NH Legislative Ethics Complaint Filed - NH State Rep Harry Bean - Granite Grok

NH Legislative Ethics Complaint Filed – NH State Rep Harry Bean

Harry Bean NH House Roster info 2

In our Constitutional Republic, we elect certain people to represent us when it comes to the management and oversight of Government. As such, we expect that they will use a blend of what our wishes may be (the “represent” part) as well as our judgment as to who they are, their sensibilities, their ideas, their honesty, and their values when we elect them (the “candidate” part).

That, however, is only the first part – electing them. That is our Constitutional Right (Art 11, NH Constitution and 15th Amendment, US Constitution).

People can change over time or actions bubble up by them that were not visible at the time that we elect them. This can radically change how we perceive them and their actions as they may well no longer align themselves with what and whom we thought they were at election time.  Rights come with responsibilities and with electing our representatives comes a responsibility to hold them accountable:

[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.

Not enough of us, when seeing wrong doing by our Representatives, merely turn a blind eye to malfeasance, simply think “that’s how politics goes / how the game is played”, don’t care at all, or think “you can’t fight City Hall” is a truism.  Some may think that they must wait until the next election to “throw the bums out” or “I can’t afford to take them to court”.

But in staying true to our Constitutions (rather than being merely a framework of how Government is to be structured AND to protect US against Government via Bill of Rights, they are rather inventive and perceptive sociological documents in that our Founders sought to compartmentalize the seeking of Power and the aggregation of Power over the rest of us. They also realized that people change over time and that their aims may turn to using Government to enrich themselves in some manner or to have dominion over others. The lure of Power is strong to those of weak character.

However, short of voting them out of office or taking them to court, there is another way to chastise / rebuke the actions of a few as set up by the NH House – the Legislative Ethics Committee which is set up to handle situations between the two ends of that spectrum (emphasis mine):

Any individual may lodge a complaint with the Committee alleging that a legislator, legislative officer, or legislative employee has violated a law, guideline, rule or regulation of the General Court. Complaints must be in writing and signed under oath or affirmation. Complaints should be marked “confidential” and submitted to…

And so I did. Quietly, which (as you all know), is not my nature. The Duties of the Ethics Committee can be found here and the Penalties for violating the statutes Confidentiality can be brutal (nothing like a Sword of Damocles suspended over your head to make you pay attention to such rules). And its process is here.

So, on May 2nd, Harry Bean received a  letter from the Ethics Committee [his first name added by me]:

Dear Representative [Harry] Bean,

The Legislative Ethics Committee is in receipt of a sworn complaint, a copy of which is enclosed.

And that sworn complaint was by me (notarized and everything) on his illegal actions since August of 2022 (and to which I have written about such multiple times here at GraniteGrok – I merely formalized them all). That sworn complaint is listed below. Yes, I brought receipts:

Skip Murphy Ethics Complain – Harry Bean

Now, I have emphasized that Confidentiality is paramount in the process – so why am I doing this? Well, there is part of the process whereby the Representative can decide to waive that Confidentiality. I had a couple of phone calls with Rich Lambert who manages the process for the Committee members. The first was when I received the latter that Bean had waived that Confidentiality (page 5 below) and Rich confirmed that I could invite people to the hearing and bring cameras if I so felt led. I did ask if I could write about it; he chuckled a bit (I think my reputation has preceded me a bit) but said that he had to check with the Chair. On Friday, that permission was given.

So, for completeness, here are the documents that have been sent to me thus far:

NH Legislative Ethics Committee – NH State Rep Harry Bean

So now the hearing is May 26 at 1:30 pm in Room 104 of the Legislative Office Building (right behind the State House).  Seating is limited.

It looks like Harry Bean has lawyered up: copies of the letters were sent to Laconia’s Paul Fitzgerald, Esq.

 

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