Few people I have spoken to even know that their town is a member of the NHMA, let alone what this Association does. So, what does it do?
At some point your town voted to become a member of the NHMA, likely for the free legal advice it offers its members. From this point on the dues to this Association were quietly paid out of your town’s executive fund and your town’s relationship with this Association was not mentioned again.
Thanks to John Yannacci. for his Contribution – Send Yours to steve@granitegrok.com
Your town’s executive board has what is called a ranking member to the NHMA. Every year the NHMA holds an annual meeting where its Board of Directors is elected. At this meeting your town’s ranking member is entitled to a vote. The Hierarchy of this Board of Directors then forms what is called the Executive Committee. The Board of Directors also appoints an Executive Director who is responsible for the general operation of the association.
No less than twice a year the NHMA holds a Legislative Policy Conference where its members vote on legislative policies and principals that the NHMA will adopt. Any policy proposal that is voted in the affirmative by two-thirds of the members becomes the official policy of the NHMA.
If a policy is adopted by the NHMA they will then put their funding and resources behind lobbying for its implementation. The current Executive Director Margaret L. Byrnes and its Governmental Affairs Counsel Natch Greyes are both registered lobbyists with the New Hampshire Secretary of State. If their efforts are successful then these policy initiatives will come back to govern your town in the form of laws, administrative rules and RSA (Revised Status Annotated).
The NHMA also has its own legal division. One benefit your town’s executive board receives as a condition of membership is access to free legal advice from this division. The advice that your town’s executive board receives from this legal division is exempt from Right-to-Know requests under section XII of 91-A:5 (attorney-client privilege). This means that you do not get to know what they discussed.
The NHMA has also become the largest, and possibly the sole educator of municipal officials in the state. The routinely hold conferences, seminars and workshops where they educate municipal officials on how to do their job. They are also the largest and possibly the sole educator of NH municipal officials on the New Hampshire Right-to-Know law (RSA 91-A)
What is less clear is the NHMA’s relationship with a massive national lobbyist called the National League of Cities. The NLC is part of what is known as the “Big 7”. The “Big 7” is seven of the largest lobbying organizations representing state, county and municipal officials on a national scale.
Though the NLC claims to be non-partisan it appears to be run almost entirely by Democrats. Like the NHMA, the NLC meets every year at a policy conference where they determine what policies they will lobby the federal government on. This is called the NLC National Municipal Policy.
The 2024 NLC National Municipal Policy can be read at: [ https://www.nlc.org/national-municipal-policy/ ] You can read it for yourself and decide whether it comports with your views or even, if it is what is best for our state. I have read it in its entirely and form my point of view it reads like any boiler plate, UN driven, progressive liberal agenda.
This annual National Municipal Policy is compiled from the input of the full NLC membership, including what the NLC calls its State Municipal Leagues. The NLC states that its State Municipal Leagues serve as essential partners to the NLC, influencing federal policies, fostering local leadership, and promoting innovative solutions.
On the State Municipal League page, the NLC provides a map of the United States. When you click on a state the respective outpost of the NLC appears. The map can be found at: [ https://nlc100.org/state-municipal-leagues ] When you click on New Hampshire the New Hampshire Municipal Association appears along with its contact information.
This entire framework that I have just laid out makes the case that our executive boards influence the New Hampshire Municipal Association, the NHMA influences the National League of Cities and the NLC influences the Federal Government, but this begs the question, what assurances do we have that this influence doesn’t work the other way?
