investigation – Representative Mike Sylvia

9th August 20219th August 2021

The Duty to Investigate County Affairs

Every two years in New Hampshire almost all elected officials either terminate their service or stand for re-election. Over the course of the past 7 years, documented in this series, many of the faces have changed. In December 2020 over one third of the Belknap County Convention were seated as first term representatives.

While the faces of the Convention have changed, the actions of the commissioners and administration have yet to be subjected to accountability regarding abuses of budget authority.

As you have read, the law is clear regarding appropriations. It is also clear in its path to remedy. One such remedy is provided in RSA 21:17 which allows:

24:17 Investigations. – The county convention by a vote of a majority of all its members may appoint a committee of its own members, not to exceed 5, and not over 3 to be of either of the 2 major political parties, to investigate conditions pertaining to the conduct of county affairs by any county officer or any person appointed or employed by such officer, which committee shall have power to summon witnesses, examine them under oath, secure a transcript of the testimony and do other necessary acts to conduct such an investigation.

We need not look back to previous years of abuse, 2020 provides a prime, and current example for which the committee of investigation may focus.

Having been granted the authority to transfer up to the sum of $5,000 between departments in the budget, it became clear in October 2020 that one department would exceed its $717,000 appropriation.

Executive Committee minutes Oct. 19, 2020

Executive Committee minutes Nov. 16, 2020

The year ended with department 025180 with a budget of $717,000 showing $919,385.88 having been spent, $202,385.88 more than had been appropriated for the department. (page 13)

Belknap County Convention formed a committee of investigation Dec. 14, 2020

As the chairman of the committee of investigations prepared to line up interviews with staff members, the administration was busy putting roadblocks in his path. They refused to pay for a court reporter to properly record testimony. Without properly recorded testimony under oath no investigation could proceed to gather reliable information.

In order to acquire the necessary testimony it became clear that a court order would be needed to assure payment to a court recorder, getting that court order would now require an attorney to represent the committee of investigation.

Chairman Silber held a meeting of the committee in order to seek approval to hire an attorney, who had agreed to allow payment upon the court’s order. Members of the committee failed to go forward in their duties.

The issue will be returned to the Convention on August 10, 2021 at 7:00 pm to resolve questions surrounding the investigation. Of note, the first meeting of the Convention in December 2020 was a mixed, in person and Zoom remote meeting. Many of our new members were unable to grasp the depth of the issues due to the poor quality of communications via remote technology.

Representatives of Belknap county have a duty to investigate conditions pertaining to the conduct of county affairs by any county officer or any person appointed or employed by such officer. Failing to fulfill this duty would be an act of nonfeasance.

All the pieces in this series:

4th August 20219th August 2021

It Is Overspent

Just a couple of weeks after the judge made his ruling, as we saw in the last post, the county Executive Committee met to review the county budget. Not that anyone would expect an instant turnabout, and the commissioners were busy spending more taxpayer money in legal fees to challenge the court order, the Executive Committee found spending beyond what had been appropriated.

September 15, 2014 Executive Committee budget review.

And the legal bills would come to the Executive Committee in the form of a transfer request February 17, 2015. Note the comment of the newly appointed (Republican) commissioner Hunter Taylor.

February 17, 2015 Executive Committee meeting.

The Convention in 2015 set a line-item transfer limit of $800, an increase from $300 in 2014, allowing the commissioners more flexibility in moving money between lines in the budget.

In 2016 that limit was increase to $1,000. By the summer of 2016 we would start to see signs of problems ahead.

There is a word that describes spending beyond that which is appropriated; misappropriation. Perhaps you recall the earlier statement by commissioner Taylor?

24:15 Exceeding Appropriations. –
I. No county commissioner, or elected or appointed county officer, shall pay, or agree to pay, or incur any liability for the payment of, any sum of money for which the county convention has made no appropriation, or in excess of any appropriation so made except for the payment of judgments rendered against the county.
II. In the case of an emergency, the county commissioners, or an elected or appointed county officer, may apply to the executive committee, which, after a public hearing, may grant to the county commissioners or officer authority in writing to make such emergency payment.

IV. If any county commissioner, or elected or appointed county officer, is found in a prosecution for violation of RSA 643:1 to have paid or incurred any liability for the payment of any sum of money contrary to this section, it shall be prima facie evidence that such county commissioner or officer has knowingly refrained from performing a duty imposed by law.

We can clearly see that funds had been spent beyond appropriations in August of 2016 but we can not say who is responsible for the misappropriation. That would have required an investigation and prosecution.

643:1 Official Oppression. – A public servant, as defined in RSA 640:2, II, is guilty of a misdemeanor if, with a purpose to benefit himself or another or to harm another, he knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of his office; or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office.

We can see in this November 22, 2016 Executive Committee meeting that the county administrator is aware of the issue, yet the commissioners deny knowledge.

At this point you might start asking yourself why I don’t grab a mirror and have a look at my responsibility for allowing this to continue. Good point. While there will be more in the next installment, I’ll give you a glimpse of the past when I previously brought up the need for an investigation. From January 12, 2015, you can get a sense of the cool reception.

We will come to see there is little appetite in government to hold ourselves accountable, but I will not stop so easily. More to come…

All the pieces in this series:

9th July 20219th July 2021

Stop the Fear

Project Veritas has recently exposed CNN for using fear to attract viewers. It is a shameful technique used widely in media and politics. Your local ‘news’ paper uses it more than you may realize.

In a recent story about the Belknap County nursing home’s difficulty in finding nursing staff, it was made to sound as if this was an isolated problem for the county home. The reality is there is a wide spread problem in nursing in general. The problem is made worse by the easy availability of generous unemployment benefits.

As I know what is going on and I attended the commissioners’ meeting that spawned the article, I was not concerned. We have an excellent administrator at the Belknap County nursing home and the residents receive 5 star care.

A few days after the article appeared I received a call from a friend. She has a loved one residing at the nursing home. The story in the paper, as she read it, made it sound like the nursing home was going to be closed. I assured her that the nursing home is not closing and she could relax.

This was not a case of sloppy writing, it was carefully crafted to sow fear. This is shown in a more recent piece written about the county delegation investigation into spending irregularities.

Having attended the meeting from which this latest article arose, I found it odd that two references were made to oxygen in the nursing home. It was implied that there was insufficient funds available to have oxygen supplied to nursing home residents. It has nothing to do with the investigation and not a word about oxygen was spoken in the meeting. It seems only to be inserted to stoke fear of patients lacking proper care.

I immediately recognized this to be a manufactured ‘crisis,’ before I went to check the budget.

As of June 6, 2021, which covers the first 42% of the year, the budget for oxygen has spent 29%. From a budget of $39,000 only $11,266 has been spent. In fact, the estimate for the year end is that $9,000 will remain in the oxygen budget. Note that this is based on the very frugal delegation budget, the county commissioners had budgeted $49,800 for the year. What’s $20,000 between friends? Some might call it fraud.