One area that needs more investigation is the NH Division of Children, Youth, and Families (“DCYF”). Given the department’s turnover (including the head honcho) this last year, I need an up-to-date Organizational Chart. While there is a “bare” organizational chart here (24 pages of it), go ahead and tell me EXACTLY what it depicts—it’s only titles, position IDs, and the like.
There are no names or contact info. And I need both, along with where they fit inside their organization. Why? Simple. Who to target with new Right To Know (“RTK”) demands- that Citizens’ tool (RSA 91-A) to keep their Government in check and accountable to them as our Constitution states we should and that Government employees should respect (emphasis mine):
[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.
Given how few of our fellow NH Citizens know of their Power in this, I’ll continue to look into things, and DCYF will be one of them. This is a rather simple demand. And I know that there are “Responsive Records” (the Government has the data!), as I’ve done this before and received them.
Thus, without further ado:
July 25, 2024
Right to Know demand per RSA 91-A: DCYF Organization Chart.
To repeat the responsibilities of those in NH Government:
[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…The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government…
Background:
In order to hold such “officers of government and their substitutes and agents” accountable, one needs to know where they are located within our Government; DCYF is no exception. In reality, because of its high rate of turnover or churn, it is needful to, more often, to find those changes in its organizational structure in order to:
- More effectively and efficiently research perceived issues and problems.
- Spot changes to changed processes, procedures, and policies that may have ill or unknown impacts on citizens that need investigation.
Demand:
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A:4 (I) ), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the below enumerated governmental records:
- The complete organizational (hierarchical) structure of DCYF to include:
- Name of a given staff member
- Title of that staff member
- Name and title to whom they report (as applicable)
- Name and title of those staff members that report to that given staff member (as applicable).
If this cannot be fulfilled within that 5 business day mandated window per RSA 91-A:2, II, please advise when the Responsive Record(s) will be made available.
Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c), if you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption (see RSA 91-A:5 – the ONLY enumerated exemptions allowed by RSA 91-A) used to justify the denial. For each denied record, or part thereof, that otherwise would be available for inspection, provide the explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
Additional: It is not up to the Requester to be made to look up the subjects or materials that are the focus of this Right To Know (e.g., from the Respondent: “here’s the URL so do the search yourself”). It is the responsibility of the Respondent to fully supply all demanded materials.
As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Thus, a chart or searchable textual based file (e.g., Word, PDF) would be acceptable in this case. Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply. For the purpose of this demand type, knowing that there are Responsive Records as they have previously been supplied, a chart or searchable textual based file (e.g., Word, PDF) would be acceptable in this case.
Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such Responsive Records. This also includes such Responsive Records (e.g., emails, query files, policies) which may have been deleted from respective local hardcopy or software systems but are still available on other applicable servers or in application or archival system(s) either in-house or hosted.
Please let me know when these records will be sent to me for inspection. You may email the Responsive Records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume turns out to be substantial, I have already set up a Dropbox folder to use in uploading those Responsive Records.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Skip Murphy
Foster Parent
Founder, GraniteGrok.com
Dominating the Political Bandwidth in New Hampshire
Skip@GraniteGrok.com
And so the clock is ticking…
