Public Input policy sharply challenged in Littleton
Tempers flare as citizens storm out of Selectmen’s meeting.
An unusually lively discussion broke out over the subject of spontaneous, unscheduled public input—in recent weeks, the Board has “cracked down,” in the words of Board Chair Schuyler Sweet, who has expressed frustration with repeated off-agenda monologues from a small number of citizens. On Monday, Sweet again accepted responsibility for failing to enforce the existing meeting rules in the past:
“I created part of the problem by allowing people to vary from the policy, and as it got out of hand, I cracked down and said, we’re going to adhere to the policy. The feeling that created is my fault.” [12:20]
Select Board Member Carrie Gendreau agreed that transparency was key, and vital to preserving public faith in the town’s elected officials.
“You get more honey out of the beehive if you don’t kick it over.” [15:20].
Some citizens use the public meetings—and the TV and streaming coverage from Granite North TV—as soap boxes for their personal causes, and a chance to grind their personal axes, Sweet suggested:
“The people who are doing this, who are repeatedly running for office., and they get free advertising through Channel 2 [GNTV].” [17:50]
Fellow member Franco Rossi agreed, but leaned on the side of free speech, saying,
“I feel like it’s a right to grandstand sometimes.” [20:15]
Citizens speak out
“I’m not running for selectman this year. I didn’t run last year,” announced Ralph Hodgman, who is a fixture at town meetings. He lamented the fact that the Select Board meetings were so poorly attended, even compared with smaller towns. Indeed, aside from Hodgman and Rudy Gelsi, private observers are quite rare. For comparison, Franconia and Bethlehem each draw a handful each meeting.
Reiterating his stance against the Board’s input policy, Hodgman called for the Select Board to resign.
In his appeal, Hodgeman compared himself to Jeffrey Clay, an Alton, NH man who was arrested in February, 2017 for violating that Board’s new, policy disallowing personal attacks, after he reportedly called them “incompetent and repulsive”. He had previously cost the town $40,000 plus legal fees, after he sued and won following an arrest for disorderly conduct, the Concord Monitor reported. Hodgman seemed eager to follow Clay’s example.
“His story has become all too common in towns across the state of New Hampshire,” Hodgman said.
“I am requesting that Sweet Schuyler resign from the board of selectman immediately, because his ineffective inability to run the board.”
“Selectman from this board told a taxpayer to sit down and shut up—exact words,” he claimed, inaccurately. [42:35]
Previous meeting on 8-13
The incident to which Hodgeman presumably refers occurred at the Board’s August 13th meeting, where Rossi loudly refused to be interrupted by Gelsi, who attempted to jump onto Hodgman’s criticism of the Board while the two were discussing the same policy.
“I’m talking to him. I’m talking to him,” Rossi insisted. [31:50 – 32:30 of the August 13th video]
By contrast, Hodgman used the phrase “shut up taxpayers” at least three times in that meeting, to express how he felt he was being treated, which may explain his criticism Monday.
“Well said, well said,” Added Rudy Gelsi. He is another reliable attendant of the Select Board’s meetings, and a vocal critic of several of its members, and Town Manager Dorsett.
At Monday’s meeting, Gelsi’s shirt read “Town Manager Dorsett and Selectman Schuyler Sweet SHOULD RESIGN.” [43:20]
The pair also criticized what they saw as undue responsibility being handed off to Town Manager Andrew Dorsett.
“You shouldn’t be trying to attract tourists and boom this town out to the point where you can’t handle the work,” Hodgman said. He pointed out that Lisbon has recently done away with its Town Administrator, a less powerful version of the town executive.
Rossi pointed out that the Select Board takes a less direct role in the Town Manager form of government, which contrasts with Lisbon’s now entirely Select Board-run administration, or Bethlehem and Franconia’s relatively weak Town Administrator model.
“Quite frankly, I’m not interested in emulating Lisbon,” Rossi said, and added, “Just because you may disagree with something, does not mean we’re not doing our job.” [1:00:30]
Tempers flare
About that time, decorum broke down completely.
Challenges and interruptions flew back and forth, along with accusations from Hodgeman and Gelsi with the Board attempting to silence them. Chairman Sweet attempted to restore order with gavel and requests for decorum. Ultimately, Hodgeman walked out. Gelsi and Rossi shared statements in Italian, and afterwards, Gelsi too stormed out. [1:02:45]
Finance Director Karen Noyes, a veteran of town administration with a front row seat for the best and worst of Littleton, and who usually declines to comment on politics, appealed for decency between citizens:
“There could be children watching this, young adults watching this. This is not the kind of behavior that the public would like the community to see.”
Following the hubbub, the board tabled discussion of its agenda policy for next meeting.
Free speech law and the resulting court battles are, “an area that we all dread,” said Police Chief Smith, who also broke his habitual reserve to urge the Select Board to “please consider how it can be enforced,” before imposing any limitations on citizen input. [1:13:12]
The full video of the 9-10-18 Select Board’s meeting is available below.
UPDATED 9-24-18, 11:07 am – Corrections to the above article were made to indicate that it was actually Mr. Hodgeman that walked out of the meeting, and not Selectman Rossi as previously indicated. Additions to the article also highlight the exchange in Itallian between Rossi and Gelsi, and that accusations stemed from Hodgeman and Gelsi, and not Rossi and Gelsi as previously stated.
Justin Roshak writes for the Littleton Courier, and is a founding, volunteer Board Member for Granite North Television/Channel 2.