Londonderry Town Manager Fired At Contentious Council Meeting

By ZACH LAIRD, InDepth NH

LONDONDERRY, NH — Questions remain about exactly what led to the firing of Londonderry Town Manager Shaun Mulholland Monday night during a contentious council meeting. He was replaced by Chief of Police Kim Bernard as the interim manager.

During the meeting Chair Ron Dunn, Vice Chair Shawn Faber, and Councilor Ted Combes had the majority vote in terminating Mulholland’s employment with the town following multiple investigations, and they also voted in support of Bernard stepping in as the interim. Other councilors Dan Bouchard and Deb Paul voted against both motions, and continue to argue that they were left in the dark on the matter, along with Mulholland.

Dunn started by explaining that during a council meeting on June 15, the council voted to create a special committee to engage legal counsel regarding a number of issues involving Mulholland, who could not be reached for comment. He said in June the council determined the special committee’s approach was necessary “in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege, and protect the confidentiality and integrity of the investigation while it was ongoing.”

“Over the course of the summer, while the investigation and complaints against the town manager (Mulholland) were ongoing, the town manager had taken a number of actions that I believe may constitute his dismissal. These actions include – but are not limited to — openly defying multiple lawful instructions given by the town council; openly and intentionally disclosing attorney-client privileged documents without the approval of the council,” Dunn said.

Faber is also the chair of the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA). It was founded in 2003 and says it is a non-partisan coalition working to increase individual freedom in New Hampshire. Neither Faber, Dunn, or Combes returned requests for comment.

The NHLA ranks every member of the State House of Representatives and State Senate based upon their votes on pro-liberty and anti-liberty bills, according to its website. It also monitors certain bills in each legislative session, which are evaluated based on aspects like effects on civil liberties, personal responsibility, property rights, and accountability. Dunn was also one of the NHLA’s candidates that the organization endorsed in 2026, according to its website.

Faber was also one of the speakers listed for the Free State Project’s 2025 Porcfest event (otherwise known as Porcupine Freedom Festival). The Free State Project was started in 2001 with the idea of a “mass migration to concentrate libertarians in one small state,” and now has between 6-10,000 participants.

In a follow-up interview with Councilor Dan Bouchard, he said although the Town Council is made up of five members, “not all five members are included in their decisions.” He said he was aware of two investigations brought against Mulholland, and that Mulholland still hasn’t been told what they’re about or what the findings are.

“Yesterday was the perfect example of that; where myself and Councilor Deb Paul got blindsided. We had no idea that this was going to be taking place. We asked what the meeting was about, and I was told, ‘It’s to answer questions,’ and that was it,” Bouchard said, adding he didn’t get a response when he asked what type of questions.

Bouchard also said on Sept. 24 they’re going to Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood for the release of the findings of the first investigation, which has been completed. He said he was a subject of the first investigation and knows what the finding is (and) asked for it to be released but was denied. He said he can’t disclose it because he’d be in violation of talking about non-public meetings.

Bouchard noted that Bernard suddenly being eyed to serve as acting town manager was also a surprise and was not discussed with the entire council at all. He called it a very well-calculated and orchestrated maneuver, and said he hasn’t seen any valid reason to terminate Mulholland’s employment.

He said while Mulholland and he did not always agree, they worked very well together and that “the number one priority was always the town,” and that Mulholland was something the town had lacked for years before his arrival, and that now it’s lost a good person.

Dunn said during the meeting that Mulholland also obstructed the ongoing investigation into complaints against him in multiple ways, “including instructing town employees not to cooperate with the appropriate investigator.” He noted Mulholland refused to implement a veteran’s tax credit adjustment voted 5-0 twice by the council, which resulted in a lawsuit against the town.

As well, he said Mulholland directed the town attorney to conduct costly legal work without the approval of the council, saying it was in direct violation of the town’s legal protocol (and) a significant expense to the town.

Dunn then said in light of these issues and others, the council’s special committee recently requested a legal opinion on how to go about terminating Mulholland’s employment. It was presented to the full council in a closed session earlier in the evening.

“According to the legal opinion presented to the council under New Hampshire state law, the town manager may be removed by simple majority of the town council at any time. Specifically, New Hampshire RSA37:3 states the town manager shall, in all matters, be subjected to the discretion (and) supervision, and hold the office at the will of the selectmen who may, by majority vote, remove him at any time for cause,” Dunn said.

While reading the motion to have Mulholland removed from his position, Faber noted aside from the issues made public that the council also discussed “additional cause for Mr. Mulholland’s removal that involve confidential” matters that won’t be disclosed at the meeting.

Councilor Deb Paul said during the meeting that she did not vote for Mulholland’s termination during the private meeting, and agrees with Bouchard that she “needs time to digest this.”

“I feel it was rammed down our throats at five-thirty tonight, and I don’t think it’s fair to the residents of this town, so I also feel the councilor privilege should be invoked — and we do have a right to do that — because you (Dunn) did not supply the information prior to the meeting for us to be aware of what’s going on and prepared,” Paul said.

A councilor privilege could typically be invoked by town Council members to delay voting on agenda items until a future meeting. Dunn then denied the councilor privilege, saying it was based on the fact that the situation was a personnel matter.

Dunn suggested that in the interim, Kim Bernard take over as acting town manager for 120 days. To a dismayed crowd, Dunn said: “Kim (Bernard) has held this position before, and helped out the town when in need. He did a great job the last time we needed his help, and I think we could use his help again.”

Bernard did not return requests to comment.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.