Some Concord Council Candidate Signs Not In Compliance With New Hampshire Law

CONCORD, NH — Once again, political signs are an issue in a Concord municipal election.

A spot check of candidate signs in the mayor, city council, and board of education races found several candidates were not following state law and listing all required information.

According to state law, RSA 664:14 “requires that all political advertising must be signed with the name and physical or mailing address of a person responsible for the advertising,” according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office Election Law Unit. “[f]or groups, committees, or entities, the statute requires that an individual be named along with the entity responsible. Under RSA 664:14, II, the ‘name of the enterprise or organization shall be indicated, and the chairman or treasurer of the enterprise or organization shall sign his name and address.’”

In simple terms, all political signs must include the candidate’s name and address or the person responsible for the political advertising, like a committee or fiscal agent, along with their name and address.

Candidates can also post their website on the sign instead of all the information so long as the website “immediately and prominently” displays all the required disclaimer information.

Because there have been so many issues with disclaimers, primarily due to candidates not reading the fine print or understanding the legalese of the RSAs, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office issued a Political Advertising and Political Signs advisory in October 2022.

When council and mayoral candidates signed up to run, they were given a packet of information explaining the law by the city clerk’s office staff. Patrick Taylor, the clerk of the SAU 8 Concord School District, said board of education candidates were not given political advertising compliance information, but he would consider it next year.

A spot check of signs around the city found that mayoral candidate Byron Champlin, at-large candidates Nathan Fennessy and Kevin Porter, and Karen McNamara in Ward 4 had Paid For information but no addresses. Matthew Hicks, another at-large candidate, had a fiscal agent listed and an email address but no address for the fiscal agent or campaign. In Ward 10, Jeffrey Foote had a fiscal agent and a phone number but no address. Zone B school board candidate Liz Boucher’s signs also did not feature a mailing address.

At-large candidate Judith Kurtz and Ward 5 candidate Noemi Wierwille had names and addresses. Ward 5 candidate Stacey Brown did not have an address on the sign but a web address featuring her address.

Most council candidates, when reached about the issue, said they did not realize they were not in compliance and would work to fix the problems.

Michael Garrity, the director of communications for the AG’s Office, said, as of Friday, no complaints had been filed against Concord signs not in compliance.

Why Is This Important?

The political disclaimer issue is nothing new in Concord or New Hampshire politics but is important so that voters know who is paying for political advertising because the mailers, ads, and signs can influence election outcomes.

Last year, a Massachusetts mail house illegally sent multiple mailers to New Hampshire voters, attempting to affect the outcome of the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.

It is unknown how many illegal mailers the Democrat printer sent out to influence the outcome of the Republican primary. Still, the candidate they promoted won the primary and then lost the general election to a Democrat.

Two years ago, in the special election for Ward 4, a complaint was filed with the attorney general’s office due to one candidate not having information on her signs, and she quickly corrected the problem by putting Paid For stickers on her signs. However, that was not enough because the signs did not contain a mailing address.

David Croft, during his 2020 primary race for Merrimack County Sheriff, was repeatedly warned about the issue by the AG’s Office as well as the placement of signs organizations that were doing business with the county, where he worked, at the time, in the diversion program.

In 2016, illegal mailers, with not only improper labeling but a false designation that it was paid for by the National Rifle Association, promoting two indie candidates for U.S. Senate, clearly shifted tens of thousands of votes to those candidates, costing then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) her re-election campaign. She lost to then-Gov. Maggie Hassan by about a thousand votes.

The mailers were sent from a New Jersey mail house that works for Democrats. The company was also connected to a similar political experiment in 2014 in New Hampshire and Montana by Stanford and Dartmouth professors. The schools paid fines in Montana for the illegal mailers; no one in New Hampshire ever investigated the mailers in 2014 or 2016.

Eight years ago, candidates posting signs no sooner than 45 days before an election, a code violation, was an issue in the municipal election.

The code, which is still on the books but not enforced, could be unconstitutional since it applied to regulating signs on private property. Jim Kennedy, the city solicitor, said neither the city nor code administration would be enforcing the ordinance.

Nearly 12 years ago, two complaints were filed against Concord School District officials involved in attempting to hijack a School District Charter proposal allowing for district election of board of education members. About half a dozen school board and past members collected hundreds of dollars to print up signs to try and defeat the initiative. The signs contained no information, no committee was formed either, so voters did not know it was a handful of insiders trying to croak the proposal.

It passed, however, by a slim 34 votes.

Six or seven weeks later, one of the members of the group was given a scolding by the AG’s Office.

New England Take

Podcaster A.J. Kierstead, formerly of WKXL, now hosts New England Take. He is partnering with Patch and Concord TV to support and profile debates for mayor, city council, and board of education.

On Thursday, I appeared on the program to discuss the upcoming debates before November 2023.

2 New Polling Locations

Voters in two wards will vote in new locations this year.

In Ward 1, voters will cast ballots at the Merrimack Valley High School gymnasium at 106 Village St. Voters should park in the high school student parking lot.

In Ward 3, voters will now vote in the Beaver Meadow Elementary School at 40 Sewalls Falls Road.

In his impressive constituent email on Friday, Ward 1 Councilor Brent Todd included a map of the traffic pattern at the school.

A traffic map of the new Ward 1 voting poll, the Merrimack Valley High School.

Zone A Candidate Drops Out

Robert Avery, one of the four candidates for the Zone A seat on the ballot, has decided to drop out.

While he will be on the ballot, since they have already been set, instead, he said he would back Jessica Campbell.

“The future of our schools is paramount and having too many options can dilute the pool, which can put our district at risk,” Avery said. “We need someone who can save our district from political attacks.”

Also Read

• Judith Kurtz, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Jennifer Kretovic, Concord City Council Ward 3 Candidate
• Rob Kleiner, Concord City Council Ward 2 Candidate
• Matthew Hicks, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Kevin Porter, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Concord School District Hosts 2 Meetings Concerning New Middle School
• Concord’s Longest-Serving Mayor Named 2023 Citizen Of The Year
• More Concord Candidates Explain Why They Are Running In 2023
• More Concord Council Candidates Jump Into The Fray On Last Filing Day
• As Final Filing Day Approaches, Concord Municipal Races Get Crowded
• New Candidates Emerge For Concord Mayor, City Council, School Board
• Dad Upset About Crossdressing Art Teacher Runs For Concord School Seat
• Candidates Enter Concord City Council Races On First Day Of Filing
• New Candidates Emerge In 2023 Concord Races As Signup Date Approaches
• Champlin Confirms Concord Mayoral Run; Some Out, Others Thinking
• Second At Large Concord City Councilor Considers Mayoral Run
• Concord At-Large Councilor Champlin Eyes Mayoral Run
• Herschlag: Our Mayor Is Not Seeking Another Term
• Concord’s Longest Serving Mayor Won’t Seek Re-Election In November

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