If normal people think that they are going to get justice in these times – forget it! I just went to court against the City of Nashua for Right To Know information which they would not give me. I assumed that once in court the city employees would tell the truth under oath but I was wrong. The saddest part was the judge believed them.
I did not think that I had to bring more proof to show that they lied because I had already included some information showing that they had the information but were not willing to give it to me. Wrong.
Mr. Cummings, who was in another courtroom recently, could not remember anything and kept on saying “he could not recall.” This is a man that Mayor Donchess just made Chief Operating Officer for the City of Nashua at $160,000 per year. But he could not even remember that he sent out an email, even after showing it to him. He was a total disgrace.
Jennifer Deshaises, Risk Manager for the city also kept saying that the taxpayers did not have to pay anything for insurance on the Performing Arts Center. The premium increased, but there was no problem because the taxpayers paid to insure a property not owned by the taxpayers. Jennifer has her orders not to tell the Nashua taxpayers how much we are paying for insurance on a for-profit corporation.
We have struggled in Nashua with record delays for four years, and the Courts will not help us. The City waited over 100 days to tell a citizen that their request was unclear. The Court says this is not a problem. The Court then footnoted in a ruling that it was concerned with the city’s lack of a response. But more recently, when the City decided it would take 3-4 years to produce emails on the Arts Center, a citizen filed a records delay, and the Court would not hear it as a stand-alone case. My RTK case heard before the Court had a claim that the new Records Administrator hired to help us get records waited over 60 days to inform me that an attachment was not sent after sending the five-day letter, never noting the oversight. The court found no delay with that. The City is playing endless games and the Court is all in with the City.
The courts in Nashua have shown favoritism to the city because taxpayers help pay their salaries. The sad part is that the courts have shown that they do not stand up to the laws in the State of New Hampshire, and that should not be acceptable to any resident.
