The Londonderry Times has a long but important piece on a pressing issue in that town. The special privilege enjoyed by their Old Home Day Committee (OHDC). It seems the OHDC gets to spend tax dollars without any of the usual transparency and reporting requirements.
Money comes in, some as donations, some is tax dollars. Money goes out. The committee holds a meeting but does not keep meeting minutes. And there are no clear indications that anyone cares how the money they disburse gets spent.
If you’ve paid much attention to town-level politics, this scenario could be lazy-oversight or just miscommunication about requirements. But it also represents an opportunity for abuse.
Without regurgitating the reporting done here, the problem is this. Tax dollars are involved. But there is no method or mechanism by which taxpayers in Londonderry can see how the money disbursed to the OHDC is spent.
As is typical of bureaucracies, no one seems to know why. Everyone claims to be doing their part following their paragraph of the rules (mostly). But the sum of those bits leaves us wanting. We have a story: a theme, a plot, players, and a conclusion. Londonderry gets an Old Home Day celebration.
Some are content to set the book down and walk away. But without following proper procedure, tax dollars inevitably manage to disappear. It need not be by malevolent means but we’ve seen and reported stories of embezzlement in small-town New Hampshire over the years that went unnoticed under better circumstances.
Bottom line, it’s not your money.
Londonderry needs to get its OHDC house in order. No excuses. You have an obligation to the taxpayers to make this right and keep it that way.