Concord City Council Eyes Minor – But Significant – Rule Changes

CONCORD, NH — When the Concord City Council meets on Monday, councilors will be considering two minor – yet significant – changes to the rules the council adheres to and lives by. Two amendments to the rules, forwarded by the Rules Committee, are on the council's consent report to be considered at its meeting on May 13, 2019. Unless the report is pulled by a councilor and/or rejected, it will be approved with a number of other proposals.

The two changes clarify who the councilors and the mayor are and whether or not they need to verbally declare conflicts of interest or qualifications prior to an issue being discussed at meetings.

In the past, there had been varied ways councilors would declare – or not declare – conflicts of interest.

When Doris Ballard was an at-large city councilor, she would step away from the meeting whenever the issue of the cable access contract or budget was discussed, since she was employed by the nonprofit. So did former Ward 8 City Councilor Dick Patten, who hosts the “Around Town” program on Concord TV.

Other councilors who owned or worked for businesses that were members of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce or who served on boards or committees of organizations that might receive a small amount of funding from the city at budget time, would declare that that they were voting on the full budget package sans that small amount.

In other cases, some elected officials have been silent or refused to announce or acknowledge conflicts or potential conflicts.

But if approved on Monday, the words “shall be declared” are proposed to be added to Section 6B of the City Council Rules which will force councilors and the mayor to verbally announce any issues.

A new section to the Rules – Section 20 – defines the term “councilor(s),” as it pertains to the rules, as all 15 members of the Concord City Council including the mayor. In the past, the term “councilor” – while presumed to include the role of the mayor – didn’t state as such.

The issue of potential conflicts of interest have arisen a number of times in recent years with the Concord City Council.

In June 2018, an exchange occurred between Mayor Jim Bouley and Ward 2 City Councilor Allan Herschlag during a finance committee over whether or not Bouley should preside over a discussion about $700,000 to be spent for the third leg of Langley Parkway/Northwest Bypass. The roadway, if it is ever built, is supposed to be partially financed by and primarily for the benefit of Concord Hospital, a client of Bouley’s company, Dennehy and Bouley, one of the state’s most profitable lobbying and consulting firms. At a February 2015 though, Bouley did recuse himself from participating in a discussion about the roadway after the conflict issue was raised by Herschlag.

In September 2017, another potential conflict surfaced involving whether or not Bouley and at-large City Councilor Mark Coen could be involved in the discussion about Keno being put on the ballot that year to fund full-day kindergarten. Intralot – the vendor for Keno for the New Hampshire Lottery Commission – is a client of Dennehy and Bouley. Coen’s daughter also worked for the firm.

During a meeting, Bouley stepped away from his seat but didn’t declare why. Coen did not step away from the meeting. Herschlag asked why Bouley had stepped away but not declared why and an argument ensued between councilors including Dan St. Hilaire, who was mayor pro temp at the time, and At-Large Councilor Stephen Shurtleff (neither are on the council with St. Hilaire receiving a judgeship and Shurtleff being elected Speaker of the New Hampshire House).

At the time, Coen was surprised that Herschlag raised the issue and didn’t think it was a conflict because he never spoke with his daughter or Bouley about their clients but he added that he was proud of her work.

There was also some argument as to whether or not Intralot had a contract for Keno with the Lottery since Keno hadn't been approved – but the Lottery had exclusive rights to offer Keno if it ever became approved.

City voters – about 15 percent of them – ultimately rejected allowing Keno at local restaurants on Nov. 7, 2017, by a little less than 500 votes.

About seven years ago, Bouley denied accusations that he was in conflict of interest with his firm’s landlord at the time, Foxfire Management, owned by developer Steve Duprey.

For about four or five years, Hills Court, where Dennehy and Bouley was located, was at the time owned by Foxfire. During that time, the city either spent money, initiated loans, set aside tax liabilities, impact fees, or discounted parking spaces which assisted Duprey financially for a number of projects. Bouley participated in both public and private meetings about Duprey’s projects and voted to approve them without disclosing the nature of his firm’s landlord-tenant relationship publicly until it was disclosed in news reports.

Years before that, the city created a Code and Board of Ethics to establish guidelines for the ethical standards of conduct for the mayor, councilors, and city employees. During subsequent years, the rules and code have been tinkered with.

The Concord City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 13, 2019.