On Air News Read for October 19, 2017

The Manchester Police Department has arrested another graffiti vandal and issued an arrest warrant for yet another as a result of it’s ongoing “Operation Grit.” Thirty four year old Kevin Burke of Nashua was picked up by officers Casey Seigle and Ryan Hardy on Monday, ironically, outside the Manchester District Courthouse.  Burke was released on fifteen hundred dollars cash/ surety bail and is scheduled to appear on October 31^st.  The department said he’s caused more than five thousand dollars in damage to the properties he’s tagged and is asking for the public’s help to identify any and all properties where he’s left his signatures, which include the words Noiz, spelled N o i z with a z and Kno spelled K n o.

In addition, the department has issued a warrant for the arrest of twenty five year old Robert Ramalho on graffiti related criminal mischief charges.  If you know his whereabouts, or find the aforementioned graffiti tags, please contact Officer Seigle at 7 9 2 5 7 5 4.

Well, now we know why Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that the letters he and other city officials had blessed by the board at Tuesday’s meeting weren’t competitors to the state’s proposal to attract Amazon’s second world headquarters.  They were included in the state’s official proposal which was presented by Governor Christopher Sununu yesterday. 

While Manchester’s letters appeared alongside similar letters from the towns of Londonderry, Derry, Hudson, Salem and Merrimack and the city of Nashua, all potential homes for what’s been dubbed Amazon H Q 2, the state’s proposed locating the project in Londonderry.  In fact, Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith and Town Council Chairman Tom Dolan joined Sununu and Economic Development Commissioner Tyler Caswell at the press event called to release the state’s response to Amazon’s R F P.

It’s clear from the proposal that the state’s taking the matter seriously, too.  Entitled “All The Benefits Of Boston Without All The Headaches,” the proposal does a deep dive into the  population, demographics and offerings within a fifty mile radius around Londonderry.  The proposal even quotes inventor Dean Kamen, the man bringing the ARMI biomedical technology project to Manchester’s Millyard, as saying, quote:

“New Hampshire is large enough to meet Amazon’s needs from a financial, infrastructure and workforce perspective, yet small enough to make decisions quickly and be creative.”

In a statement released to the press  yesterday, Sununu echoed Kamen’s sentiments, saying, quote:

“As part of the regional metro-Boston area, southern New Hampshire offers all the benefits typically associated with major metro areas yet maintains the advantages of being in a truly enterprise-friendly state: access to a world-class workforce, a pro-business, low-tax environment, and a streamlined regulatory environment.  By embracing a joint venture with the State of New Hampshire, Amazon stands to gain a partner that believes the customer comes first.”

On behalf of the town of Londonderry, Smith cleverly said, quote: 

“As we like to say in Londonderry, ‘Business is Good. Life is Better.’ Should Amazon decide to locate its second headquarters in Londonderry, you will discover as many others have, that our saying is not merely a slogan, it’s a way of life. We value the business community we have in town and we’ve worked hard to foster an atmosphere that welcomes development and encourages entrepreneurship.”

We’ve uploaded the complete proposal sent by the governor’s office with this news read at Girard at Large dot com.  It is a truly fascinating read on a number of levels.  Personally, I can’t wait to get into more of the details.  If nothing else, you’ll learn a lot about the state and what it’s leadership believes is valuable about it.  By the way, the proposal emphasizes New Hampshire’s competitive advantages, it doesn’t offer Amazon incentives beyond them.

News from our own backyard continues after this.

“By way of this letter, please consider this a formal complaint for violations of the City Charter as well as NH State law (RSAs 91-A and 42:1) by School Committee Woman Nancy (sic) Tessier.”

That’s the opening sentence in a letter sent to Mayor Ted Gatsas by Ward Eight resident Jim Gaudet, who filed a similar complaint with the city after Ward Two Alderman Ron Ludwig and Ward Eleven Alderman Normand Gamache who, in violation of the city charter, voted on the firefighters union contract covering their sons.  While Gaudet recounts Tessier’s transgressions in releasing confidential personnel information to staff members via an email she sent to the entire board after a non-public session on September eleventh, he also charges Tessier with further violating the charter by violating the Oath of Office and the conflict of interest provisions.  Frankly, he’s right on both counts.

In addition, he filed a request under the state’s Right to Know Law, seeking minutes of the September twenty fifth “non-meeting” that was held with the district’s lawyer on the matter, a copy of the motion to enter the non-meeting and a copy of the motion to seal those minutes.  Good luck with that, Jim.  None of it exists.

He also asked for the report generated by the district’s lawyers which was issued after concluding an investigation into Tessier’s actions.  Said Gaudet, quote:   

“I would note that RSA 91-A:3, III specifically exempts members of the public body from being shielded from information adversely impacting their reputation, so the non-meeting or non-public session in which Committeewoman Tessier was present was also contrary to NH law as she was purportedly the subject of the discussion or meeting.

“As the City has previously denied two Right to Know requests in this matter, please note that I understand the information exists, but that this is a specifically more narrow request which includes redacting any information which would violate privacy or constitute legal advice.  If this request should be denied in whole or part, please cite the specific reason as contemplated in the statute upon which that decision relies.”

According to a comment Gaudet put on our Girard at Large Facebook page, which brought this complaint to our attention, Gatsas has received Gaudet’s complaint and forwarded it to City Solicitor Emily Gray Rice.

Finally this morning, just a quick reminder that the Manchester Education Round-table organized by Ward Six school board candidate Jon DiPietro is tonight at seven at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communication on East Industrial Park Drive in Manchester.  That’s the event featuring Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut as moderator, which several Democratic school board candidates, including David Scannell in Ward Two, Kathy Staub in Ward Five and Connie Van Houten in Ward Twelve posted the open invitation on their Facebook pages to complain they weren’t invited and used to attack Edelblut for violating his pledge to be non-partisan.  Anyway, according to DiPietro, nine candidates and nearly four dozen have said they will attend.  You can register in advance or show up at the door and hope there’s room.

That’s NEWS from our own backyard!  Girard at Large hour ___ is next!