Most people are familiar with those ads for ambulance chasers, like attorneys James Sokolove, Dane Schulman, and Barry Feinstein, in which the small print usually says “affiliates in NH & other states outside Mass.” Attorney Bolton, though not an ambulance chaser, is best known as Nashua’s “corporation counsel” and the bane of the L-Team’s existence. The L-Team (Ortolano & Colquhoun) have “affiliates,” like me, Beth Scaer, and anyone else aggrieved by city hall that makes lawful, narrow, reasonable, and articulate requests for public records.
Just like those Commonwealth lawyers having out-of-state affiliates, I surmise that Attorney Bolton has out-of-town affiliates, like some secret anti-RTK legal network. If he doesn’t, then he at least has town hall occupants 100-plus miles away from City Hall operating by his playbook. Northumberland is a small town 148 miles north of Nashua that most people probably don’t have on their radar, nor do they ordinarily have a reason to. That changed almost 2 weeks ago when a federal candidate’s paperwork got the attention of some watchdogs.
Victor Orlando has line items for $102,906 associated with a roof job on Errol’s town hall and $55G associated with a roof job on a California NGO’s food pantry at 834 Lancaster Road in Northumberland. Those 2 items raise multiple red flags, including what Blue Cross would call “what is/n’t reasonable and customary” in market pricing for those roofs, as well as rules governing “in-kind” donations and other irregularities. Seeing that it’s a government building in Errol, I fired off some pleasant requests, such as selectmen’s agendas and minutes, and roof proposals. Terri Ruel, their finance administrator, replied in a timely fashion with the responsive material, and I have since asked some follow-up questions in a thank-you email sent Monday 8/24.
Because the food pantry, owned by Moreno Valley Cultural Arts Foundation, dba Granite Guild, is private property, sleuthing required a different pathway to information. I started by investigating its funding and whether any of it comes from the government. The answer is yes, but I also wanted to see the permit, assuming one was issued for this $55G roof job on an approximately 2000-square-foot single-story structure with an ordinary low-pitched roof and no dormers, chimneys, or other features that would make it extra expensive.
$55G is tens of thousands more than market price for such a roof, even if premium materials are being used (unlikely). However, one watchdog pointed out that serious structural damage could have been discovered, requiring unexpected carpentry expenses. Be that as it may, as Attorney Gens often says, all the more reason for getting a permit.
It’s not uncommon for town offices in small towns to have weird and limited hours, and it’s par for the course for RTK responses to take a little longer than in their larger-town counterparts with more manpower. Still, there are 91A protocols, like acknowledgment of the request within 5 business days. If more time is needed to retrieve and prepare the responsive material(s), even the likenesses of Gary Perrin and Diane Veino would reply at the end of Day 5 with notice of a future date to expect fulfillment. Rinse, lather, repeat on that date, if in Nashua. On Monday 8/17, I emailed info at Northumberland NH dot gov with the following message:
Good evening.
Attached is the property card for 834 Lancaster Rd. The most recent permit I see in it is for a deck in April 2009, but I understand that the roof was replaced in April 2026. Could you please send me a copy of the permit for that activity? A picture of the document itself or a link to records on file would be great.
Thanks,
Julie
And seeing that looking at a property card shouldn’t be an onerous task, even if it took a while to update the data from last spring, I sent a friendly follow-up email on August 21 and replied-all with these words:
Good afternoon.
I am following up on my Monday request as a permit is a public record, if I’m not mistaken. To facilitate your retrieval of responsive material, I found the parcel ID, which is NRLD-000237-000000-000031. I would like the opportunity to view it by Monday as per 91A.
Please and thanks.
Julie
Upon venting my frustration yesterday morning; I was advised to notify them of their violation and notify Scanlan’s office, which I did by copying him when I sent the below message:
Good morning, Northumberland local government.
This email serves to notify you that you are in violation of RSA 91A. It has been generously over 5 business days since my original August 17 request, which still remains unacknowledged to this day!
If there is no record of a 2026 permit for a roof job at 834 Lancaster Road, please confirm by replying upon reading this email. If a permit was issued, I would like to see it without further delay.
Please and thanks.
Julie
As you know, last night was debate night at St A’s, and I feel it necessary to say for the record that I am an UNPAID supporter of his opponent and my amateur detective work is on my own personal initiative. With that housekeeping tidbit said, I can’t prove that members of the town government of Northumberland are trying to be spiteful, but I find it very Nashua-like for a small town abutting the Connecticut River and about 30 miles south of Canada to be using the modus operandi of city hall. Is their town attorney calling the shots there?
Maybe it’s an Attorney Bolton AFFILIATE. Or maybe not.
