The jury is still out on this, and questions still abound, so I decided to start nosing around a bit myself in search of good information in addition to all the stuff that people have already sent me.
Sidenote: If you have information about this issue and Superintendent Nedeau, send it to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com for my review!
So, what do I do best? Ayup, RSA 91-A Right To Know demands. So I spun up a couple this morning and sent them to the SAU21 Seabrook School Board.
Here’s the first one – for certain emails from/to certain employees of the District (and yes, Superintendent Meredith Nedeau is one of them).
March 10, 2025
Chair Maria Brown
Lacey Fowler
Jennifer Hubbard
Michelle Knowles
Kelli HeuberRE: Right to Know Request per RSA-91A: Emails for certain District employees
To repeat the responsibilities of Government officials and employees according to the NH Constitution:
[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:
Not applicable
Demand:
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the following governmental records:
This demand is for emails from/to certain SAU16 District Employees:
- Individual outbound emails from any and all email accounts provided to District employees as part of their appointed positions.
- Individual inbound emails to any and all email accounts provided to District employees from as part of their appointed positions.
Note: this demand would also include any “group” emails where two or more email addresses are involved in a given email.
The information for each Responsive Record shall include:
- TO fields, FROM fields
CC fields, BCC fields
DATE fields
SUBJECT fields
Any ATTACHMENTS
The BODY of the email itself.Note: If any email is from or to Legal Counsel, redact any part of the BODY if it discusses privileged attorney/client privilege per RSA 91-A:5, VII. All other data points are to be included.
Filters:
- Date range from February 1, 2025 to present
- District Employees:
- Meredith Nadeau
- Colleen Lennon
- Tim Dow
- Rhonda Evans
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.
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.
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 to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of Responsive Records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply.
Such is demanded for this Right To Know as the native format for emails is in electronic form.
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 applicable servers or in application or archival system(s) either in-house or hosted.
Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume is turns out to be substantial, I’ll be happy to supply a secure Dropbox folder sufficient to hold all of your Responsive Records.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Skip Murphy
Gilford, NH 03249
Skip@GraniteGrok.com
So that is one. I also sent a companion RTK demanding the value of any General Ledger line-level account dealing with legal expenditures. I’m not going to post the whole thing, but here’s the “payload:”
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the following governmental records:
Starting value of all General Ledger Accounts (“GL lines”) dedicated to Legal matter expenditures.
BTW, I am “modularizing” my Right To Know documents – the boilerplate and “payloads” (the stuff that is being demanded). If you want something of this type, also email me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com
Now, I have other “straggler” RTKs to write based on what I have received but if you have more, send it!
And you may ask, “But Skip, isn’t the election tomorrow? If electioneering is being done by school/town officials and employees, won’t it be too late?“
Probably – we just started to shine this Big Flashlight yesterday. However, when you willingly break the law, it stays “available” afterwards in that legal or employment actions can still be taken.
There is still a lot to be done here.
