That’s the title over at the Keene Sentinel about NH House Majority Leader and President of the American Federation of Teachers here in NH, Douglas Ley. We’ve written about him before (here, here, here, and here). Steve wrote this:
A formal ethics complaint has been filed against NH House Democrat majority leader Dough Ley. As noted here, the lines between Representative Ley and AFT-NH Union President Ley are blurred. To such a degree that the complaint as outlined appears to me to demonstrate that Rep. Ley is in violation.
And today, we know that is going forward (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Ethics committee to move forward in investigation against House majority leader
The Legislative Ethics Committee voted on Monday to pursue a preliminary investigation into a complaint against N.H. House Majority Leader Douglas Ley, a Democrat from Jaffrey who also leads one of the state’s largest teachers unions.
The complaint alleges that Ley improperly participated in legislative business affecting the New Hampshire chapter of the American Federation of Teachers while also serving as the union’s paid president. It was filed by Christopher Mazerall, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Ley for his House seat in 2018.
Ley is the second-ranking Democrat in the N.H. House. In that role, he has repeatedly testified on his union’s behalf in legislative committee hearings and has voted on bills that have been explicitly endorsed or opposed by the union.
There is a similar case where NH State Rep Greg Hill, before taking a position with the Children’s Scholarship Fund, went to the Legislative Ethics Committee (LEC) to check for possible conflicts or infractions. He was told that (he would not be in violation) as long as he “didn’t sponsor, testify, vote on, or otherwise try to influence” any educational policy/legislation.
Democrat Ley is actually VOTING on such legislation that directly relates to his “other job” with the union.
I found this part rather interesting because I’ve been told that these ethics proceedings are supposed to be highly confidential.
The Legislative Ethics Committee started reviewing the complaint against Ley in April, but has done so only behind closed doors. Under the committee’s rules, complaints are supposed to remain confidential during the first several phases of the complaint review process.
NHPR has independently confirmed the substance and status of the complaint against Ley, and has also confirmed that the details of the complaint line up with the one the committee voted to move forward (“Complaint 2019-2”) at Monday’s meeting.
From here, the ethics committee’s “preliminary investigation” into the complaint against Ley will also be confidential. Once the committee completes that investigation, it can vote to dismiss the complaint, issue an informal resolution, or move ahead to a formal proceeding.
Well, how can it be confidential if NHPR (er, Josh Rogers??) knows about it and has connected all the dots?
Now, there is a certain NH State Rep from the southern part of the State that is bound and determined that I’m going to file an Ethics complaint against him/her. Well, if the above is any indication that the process can be leaked, WELL THEN! I most likely will. And because of some other malfeasance by another NH State Rep that is all full of herself and how she treated a constituent, WELL THEN!
It is up to us, the electorate, to hold our elected representatives to account. It is our responsibility.
It can also be fun.
