The story of our ongoing Right to Know lawsuit regarding the illegal appointment of the Sheriff of Belknap County made the front page of today’s New Hampshire Sunday News (Union Leader). And yes, as you will find out when reading the article, the Republican-dominated Belknap County Convention, fresh on the heels of a stinging rebuke by the NH Supreme Court, decided to throw caution to the wind and, instead of simply conducting an open "redo" of the process as created (and, subsequently followed with the open and transparent appointment of a new County Registrar), re-appointed the vacated occupant to the position with no discussion other than concerns over the money he wasn’t getting paid while not serving as sheriff. Writes Sunday News reporter Nancy West,
Two citizens whose New Hampshire Supreme Court argument resulted in Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin being taken off the job during Laconia Motorcycle Week say the Belknap County Convention ignored the high-court ruling by returning Wiggin to work last week.
Tom Tardif of Laconia and Douglas Lambert of Gilford, both Republican activists, plan to ask the Superior Court tomorrow to stay Wiggin’s appointment and ultimately to vacate the position — again — at least until the County Convention repeats the entire application process and publicly votes on the appointee.
The Supreme Court earlier vacated the position because lawmakers had appointed Wiggin by secret ballot during a public session, in violation of the state’s right-to-know law.
And the really sad part is that the DEMOCRATS at the Convention table were the ones advocating for the correct method that applies full and complete transparency to the process, as called for by the Supreme Court ruling, and it was the Republicans that stood in the way. These dopes might as well remove all references to openness and accessibility from the Party platform, as it is obvious that, at least here in Belknap County, the incumbent Republicans stand united in their opposition to such quaint notions…
The other stunning aspect to the story is the fact that most, if not all of the Republican members of the Belknap County Convention had obviously NOT read the Supreme Court’s ruling, nor had they taken the time to watch the video of the oral argument given by Mr. Tardif in front of the Supreme Court. Had they done so, they most likely would have conducted themselves differently, and we wouldn’t be heading back into Court tomorrow morning.
No wonder the once-proud dominant party here in the Granite State finds themselves in minority status– IT’S WHERE THEY BELONG!!!!
Doing the deed again: The Belknap County Convention
Craig Wiggin berates Thomas A Tardif during Wednesday’s meeting for daring to suggest he do the honorable thing and not accept the sheriff position until the Convention gets it right…
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Tardif, left, and Lambert, right, offer their input on the flawed process that just took place…