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As reported in last week’s Citizen newspaper by reporter Gail Ober, some Central NH citizens have filed a lawsuit questioning a small sliver of the "stimulus" funds flowing from the Federal government.
Local activists Doug Lambert and Thomas Tardif have filed a fourth lawsuit against the Belknap County Commission and the Delegation, this time challenging the county’s right to apply for a federal stimulus grant.
The suit claims Sheriff Craig Wiggin did not comply with all the requirements of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) when he applied for the $217,000 grant and that the commission doesn’t have the authority to designate him to be the grant coordinator.
Earlier this spring, Wiggin received permission from the three county commissioners to apply for a JAG award for equipment for six qualifying Belknap County communities.
The Sheriff’s Department, as coordinator of the grant, will get a 10 percent management fee — or $31,000 — that it will also use for equipment, including a repeater to improve radio communications, a camera and a computer.
The suit claims Wiggin filed for a nonconstruction grant that included a "secret ineligible $30,818 narrative list of purposes" and later claims the Belknap County Special Operations Unit or SWAT Team is a "private military group" and cannot make use of a federal grant.
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Tardif and Lambert prevailed in a lawsuit against the county for going behind closed doors to appoint Wiggin to replace then Sheriff Dan Collis, who left after his 2006 election to take a job in the private sector.
This involves the so-called JAG grant process which I have written previously about here here here here here and here. Having exhausted all efforts to get the appropriate officials to right what we view as wrong, we had no choice but to litigate. The matters at hand are too important to not pursue to their final conclusions. News of the suit brought out the usual suspects, comrades, water carriers, and useful idiots. Here is my response and explanation:
“They didn’t even read the bill!” This is certainly destined to be a well-known phrase in the lexicon going forward, as voting for and passing important legislation without reading what’s actually in it is all the rage. Despite being rightfully panned for such acts, our elected “leaders” make no apparent apologies as they continue in their quest to change America as we know it with reckless abandon. As staffers and unelected bureaucrats scurry about in the shadows creating laws us hapless people will have no choice but to live by, our designated “representatives” do little to nothing on our behalf. And this goes up and down the food chain, as our “junior” politicos seek to emulate their comrades’ actions down in Washington. Allow me to explain…
In a truly free representative republic– which is what government in America is supposed to be– ultimate power resides with its citizens. Powers possessed by those in government are merely delegated to them. It’s right there in our original Founding document, the Declaration of Independence: they get their
“just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”
In New Hampshire, that very notion appears right up front in the Part First, our state’s Bill of Rights:
“Article 1. [Equality of Men; Origin and Object of Government.] All men are born equally free and independent; therefore, all government of right originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good.”
Continuing on that same theme, Article 8 states,
“All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted.”
Are you with me on this? Obviously SOMEBODY intended it to be known that it is the PEOPLE who give power TO the government, and not the other way around. It is the people’s government, and they shall have reasonable access, and have a right to expect accountability and responsiveness. After all, it’s in our Constitution.
But what happens when the power granted by the people goes unheeded and unused? What happens when those who are elected to provide oversight on behalf of the people fail to do their job? Well, at the national level, we get complicated and convoluted laws bringing with them a legacy of unintended consequences that often end up being worse than whatever the “problem” such legislation aimed to “fix.” And of course because politicians don’t often admit mistakes, we can never get such failed policies and laws reversed.
At the state level, we get fantasy budgets built upon rosy projections and conjecture, combined with clever ways of hiding new and ever growing taxes disguised as “fees”, almost guaranteeing annual budget shortfalls and “crisis.” Rather than acting on the citizens’ behalf, the state legislature has become little more than the protectors of bureaucracy, public sector labor unions, and the burgeoning welfare state.
Closer to home, New Hampshire county governments are ultimately controlled by a legislative body known as the County Convention. Made up of the elected members of the House delegation from the county, they have the final say over many things through the power of the budget, which they wholly control. Below them, the County Commissioners spend the monies as appropriated by the Convention.
Sadly, as folks recalling events of the last several years know, the quality of “representation” the citizens of Belknap County have been receiving is less than praiseworthy. In fact, you could say it has been criminal, in the sense that multiple state laws—and perhaps some federal ones– have been broken in the course of conducting “business.” Adding to this damning mix was the recent conviction of a long-time administrator caught stealing public goods and funds she was supposed to be managing. Indeed, the taxpayers and citizens of Belknap County have been repeatedly hosed, and most of it stems from the fact that those designated by the people to run this level of government in their stead have chosen to abdicate their delegated powers.
Beginning with the illegal appointment of a replacement sheriff in violation of the state’s Right to Know law, and continuing with the bonding and borrowing process, the flawed budgeting methods resulting in a default budget, and having to re-learn the legal means of creating supplemental budgets, there seems to be no end to what our representatives—the County Convention, can screw up. And through it all, we always find one simple theme: denial of giving the public access and knowledge of the facts during the decision making stages of certain aspects of county government. You see, almost every lawful act by the Convention involves a public notice and sometimes a public hearing. When the Convention fails to conduct its legally obligated duties, such requirements are forgotten, and the County Commissioners stand dutifully at the ready to do it THEIR way, no matter whether it’s right or wrong.
Back in May, the Commissioners gave approval they had no authority to give for the sheriff to apply for a grant from the federal government. They further gave such approval without even having read the application—ignoring federal requirements to the contrary. Despite the fact that two citizens—me, and former Laconia Mayor Tom Tardif—asked the Convention members via a letter (to each and every one) to intervene in the matter thus exercising their lawfully delegated powers, they chose to do nothing. This left the citizens of Belknap County with no say in a matter that some consider of great importance: the ongoing continued buildup and militarization of our civilian police forces.
History is littered with the corpses of great republics whose legislative bodies gave up their powers to dangerous people and usurpers. The Roman Senate handed power to Caesar. The German Reichstag voluntarily went into permanent adjournment at the behest of Hitler. In much the same vein, today we find many levels of government here in our own country being run by unelected bureaucrats and civil apparatchiks thanks to spineless elected politicians refusing to exercise the powers given them by the people. Should we expect the end result to be any different than what history has shown us it will be?
Some of the local drones and usual suspects have referred to the legal action taken by two citizens seeking to have their elected representatives simply REPRESENT them in County matters as “frivolous.” After considering state law, the state Constitution, and the cold hard realities of historical precedent, I challenge them to dare call th
is “frivolous.” Representation without representation is nothing to be taken lightly…
