Dear Mr. Conforti,
You state that “the City plays no formal role in State Legislative activity”. This is contradicted by the following:
Councilor Schultz is an elected official for the State House.
Mayor Jim Bouley’s firm Dennehy & Bouley is a paid lobbyist for/against bills presented to the legislature.
Steve Shurtleff was both a councilor, a representative, the minority speaker of the House, and a sponsor of bills for which members of the City Council and the Mayor were paid, and that used City Chambers for meetings (Marsy’s Law).
Councilor Grady Sexton has been the leading orchestrator of several bills before the legislature and has lobbied against other bills, with members of police departments showing up for these, thus making them lobbyists as well.
Several members of the City Council are paid lobbyists but use the same social media accounts to promote city council-tied activities and information as they do to lobby for or against matters before the legislature.
During one meeting for HB1675, in which Rep. Erica Layon presented an amendment that would have introduced a 91A requirement for the NHCADSV, a group text chat among members of the Concord Council was observed by a witness in the room. A member of the AG’s office was observed telling the person (an attorney from Sheehan & Phinney who was a lobbyist for Marsy’s Law) to lower their phone so that the observer could not see the group chat with Concord City Councilors.
Mayor Jim Bouley led the letter against HB111 for 13 Mayors. Dennehy & Bouley, his lobby firm, appears to boast about this particular lobbying activity on its site. It would have received payment for the activity, most likely from the NHMA to which the City of Concord contributes.
I think your argument that the City does not play a role in State formal legislation activity is undermined by the facts of its activity and the number of paid lobbyists who are council members and whose organizations are both recipients of city funds, state funds, and federal funds, and whose organizations are paid to lobby for the financial and political interests of those organizations.
Note: John Conforti is the Concord City Solicitor.
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