(Union Leader) At their meeting Monday night, Selectmen Chairman Dan Duffy made it known that selectmen will not accept public input at their meetings. He announced “the board’s new policy” as Budget Committee member Steve Brinser was trying to air a grievance about information that he felt was omitted from this year’s town report.
“For the time being, we have, as a group, decided to act because there are some people who are mudslingers, who are anti-anything in this town,” Duffy said on Tuesday.…
The town’s attorney, Richard D. Sager of Ossipee, said he has researched the state’s right-to-know law, and found very little about public input at selectmen’s meetings.
“The right-to-know law doesn’t really say anything about public input,” he said. “If the meeting is not noticed as having public input, the public does not have a right under right-to-know to say a damn thing at a meeting.”
So the right-to-know law doesn’t really say anything about public input but the public might have something to say about public input; except that now they can’t say it at Selectman’s meetings. That means they will have to say it everywhere else, and often, if you get my drift.
