Moderator Violates Open Meeting Laws!

Deliberative Session started off with a bang, this year, as Atkinson Resident Gary Brownfield, attempted to photograph the proceedings. Town Moderator Polito Stopped him, even going so far as to threaten to have him removed!

Moderator Polito stated that the LAW says that a resident can Audiotape or Videotape, but that is it! As usual, when Frank attempts to play an attorney on TV, HE WAS WRONG!

Here is the relevant text from the State's Open Meetings Law, which EVERY TOWN MODERATOR, SHOULD KNOW!

RSA 91-A:2, II. states;

II. Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, all meetings, whether held in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner, shall be open to the public. Except for town meetings, school district meetings, and elections, no vote while in open session may be taken by secret ballot. Any person shall be permitted to use recording devices, including, but not limited to, tape recorders, cameras, and videotape equipment, at such meetings

Later in the Meeting Frank began screaming and arguing from the podium at Mr. Brownfield, when Mr. Brownfield tried to correct the Moderator, having to be told, on a point of order, by Mr. Acciard, that this wasn't town business, and should not be discussed in this forum.

With the Moderator being named as a co-defendant in a yet to be filed Federal Civil Rights Suit, was it smart for him to restrict a resident from protections offered by law, while allowing the Cable Network to videotape him, and the Eagle Tribune to photograph him. He even went so far as to make it OFFICIAL by requiring a vote of the people to shut Brownfield up!

The arrogance of these officials seems without end. As people got up to speak, the chief was heard to yell and interupt them, at one point yelling out "BALLS" loudly in response to Mrs. Goodrich's tale of lack of services.

Upon returning from lunch, Mr. Sapia IMMEDIATELY moved the expansion of Elderly Affairs Article, and the Full Time Chief Article to immediate consideration. In an act born out of a need to defeat these two articles, but hardly fair to those who left for lunch thinking that Article 11 was next up, Elderly Affairs officer Anderson, Immediately popped up to "move the question" ending debate before it was allowed to begin!

As usual the room was packed with chief supporters, elderly, family members, town employees, and the like, warrant article petitioners probably thinking that they could get other things done, before heading to town meeting to defend their articles. The "Atkinson Mafia" once again closed ranks to prevent debate on these topics. For all of these people's incessant wailing about the endless lawsuits due to their behavior, they are the problem, not allowing the voters to debate articles on town floor!

Add to this the additional spectacle of Jack Sapia, repeatedly interupting a conversation going on outside, involving Leon Artus, Gary Brownfield, and Ed Naile, of the CNHT, by demanding that any photos of him be deleted, the same request that Frank screamed from the podium at Mr. Brownfield! After ignoring they ignored him, Jack returned accompanied by a police officer, only to be told by Mr. Naile, that HE OWNED the photos, they were taken legally, and Jack wasn't getting them.

HEY FRANK AND JACK, It is LEGAL to take photos in a public meeting! And you can't do anything about it! And For Frank to tell the people, as a Town Official that it was illegal.... Well, Frank, if you haven't learned the basics of your job in all these years, maybe you should quit!

Once again those who had the courage to stand up to the bully that is our police chief, were defeated by a handful insiders employing legal, but morally bereft tactics, to shut down any voices of dissention.

So for the plaintiff's in the pending civil rights suit, in which BOTH Jack and Frank are already named as co- defendants, the Plaintiff's got an enormous boost today, and as usual, ALL of it occurred ON CAMERA! Nothing like giving the other side incontrovertable evidence!

So to recap, we had the Moderator, threaten to remove a resident for exercising his rights.

Then he made it official by demanding a vote of the town to curtail his rights.

Then he followed it up by screaming at him from the podium that he wanted his image deleted, even though he should have known that he had no right to demand that.

Then jack followed that up by using the threat of the police to make the same demand.

And THESE are the idiots we keep voting into office, that keep landing us in lawsuits!

And the circus goes on.

SCOOP: Atkinson Served Notice of Impending Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit, over Chief's Abuses!

The Reporter has obtained a copy of the "Notice of Intent" served upon the Town of Atkinson TODAY!

The Text is verbatim below. For those who are unaware, Charles Gwynn Douglas is a Former NH Supreme Court Justice, and a Former U.S. Congressman from the State of NH. He now runs a firm that sues municipalities.

For more info, here is the firm's website

Here is the Letter;

January 28, 2009

Board of Selectmen
Town of Atkinson
21 Academy Avenue
Atkinson, NH 03811

RE: Notice of Suit – First Amendment Violations

Dear Board of Selectmen:

This office represents the legal interests of Leon Artus, in relation to violations of his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and to petition the government, by Atkinson Police Chief Philip Consentino and the Atkinson Board of Selectmen.

The purpose of this letter is to place the Town of Atkinson on notice, pursuant to RSA 507-B:7, that Mr. Artus and other citizens will be filing a civil rights lawsuit concerning Chief Consentino’s intimidation and harassment of Atkinson citizens who signed a warrant article petition circulated by Mr. Artus, and the Board of Selectmen’s actions in enabling and permitting Chief Consentino to bully and intimidate residents who have the temerity of criticizing him or taking a political stance against his personal interests.

Mr. Artus obtained signatures of Atkinson residents for several citizen-petitioned warrant articles in early January 2009. Two of these warrant article petitions concerned offices currently held by Philip Consentino – Police Chief and Director of Elderly Affairs. The petitioned warrant articles were turned in to the Town Clerk on the morning of January 13, 2009. Within approximately one hour of the petitions being delivered to the Town Offices, Chief Consentino had obtained copies of the petitions, and was calling elderly signatories to demand an explanation as to why they had signed petitions which might impact his long hold on the Police Department and Elderly Affairs Office.

Shortly thereafter, the citizens who were contacted by Chief Consentino began attempting to withdraw their signatures as a result of his intimidating communications with them. Gail Spellman requested that her name, along with the names of Dorothy Goldstein, Thomas Spellman, and Robert Spellman, be removed. Mr. and Mrs. Everitt Smith went to the Town Offices, and apparently received assistance from Town Officials in writing a letter to the Selectmen requesting that their names be withdrawn from the petitioned warrant articles concerning the Police Chief and Elderly Affairs positions. The Goldstein family received a call from Chief Consentino, who demanded to know “what is your family doing signing this shit?” The next day Dorothy Goldstein was among those seeking to remove her name from the petition.

Chief Consentino’s use of his authority as Police Chief and director of the Elderly Affairs office to intimidate Atkinson citizens into remaining silent on issues in which he has a personal interest constitutes an abuse of his office and a violation of those citizens’ and Mr. Artus’ civil rights. His conduct with regard to the citizen-petitioned warrant articles filed in January of 2009 would be alarming enough if it were the first time it had ever happened. However, as the Board of Selectmen is well aware, Police Chief Consentino has a long and well-documented history of abusing his position to silence his political opposition. What is arguably worse is the equally long and well-documented history of the Board’s complicity in the Chief’s tactics of intimidation and bullying. The Town of Atkinson has a nearly three decades old record of allowing Chief Consentino to engage in abuses of power and coercion of citizens who dare to stand up to him.

For instance:

• In 1981, a civil rights lawsuit was filed against Chief Consentino by Wayne Peak, alleging that the Chief had engaged in a plan to discredit, disgrace, and coerce Mr. Peak by repeatedly charging him with baseless motor vehicle and criminal complaints, resulting in Mr. Peak being forced to move out of state to avoid Chief Consentino’s harassment. The harassment began after Mr. Peak filed a writ of mandamus seeking to compel Chief Consentino to account for monies collected by the Police Department. Upon information and belief, this lawsuit resulted in a significant monetary settlement in Mr. Peak’s favor. Despite that, the Town of Atkinson did nothing to change or eliminate Chief Consentino’s propensity for retaliating against political opponents or abusing his power as police chief.

• In 1999, the Public Employee Labor Relations Board ruled that Chief Consentino had engaged in a pattern of harassment, intimidation, and coercion against members of the Atkinson Police Department who sought to unionize. The PELRB’s Order of December 23, 1999, stated that “[s]uch fears, interference, domination and coercion must be abated. The Town’s conduct, through its agent and employee is, taken as a whole, violative of RSA 273-A:5.” Despite this documented finding of overt bullying toward even his fellow police officers, the Board of Selectmen continue to this day to allow Chief Consentino to go on abusing his position of power and trust.

• In 2000, Atkinson resident Steve Lewis circulated a petition for a warrant article to have a full-time police chief appointed. The warrant article in question was much like the one that Mr. Artus circulated earlier this month. Chief Consentino responded by visiting Mr. Lewis’ office in his Chief’s uniform, leaving his cruiser running outside with its blue lights flashing for over an hour. Inside the office, he loudly and abusively castigated Mr. Lewis for having the audacity to initiate the petition.

• In 2005, Chief Consentino flagrantly violated Orders of the Rockingham County Superior Court in a case initiated by Mark Acciard that required him to leave Selectmen’s meetings at any time the agenda turned to matters involving the Police Department or Elderly Affairs Office. He was found to be in contempt of court by Judge McHugh. Chief Consentino retaliated against Mark Acciard by charging him with trumped up traffic offenses and contacting vendors for Mr. Acciard’s business to tell them that Mr. Acciard was “under investigation by the Atkinson Police Department.” Chief Consentino’s retaliatory behavior against Mr. Acciard resulted in yet another defamation and civil rights lawsuit being filed against the Town, which is currently pending.

• In 2006, former Selectwoman Carol Grant filed a petition to have Consentino removed from his position as Chief of Police. Her petition cited a lengthy history of rogue behavior which would have justified removing Chief Consentino from the position which he so frequently abused. Among other things, Chief Consentino unlawfully taped Ms. Grant during a conversation, in violation of New Hampshire’s wiretapping statute, and then destroyed the evidence of that illegally taped conversation. Despite these serious violations of the law, the Selectmen have taken no meaningful action to curb Chief Consentino’s flagrant abuses of his official position. A lawsuit filed by Ms. Grant resulted in the Town being forced to pay out another settlement because of the Chief’s outrageous conduct, yet he still holds his position and continues to abuse it with the knowledge and apparent complicity of the Select Board.

• Also in 2006, Chief Consentino angrily erupted during a Board of Selectmen’s meeting when a citizen, Brian Kaye, read a prepared statement concerning his opposition to Chief Consentino’s plan to expand use of a communications tower near his property, and Consentino’s rude and belittling responses to Mr. Kaye’s concerns. Chief Consentino then followed up by sending Mr. Kaye two threatening letters, on police department stationary, demanding that Mr. Kaye provide him copies of his prepared statement. This is yet another example of the Chief abusing his position to intimidate a citizen who dared to speak out against him. After a death threat Mr. Kaye moved to Maine.

In addition to the above-described examples of Chief Consentino’s abuses of office, he has also succeeded in making Atkinson’s police department a “family affair” in contravention to any reasonable standard of nepotism. His wife Jody is director of dispatch, and his son David is a patrolman. Supervision of a wife and son is obviously different from supervising other employees. In addition, he uses Jody to screen calls seeking to complain against him, and insulate him from accountability to Atkinson’s citizenry by having her defer to “a superior” who puts up a smokescreen when people seek to file a complaint.

Throughout all of this well-documented history of aggressive, intimidating, and coercive behavior of on the part of Chief Consentino, the Atkinson Board of Selectmen have refused to take any meaningful action to put a stop to it. The refusal to remove Chief Consentino has clearly emboldened him over the years, to the point that he now is willing to personally confront simple townsfolk who sign a petition for a warrant article to intimidate them into removing themselves from the political process, which they should enjoy a constitutional right to participate in this Saturday. The Town’s inaction constitutes an established pattern and practice of ratifying and complying with Chief Consentino’s flagrant violations of Atkinson resident’s civil rights.

Mr. Artus’ lawsuit will name Chief Consentino, the Town of Atkinson, the current sitting Selectmen, and former Selectmen Jack Sapia and Francis Polito. He will be seeking damages and injunctive relief against both Chief Consentino and the Town.

Please have the Town’s litigation counsel contact me if there any questions.

Sincerely,



Charles G. Douglas, III

Atkinson resident ready to sue town, police chief

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Webmaster: This might make a good submission article.

From the Eagle- Tribune;


Atkinson resident ready to sue town, police chief
By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com


January 30, 2009 10:27 am

—

ATKINSON — Leon Artus thinks police Chief Philip Consentino has been intimidating residents who support a warrant article that could cost the chief his job.

He feels so strongly about it he is preparing to sue Consentino, selectmen and the town of Atkinson.

Artus, founder of the Atkinson Taxpayer Committee, said he never had a problem with Consentino until earlier this month when he was collecting signatures for a petitioned warrant article that would put Consentino out of a job. The article directs the town to hire a full-time police chief — with a bachelor's degree and 15 years experience.

Consentino is a part-time chief, limited to 25 hours a week. He said he is the lowest-paid member of the Police Department, with an annual salary of approximately $21,000.

Artus also was involved in collecting signatures for a warrant article that would expand the town's elderly affairs services, another department headed by Consentino. The chief is not paid for his work as elderly affairs director.

Artus' attorney, Charles Douglas, said he plans to file the lawsuit next week. Douglas, a former state Supreme Court justice, said filing a notice of intent is the first step in the process and he did so on Wednesday.

"The letter summarizes what will be in the suit," Douglas said.

Douglas sent a letter to selectmen this week, claiming within hours of the two petitioned articles being delivered to the town office, Consentino "was calling elderly signatories to demand an explanation as to why they had signed petitions which might impact his long hold on the Police Department and Elderly Affairs Office."

Douglas' letter claims Consentino's actions violated Artus' civil rights. He goes on to say Consentino used his position as police chief and elderly affairs director to intimidate citizens into silence.

Consentino could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But it's not the first time these claims have been made since the petitioned articles were submitted.

Two weeks ago, Consentino said he did contact three people who signed the articles to question why they wanted him out of a job. But he denied intimidating anyone. That same day, he said, he received a letter from an elderly resident, thanking him for his help during the ice storm. Consentino said he was surprised to see her name on a petition that would oust him from his job.

Artus said yesterday the articles aren't targeting Consentino.

"This is about moving the Atkinson police department into the 21st century," Artus said. "If he can't qualify for the job — he's had it for a long time — let someone else who's qualified do it,"

Consentino is a 40-year veteran of the Atkinson Police Department, a former three-term selectman and the director of elderly affairs.

The elderly affairs article is intended to expand the program and allow it to benefit more citizens, according to Artus. There is nothing in the article that would remove Consentino from his job as its director, he said.

Douglas' letter also takes selectmen to task for not reprimanding Consentino.

"The town's inaction constitutes an established pattern and practice of ratifying and complying with Chief Consentino's flagrant violations of Atkinson residents' civil rights," Douglas wrote.

Selectmen William Friel and Fred Childs said last night they had not seen Douglas' letter. But they also said Artus has never come to selectmen to complain about Consentino.

January 30, 2009 11:32 AM

Timberlane parents unhappy with strategic plan Parents react to draft plan

From the Eagle Tribune;

Timberlane parents unhappy with strategic plan Parents react to draft plan
By Margo Sullivan
margosullivan@eagletribune.com

PLAISTOW, N.H. — The principal of Timberlane Regional High is quashing rumors his school will stop teaching Advanced Placement and accelerated classes.

Principal Donald Woodward responded yesterday to questions raised by some parents, who are worried their children will only be offered basic courses.

One of the parents, Peter Bealo of Plaistow, is drawing attention to the word "non-leveled" in a new draft of the school district's strategic plan. The draft, which is not final and has not been adopted, is available through a link on the district's Web site.

"It says by 2012 all classes will be non-leveled," Bealo said.

Bealo said non-leveled means all the classes will be taught at the same level. The goal is for the whole district from kindergarten through 12th grade, he said, but it means the high school will drop college preparatory classes and AP courses.

But that's not the case, Woodward said yesterday. Accelerated and AP classes will still be offered. In fact, Timberlane may add three new AP classes.

But the district also wants to include special education students in regular classrooms and give all the youngsters the opportunity to succeed.

Also, educators want to review the way accelerated classes are offered, he said. In some cases, the course work is no more challenging than the college preparatory class assignments, he said.

Students should not be earning extra credit for those classes merely because the best students are in the class.

Parents have until today to make comments on the draft. Bealo was upset the deadline for comments was so brief. Many parents had not heard about the strategic plan, which the School Board has not yet discussed. Also, looking at next year's course catalog, it appears the high school has already started teaching "non-leveled" classes by requiring all freshmen to take physical sciences.

Woodward said one helpful comment might be to ask for a clear definition of the word "non-leveled."

School Board Chairman William Baldwin agreed.

"I don't think it means what some parents are thinking," he said.

But Baldwin said he has asked for clarification about mixing students of different abilities in the same classes.

Baldwin said he doesn't think that's a good idea. He wants the schools to improve instruction, so students can compete with other districts and win admission to top colleges.

"We don't want to halt anyone's academic career," he said.

Baldwin said a committee drew up the strategic plan draft. The School Board will discuss the plan at an upcoming meeting.

Timberlane teens plaster beer cases with warnings Teens put warning labels on beer

From the Eagle Tribune;

Timberlane teens plaster beer cases with warnings Teens put warning labels on beer
By Margo Sullivan
margosullivan@eagletribune.com

PLAISTOW — Shoppers may notice a new warning on beer if they purchase a case at Market Basket, Shaw's or Foods Plus along Route 125.

The warning, on a red-and-white sticker, tells buyers to beware and spells out the penalty — a $2,000 fine — for adults who buy alcohol for underage drinkers.

In advance of Super Bowl Sunday, Timberlane High students in the Peer Outreach group — armed with 4,000 stickers — fanned out to several groceries and liquor stores, and covered hundreds of beer displays with the warning labels yesterday.

It was hard work.

After an hour of reaching over store displays and stretching to reach beer cases, Alazandra Johnson, 15, of Plaistow admitted she felt a little tired. She has undertaken these campaigns since seventh grade.

"I like to be a positive influence," she said.

Kimberly Andrade, 16, a junior from Plaistow, worked her way down the aisle with a long roll of labels. After a teacher suggested the Peer Outreach group might be worth a visit, she went to a meeting and decided to join.

"I realized I could relate a lot," she said.

Kimberly said she had friends in trouble because of teenage drinking.

"I didn't want to be like them," she said.

The teens drew a few stares as they went up and down the supermarket aisles, crouching low to fit the stickers on beer cases without covering up the brand name or the barcode.

Shopper Marie Keane of Atkinson was startled at first. But Keane said she likes the idea of labeling beer and believes the warning will make people think twice before they break underage drinking laws.

The labels definitely made a statement, student adviser Tim Lena said.

Underage drinking in the Timberlane Regional School District is mainly an adult problem, he said.

Lena, Timberlane's student assistance program coordinator, based his opinion on student surveys, which show only 4 percent have tried to purchase alcohol at stores. Most of the students who drink illegally have obtained the alcohol at home or paid an adult to buy a bottle for them, he said.

Lena chaperoned the students yesterday, along with other adult supervisors, including Spanish teacher Sherri Allen, who also advises the Peer Outreach group. Also on hand were representatives from law enforcement — Josh Stone, an investigator with the state Liquor Enforcement Bureau, and Plaistow Master Patrolman Joan Marsilia, the school resource officer.

In minutes, the pattern of red-and-white labels changed the appearance of cardboard cases stacked with Samuel Adams Boston Beer, Coors Light, Corona Light, and Heineken.

Timberlane junior Megan Truche, 16, of Sandown said she thinks the labels will help prevent drunken driving.

"I know a lot of people who have been victims," she said.

Ashley Gillan, 17, a senior, also has personal reasons for campaigning against underage drinking.

"It's something I'm passionate about," she said. "I know some people who have gotten into it (drinking), and I've seen the consequences."

NH legislators propose giving towns more say on water withdrawals

Please accept this as an article submission...

From the Eagle Tribune;

NH legislators propose giving towns more say on water withdrawals

By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON — Two local representatives have filed bills in the state Legislature that would give towns more control over large water withdrawals in their communities.

Rep. Mary Allen, R-Newton, has filed a bill that would allow towns to have an impact study paid for by the developer. The state would notify the town when an application has been filed and the town would hire its own hydrogeologist.

"This way, towns officially know they can do something," Allen said.

Currently, towns are notified of applications sent to the state Department of Environmental Services, but they are never given any explanation as to how they can impact the process. The DES eventually makes the decision whether to allow water companies to withdraw the water.

Another bill, filed by Rep. James Garrity, R-Atkinson, would give towns even more power. The bill would allow communities to file local rules that regulate large groundwater withdrawals. Large groundwater withdrawals are classified as more than 57,600 gallons a day.

Atkinson resident John Wolters, who spoke in favor of Garrity's bill at a hearing in Concord last week, said he supports the bill because it gives local residents more power through the process.

"They have the power to deem what's in our best interest," Wolters said of DES.

It's not that DES does a bad job regulating water withdrawals, it's just that residents and towns feel they are ignored by the state, Allen said.

"This lets everyone in the area know what could happen," Allen said.

DES would still continue to do its own geological testing before deciding on the application, Allen said.

Wolters is one of two residents to ask the state Public Utilities Commission to deny Hampstead Area Water Co.'s request to borrow money from the state. Atkinson selectmen and resident Carol Grant filed similar requests to the Public Utilities Commission.

The water company applied for a $1.1 million loan to connect Atkinson's water system with Hampstead's over the summer. If the loan is awarded, 15,000 feet of pipe would be laid between the two towns. First, the Public Utilities Commission has to allow the water company to take the loan and increase its rates.

The Public Utilities Commission held a hearing in November on the issue, but has yet to issue a ruling.

Allen and Wolters said their concern about large water withdrawals is that they could have a negative effect on residents wells.

"We have no municipal water system here," Allen said.

Both towns have passed regulations regarding water withdrawals in the last year.

The Newton Planning Board passed new rules that would require the town to review applications for water withdrawals before they are submitted to the state. In Atkinson, a special town meeting was held in September where residents approved beefed-up local regulations regarding large groundwater withdrawals.

January 29, 2009 4:44 PM

The Warrant is posted on the town website, and there is a lot to yell about!

Town of Atkinson Website

You can read the Warrant there. I guess the selectmen couldn't get it done in time to mail this year. I wonder why it keeps getting later every year?

The Law states that Warrants, and budget "shall be posted, and copies available to the general public, on or before the last Monday in January! They are pushing the wire on this one, but we will let that slide, although it is not fair that most people will walk into deliberative session having never SEEN the warrant!

Article 2009-7 Multiple-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement

To see if the Town of Atkinson will vote to approve the cost item included in the collective bargaining agreement reached between the Board of Selectmen and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local #563 which calls for the following increases in salaries and benefits at the current staffing level:

Year Est. Increase Year Est. Increase Year Est. Increase

2009 $6,978 2010 $15,679 2011 $18,993

and further, to raise and appropriate the sum of Six Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy-eight Dollars ($6,978) for the current fiscal year, such sum representing the additional costs attributable to the increase in salaries and benefits over those of the appropriation at the current staffing level paid in the prior fiscal year?

Not Recommended by the Budget Committee

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen

Once again the numbers here are wrong. These only account for the officers ACTUALLY in the union, but by selectmen vote, ALL officer get the same pay and benefits that the union officers get. So while the selectmen are telling you, the cost for the 5 union officers, while leaving out the other 3 Ft, and 12 PT officers.

Article 2009-8 Authorization for Special Meeting on Defeated Collective Bargaining Agreement

If Article 2009-7 is defeated, shall the Town of Atkinson authorize the governing body to call one Special Meeting, at its option, to address article 2009-7 cost items only?’ (Majority vote)

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen


This is rich! They want another bite at the apple! They are saying that they expect the union article to fail, and if it does they want your permission to spend $3,000 dollars to have a SPECIAL town meeting to pass it during the summer and most are on vacation. Bullshit! If we vote it down, or up, IT STAYS THAT WAY UNTIL NEXT YEAR! You people screamed at us for holding a special town meeting for the Vietnam Honor rolls. and now you want to do the same!

Article 2009-12 Recreation Capital Reserve Fund

Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) to be added to the Recreation Capital Reserve Fund? The purpose of this fund is the acquisition, design, renovation, and development of recreation areas, to include but not limited to fields and playgrounds. This article is in addition to Article 2009-9, the Operating Budget.

Not Recommended by the Budget Committee

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen

Hey, Patti, these are tight times! You dont need to bank any more money this year! Give us a break. And of course our selectmen recommended it, they have never seen a spending article they did not like.

Article 2009-13 East Road Recreation Area

Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000) to continue construction of the new East Road Recreation Area (Map 15 Lot 27), and to authorize the withdrawal of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000) from the Recreation Capital Reserve Fund created for this purpose? No additional tax dollars need to be raised for this Warrant Article. This article is in addition to Article 2009-9, the Operating Budget.

Recommended by the Budget Committee

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen


Again, Patti, tight economic times, do we really need to spend this this year? Cant it wait?

Article 2009-16 Police Station Generator

Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate up to the sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) to purchase and install a stand-by, self-starting, propane electric generator which will provide enough electricity to power the Police Station in an emergency situation, thus allowing the Police Department to remain operational during a power outage? The installation of said generator will be under the supervision of the Town’s Building Maintenance Supervisor. This article is in addition to Article 2009-9, the Operating Budget.

Recommended by the Budget Committee

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen

$25,000 that is an incredible amount for a generator! And of course nobody has any numbers. Nobody has gotten any estimates! But this is much better than the pie in the sky $56,000 that the chief asked for! Phil you gotta be kidding! Do you even TRY to get a hard number, or do you just try to see how gullible we can be? And thanks, budget committee for doing NOTHING on this one either! Where are the budget committee of old?

Article 2009-30 Petition: Restricting Legal Fees

By Petition: "To see if the voters will vote to prohibit the selectmen from spending taxpayer money on the personal legal fees of public officials personal legal fees for which the taxpayers have no direct liability for and to prohibit the unwarranted payments for legal advice not pertaining to town business When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately."

Article 2009-31 Petition: Improve Elderly Services

By Petition: "To see if the voters of Atkinson will vote to expand Elderly Services to provide services to all residents at least 60 years of age; and to all residents with disabilities with no age restriction. To restrict the spending of the Elderly Services budget and Town managed donations, to services directed at the improvement of the health, well being and protection of the qualified residents. Services are to include rides to medical appointments, and medical devices not already available through insurance or other welfare organizations. To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out other available State and Federal assistance, such as, but not limited to, NH Fuel Assistance and Meals on Wheels and to post such information at the Town Hall in a conspicuous location. To further direct the Director of Elderly Affairs to post instructions to qualified residents as to how to request and schedule services, in a conspicuous location at Town Hall. To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out and manage a staff of volunteers to assist the elderly with non-funded assistance such as, but not limited to, shoveling snow and well-being checks. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately."

Article 2009-32 Petition: Full Time Police Chief

By Petition: "To See if the voters will direct the selectmen to Advertise; direct; screen and interview candidates using the State Police interview unit, to conduct the screening process, and hire the MOST QUALIFIED by objective standards of; education, and time in service (minimum qualifications are; a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, and at least 15 years of certified service on a civil police force) candidate for the position of full time police chief. Said position to encompass the duties of the current part-time chief, and the current full time administrative Lieutenant, with salary commensurate with experience and having benefits the same as the current Atkinson Police Lieutenant and will have a starting salary in the range of $60,000, plus the commensurate benefits. The selectmen are to begin this process within 14 days of this article being passed by the voters, and this process MUST be completed within 60 days of the passage of this article. Advertisements for this position are to run in at least 3 newspapers of general circulation in the Town, for at least 14 days."

We wont discuss these here as they have been discussed in previous articles.

Article 2009-34 New Powers

Shall the Town vote to adopt the provisions of RSA 36-A: 4-a, I(a) to authorize the Conservation Commission to expend funds to purchase interests in land outside the boundaries of our municipality, subject to the approval of the local governing body?

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen

HELL NO!!! Why do they need to buy land OUTSIDE OF ATKINSON? WITH OUR MONEY?

TRSD's NEW Strategic Plan to Attempt to teach our kids.

From the Plaistow Town Crier;

Posted by Len Mullen on January 27, 2009 at 05:50:35:

I find it striking that Plaistow -- with the worst schools in a terrible school district -- doesn't rail against the system. TRSD has published a draft of its 2009 - 2014 strategic plan. Few parents (three by my count) would support this plan, but a Plaistow school board member (who is up for re-election this year) would. Show your kids some love by voting against Elizabeth Kosta. She's a member of the committee that recommended...

* downsize/compact the curriculum
* eliminate ability grouping, block scheduling, school calendar
* develop a long range plan for PK-12 facilities
* consider purchase of additional land
* improve building security
* rehabilitate/replace school spaces
* increase schools’ capacities (despite declining enrollments)

when all we need to do is...

* Teach 180 FULL days
* Do homework at home
* End finals on the last day of school
* Minimize teacher out of class time
* No nonacademic assemblies
* No nonacademic field trips
* No fundraising during school hours
* Take TVs out of the classroom
* Provide tutoring after school

I plan to vote against EVERY SAU warrant and proposal until they agree to teach our kids. You should too. Call the SAU, your School Board rep, and your Budget Committee rep and insist they start teaching. I also encourage you to boycott fundraising that is done on school time and NOT send your kids to school on half days (the SAU loses state funding if no kids show up on these nonteaching days).

SAU: http://www.timberlane.net/Administration.htm
School Board: https://public.timberlane.net/sau/trsb/default.aspx
Budget Committee: http://www.timberlane.net/Budcom/trsd55.htm

Dennis, tell your friends in Atkinson to take a look at the draft of this plan. They can help out by voting against School Board chair Willima Baldwin. They also have two openings on the Budget Committee. It's time for change folks.

* Strategic Plan for Failure

The Importance of the Warrant Article to restrict Legal Fees for Town Officials bad behavior.

Warrant Article for Restricting Legal Fees
To see if the voters will vote to prohibit the selectmen from spending taxpayer money on the personal legal fess of public officials for which the taxpayers have no direct liability and to prohibit the unwarranted payments for legal advice not pertaining to town business When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

For those who are not aware, our public officials bad behavior has cost us THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS since 2005!

In 2005, Mark Acciard filed a petition with Rockingham Superior Court to force our police chief to stop "discussing, deliberating, or voting on police matters as a selectman". As simple as this sounds, our chief refused to stop! This case took a year to go through the system, and on the day of the trial, our chief decided to agree to stop this behavior in stead of facing trial. This means that he could have made that same agreement at any time during that year, saving the taxpayers thousands, but arrogantly chose not to.

While entitled to town paid attornies up to that point. After that he violated the Court Order, finding himself, three months later found in Contempt of Court! He still enjoyed legal representation on our money, even though we were not responsible for his willful disobedience!

After that he chose to fight the contempt order, and why not? It wasn't costing HIM anything, WE WERE PAYING FOR IT! Town Counsel filed a NH SUPREME COURT APPEAL at his request! Remember he was a selectman, and therefore could direct town counsel what to do, even though it was for himself, personally!

Sumner's normal billing rate is $200/hr. In addition to the DOZENS OF hours of consultation, preparing briefs, and filings, motions, and objections, and a SUPREME COURT APPEAL, there was 9 hours of court time, usually billed at DOUBLE THE NORMAL RATE!, This arrogance, and privelege cost us thousands of dollars.

Then in 2007, Carol Grant filed a petition to remove the selectmen from office. by the time this went to trial, the chief was a mere witness, having been dismissed from the case because he was no longer a selectman. He felt he needed legal representation, and rightly so, we guess, seeing as he, on advice from counsel, answered Ms. Grants questions, by invoking his 5th Ammendment rights against SELF INCRIMINATION 25 TIMES! by the way, you can't claim protection from self incrimination, if you haven't done anything criminal in the first place!

He came into the selectmens meeting, after the trial, and asked for his legal fees to be paid by the town, and Jack and Fred, and Paul, voted to PAY HIS PERSONAL FEES! This bill was only $900.00!

Currently Mark Acciard has a case going in Superior Court against the chief personally. The town has been dismissed from the case, and yet the TOWN, meaning US are STILL PAYING FOR HIS REPRESENTATION!

WHY?

If you do not want to keep paying thousands upon thousands of dollars in legal fees for our town officials misdeeds, then vote YES on this article!

Atkinson loses another town administrator

From the eagle tribune;

Atkinson loses another town administrator
By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON, N.H. — Less than five months after he was hired, Steven Angelo has resigned as Atkinson's town administrator. Yesterday was his last day.

He told the selectmen Wednesday night in a nonpublic session and an agreement was signed, according to Selectman Fred Childs.

Angelo, of East Falmouth, Mass., had intended to move to the area, but he said he had difficulty selling his home and a death in the family prompted him to spend more time with his family. He had been staying with his brother in Atkinson during the week and commuted back to Cape Cod on the weekend, Angelo said.

"When a man has a young son, a 10-year-old, you really want to live with your family," he said.

Angelo's departure leaves Atkinson without a town administrator for the third time in a year.

The town lost former administrator Russell McAllister in February, when he left to work as a government adviser in Iraq. In April, the board hired Craig Kleman on an interim basis, but he left in mid-July to take a similar job in Plaistow.

Angelo was hired on Sept. 15, according to selectmen's Chairman Paul Sullivan.

Angelo said yesterday he enjoyed working with town employees and residents. He said he had been thinking of resigning from his post for several weeks.

"I grew very close to the residents during the ice storm," Angelo said.

He characterized Selectman Bill Friel as "knowledgeable and hardworking," and Childs as having "an enormous institutional memory" of the town.

Angelo said Sullivan was "interesting in his own way" and refused to comment further on that relationship.

Sullivan's term as a selectman expires in March and so far no one has filed to run for that seat, according to Town Clerk Rose Cavalear.

Childs said the town would hire a temporary secretary until after the deliberative session, at which time they would start looking for an interim administrator.electmen's secretary Barbara Snicer is well experienced in the town's government and will be able to help the selectmen prepare for the March elections and Town Meeting, Sullivan said.

Prior to working for Atkinson, Angelo was a state representative in Massachusetts for 20 years. He also worked as the town manager in a Connecticut town and in Saugus, Mass.

Pillar of the Community passes...

MAcciard said...

Please accept this as an article submission.

To my fellow Atkinsonians,

A truly sad day has befallen the town. On Sunday evening Marsha Bassi, wife of Ben Bassi, Mother of Kendra, Jillian, Rebecca, and Vitctoria Bassi, passed away after a heated battle with cancer.

To know Marsha was to love her. She headed the ski club for 10 years, she served honorably on the Budget committee for 4 years. She was a sweet heart of a woman, whose soft voice and kind words belied the tenacity of a pitbull.

While serving on budget committee, she never shied away from asking the tough questions of the most abrasive personalities in town, and she did it with class and tact.

Marsha, you will be sorely missed. To Ben, Kendra, Jillian, Rebecca, and Victoria, should there be anything we can do for you please call and let me know.

Thank you for your friendship, and for your service to the town I lived lived in and loved for 41 years.

For those that wish to pay their respects, viewing hours are from 4pm- 8pm, Thursday, at the Cautadella Funeral Home on Pleasant Valley st. in Methuen, just down from the Loop.

Please wear something pink!

NECAP test results Suck, Statewide!

From the Eagle Tribune;

NECAP test results show room for improvement Sanborn High results far below state average
By Jarret Bencks
jbencks@eagletribune.com

The latest statewide testing scores show math results declining dramatically between grades eight and 11, but improving over last year's scores.

Sanborn Regional High School students scored significantly lower than the state average, with just 22 percent scoring proficient or better, and 50 percent scoring substantially below proficient. The district saw a drop of nearly 50 percent in proficiency from middle school to high school.

In Londonderry, 44 percent of 11th-graders tested proficient or better in math, up from 34 percent last year.

New England Common Assessment Program test results were released yesterday. Last fall, students in grades three through eight and 11 were tested in reading, writing and mathematics.

The most significant disparity in testing comes between grades eight and 11, where the percentage of students scoring proficient or better in math drops from 65 percent to 32 percent.

"The goal is to have our students scoring proficient or better," said Timothy Kurtz, administrator of curriculum and assessment for the state Department of Education. "We're seeing improvement, but we are not near where we want to be — 38 percent (substantially below proficient) is not acceptable."

Scoring "proficient" or "proficient with distinction" means a student demonstrates a conceptual understanding of most aspects of grade-level expectations, according to the Department of Education. "Partially proficient" or "substantially below proficient" indicates more instruction and support are needed.

Last year, 45 percent of 11th-graders scored substantially below proficient in math, while 28 percent scored proficient or better. NECAP has only been taken by 11th-graders for the last two years.

"We are pleased with the fact we had a 10 percent jump since 2007," said Mark Blount, Londonderry's assistant superintendent. "But we'd still like to see much higher than that."

The district recently changed textbooks in some of its high school math classes, and added pre-calculus and calculus courses to improve its math curriculum, Blount said.

In Salem, 69 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient or better in math, up from 58 percent last year. Thirty-one percent of 11th-graders scored at that level, an improvement over the 26 percent last year.

The Salem School District plans to bridge the gap between middle school and high school by having eighth-grade teachers sit in on high school classes, said Edith Soley, district assistant superintendent.

"It's a problem," Soley said. "We need to do better with those scores."

Scoring proficient or better on the grade 11 assessment means students would need little to no remedial learning for math when entering college, Kurtz said.

"The bottom line is performance simply isn't good enough to the kids and the places they are going," he said.

NECAP tests were formulated as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, and were first given in 2006. Students from Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire take the tests. Maine schools will begin administering the tests next year.

Improving the grades would be a long-term project for districts around the state, Kurtz said.

"Until the numbers are around 85 percent (proficient), there is work to be done, but the numbers are going in the right direction," Kurtz said. "We'd like to see this kind of a trend continue over the next few years."

This demonstrates the basic dishonesty of our chief, and the Lt.

This article is to layout for those commenting on the warrant articles, the basic dishonesty of the chief. And the evident Greed of our Lt. in their dealings with the town that pays them, that they profess to love and serve selflessly.


A selectmen's workshop last year held many revelations. One was that chief Consentino admitted "for the last 6 years" submitting sick pay vouchers for Lt. Baldwin when he does his Coast Guard Summer Camp, for 2 weeks every summer. This evidently fraudulent document submission troubles many who heard it.

Paul Sullivan read the Town's policy on sick pay, right from the employee handbook. This policy has been in place since chief was a selectmen, and yet he admits ignoring it. The policy is that the Town can not condone people taking sick pay if they are not sick, simple, right? What would happen if in the winter Lt. Baldwin actually did get sick and couldn't come into work? Does anyone believe that his SALARY is going to be docked for that day, because he has no sick time left?

Chief made a very compelling but false case for why his protege needs this time, because "it is not fair for him to not get paid while he is defending the country",
Well, Phil, summer camp is just that "camp"!, Training, meetings, job orientation to teach you everything you forgot since your last "summer camp"!, and he gets PAID VERY WELL FOR THIS!

This is from the pay charts at military.com;

An e-7 with 12 years of service is earning $3,600/mo. in BASE PAY! That does not include entitlements. ie: rations pay, quarters allowance, VHA, COLA, Clothing allowance, separation pay, combat theatre pay(if that is the case). An E-7 with that amount of service, should be earning $2045.00 for that two weeks.

Set that against the $1,169.00/week that Lt. Baldwin makes in Atkinson. And he is leaving our town to go do training, and taking a pay cut of $144.00/week!

BUT NO.... He gets PAID BY THE TOWN FOR THESE TWO WEEKS AS WELL! This is your tax dollars at work.... According to the chief(because he has been signing and submitting these vouchers) He has been getting his $1,169.00 from the town PLUS his $1,022.50 from the military! WOW! WHAT A RACKET! Where I work this would be called FRAUD! and I would be fired if I had the basic level of dishonesty necessary to pull it off, not to mention the arrogance to tell the entire town about it on television!

Our spendthrift police chief also went on and on about how the town screwed the erstwhile Lt. over military pay 4 years ago, leaving the poor destitute Lt. to fight for his compensation. it was ALL False!

Got to http://www.town-atkinsonnh.com/ and click on the selectmen's minutes form June 9,2003 if you don't believe me. Here is what happened, you judge for yourself who was right and who was trying to scam the town;

In March or April The Sgt. Baldwin received notice he would be deployed. He asked if the town would do anything for him. Then Selectmen Boyle assured him that the Town would pay the difference between his town pay and his military pay, and that he would not lose any money. That was the honorable and fair thing to do.

Before Sgt. Baldwin was deployed, the Town, at Mr. Boyle's behest, ADVANCED him $5,900.00, or 6 weeks pay so that his family would not suffer. The town directed him to furnish them with a copy of his Military Leave and Earnings Statement, so that they could calculate the difference between the two pay rates. Sgt. Baldwin, instead furnished the town with a commanders base pay letter, which only states his base pay and not all of his allowances, or extra pay. The town again asked for the leave and earnings statement. Sgt. Baldwin refused. Chief Consentino harangued the selectmen week after week, claiming they were "nickle and diming" the Sgt. Again, read the minutes through the summer of 2003, or look in the back issues of the Eagle Tribune for the stories about how his family was destitute, because of the town, most most especially mr.Boyle's lack of compassion.

Here is the issue;

Sgt. Baldwins town pay at the time was approximately $4,228.00/ mo.
Commanders base pay letter showed a base pay letter showed a base pay of only $2,400.00/mo. or so.

The difference that Sgt. Baldwin was in effect trying to obtain, and chief was lobbying for was $511.51/wk. or $2,199.50/mo. See Selectmen's minutes May 19, 2003

When the LES was obtained it showed an ACTUAL DIFFERENCE in pay of only about $450.00/ MONTH!

This means that the chief and the Sgt. were trying to obtain from the town an extra $1,650.00 per month of our tax dollars, again in the private sector this would be called fraud, and would be grounds for firing!

Remember that through all of this the Sgt. was being paid by the military, his $4,500/mo or so, PLUS he had been advanced $5,900.00 from the town.

This frivolous, and dishonest philandering of tax dollars must stop, and it is the job of the selectmen to not only put a stop to it, but to FIRE those who are dishonest enough to do it!

Lawsuits and Controversy have surrounded our police chief for 28 years!

Anonymous said...

Atkinson Reporter2 please accept this as an article submission;

The evolution of a costly problem.

Although I grew up in Atkinson, I left to go to college, and now live out of state, but as I have family in town I try to keep up on events in town. I LOVED reading the Atkinson Reporter, and the Atkinson Taxpayers website, and now I love reading this site.

Background now out of the way, I have spent much time reading the atkinsontaxpayers.org website. I remember a lot of these incidents, but seeing it all together in one place is overwhelming. I decided to write about what I felt about reading all of this.

I think we can all agree, even though the police chief evidently does good work with the elderly, he is a costly problem to the town, what with all the lawsuits, resident complaints, shouting at meetings, Gestapo tactics with his enemies, etc. I wanted to examine how this could be allowed to happen in my home town.

As far as I can tell chief Consentino was appointed on a probationary basis in 1978 to the position of chief of police. At that time, as near as I can tell, he had been a part- time police officer for 8 years or so, with little or no formal training, or experience. It was in 1980 apparently that the first problem appeared;( all of this is available in the court documents section of atkinsontaxpayers.org)

A Selectman, Wayne Peak, apparently found that minor fees that the police charged for reports and such, were not being deposited to the town, but given to the patrolmens association(a private organization). As this was money charged by the town for services, Peak determined that it belonged to the town, and characterized the misappropriation of these monies as misuse of funds, or some type of theft. Peak brought his information to the board of selectmen and asked them to punish the police chief, but they refused. Peak went to court, filing a Writ of Mandamus, demanding that the Court order the selectmen to do their duty. He also resigned in protest.

I have to say that the court documents read like an adventure novel, allegations of police harassment, false charges of reckless driving later dismissed, formal accusations of witness tampering, employing agents to fire shots at the police station, complaints to the Mass Dept. of Revenue, untimely audits yielding no results, at one point chief Consentino even sued Mr. Peak, claiming, Libel, Slander, Defamation of Character, reduced earnings capacity, and stress related illness’. These competing claims wound their way through the Court system for 7 years, until being settled for an undisclosed amount. Mr. Peak then threw a party in N.Andover the weekend after the settlement to show off the TWO new Cadillac Eldorado’s he purportedly bought with the settlement.

This case was finally settled in 1988. In 1990 or 1991 there came another issue, then Lt. Rick Daniels resigned suddenly over disputes with chief Consentino. Chief Consentino claimed in the Eagle-Tribune that Daniels “wiped out 12 years of computer database information before he left”. Daniels claimed this never happened, and was heard to state that Atkinson didn’t even have a database in 1979.

In 1996 or so their was some issue apparently with police standards and training, regarding Chief's hours, resulting in their visit to town.

In 1997 and 1998 there were endless shouting matches between selectman Fred Childs questions about budget and expenditures in the police dept. and chief Consentino’s refusal to provide clarification to this selectmen, his boss, culminating in the infamous "spitting incident" in the Town Hall between chief and Fred Childs. All of this is detailed in the Eagle Tribune, and on the atkinsontaxpayers.org site.

In 1999, the officers got so frustrated that they decided to form a union. There were “intimidation letters” from chief Consentino to the organizers, resulting in a labor board case, in which the NH Public Employees Labor Relations Board, ordered the “town and its Agent(Consentino) to cease and desist from any bullying, harassment, and intimidation of officers”.

Around this same time Mrs. Childs, then a part time officer herself, in Atkinson, evidently filed a complaint with police standards and training about chief Consentino’s hours, that he worked too many to be part time, and that he lacked the training and education to be full time. Chief Consentino responded by asking one of his officers to visit her house and take pictures of her Hampstead animal control cruiser, he followed this up with a letter to the Hampstead selectmen accusing Mrs. Childs of misusing her cruiser for personal business. When Mrs. Childs found out about this intimidation, and rightly blew up about it, Consentino claimed “I was acting as Phil Consentino resident, not Phil Consentnio, chief” Like every “resident” has access to police officers and police dept. stationary!

In 2003, there was another flap that ended up before the labor board involving officer Lorden, case was settled with officer Lorden receiving payment. There was another labor board case involving Officer Buco, another settlement, another payment. 2003, also saw the infamous “Town that hates Halloween” story, reported on CNN, Boston Globe, Union Leader, AP, Howard Stern, Michael Graham, Howie Carr, etc. Nice Job!

In 2004 saw the first conflict of interest allegations from Brian Boyle, Barbara Stewart, then from Mark Acciard. Acciard, then a budget committee member, filed a code of ethics complaint, which they ignored. He then filed with the Court asking for an injunction to keep the POLICE CHIEF from DECIDING POLICE MATTERS AS A SELECTMAN!!! Should be a no brainer, right? Wrong! Chief Consentino refused to step aside, even after the Court ordered him to, and the Court found this 30 year chief in CONTEMPT OF COURT! He didn’t like that and tried to appeal it to the NH Supreme Court, and they dismissed his case!

In 2005, chief and his two buddies Fred Childs, and Jack Sapia, ignored written town policy demanding that any open position be advertised, and quietly slid then Sgt. Baldwin into the Town's First Full Time Lt. Spot! By the Way, it is illegal for the selectmen to create a new full time position in town, only the people can do that.

In 2006 He was the subject of a Federal Civil Rights Suit against the Town, recently settled! Another settlement another payment!Thousands of dollars in legal fees, and tens of thousands in settlement to make it go away!

And Now the Town is currently facing a $3,000,000.00 lawsuit alleging misconduct AGAIN on the part of Atkinson’s police chief! When does it end?

The selectmen could, at any time, during all of this done their duty, and enforced town policy, and reprimanded, suspended, or even fired the chief, but they have done nothing, and the allegations, legal costs, increased insurance premiums, all continue to march on.

In the midst of all this there were other issues that never made it to Court, but were borderline or blatently illegal none the less;

1.) The chief bought a new SUV for the PD, without selectmen approval, without warrant article, without a vote.

2.) The chief Admitted to falsifying sick time vouchers for Lt. Baldwin, allowing him to receive over $6,000 that he was not entitled to.

3.) The chief lobbied for Lt. Baldwin to get an extra $2000/mo. while deployed in the guard to Kuwait, even after being told that this was far above the difference in pay.

4.) Sent threatening letter to Mr. Brian Kaye.

5.) Sent threatening letters to Mr. Acciard.

6.) personally investigated Mrs. Carol Grant, calling her a Federal Criminal in a live meeting.

For these reasons, his 15 minutes of fame are up.

Atkinson warrant articles target Consentino Could lose job leading Atkinson police force

From the eagle tribune;

Atkinson warrant articles target Consentino Could lose job leading Atkinson police force
By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON — Police Chief Philip Consentino could be out of a job in March — if voters approve a warrant article that would significantly change the position.

And that's not all.

In addition to heading the Police Department, Consentino also serves as the director of elderly affairs and that position could be dramatically different if another petitioned warrant article aimed at reforming the program is approved.

"There is a small group in town that has been trying for years and years to remove me from office," Consentino said Friday.

Residents who signed the petitioned articles and were contacted last week said they didn't know who was behind either article.

The article concerning the controversial police chief was signed by 43 residents. It would eliminate Lt. William Baldwin's position and create a full-time chief's job, with a salary of about $60,000. Consentino is a part-time chief, working not more than 25 hours a week for about $21,000 a year.

The warrant article directs the town to hire a full-time chief who holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and has 15 years service. If the article is approved in March, the town would have to begin advertising the position within 14 days after the election and a chief would have to be hired within 60 days.

Under the proposal, Consentino said it would cost the town more. Baldwin wouldn't lose his job, but would be demoted to sergeant and the town would still have to pay him his salary of about $85,000 a year, according to Consentino.

The chief said when he saw the petition last week, he called three people who signed it to ask them why they had and if they knew it would be the end of his job. That same day, he said, he received a letter from an elderly resident, thanking him for his help during the ice storm. Consentino said he was surprised to see her name on a petition that oust him from his job.

"These people rely on this program and rely on that program as it stands," Consentino said.

The article concerning the elderly affairs program would further separate that program from the Police Department, with a separate director. Under the proposed change, the program would still provide rides to medical appointments to seniors. The director would have to seek state and federal money, including Meals on Wheels and the state fuel assistance program.

The warrant article does not address how or how much the new director would be paid. Consentino is not paid for the work he now does with elderly services.

The problem is, Consentino said, without the Police Department, the elderly services program would not get the call at 3 a.m. to pick up a resident from the hospital.

"There's more to this than people realize," he said.

Resident Mark Acciard, a frequent critic of Consentino, signed both petitions. He said Atkinson has the best elderly program in the state, but it's obvious that funds designated for the Police Department are used by the elderly services program.

"The whole problem is that the Budget Committee separated the elderly affairs six years ago, but it has never been operated as separate," Acciard said.

But Consentino is confident he won't be losing his job come March.

"Once the residents find out that it will eliminate Phil Consentino as chief and the elderly program, I don't think it has a chance of passing," he said.

Two other warrant articles are aimed at informing homeowners of changes to their tax bills.

Leon Artus of the Atkinson Taxpayers Association said the town's tax cards are filled with errors and these warrant articles would alleviate problems.

Artus, who wrote those two articles, said he has helped many residents file for tax abatements and claims to have won $15,000 for a woman in town who overpaid her property taxes for 10 years.

He said most people never check their tax card at Town Hall. If the information were available on the town's Web site or mailed to residents, there would be fewer errors with tax bills, he said.

"I've been overtaxed on my property for many years and I intend to stop it," said Gary Brownfield, who helped Artus gather signatures for the articles.

Brownfield, who also heads a taxpayer association in town, said he is appealing his tax bill to the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals and intends to fight it to the state Supreme Court if necessary.

Even if these two warrant articles fail this year, Brownfield vows that this won't be his last fight.

"We're going to come back every year until we get these tax situations unified," he said.

Other towns post this information online and the cost to do so would be minimal, according to Artus.

If passed, the articles would take effect immediately.

Other warrant articles include prohibiting selectmen from using taxpayer dollars to defend themselves in court, making the Planning Board an elected body, spending $2,000 on Rockingham County Nutrition and Meals on Wheels, and increasing the veterans tax credit to $500.

Warrant Article to EXPAND Elderly Affairs! and and yet the chief is lobbying AGAINST IT!

Here is the text of the citizen petitioned warrant article;

Warrant Article to Improve Elderly Services

To see if the voters of Atkinson will vote to expand Elderly Services to provide services to all residents at least 60 years of age; and to all residents with disabilities with no age restriction. To restrict the spending of the Elderly Services budget and Town managed donations, to services directed at the improvement of the health, well-being and protection of the qualified residents. Services are to include rides to medical appointments, and medical devices not already available through insurance or other welfare organizations.To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out other available State and Federal assistance, such
as, but not limited to, NH Fuel Assistance and Meals on Wheels and to post such information at the Town Hall in a conspicuous location. To further direct the Director of Elderly Affairs to post instructions to qualified residents as to how to request and schedule services, in a conspicuous location at Town Hall. To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out and manage a staff of volunteers to assist the elderly with non-funded assistance such as, but not limited to, shoveling snow and well-being checks. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

Now why would the chief fight THAT?

It is clear that it will greatly benefit the elderly he claims to love so selflessly. Or could it be that by codifying it as town ordinance, he can no longer portray it as his great generosity with other peoples money?

For years we have heard the chief yell about how if it weren't for him and his tireless efforts to protect the elderly, they would have nothing.

What he forgot to mention is that he is the Towns director of Elderly Affairs, and as such, that is his job! He forgot to mention that this is a taxpayer funded, voter approved program, that will survive even if he was no longer the director!

He also forgot to tell the voters that when he tells them it only cost $19000 to run, that was a lie. It did not account for the $15,000 in donation account expenditures a year, nor the $10- $20,000 bleed over from the PD budget. But it is only money, right? after all it is for a good cause..... right?

All that money was spent for something more than just his vote buying program, wasn't it?

In Atkinson, Tammany Hall is alive and well!

WE HAVE A NEW POLL! at right! Please express your opinion

Unsign On The Dotted Line - Or Else, courtesy of our police chief!

From the NH Insider, by way of the Plaistow Town Crier;

Thank you Mr. Naile, and Mr. Herrick, for taking the time to be concerned with our terrorism plight.

Posted by Dennis Herrick on January 16, 2009 at 08:36:11:

What happened to Meghan Carey? When she was handling the Atkinson-Plaistow area news we could count on a regular stream of stories about Atkinson. She wanted the folks in town to see their leaders in the light of day, even if the image wasn't especially attractive. Guess we'll have to depend on the blogs from now on. This one's from Ed Naile at www.nhinsider.com. How much embarrassment can the Town of Atkinson take before there's real change?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Unsign On The Dotted Line - Or Else

Every citizen has the right to redress – except of course in Atkinson, NH. They have limited rights because of a thuggish, ego-powered, part time police chief, Phil Consentino.

In a normal town, a citizen has only to walk around and get signatures on a petition if he or she wants to have a warrant article placed on the Town Warrant for Town Meeting.

Ah, but in Atkinson you need a doctored up, used Atkinson Police cruiser to drive elderly residents to the drug store, and along the way, to collect signatures.

Without matching hardware, any taxpayer competing with the small time hood Consentino would soon be bankrupt. You see Consentino has a nifty little pay to play deal in town where his PRIVATE non-profit 501c3 gets to use Atkinson’s resources to politic and – anti-politic. A nice weekly pay check comes from the town – the Bulgers should have had it so good.

“Anti-politic” is a word I have coined to describe what the chief is up to as you are reading this blog. Anti-politic means: to engage in politics on your own behalf and to use a public position to undermine anyone else’s, preferably a citizen without government resources.

Chief Constantthuggo is driving around town in an arrogant panic, escorting people to the Selectman’s Office to withdraw their names from a petition, circulated by taxpayers, to make the Police Chief’s position FULL time.

This citizen’s petition makes the hair on the back of Consentino’s neck stand up (gee, must look like a hog hair paint brush). See, the standards for full time police are a bit higher than part time police standards. Could Consentino pass a full time police chief test? Is he qualified?

Consentino is certainly sneaky enough to run a vote buying deal such as using town equipment to “help” people who sometimes donate to his non-profit and vote for his candidates and issues.

But what to do, what to do, when things get out of control – like someone actually gets a legal petition submitted with which voters could challenge the scam Consentino has worked on so long?

Time will tell.

Deliberative Session will be Saturday Jan. 31st at 10:00am

Deliberative Session will be Saturday Jan. 31st at 10:00am at Dyke Auditorium!

Election Day - 7:30 AM until 8:00 PM - Tuesday March 10th at the Community Center

From the Atkinson Taxpayers Association Website http://atkinsontaxpayers.org/

What follows is the text of the citizen petition warrant articles, as they were submitted, prior to the chief's attempts at electioneering;


Warrant Article for Mailing Tax Cards
To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen/assessor to immediately mail a copy of any changes made to a taxpayer’s property tax card, with the reason(s) as to why it was changed. (This would allow every taxpayer to have advanced notice to any changes that would effect their tax bill.) When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

Warrant Article for Posting Tax Information
To see if the voters will vote to direct the selectmen/assessor to post all property tax information on the town web site. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

Warrant Article for Restricting Legal Fees
To see if the voters will vote to prohibit the selectmen from spending taxpayer money on the personal legal fess of public officials for which the taxpayers have no direct liability and to prohibit the unwarranted payments for legal advice not pertaining to town business When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

Warrant Article for a Full time Police chief
To See if the voters will direct the selectmen to Advertise; screen and interview candidates using he State Police interview unit, and hire the MOST QUALIFIED by objective standards of; education, and time in service (minimum qualifications are; a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, and at least 15 years of certified service on a civil police force) candidate for the position of full time police chief. Said position to encompass the duties of the current part-time chief, and the current full time administrative Lieutenant,with salary commensurate with experience and having benefits the same as the current Atkinson Police Lieutenant. The selectmen are to begin this process within 14 days of this article being passed by the voters, and this process MUST be completed within 60 days of the passage of this article.
Advertisements for this position are to run in at least 3 newspapers of general circulation in the Town, for at least 14 days.

Warrant Article to Improve Elderly Services
To see if the voters of Atkinson will vote to expand Elderly Services to provide services to all residents at least 60 years of age; and to all residents with disabilities with no age restriction. To restrict the spending of the Elderly Services budget and Town managed donations, to services directed at the improvement of the health, well-being and protection of the qualified residents. Services are to include rides to medical appointments, and medical devices not already available through insurance or other welfare organizations.To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out other available State and Federal assistance, such
as, but not limited to, NH Fuel Assistance and Meals on Wheels and to post such information at the Town Hall in a conspicuous location. To further direct the Director of Elderly Affairs to post instructions to qualified residents as to how to request and schedule services, in a conspicuous location at Town Hall. To further direct the Elderly Affairs Director to seek out and manage a staff of volunteers to assist the elderly with non-funded assistance such as, but not limited to, shoveling snow and well-being checks. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.

Warrant Article for an Elected Planning Board
To see if the voters of Atkinson will vote to restrict the staffing of the Planning Board to Elected members only. Elected members of the Planning Board will be prohibited from conducting business with the Town during their session in office. When passed, this warrant article will become effective at the next Town
Meeting.

Electioneering, Part IV- And it is the same Town Official AGAIN!

Yes my fellow Atkinsonians, it is the Electioneering....... ooops, I meant,Election season again!

And we all know what that means?

Yessirree, buddy! Phone calls form the chief about the latest petition warrant article he wants defeated!

That extra sweet taste this year comes from the fact that the warrant article he wants to defeat, is a petition warrant article for a Full Time Chief of Police!

Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest? The chief of police using town resources to intimidate voters into retracting their support for a warrant article that would affect his job?

Oh but this is Atkinson! And we all have seen that conflicts are only for the other guy, for the Harold Morse, the Teddy Stewart, the Barbara Stewart, NEVER for the Chief!

Here is what happened, as best as we can tell, at approximately 12:30pm today the petitioned warrant articles were handed in to the selectmen's office. By 1:40pm, elderly people in town were supposedly getting phone calls from the chief, asking them "How could you put your name on this?" and " Don't you know this will cost me my job?"

You read that right, ONE HOUR from submission to intimidation! Only in Atkinson!

Now rumor has it that the "official" story is that the chief asked, just after delivery coincidently, if any petitions had been submitted, and went and picked them up. Then the calls started!

IF ANYONE RECEIVED CALLS FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE ABOUT ANY POTENTIAL BALLOT ISSUES, CALL THE SELECTMEN'S OFFICE AND LET THEM KNOW!

Then please post it here so that we can let the public know of this abuse.

Not the first time Rep. Garrity has tried to gut the Right to Know Law!

This is a repost from the NH Insider website from April 29, 2008.

This is from the NH Insider website, written by Ed Naile, Director of the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers.

The poignant side to this is that our state rep, Jim Garrity, serves on the Right to know commission, and our board of selectmen has been actively engaged in circumventing this law for the last four years!

Read on fellow Townspeople...

Here is how the deal works regarding House Bill 1408 which is on the fast track to do two things:

1. Gut RSA 91-A - The Right To Know Law.
2. Become the largest membership drive The Coalition of NH Taxpayers ever had.

Some basics about RSA 91-A:

If you ask for public documents from an unwilling public body they play several cards. One is to delay the handing over of the documents until AFTER they may be helpful to the taxpayer requesting them.

Should you go to court, after weeks or months of asking for documents, they will magically appear the day before the hearing. With a straight face town or school counsel will tell a judge that they have already complied with the law so there is no case to be heard. I have had this happen in court more often than not. It is a standard technique of municipal counsel. Attorney Paul Apple of Upton and Hatfield used this ploy against The Windsor Coalition of Taxpayers in March of 2007. Attorney Matt Upton of the same firm tried this on me in 2005. Attorney Bob Bossie of Manchester used this trick in 1991 against me in Deering regarding bid-rigged bridge plans. It is standard operating procedure.

You have to remember, this is New Hampshire and we have one of the worst superior court systems in the country. It is an official laughing stock of self serving nit wits in black dress up. No brag, just fact. Municipal lawyers know there is no real penalty for hiding documents.

Except.

The dilemma for the newly formed Right to Know Commission which has been trying over the past five years to gut 91-A is, now that since withholding documents is for the most part not a problem, how to allow secret meetings. This is a problem because without the sacred secret meeting, many tax and spend municipal boards could not function the way they do now. Without bid rigging, selecting certain like-minded friends for positions, or cutting deals behind the backs of other people on the board, what fun would it be to hold office?

The Right to Know Commission tried, unsuccessfully, with HB 377 and HB 626 to actually write into the law ways for secret meeting to be held. They had language which said “outside communications” as they refer to them, can be held if someone keeps notes and lets the next meeting know what they were scheming. That blew up in their faces. What if the next meeting is an “outside communication” and the one after that?

Now in HB 1408 they just slide in some new language regarding the much anticipated “Outside Communications.” In a new paragraph, “outside communications” are allowed as long as they do not circumvent the “spirit of the law.”

This is really laughable and sad at the same time.

So now you catch a school board having a secret meeting such as the Strafford School Board did at a restaurant named Cassidy’s back in March. They met and drafted a letter to the community to support the $11.2 million dollar school that failed before and after this not so secret, secret meeting.

I had their secret e-mail thanking everyone for coming shortly after it was sent. CNHT winds up several of these emails every election cycle and always will. When you hide something from other members of a board they often get cranky and send evidence to the only organization in NH that will help - CNHT.

Here is why the RTKC wants to get “outside communications” in the statute BEFORE any language about penalties is adopted.

Say we catch, as we surely will, a school board meeting about, say, a certain engineer to hire for a new addition. They hold the meeting at “Cassidy’s” again and get caught by another potential bidder. All they have to do is say they had no idea they were “circumventing the spirit of the law.” A taxpayer bringing the case would have to prove otherwise, such as an admission, or letter saying “let’s circumvent the spirit of the law.” This is next to impossible.

If you think this is not going to happen then you have only to wait.

It will not be long.

But there is a new way to punish “outside communications” and it will be “outside the box” not in court.
Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 09:48AM by Registered CommenterEd Naile

Our own Rep. Garrity attempting to GUT Right to Know Law?

Article Submission: from the NH Insider

Why Not Remove The Name "Garrity" From The Legislature
And I thought Atkinson NH’s knucklehead part time Police Chief Phil Consentino, subject of endless lawsuits against that town, was the only problem child Atkinson had. (It must be something in the water – let’s not go there right now.)

Nope, State Representative Jim Garrity has popped up as a “presenter,” or as they call them in the State Legislature, sponsor, of a questionable piece of legislation aimed at, of all things, the Right to Know Law, RSA 91-A.

I say “presenter” instead of sponsor because a sponsor of a bill would seem have a reason for doing so. There is no reason whatsoever anyone would want to sponsor a bill such as Jim Garrity has done if not for the want of mischief, in this case future lawsuits by taxpayers aimed at acquiring public information.

Here is the meat behind Rep. Jim Garrity’s inspiring piece of legislation. He wants to remove the words “agency or authority” from the types of government bodies or subdivisions of the State from the law as it exists now.

Since this makes no sense it must have another purpose and from my desk it looks like trouble, all in the name of?

Pick a law, almost any law, and the purpose of that law will be laid out in the first few sentences. Below is a sample of some simple, basic statutory language regarding State Records and Archives, this bill would affect.

5:30 Duties of Director. – The director shall, with due regard for the functions of the agencies concerned, and subject to the approval of the secretary…
I. Establish standards, procedures, and techniques for effective management of state records.

RSA 5:33 Agency Heads. – The head of each agency shall:

The list of state laws affected by this is endless.

So what in the world is wrong with having the word Agency used to describe a political subdivision, which is what they are. Why not remove “political subdivision?”

I won’t even bother with Rep. Jim Garrity’s presenting this proposed bill to remove the word, “authority” from RSA 91-A as well because that makes no sense either.

But it must be the desire of some “agency” to have itself seem to be removed from the public’s right to know. That will take some ferreting out.

And isn’t this why we have the Right to Know Law in the first place? Not only is RSA 91-A the law in NH, we amended the state constitution almost thirty years ago just to include it.

Some elected officials hate that.

Legislature to debate bills to GUT Right to Know Law!

Webmaster: Please post this as an article submission:



These bills are being heard on January 14th, 2009. Two of them are very bad. There is no time to write LTEs or much else except spread the word via email and or Blogs.
These are some of the small but sneaky cuts being made to undermine the taxpayer revolt that is anticipated at town meetings.

HB 0072 would increase the number of people needed to request a secret vote at town meetings in some cases to as many as 50, from 5 as previous law provides. I can't see as anyone would have time to gather 50 signatures in the 5 minutes between voice and show of hand votes! I cannot imagine what Ms Patten (R) is thinking with this bill.
CNHT feels that the passage of this bill would not be in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Read the full text of the bill here:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/hb0072.html

Or below:

HB 72 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
09-0243
06/03
HOUSE BILL 72
AN ACT relative to requesting a secret ballot at a town meeting.
SPONSORS: Rep. Patten, Carr 4
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
ANALYSIS
This bill increases the number of voters required to request secret balloting and secret ballot recounts at a town meeting.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and strikethrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0243
06/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to requesting a secret ballot at a town meeting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Secret Ballot. Amend RSA 40:4-a to read as follows:
40:4-a Secret Ballot.
I.(a) At any meeting of a town with a population of more than 500, [5] 50 voters who are present may make a request in writing prior to a vote by voice vote or division vote that the vote be taken by secret written ballot. Upon receiving such a request, the moderator shall conduct the vote by secret “yes-no’‘ ballot.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, on the request of [5] 25 voters who are present, the moderator shall conduct a recount on any vote taken by secret written ballot under subparagraph (a). The recount shall take place immediately following public announcement of the vote taken providing that the vote margin is not more than 10 percent of the total vote cast. There shall be no fee required for a recount under this section.
II. At any meeting of a town of a population 500 or less, [3] 10 voters who are present may request secret balloting or recounting as provided in paragraph I.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.


PLEASE ATTEND THIS HEARING TO EXPRESS YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL

HB0072 will be heard on January 14, 2009 at 11:30 AM in Room 301 of the Legislative Office Building.
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HB 0053 would exempt certain government agencies from having to release information under the RSA 91-A “Right to Know” law and that would just about prevent us from knowing ANYTHING.
CNHT feels that the passage of this bill would not be in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Read the full text of the bill here:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/hb0053.html

Or Below:
HB 53 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
09-0090
01/10
HOUSE BILL 53
AN ACT relative to the definition of “public body” under the right-to-know law.
SPONSORS: Rep. Casey, Rock 11; Rep. J. Garrity, Rock 6
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
ANALYSIS
This bill clarifies the definition of “public body” for the purposes of the right-to-know law.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and strikethrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0090
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to the definition of “public body” under the right-to-know law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Right-to-Know Law; Definition of “Public Body.” Amend RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) to read as follows:
(d) Any legislative body, governing body, board, commission[,] or committee[, agency, or authority] of any county, town, municipal corporation, school district, school administrative unit, chartered public school, or other political subdivision, or any committee, subcommittee, or subordinate body thereof, or advisory committee thereto.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

This bill removes "committee, agency, or authority from the original text!


PLEASE ATTEND THE HEARING TO EXPRESS YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL.

HB0053 will be heard at 1:00 PM on January 14, 2009 in Room 208 of the Legislative Office Building.
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HB 0135 would make government accountable for not complying with 91-A Right to Know Laws, that is, if there is anything left of 91-A by that time.

CNHT feels that the passage of this bill would be beneficial to the taxpayer.

Read the full text of the bill here:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/hb0135.html

Or below:
HB 135 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
09-0458
01/04
HOUSE BILL 135
AN ACT relative to remedies for violation of the state right-to-know law.
SPONSORS: Rep. W. O'Brien, Hills 4; Rep. Rowe, Hills 6; Rep. Splaine, Rock 16; Rep. L. Ober, Hills 27; Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 3
COMMITTEE: Judiciary
ANALYSIS
This bill requires a court to invalidate an action of a public body or agency taken at a meeting held in violation of the provisions of RSA 91-A. Current law does not mandate a court to invalidate such action.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and strikethrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0458
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to remedies for violation of the state right-to-know law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Right-to-Know Law; Remedies. Amend RSA 91-A:8, II to read as follows:
II. The court [may] shall invalidate an action of a public body or agency taken at a meeting held in violation of the provisions of this chapter[, if the circumstances justify such invalidation].
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.



PLEASE ATTEND THIS HEARING TO EXPRESS YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS BILL

HB0135 will be heard on January 14, 2009 at 2:00 PM in Room 208 of the Legislative Office Building.
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It is very important that you attend these hearings to express your opinions. Two of these bills would seriously change the way you interact with your local government. The other would make sure 91-A laws are enforced

Town Officials unhappy with response to ice storm

From the Eagle Tribune;

NH town officials unhappy with response to ice storm
By Jarret Bencks
jbencks@eagletribune.com

Hampton officials are so unhappy with Unitil's response to last month's ice storm, they're asking voters if they want to establish a municipal utility.

Local officials haven't taken such drastic measures, but many are upset with the utility's response and they have a lot of questions.

Officials in Plaistow and Atkinson, where Unitil is the primary power provider, have begun to review the response to the storm from town emergency crews and the utility provider.

The state's Public Utilities Commission will conduct its own investigation into all the state utilities' performance in the wake of the crippling storm. That storm left hundreds of thousands of Granite State residents in the dark for days.

Power supplies are state controlled, but towns do have some options if they aren't satisfied with their provider.

One option is to go to the PUC and request investigations into specific incidents.

A PUC investigation could result in fines against utility providers or add new requirements for the company, such as requiring them to add more staff.

Another, and perhaps more dramatic, option is to try to take control of the power supply municipally. That would mean the town would manage, staff and monitor all town power operations.

"It would be a significant change to how it is done now," said Meredith Hatfield, the state's consumer advocate for utility customers. "The power supply would not be regulated by the PUC anymore. All budgeting and management would be done by town management."

The town would have to purchase the wires and poles, which could be difficult if the utility company isn't willing to part with its customers.

"It's a potentially lengthy process," Hatfield said.

Unitil officials said they will encourage an open dialogue with towns and residents as they consider their power supply options, according to George Gantz, Unitil senior vice president.

"We think they will come to the conclusion that the operations and services we provide will be the best option," Gantz said, "but we don't want to dissuade people from asking questions."

Three towns in New Hampshire operate municipal power supplies — Ashland, Littleton and Wolfeboro.

Atkinson selectmen and town emergency officials will meet Thursday to discuss the response to the storm from the town and the utility company.

"It was a concern of ours at the time and it still is," said Paul Sullivan, chairman of the selectmen. "We've got to review what happened."

Plaistow selectmen plan to meet with emergency officials to review and discuss Unitil's response, town officials said.

"We have the same concerns most towns had," Selectman Dan Poliquin said. "Communication was a definite problem; information given to us was not accurate or on a timely basis at all."

Selectmen have discussed having representatives from Unitil come in for a public meeting to explain their emergency process and priorities to the public, Poliquin said.

The PUC sets power rates for utility customers. Unitil has estimated the ice storm cost the company $10 million. Poliquin said he hoped the PUC would use its power to prevent the expenses from being passed on to residents.

"It appears that is a possibility, and that really shouldn't be happening," he said. "They should be able to deal with that through their insurance or the federal government."

Since the ice storm, Unitil has set up an emergency information center, intended to directly link town officials to the company's operations center.

The company will now deploy crews to area towns before a storm begins to expedite repair times. Unitil services parts of Atkinson, Danville, Derry, Kingston, Londonderry, Newton and Plaistow.

The utility hired Bob Yardley, former chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, as a consultant in internal assessments of the company.

The company sent a letter of apology last week to customers for the prolonged power outages and communication problems that came up.

"We are well aware of the frustrations of customers. It was a lengthy outage; it's a logical reaction," Gantz said. "I think things will settle down and we'll all learn some things from this process. We will all be in better shape in the future."