Gilford GOP calls for more transparency in local government

The Gilford Republican Committee has formally asked the Board of Selectmen and the School Board, along with the Belknap County Commission, to update their websites to ensure "open access to the recent past and current budget detail, check registers, meeting notices, agendas, minutes and any other information necessary to promote an ever-growing amount of transparency and access for all."

The initiative was taken while Doug Lambert, a member of the committee, in tandem with Tom Tardif, former mayor of Laconia, are pursuing litigation against the Belknap County Convention at the New Hampshire Supreme Court for allegedly violating the right-to-know in the appointment of the county sheriff. At the same time, Lambert and Tardif charged that the convention failed to follow the course prescribed by law in adopting the 2009 county budget and authorizing borrowing in anticipation of taxes and have called for Philip "Bud" Daigneault, chairman of the Belknap County Commission, to be removed from office.

Chairman Skip Murphy said that the resolutions were submitted by e-mail following the committee's regular monthly meeting on April 17, but have not yet been forwarded in writing. He said that both the Board of Selectmen and School Board have acknowledged receipt of the resolutions and indicated they would be considered at their next meetings. However, he said that Daigneault has not responded.

Daigneault said yesterday that he has not seen the resolution and declined to comment on it.

"The town, school board and county all have good stories to tell," Murphy said, "but they are not being told. We are urging them to make better use of their websites." He said that while the town an school board provide some information on their website they could offer more, but "there is nothing on the county website."

Murphy, a technical analyst with a software firm headquartered in California, explained that "it is not that difficult or expensive to post information and data on a website. It is just not that big a deal." He suggested that if more information were posted on the websites, it would save public officials "a lot of time and angst in right-to-know requests."

Fellow committee member Doug Lambert said that the resolutions were inspired by a column in the Union-Leader written by Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in Concord. Arlinghaus highlighted the online database in Alaska that provides details of all government expenditures of more than $1,000 and pointed out that in New Hampshire the books are closed to the public until they are audited.

Lambert said that "transparency and openness," which make government accountable to the public, are among the most important principles of the Republican Party.