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"Curses… Foiled AGAIN!" Perp: Rep James Pilliod (RINO-Belmont)
Perp: Rep Fran Wendleboe (Faux-conservative, New Hampton)
Now that the New Hampshire Supreme Court has validated the case for the public’s “Right-to-Know” with regards to the appointment of persons to fill vacant elected positions at the county level, nay, at ALL levels of government, there are some points worth pondering.
First, a few facts for those not quite familiar with the steps leading to the removal of the Belknap County Sheriff just in time for Bike Week… Number one, none of this needed to happen. Following the 2006 closed-door appointment of Commissioner Long by the County Convention (comprised of the 18 elected NH House members of the districts of the county) to fill the vacancy created with the passing of Gordon Bartlett, many people raised a hue and cry due to the secret process employed.
You would have thought that, given the numerous letters printed in the local papers along with critical op-ed pieces published in several newspapers expressing dismay, they would have learned their lesson. But, no— not the bunch from Belknap! When another opportunity came to do it right—this time with the appointment of the Sheriff—they thumbed their noses at the people of the county and did it the way they did before: behind closed doors. Why would they do this? Why, despite the fact that they had to know the heat they would again take for conducting the appointment of a person to fill an elected position, did they choose the same controversial route? One word: arrogance.
What other conclusion can a person draw? The members of the County Convention knew that their actions would certainly cause great distress among certain watchdogs and observers of the local political scene, and yet they did what they did anyway. Almost immediately following the (now invalidated) appointment of the sheriff, two members did speak out. One, Beth Arsenault, smelling a rat, abstained from the vote in the first place, and another, Judie Reever, quickly recognized the error of her participation and wrote an apology letter that was published in all the local papers.
And the rest? Well, the rest is, as they say, history. Rather that admitting they were wrong and simply re-doing their vote, they lawyered-up, dug in their heels, and found themselves involved in a lawsuit—one that, had they taken the time to read the law and actually ponder the meaning of the words contained within, along with what the plaintiffs were saying in their pleadings, they should have realized they could not win. Unfortunately, they couldn’t bring themselves to do that. What clouded their thinking? One word: arrogance.
Fast-forwarding to the present, nearly a year since they decided to throw caution to the wind and appoint a new sheriff in the way they damn well pleased, we now find ourselves without his services during what is arguably the time he is most needed: Bike Week. Who is to blame for this? Other than that the timing was determined by the release of the ruling by the Supreme Court, who other than those partaking in the misdeed is at fault? The right answer is, of course, nobody. The actions of the County Convention have caused the result we see today. That is, unless you ask them and their comrades and defenders: mostly those who are, or have been, a part of government in some way. Then, of course, the fault lies elsewhere. To them, it is not the wrongdoers who did wrong. Oh no– in their eyes, the fact we have no sheriff at present is the fault of none other than the whistleblowers themselves!
Consider a letter written Monday’s Laconia Daily Sun in which the author, a retired law enforcement officer, wrote,
“All the time and effort into disrupting the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department and for what, and at what cost to the residents of this county? I heard nobody complaining about the manner of the appointment of the sheriff and I believe most residents did not care about the format used.”
He then went on to “resent” the plaintiffs
“speaking for the rest of us and wasting our tax dollars which they claim they try and protect.”
He apparently has not actually read the ruling, which is available to all at the NH Supreme Court’s website—or if he has, he doesn’t understand the English language all that well.
Unfortunately, the letter-writer is not alone in his sentiment towards the victory for an open and transparent government. As one might have expected, at least one member of the County Convention that caused all this in the first place has now gone on record, and he too hasn’t gotten the message as delivered by the high court. Speaking to the Citizen newspaper, Belmont Republican(RINO) James Pilliod sneered, (recalling that until the law changed, the Courts filled vacancies)
“This is a tempest in a teapot created by the court who didn’t want the job in the first place.”
He then suggested the court
“made us look guilty of something and I deny that we are.”
Giving his view of Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, citizens now have some insight as to where this esteemed lawmaker really stands when it comes to laws that govern the government:
“We aren’t really geared to that complexity of nonsense and that’s what it is.”
Hmm. Maybe it’s not arrogance after all… maybe it’s just plain stupidity.
Remember—these are the people that make and enforce the laws the rest of us must live by. Friday’s ruling leaves no doubt—the lawmakers have become lawbreakers. That is something that, despite the protestations of the above-mentioned letter writer, should concern everybody…
