Kudos to those who defended Jim Hewitt; don't play politics with National Guard: Letters

Kudos to those who stood up for Jim Hewitt

Feb. 16 − To the Editor:

I wanted to commend those who spoke out at the hearing on the city’s attempt to remove Jim Hewitt from the Planning Board.

The city’s actions were disgraceful and, as was clearly demonstrated, unwarranted.

I could not believe the spectacle I witnessed at Monday’s hearing. As Mr. Eggleton, Mr. Hewitt’s attorney, made clear, there was no criminal activity, yet Mr. Hewitt was treated as if he were a criminal.

I remind the City Council and the Planning Board that the reason Mr. Hewitt attracted so much public support is that we felt at long last we had someone on the Planning Board who represented, and cared about, the interests of the people of Portsmouth, not just the developers.

Judith Castle

Portsmouth

National Guard should serve NH people, not politics

Feb. 16 − To the Editor:

Governor Sununu wants the NH Legislature to appropriate our tax dollars to deploy a token NH National Guard force to the Texas border.  The NH legislature should refuse to pay for this.  Texas’s actions are quite likely unconstitutional, the claim of ‘invasion’ is not supported by either facts on the ground or a legal definition.  (Organized groups of immigrants are not shooting at Texans.)  And certainly the claims of an “invasion” across the Rio Grande poses NO THREAT to the citizens of New Hampshire. This is a blatant political action by a governor I used to support. Let’s keep NH National Guard funding in NH, and use it for legitimate uses such as responding to local civil emergencies like the recent flooding.

David Emery (formerly CPT, NHARNG)

Dover

NH lawmakers once again fail to pass common sense gun bills

Feb. 16 − To the Editor:

As we mourn the loss of life to gun violence in Kansas City, we in New Hampshire mourn the inability of our legislators to pass common sent gun control bills that would keep us, our children and our entire community safer.

We are all victims to a life threatening amendment to our constitution that is clearly badly in need of being amended. We need to find the will to do this.

Diane Stradling

Portsmouth

Public should be able to access public records

Feb. 19 − To the Editor:

No surprise that New Hampshire Municipal Association is taking the position to oppose House Bill 1069, which reinforces open government and our right to know (RTK). The bottom line is that government does our business and we pay them to keep records for posterity and ensure transparent government. The sticking point of lengthy RTK requests appears to lie with using electronic format to do our business and when we want to inspect it to connect the dots to decisions, government gets all defensive and reclusive, using the argument that everything had to be retrieved and reviewed for redactions.

Well, government was warned well in advance that this would happen if they didn’t get their house in order.

The NHMA warned cities and towns about using emails for government business way back in 2017 and gave a good instruction/ direction on how to do it efficiently. This NHMA bulletin, titled  Government Management of E-Mail-What's in your Municipalities In-Box offered: “ The managers and legal counsel for School Districts and Municipalities should know what is in their government operated e-mail systems. They should ensure policy, procedure, training and compliance are in place for proper record preservation and destruction.”

By ignoring this warning, cities and towns are paying the price with lengthy e-mail research and redactions for RTK requests. There is so much more in the NHMA bulletin and should be read by all. Here is the linkhttps://www.nhmunicipal.org/town-city-article/government-management-e-mail-–-what’s-your-municipalities-box

In Rochester, I asked for all RTK requests for a calendar year, waited well over 30 days for the info, and the number was 61 requests in writing. Hardly an overwhelming amount. Interestingly, a letter from legal counsel stated ”many if not all requests are made in person and some are made over the phone”, something Mr. Thorpe of the Rochester Voice was told he couldn't do over the phone. That he had to show up in person.

The Rochester RTK requests were broken down as follows:

61 total requests;

13 news/media requests asking for answers to questions;

35 from people requesting answers to questions. Six of those from one person repeatedly asking for the same information which I believe she has yet to get;

9 corporate/business requests mostly dealing with zoning that could be directed to already available web site info;

4 from attorneys requesting info for possible litigation cases.

The Right to Know is a right enshrined in Article 8 of our State Constitution. We have to fight to protect it because once lost, a right is hard to get back. Call your record departments and tell them to get theirrecord keeping business in order and do it now!

Rep. Cliff Newton

Rochester

Bad politics in Strafford County

Feb. 15 − To the Editor:

It is all a ruse. Politics is not Republican and Democrat. Politics is about getting power, keeping that power, and yes, using that power. To those of us who refuse to be polarized, I offer the current brouhaha (over redistricting) with the Strafford County Commissioners as a shining example. I have not seen nor heard anything from them other than manipulation of the “rules” and a clear effort at power retention and protection vs. fairness. I offer the following three arguments/questions:

Why is Strafford County different? All I hear from the commissioners is a lame defense surrounded by rules, laws (not real laws but the “laws of politics”) or whatever they are hiding behind. It is all garbage. Answer the simple question above please. If there are rules and such that support the continued difference they should be changed now, not later and certainly not in line with the US Census. Political garbage.

What are you afraid of? Have the commissioners been in power so long they have forgotten the basic concept of a fair vote? Clearly the smaller towns are unrepresented in this configuration. Too bad if some current members live in the same district. Those rules apply all the way up the ladder. If me and my good buddy Dave and I live in the same district, we both can’t be elected to the state senate. Let’s fix that for anything else is just political manipulation. How can we hope to fix our national politics if the weeds first grow in our backyard?

Term limits. Do the current commissioners believe that over the last decade(s) they have made the best, most widely studied, politically clean, decisions? Highly unlikely. Sounds more like an “old boy network” and a “we have always done it this way” bit of cloud cover and, might I dare say, maybe some accumulated rust in the process itself. I personally believe that all levels of elected office would benefit from fresh thinking and new, maybe younger minds. How can we ever hope to get younger people involved if they keep having to vote for their elders and not their peers.

This should be fixed before the next election. There would be plenty of time if logic and fairness vs bureaucracy were applied. If they can, the current commissioners should work tirelessly to make it happen. Do not stall any longer. It looks like nothing more than self-serving manipulation and politics played out in the worst possible light. You owe it to your constituents to make it right ASAP!

Finally, how much money and resources have been spent on this? Is anyone keeping track? Whatever the total, could it not have been better spent on helping the county or its people and not wasted on the “machine” itself?

Timothy E. MacKay

South Berwick, Maine (formerly of Dover, NH)

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kudos to those who stood up for Portsmouth NH's Jim Hewitt: Letters