I have painfully slogged through a number of Right-to-Know Court challenges and the process should have been much easier. Most Judges do not like citizen Right-to-Know cases as they are boring and burdensome.
But the only recourse is to seek the remedy through the Court. (The newly opened Ombudsman Office is starting up, but bringing Nashua’s mess into a start-up operation is a bad idea.) The Attorney General’s Office will not offer any assistance for matters involving municipal issues. Citizens have to stay within the Court system, and the Nashua Court system is a trainwreck lacking in due process.
My intentions through all of my work were to try to improve records access for the public and hold the government accountable. I failed miserably at this. The Mayor, the Legal Office, and the Board of Alderman have taken no responsibility to correct record deficits and process. The Mayor bellows out a cadenced-public message openly blaming me for employee departures, staffing increases to handle Right-to-Know matters, and increased costs to the taxpayers. In truth, his process has destroyed reasonable records access for all citizens. The Mayor publicly denounces Judge Temple’s ruling in my favor calling the orders unfair and claiming the Court is picking on the City. The one thing I have come to learn about this Mayor and legal office, they cannot permit the “enemy” to experience a single victory.
In Nashua, questioning the government is considered an act of hostility. Attorney Donchess and Attorney Bolton take challenges very personally, which prevents any effective negotiation. My work started off as a “mind my own business” effort. I wanted to fix our bad property assessment. I won that effort, but the Mayor started a war.
The Mayor is extremely effective in picking his Board of Alderman, funding and campaigning for his candidates. He has held a stacked single-party chamber for 8 years. When he engages in a war, he is, for the most part, effective and uniting his Board and State Representatives behind him. From his leadership position, he leads in establishing confirmation bias that is almost impossible to overcome.
But, if you go to City Hall and walk around, it is no longer a public building. The offices are locked, signs are posted “by appointment only,” and phone numbers are listed that ring to nowhere or, more typically, no one answers. People are still working remotely on a COVID protocol. Citizens, particularly those in opposition to the City, can no longer go to city hall and speak to folks in a department about records. We should all be concerned when such a basic right to access our public information and understand what our government is doing is being so easily taken away.
I cannot recall a single executive order or memorandum from the Mayor that would improve public access to information for citizens and recognize the need for change. The Mayor is the master of blame.
So, after more than three years, what did my sincere efforts bring? I lost my reputation and my freedom, all to accomplish nothing. Please reflect on your rights being taken away from you.
A lack of transparency is a symptom of dishonesty.
