The Derry Town Council will hold a special meeting Thursday, July 16, at 6 p.m. to take action on eight referendum petitions regarding the May 19 budget vote submitted by community members, and according to the official meeting announcement, “deemed sufficient by legal counsel on July 1, and set a date for a special election if required.”
Councilors Joshua Bourdon, Phyllis Katsakiores and Richard Tripp are calling the meeting. The three Councilors voted against the budget approved by four of their peers.
A petition drive June 8 and 12 brought more than 1,000 signatures for the eight referendum petitions, which ask the Council to overturn its votes of May 19. While Chairman Tom Cardon said the Council needs time to review the petition and the opinion of an independent law firm, the three Councilors pressed him to discuss the matter as soon as possible.
An RSA 91:A Freedom of Information Act request by the Nutfield News to see the letter from the independent law firm was rejected on the grounds of “attorney-client privilege.”
The Council also set a non-public meeting with legal counsel for Wednesday, July 22.
Cardon addressed the issue at the July 7 Town Council meeting. Despite concerns from the public and two Council members, Cardon said the petitions will be addressed within the time frame required by the Town Charter but that he and others needed more time to look at them.
At the May 19 Town Council meeting, a 4-3 majority of the Council (Cardon, Mark Osborne, Albert Dimmock and David Fischer) voted to make the cuts, which cut overtime for departments, cut two full-time positions in Public Works, cut four full-time positions for Police, cut eight full-time positions for Fire, eliminated the position of Human Resources Director, and closed a fire station.
Members of the community reacted negatively, pointing out that the cuts would impact their safety, the efficiency of government and their property values.
A petition drive June 8 and 12 brought more than 1,000 signatures for the eight referendum petitions, which ask the Council to overturn its votes of May 19 on police cuts, police overtime, fire cuts, fire overtime, public works cuts, public works overtime, closure of a fire station and elimination of the Human Resources director position.
The rules for referendum petitions are listed in the Charter rules under Section 3.1.The petitions needed 20 percent of the votes cast in the last election, in Derry’s case 242 votes, after which they would go to the Town Clerk for vetting and then to the Council. The Council is then required to take a vote to repeal its earlier decision, and if the Council fails to repeal that vote or takes no action, a special Town Election is warranted.
Each petition addresses a specific budget item and each must be voted on separately.
At the June 22 special Council meeting, Councilors voted to turn the petitions over to an outside law firm, Devine, Millimet and Branch, to review their validity. Councilors also voted to appropriate up to $10,000 to pay for the legal opinion.
At the July 7 meeting Cardon said the attorneys have gotten back to the Council. The Council has 30 days to act on the petitions, which were submitted July 1, Cardon said.
Cardon said he wants to seek some clarification on the petitions. “I have some questions and I want to talk to the attorneys,” he said.
“We are in uncharted territory,” he added. “Two hundred and forty-two voters could come up with a petition every budget season, and extend the budget season for another 90 days. We need to figure that out.”
Cardon quoted the Charter as saying, “The Town Council shall receive all petitions addressed and signed by registered voters and may take as actions they deem necessary and appropriate.”
“What that tells me is one person can come up after the special election and submit a petition to us, and say, we want you to cut the taxes by $2 per $1,000, and four Councilors could vote for that again,” he said. “So there are some inconsistencies. Based on this, I want to do my homework.
Cardon added, “I’m sure other councilors do too, and we will be meeting in the next week or two.”
In the public forum portion of the meeting, resident and former Councilor Brian Chirichiello asked if the Devine, Millimet letter would be made public. Town Administrator Galen Stearns said it would not be at the present time because it was considered “confidential correspondence” between an attorney and client.
“I would ask you to consider making it public,” Chirichiello said.
Osborne, an attorney, said, “I can’t think of a time we’ve released a legal opinion where the board hasn’t reviewed it and we haven’t consulted with the attorney.”
Councilor Joshua Bourdon countered, “It has never happened this way before.”
The Nutfield News submitted a 91-A request for release of the legal opinion on July 8.
On July 9, Stearns responded that “communications protected under the attorney-client privilege fall within the exemption in the Right-to-Know law for confidential information and unless the Town Council votes to release this document, your request is denied.”
Cardon stated in a separate email upon receiving the request July 8, “I have been advised by our attorney that the information you are requesting is Attorney-Client privileged.”
Councilor Richard Tripp called the delay “not warranted,” and urged his fellow Councilors to hold a special meeting July 14 to consider the ramifications of the Devine, Millimet opinion. But Fischer said he would be out of town, and Dimmock said, “We need all the Councilors to be there.”
Bourdon also objected to the delay. “We have an obligation to follow the Charter,” he said. “About 1,000 people asked us for this.”
Bourdon added that the point of the special election is to gauge the will of the people. “If we have the election and the majority of the people say they favor the cuts, it’s still a win,” he said. “I would like to see this followed up on.”
Cardon assured him that it would be. “The clock is ticking,” he said. “We have 30 days.”
On July 9, Stearns responded that “communications protected under the attorney-client privilege fall within the exemption in the Right-to-Know law for confidential information and unless the Town Council votes to release this document, your request is denied.
Cardon stated in a separate email upon receiving the request July 8, “I have been advised by our attorney that the information you are requesting is Attorney-Client privileged.”
