Hung out to dry. Absolutely. Here he is, I’m stuck with this elected Representative (NH House) by the decennial redistricting mandated by the US Constitution. Having advised him, as a constituent, to NOT participate in the Belknap Delegation’s illegal meeting back on August 1, he then not only went to the meeting but helped to organize it and run it. Ambitious young feller with respect to his political future, ain’t he? Illegal it was. Even during yesterday’s “Day of Coup” Delegation meeting, Laconia Daily Sun’s Catherine Mclaughlin’s reporting included this (emphasis mine):
…and a ratification of the actions taken by the delegation at an Aug. 1 emergency meeting, the legality of which has been challenged both verbally by Sylvia and in court by a private citizen.
…A quorum of the delegation, led Rep. Harry Bean of Gilford, called an emergency meeting on Aug. 1. Meetings are usually called by the chair.
Sidenote: I’m relying on her reporting (as well as first-hand reports by some of the innocents at the meeting yesterday) for this post.
And that last bit is what made it illegal. Bean was NOT the Delegation Chair and thus was ineligible to call for a meeting under RSA 91A (but the Chair could). While a quorum was met, that would have invoked RSA 24:9-d but THAT mandates a 7-day notice (the House was not in session so the two-day proper notice was not available). Sorry to have to repeat that once again but shouldn’t we expect and demand that our Lawmakers NOT BREAK the Law? And both Bean and Hough willingly, therefore, broke the Law.
…The emergency meeting’s minutes were unanimously approved by those who attended it. As Rep. Thomas Ploszaj noted, this was an approval that “legal or not, this is what happened” at the meeting. Ploszaj was the sole attendee of the Aug. 1 meeting that did not vote to ratify the actions taken there. He noted that, at the time, he had voted against acceptance of Strang’s resignation, with regrets, because he did not believe that Strang had in fact resigned.
If a meeting is ILLEGAL, there was never a meeting. Thus, there are no valid meeting minutes. Whether it correctly maps out what happened is irrelevant. However, I digress – back to Gregg Hough.
So for yesterday’s meeting, he doubled down by seemingly said an untruth, as told to me by my sources. Apparently, he and Mike Sylvia had a discussion before the meeting about the original short agenda dealing with just a supplemental appropriation:
- Call to Order
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Consider Cost Items
o Public comment
o Vote- Supplemental Appropriation
o Open Public Hearing
o Presentation of Requests
o Public Comment
o Close Public Hearing
o Vote- Adjournment
Sylvia relied on what he was told by Hough that there was not going to be any monkey business once the meeting started. Yeah, that lasted for about a millisecond after Sylvia gaveled the meeting to order as NH State Rep Tim Lang IMMEDIATELY wanted to change the agenda – Sylvia was set up and Hough created that on-ramp. The result was that Sylvia immediately resigned and:
At the end of the meeting, Lang was appointed as vice chair in a close vote where Rep. Gregg Hough of Laconia was also nominated.
And now for the back story on that election. It was a decision between Lang and Hough. At this point Juliet Harvey-Bolia had been elected to fill the spot that Barbara Comtois had vacated when Bean was elected to be the Chair. What happened is that instead of calling the role alphabetically per normal procedure, she simply went around the room – that made Lang last to vote. he asked a question that I’ve not ever heard during a meeting BEFORE vote is finalized: “What’s the vote so far”? Confusion and consternation ensued but I’ll leave that aside for now.
Harvey-Bolia announced it was a 4-4 tie (with the Conservatives that were left simply voted “Present” to show their ire on how the meeting had been hijacked and refused to participated).
Now, remember that Hough, who had rarely attended the Belknap County Republican Committees, had told the BCRC Executive Committee that GraniteGrok shouldn’t be allowed to be present (here, here, and here) (imagine the Chutzpah, as I said). He also has had Sununu telling folks to can him. The Citizens for Belknap (Progressive PAC) is gunning for his seat. That’s 3 entities right there that are now arrayed (not allied, just arrayed) against his re-election). And now we know how the Lang Gang views Hough (or at least Lang himself). So as recounted to me (paraphrased, emphasis mine):
After hearing that the vote was tied, Lang smiled broadly, looked over at Hough, staring at him, and announced:
“I will be voting for myself”.
And that trapdoor under Hough’s political ambition snapped open, leaving him dangling – and locked out. Isolated. Any ambitious hopes of “moving up” – like a ghost fading into the ether.
Which also says something about Lang. After all, he’s running for the NH State Senate. Whether he wins his primary/general elections, he’s gone and no longer part of the Delegation. IMHO, he did this to Hough for spite and to torment him. And in doing so, let Hough know, once more, that he’s made himself a pariah.
- Sununu wants him gone.
- He lied to me and then tried to seek revenge against me. While I haven’t yet received the BCRC Executive Committee’s decision, I’m hoping for a favorable outcome – Hough simply made stuff up and he can’t prove his allegations. So he’s ticked off me and GraniteGrok
- I’m believing that bringing what should have been a private matter to the BCRC didn’t win him any fans
- And, again, the Citizens for Belknap, is gunning to take him out of his seat.
Heh! Self-induced. Who can now trust him at all?
