GraniteGrok: “The Big Flashlight turned into a searing laser piercing the dark corners of Government!”. I just got word that Jesse Newmann, the Right To Know Coordinator for the City of Nashua (NH) has decided to move on:
Skip,
I think Jesse Neumann quit his job. I just went on the job posting for Nashua and his job was posted on May 27, 2021. Or the City is hiring another RTK coordinator. I am getting RTK requests that are electronically signed by him but I don’t know if he is still at work. This is weird. How can we find out? Here is the posting on the City website for hiring.
If he is leaving, Good Work Skip!
(Click to embiggen)
As you know, Jesse Neuman was none too pleased that we used his publicly available visage from LinkedIn on our posts about him and that Citizen Journalists (Laurie Ortolano and Laura Colquhoun) won’t stop using NH’s Tool for Citizens, NH RSA 91:A – the Right To Know Law, to ferret out information that seemed like the City of Nashua didn’t want visible. Each and every time, as I watched their process in trying to get to the Truth, there was Jesse Neuman standing in the way in slowing things down and hindering “progress” (which is what Progressives do – hinder not helpful).
So now, he’s flying the coop. I kinda wish him well as he’s about to find out that his potential employers, as they do their due diligence in bringing their own Big Flashlights to bear, are going to run right into Laurie and Laura’s GraniteGrok posts on Google and other search engines. THAT will result in a few uncomfortable moments (and realizations) for Jesse. This is what we do and take advantage of the Tools of the Blogosphere.
And he did this to himself – he cannot place blame anywhere or anyone else. After all, being a lawyer and such, he should have known that ANYONE submitting an RTK has, in protecting their back, the NH Constitution:
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] 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. The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government. Therefore, any individual taxpayer eligible to vote in the State, shall have standing to petition the Superior Court to declare whether the State or political subdivision in which the taxpayer resides has spent, or has approved spending, public funds in violation of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision. In such a case, the taxpayer shall not have to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced beyond his or her status as a taxpayer. However, this right shall not apply when the challenged governmental action is the subject of a judicial or administrative decision from which there is a right of appeal by statute or otherwise by the parties to that proceeding.June 2, 1784
Amended 1976 by providing right of access to governmental proceedings and records.
Amended 2018 by providing that taxpayers have standing to bring actions against the government
Ta-ta, Jesse, may you find a position in which Karma shall exact Justice.
All the praise here goes to Laura and Laurie. Indefatigable searchers for the Truth, they have stood up against City Hall – and won. They saw problems, they asked, and when stonewalled by their Government (in no small part by Jesse Neumann – really, $100K for a lawyer whose job seemed to be to stymie such RTK requests???) and when those bricks were thrown at them, doubled down, used RTK demands, and got answers.
The question that remains is this: Has the City of Nashua learned the lesson that instead of (expensively) shoot back at citizens, they should actually expedite such requests and work with the Citizens – and learn how to fulfill Article 8 with better organization and willingness to be helpful instead of adversarial?
Only time will tell. Meanwhile, GraniteGrok is happy to help those in similar situations – we have plenty of Big Flashlights available for use!
