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Strafford 1 state rep Cliff Newton (Courtesy)
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.
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 link
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 Harrison Thorp, editor 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 their record keeping business in order and do it now!!
Cliff Newton is the state rep for Strafford 1 and a lifetime Rochester resident
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