This letter was mailed today to Governor Hassan’s office.

Office of the Governor
State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301

Dear Governor Hassan,

The following message is regarding an event: “Is Granite State Government as Efficient, Transparent, and Innovative as It Can Be?” to be held on June 3rd.

Just one year ago in May of 2013 you created a Commission on Innovation, Efficiency, and Transparency in State Government. I believe this is an attempt at a smokescreen in order to hide the real lack of transparency and unaccountability of unelected boards and commissions that currently operate in NH. These boards are operating under the undue influence of NGOs, private corporations, and their foundations, NOT at the direction of the taxpayers, who pay their salaries. As proof, your new commission is now hiring the very same private company to conduct its own research at the above event. NH Listens is the same company that works for the Regional Planning Commissions and which have been the subject of many complaints.

For example, previous sessions for input on the Granite State Future program, which were attended by our local NH residents, did NOT always take into consideration the ideas of EVERYONE when the information was published. Instead, after employing the Delphi Technique to steer the conversation, NH Listens would then publish their predetermined outcomes and call it a “consensus”, even after intake from as few as 600 people across the state.

The fact is, NH Listens is a PRIVATE ENTITY funded and fueled by interests from outside NH but subsidized by OUR TAXES. Yet they are still running these sessions, sometimes using ACTORS to persuade people to accept the ideas of the special interest groups who control them. And now you’ve asked them to conduct your commission’s research on transparency? This is NOT transparency, this is a joke.

Meanwhile, bona fide taxpayers and local citizens like myself are being ignored, and have even actually been accused of being trained actors and/or paid to attend these input sessions. This accusation of course is TOTALLY UNTRUE. All those who were invited to attend did so under the mistaken impression that their ideas were welcome.

Bottom line, the fox should not be guarding the henhouse!
What do you propose to do about this?

Sincerely,
Jane Aitken