Concord City Council Ethics Update Tabled For 30 Days

CONCORD, NH — An update to the city’s ethics has been put on hold for 30 days due to confusion and concerns by some of the changes.

The changes were raised after newly-elected Ward 5 City Councilor Stacey Brown was accused of conflict of interest during a vote to approve a financial donation to the city made by her employer. During two Rules Committee meetings in January, proposed changes were made to the ethics to clarify the purpose of the rules — transparency to the public so they did not think or believe councilors or others were participating in processes they could benefit from.

The city solicitor was also requested to look at all of the ordinances and see if there were any updates needed.

Code Of Ethics Update Documents

• Ordinance in PDF
• Report in PDF
• Supplemental Ordinance in PDF
• Supplemental Report in PDF

But some changes were concerning — including language which changed “a person” to “an officer or elected official” as well as officers not being allowed to appear “on behalf of another’s private interest before the city body of which they are a member.”

Resident Concerns

Jeff Lewis, a conservation commission member and a civil engineer, said the change would raise “unattended consequences” since he, while not participating in meetings at the same time he was working for clients, represents them a few times a year before the same board. He called the change “kind of a 180” of what was going on now and, while he thought it was good to review, the changes missed the mark.

“In my experience, this happens all over the state,” he said. “You’re removing yourself as a voting member (and) there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But the change could have unintended consequences for the city.”

Lewis said a number of people serving on land-use boards have a lot of experience — which is why they are asked to serve on those boards. He said the change appeared to be something added by the city solicitor as a housekeeping item and not related to the Brown vote.

“I would encourage you to maybe at least have the Rules Committee have another look at the last section,” he said. “It looks like it was thrown in there without vetting properly.”

At-Large City Councilor Fred Keach asked Lewis to expand on his “unintended consequences” concerns since Concord was “a little tiny town; things overlap.”

Lewis, who is the principal owner of Northpoint Engineering, said after working in the city for more than 20 years, with six of those years on the commission, he might have to step down from the role. The way he viewed the wording, he would be in conflict due to client work with projects before the commission.

“It does happen,” he said. “But, to me, this represents a reversal. I don’t see the connection to this specific thing and what the charge was in January. It looks like it is a little bit more than needed.”

Ward 9 Councilor Candance Bouchard, who led the Rules Committee meetings, said it was a direct ask of the city solicitor to come back with any other issues — so city councilors could move forward.

Byron Champlin, another at-large city councilor said, while he did not want to discourage Lewis or anyone else from serving, because it was important for the public to be involved, the issue was transparency and making sure the public knew officials were not out for themselves.

Jennifer Roth from Ward 4 noted the supplemental ordinance was different than the original and wondered which city councilors would be voting on.

Bouley said the city solicitor would be requested to come up and clarify issues before voting took place.

ALSO READ:

• Herschlag: When A Conflict Isn't A Conflict

Former Ward 2 Concord City Council Allan Herschlag spoke against the changes as well as the entire situation, calling it “a vicious, vindictive attack” on Brown, who, he believed, was not in conflict.

Herschlag raised the issue of a number of votes and meetings attended by Bouley where he appeared to be in conflict including discussions about Langley Parkway, a multi-million roadway through the West End which primarily benefits Concord Hospital employees, while his firm was a lobbyist for the hospital. Herschlag also said Bouley attended meetings about leaf collection done by Casella and Concord General Services and did not recuse himself even though Casella is one of his firm’s clients. He also raised the issue of Bouley not announcing Intralot was one of his company’s clients during a vote on Keno in 2017.

“There are numerous omissions that need to be corrected,” he said.

Herschlag also raised the issue of Bouley telling Brown she could vote for the foundation donation if she wanted to. He said Brown was not in conflict because the vote was not about her husband, a Concord police detective, and she did not financially benefit from the donation.

“Councilor Brown, as an employee of the foundation, has no financial interest,” he said. “In fact, the foundation was not requesting or receiving money from the city but was giving the city money.”

The former councilor also chastised Ward 3 City Councilor Jennifer Kretovic for making “apparently false statements” about Brown being in conflict. He insinuated it was probably due to Kretovic, and Brown’s unsuccessful opponent for the open seat, both playing golf at Beaver Meadow.

“Are they upset that Councilor Brown won an election over a strong supporter of the mayor's and Councilor Kretovic's pet project,” he asked, “to spend millions of dollars for the golf course? Are they upset because Councilor Brown is outspoken in representing her constituents rather than following in lockstep with the mayor's agenda? Are they embarrassed because of past actions they have taken to water down both the city ethics code and city council rules?”

Neither Bouley nor Kretovic responded to Herschlag.

Herschlag suggested councilors should have objected to Bouley giving Brown the green light to vote and compared it to a similar complaint he filed against Kretovic which was later dismissed.

Herschlag said the changes also completely ignored the county — where the mayor’s wife, Tara Reardon, was a commissioner. He asked, “The question to the council is what the hell are you doing?”

Herschlag suggested the council follow its current rules. He also called for all meetings to be as public as possible — including audio and video recordings available.

During questioning, Keach called Herschlag “angry,” and asked if he supported the proposal. Herschlag said he was not in support of it.

Bouchard said she led the committee and worked to make it clear what a conflict was so that there would not be confusion in the future — since there was some confusion at the time when Brown voted for the proposal.

“There was no vindictiveness during the discussion of our committee,” she said.

“From where I’m sitting,” Herschlag said, “I don’t see this as a revision; I see it as an attack.”

Ward 10 Concord City Councilor Zandra Rice Hawkins asked if it needed further work and should be sent back and Herschlag said, yes, at a minimum, as well as other issues, too. He said the change would also keep Brown from voting on any salary just because her husband works for the police department.

“If that is not overreaching,” he said, “I have no idea what is.”

Kretovic asked if the public was worried about whether Brown benefitted if the city manager got a salary increase. Herschlag said the issue was whether Brown had a direct financial benefit.

When Herschlag stepped down, Bouley said, “Councilor, I miss you tremendously. It is good to have you back,” to a smattering of giggles from other councilors.

Councilor Comments

During the action phase, Bouchard said the board met twice and explored changes to the ethics in an effort to clarify what conflicts were while looking at them impartially.

Bouchard also addressed a number of issues raised by Herschlag including the issue of county not being included in the change and requested the city solicitor to address other issues, too. A training, which had been given to officials in the past about the right-to-know law and other issues, needed to be revisited. While not wanting to speak for others, Bouchard said transparency in government was important and was not just for elected officials but appointed ones.

Seemingly to address some of Lewis’ concerns, Bouchard said a member of a board should not just be sitting on a board at one moment and then, getting up later and speaking on behalf of a client. She denied the changes were vindictive against any specific person.

Jim Kennedy, the city solicitor, spoke about land-use boards and said they were a bit different than the city council since they are quasi-judicial — like courts, voting up or down on a proposal or a change to ordinances. Having members who then present to the board could be difficult, he said. Kennedy said the changes were needed to establish when a recusal was made; that member cannot be in the same room or involved in any way with any other member or board. Members who own property though can testify or be involved in requests due to their ownership. The process, he added, was about third-party relationships.

Keach asked how the council would approach a situation where a city councilor with a family member who was also in a union was involved in nonpublic sessions where a comparison between union issues or salaries was discussed. Kennedy said the issue would be more about recusal and not a conflict of interest.

Rice Hawkins thought the proposal was too broad and was trying to understand some of the specifics and concerns. She peppered Kennedy, Bouchard, and the city manager with questions trying to get an understanding of the broadness of the changes.

After some back and forth, Bouley said there were some important updates and clarifications. But he also said there were some things he wanted to think about and proposed tabling it for 30 days.

“I want to make sure we get it right,” he said.

By voice vote, the proposal was tabled.

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