Mayor Donchess, As you are most likely aware, the legal office offered a settlement, minutes before my Right to Know trial was to begin on Monday, February 28, 2022.
This Trial covered a legal challenge for assessment help emails for the months of January 1, 2021, through March 5, 2021. I was seeking records coupled to my removal from City Hall by the police on January 22, 2021.
The City admitted on Monday to failing to meet its obligation regarding Right-to-Know law in delaying the response beyond 5 days (in this case 26 days) and failing to provide all records promptly. Late in the day on Thursday, February 24, 2022, the City sent a letter informing me that in the process of preparing for this litigation, they located many more records. The legal office provided the first batch redacted. The final batches are due on March 11, 2022.
At the trial opening, the City disclosed to the Judge that they offered a settlement and they admitted wrongdoing.
I did not accept the settlement because the City has demonstrated no ability to shift from the hostile and unsubstantiated responses to requests which continue to happen. The City’s Right to Know response to a request for downtown barrier data received in early January 2022, used the same bizarre and unclear language to describe my request as was used by the legal office a year ago for assessment help emails. Nothing has changed. The City continues to act in bad faith.
Additionally, the environment for me in City Hall has grown incredibly hostile. After 3 years of personal attacks, I now have resorted to wearing a police bodycam into City Hall to protect myself. The legal office and clerk’s letter dated February 3, 2022, threatening me with removal from the building if I spend too much unnecessary time in the Clerk’s office, described me as a COVID health hazard to other citizens for waiting in the customer service area. This letter was hostile, threatening, and unwarranted.
On Thursday, February 4, 2022, I was expelled from the building for the day because I asked for the Nashua Performing Art Center property record file located in the assessing office, and apparently, Jen in assessing didn’t like my tone. For the cherry on top, Tuesday’s evening Board of Alderman meeting on February 8, 2022, included a theatrical, defaming, unverified and untrue performance by Ms. Kim Kleiner, of which I have not received an apology.
Settling and negotiation with City Hall would be akin to negotiating with an organized crime syndicate. I will not do this.
This RTK lawsuit came about because I could not get the city to provide me with proof of an email I sent to the City assessing office address on Sunday evening, January 17, 2021, at 7:20 PM with the abatement applications signed and attached for two senior citizens I was representing for these properties. The Legal office claimed that on January 22, 2021, I came to City Hall for no reason at all, with no appointment, stormed into the legal office like the DC insurrectionists on Jan 6, was mentally unstable, hostile, and threatening. Attorney Bolton went on to tell the Union Leader, “we know she doesn’t tell the truth.” knowing full well, I had pending litigation with the property appeal and RTK lawsuit.
Perhaps he was trying to discredit me to the courts.
That email proved that I sent the information into assessment help on January 17, then followed up with another email on Jan 20th (of which the city was acknowledging) and I called several times to try to get help and no one answered the phone or responded. I was welcomed into city hall 5 days later as I did not need an appointment to get applications stamped. These were the applications for 2 Nashua senior citizens who wanted help and asked for representation.
The City finally provided the assesshelp emails as responsive records on April 27, 2021, but almost all the January assessment help emails were missing. There were about 5 emails sent by me to assesshelp there were not in the records provided by the City and, the all-important January 17, 2021, 7:20 PM email with attachments was missing.
The City could continue to propagate and promote their story of me as a violent, unstable, person who stormed the building for no reason at all. I wrote back to the City to alert them to the missing records, but they did not care and would not make the effort to locate the emails. At that time, with abatement applications coming into the City through email, I was concerned other citizen emails would be lost. Apparently, and unsurprisingly, I appear to be the only one.
On May 26, 2021, at a Nashua Zoomed Budget Committee meeting, the IT budget was presented. Alderman Dowd questioned Nick Miseirvitch, IT Director, about concerns he heard with emails being delayed or emails lost. Nick responded that an exchange migration with the email program may have caused delays. But with regard to emails lost, Nick suggested specific information on the email be forwarded to him to research and check the logs. (page 7-8) Of course, this caught my interest as I wondered if there was some kind of software problem or email corruption. https://www.nashuanh.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05262021-5512
At the end of the May 26, 2021, Budget Committee meeting, I provided public input and asked Nick for help in locating the January 17 email that the City was claiming was not received. (page 17) https://www.nashuanh.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05262021-5512
From my best recollection in the Monday trial, Nick testified, in cross-examination, that he pulled the backup tape in May 2021 to look for the emails sent into assessment help, checking the log and spam folder for accuracy. In the trial, he concluded that no emails were missing. Under redirected cross, Nick said that he did the backup retrieval for his own personal information. Nick could not remember if he located the January 17, 2021 email.
That evening I wondered what triggered Nick to pull the back-up tape and look at the assessment help log. I wondered if my public request in the May 26, 2021, Budget Meeting triggered the search and I wanted to see if data had been located with these missing emails and attachments.
After the trial, I submitted an RTK request to Mr. Miseirvitch asking for any record of the log(s) produced or information on the January assessment help emails. Attached is the log. This information is shocking. Mr. Miseirvitch on May 27, 2021, at 10:05 am sent an email to Kim Kleiner and Attorney Jesse Neumann with the log of all my January assessment help emails and no one forwarded the information to me. See attached. It would appear, my public comment the night before triggered Mr. Miseirvitch to send an email to legal and Kleiner highlighting the January 17, 2021 email was, in fact, received by the City.
More shockingly, on May 27, 2021, at 2:45 pm, I formalized my public comment into an RTK request to Kim Kleiner and Nick Miservitch, and Rick Dowd. I wanted to be sure my request was complete and clear with information. I ask Nick to search for my January 17, 2021, 7:20 PM assessment help email with 2 attached abatement applications. The City never provided the data. See attached.
Had the Assessing office treated these applications like other applications coming into City Hall and just stamped them, I would have never been in the building on January 22, 2021. I was escorted out of the building, later told by the police there would be no trespass charges, and 26 days later arrested, handcuffed, and put in jail.
In reviewing a dozen date time-stamped applications, I could not locate any that went 5 business days without the City acting and stamping the application. My application was sent in on January 17, 2021 and was stamped by Rick Vincent on February 3, 2021. I waited 17 days to have these senior citizen applications recorded. The City’s personal disdain of me and vindictive behavior appears to embolden the City to disregard the law and not provide records.
Mayor Donchess, I do not enjoy filing lawsuits. I just want records that should be made available under the law. My first lawsuit ever filed in February 2020, happened because of assessing record concerns in the Nashua Assessing office under your leadership. This lawsuit cost me over $150,000 and I think this is absurd. The City is running up the costs because you have endless taxpayer money.
I have filed 3 more suits, including 2 pro se suits. Two have been won and I feel good about this pro se case particularly given the city has admitted wrongdoing.
The Court will be stuck dealing with me on pro se cases now because I understand, first hand, the waste involved in legal battles with the City; you have made civil cases completely uncivil. Attorney’s take an oath and are bound by ethics to control costs for their clients. Sending three city lawyers to case structuring conferences and pro se trials is a blatant waste of money. You and Attorney Bolton have demonstrated a complete disregard for taxpayer money and your legal ethics.
Ms.Kim Kleiner has cost this city a great deal of money in RTK lawsuits by a willful failure to provide information with what appears to be an extreme disregard for the truth, has placed a risk burden on the City for a Federal suit, appears to create undue stress in employees and appears to collude with the Nashua legal office to deliberately hide records. Eventually, the lies catch up to you.
Ms. Kim Kleiner must be terminated effective immediately. Mr. Bolton must be terminated effective immediately. You are responsible for these appointments and to knowingly maintain these people in top positions in the City appears to be a willful and unlawful act. As an Attorney, you must use your ethics and legal training to address this matter.
I am beyond frustrated with the never-ending personal attacks and the information corruption coverup preventing me from my legal right to information. I will continue to fight back.
Laurie Ortolano Emails received by AssessHelp from Laurie Ortolano in January 2021Laurie Ortolano 5-27-2021 Nick M. Gmail – Search for lost emails