Lambert, Tardif allege improprieties in sheriff's justice grant application

Conservative activists Doug Lambert of Gilford and Tom Tardif of Laconia have charged Belknap County Sheriff Craig Wiggin and County Commissioners with failing to secure the required authorization to apply for a US Justice Department grant or to hold a public hearing on the grant application as required by the conditions for grant eligibility.

The charges were leveled in a letter addressed to State Representative Alida Millham (R-Gilford). Millham chairs the Belknap County Convention. It is made up of the 18 state representatives who serve the county’s one city and ten towns. By statute, the convention functions at the county’s legislative body. As such, it is responsible for providing fiscal oversight for county operations.

At issue is the process followed by Wiggin and the commissioners in applying for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in the amount of $217,578. Was it invalid and lacking in transparency?

According to the two, the Commissioners exercised an “assumed authority which, in fact, they cannot legally support. Moreover, we believe that only the Convention has such authority. Furthermore, this or any grant application must be accompanied by contemporaneous conditional appropriations by the taxing authorities.”

More specifically, they stated, “The commissioners are not empowered to authorize an application for grants without prior approval of the Convention, the appropriating authority.”

Lambert and Tardif also state that the minutes for the April 22 meeting of the commissioners clearly indicate that the “Governing body needs to review and approve before the application can be submitted….30 days ahead of time.”

According to the executive summary of the grant application, a portion of the funds will be used by the Belknap Sheriff’s Departments and the departments of the six participating municipal police departments to upgrade existing computer, communications and radar equipment. Other portions of the grant will be utilized to purchase and train officers in the use of less than lethal technologies. Four of the six local departments will also use a portion of the grant money to purchase and train officers in the use of other types of firearms. Each of the local departments agreed to set aside 10-percent of their respective grants for the Sheriff's Department in return for acting as administrative agent.

The local departments participating in the cooperative grant application are Alton, Belmont, Gilford, Laconia, Meredith, and Tilton. The chiefs of the six communities agreed to cooperate in the application and to have the Belknap Sheriff’s office act as the grant administrator.

Noting that Center Harbor, New Hampton, Sanbornton, Gilmanton, and Barnstead chose not to participate in the cooperative grant application, Lambert and Tardif also alleged those communities would, if the grant is approved, benefit by default in county purchases for which they made no contribution. In the alternative, the two argued that the five that did not participate would be penalized if the grant is not approved.

Both Wiggin and Debra Shackett, the County Administrator and Finance Director, were away at a conference yesterday and could not be reached for comment.