Office earlier. Good thing they weren't at the same place at the same time.
Its unbelievable the disrespect I see Atkinson residents have toward the Atkinson Police the same people who are there to protect and serve you, really it makes me sick.I cant even believe some of the things said on this blog its rather disgusting to me.
To disgusted:
Ok, then I guess it is OK to harrass and intimidate residents and illegally misuse our taxdollars to run a political wing out of the PD?
Taxpayers are the ones who are disgusted. I challenge you to prove the 1,644 senior transports provided by Elderly Affairs were legally paid for with a $19,000 budget. Prove our taxdollars were not illegally used PD funds. Go ahead, make my day.
You dont get it! We dont have disgust towards our police officers, we have disgust towards our chief ofpolice who uses his power to attack people who are critical ofhim, and who runs a political favor division out of the pd, and wastes our tax money on his own lawyers.
That is where our disgust is.
re: October 17, 2008 11:44 PM
Show me where my fellow bloggers have been disrespectful and critical of the guys on the beat. You may find one or two, but more often than not, they have our praise, if not our pity.
I cannot possibly imagine having to work for a man like Philip Consentino. Rude, arrogant, a documented bully, and probably the least qualified member of the police department. Then, there is the good Lt. He sued his employer, us, for gods sake. He is working on his degree (his first) at our expense. His history regarding his abuse of salary are well documented. Yep, a model employee.
The guys doing the job are doing great under horrible circumstances. I salute them. The next task at hand is to provide them with qualified management and leadership.
So, as the chief so eloquently shouted, "Get it straight."
an example of the disrespect...
As for Mr. Bill, our unqualified Lt, he made his bed when he sued the town. Trained well we see. There should never be a full time chief position in this town. Once we get a real chief, we will see that when one actually does 20 hours of work each week, we won't need more than that. This is a small town and we do not need the cost because the workload doesn't support it. So our Lt can forget about that career advancement opportunity. There will be no carrying on in the footsteps of his mentor. And we don't need a useless detective that never solves anything. There isn't enough crime in this town to support the position. Besides, he just loses guns, anyway. Another paid supporter of the chief.
Doesn't all three of these individuals Life in Atkinson and are taxpayers as well..so are you ( this Blog)saying They are screwing them selfs and their families...I find this a little strange .. but keep going with that conspiracy theory....I believe I read somewhere Mr.Accard was also suing
the town, as well, and your ok with this?
Det. lives in Mass. somewhere, and if I went through all the crap that Acciard has gone through from chiefo I would sue too.
You know what I saw not to long ago
Mr. Accaird Parked at the Sunoco..
not in a handicapped spot..but to the left of the spot where there is no parking spot.So he didnt have to walk
from where the rest of us walk, which is in a designated parking spot.personally I feel he should get a ticket for this..but Im sure if he
did he would claim the police were "picking on him"..Just reporting what I saw....
I dont really understand this comment..
You people are a bunch of sick cowards. Hiding behind the covers, waiting to pounce on anyone you view as a threat. This makes me sick!!
Do you mean the people writing this blog? or the people contributing to this blog? could you clarify this for me because hiding under the covers would also be what you are doing as well when you post anonymously...I do not see Mark Accaird as a threat I see him as someone who wants attention.. probably something from childhood I would guess.
That was kind of funny!
Actually this all started as really mundane.
I asked the chief of police to recuse himself from dealing with police matters as a selectman. Simple, right? No Brainer? well evidently not! He disagreed. The code of ethics committee said; "but it's the chief!" When I asked what if I did something similar, I was told that was different.
hmmm, so much for equal justice.
The Court had a different opinion, and told him to recuse himself!
Now it should have ended there, right? with a Court Order, but no. He disobeyed the Court Order, and on Aug. 31, the Court not only told him to obey it's Order, but how to do it!
He didn't like that either and appealed to the NH Supreme Court! They said Go Away, you have no standing.
So Here we are, Thousands of taxpayer dollars have been spent defending one man who didn't want to do what everyone knows he should have done on his own, without having to be told. And More thousands have been spent by the selectmen, voluntarily, paying for his endless appeals.
As for your attention craving comment, it was I who sought the spotlight, everytime I came into the meetings to rant, it was in response to the selectmen, defaming me, on camera.
But you are surely entitled to your opinion. Have a nice day.
The challenge was put forward and, once again, went unanswered. Instead, we got more of the same old spin, attacking anyone who disagrees with the chief as some kind of un-American, vendetta seeking, nut who says bad things about good police officers.
Here is the issue that matters to taxpayers:
We challenge you to prove the 1,644 senior transports provided by Elderly Affairs were legally paid for with a $19,000 budget. Prove our taxdollars were not illegally used PD funds.
Still waiting for a clear answer and for months the silence has been deafening. The distraction efforts to get away from this issue are blatant and as Mr. Acciard points out, kind of funny. After all, who wants to talk about real facts and real issues when there is so much to spin.
When you don't like the message, attack the messenger. I think Mark has seen this tactic before. A few dozen times perhaps.
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