LACONIA — State Rep. Norm Silber (R-Gilford) recently filed a Right To Know request to the county commissioners, demanding copies of communications and bills between the commissioners and the law firm Donahue, Tucker and Ciandella.
The request comes after the commissioners tabled the delegation’s request for an additional $30,000 to pay legal bills, pending the release of emails between Silber, Mike Sylvia, and the law firm Cleveland Waters and Bass. Silber declined to comment on his request.
“I don’t have the slightest idea [why],” said commissioner Hunter Taylor of Silber’s request. “If I had to guess, he's expecting us to assert attorney-client privilege which has nothing to do with his situation.” Taylor added that he personally had no problem “letting him see what he’s asking for,” but that the commissioners would discuss it at their next meeting.
Silber’s request also highlighted a desire for communications regarding Commissioner Glenn Warring, who recused himself from voting on “the retention by the county commission of the law firm of Donahue, Tucker and Ciandella.”
Silber also threatened further litigation against the commissioners should they fail to comply with his request, potentially costing taxpayers even more.
“Glenn recused himself when we voted to engage that firm,” Taylor recalled, stating that Waring may have had a family connection to the law firm. “No big deal to it, I think he was just being extra cautious. I might have revealed it if I had some sort of family connection.”
Months ago, the county commissioners initially approved $20,000 to pay for legal fees incurred by the delegation in a legal matter against the Gunstock Area Commission. However, the costs ballooned to $50,000. The county commissioners, and the public have since demanded to know how and why the delegation was able to go more than $30,000 over budget. The $20,000 originally approved has been paid.
The answers may lie in the correspondence between Silber and Sylvia's self-declared “control group”, and their law firm, Cleveland Waters and Bass.
Silber and Sylvia denied Right To Know requests for the correspondence from both The Daily Sun and Meredith resident and state representative candidate Matt Coker on the grounds of “attorney client privilege.”
According to statements from Silber and Sylvia, the creation of the control group prevents the rest of the delegation from viewing the emails, and by extension, the public.
Sylvia stated that if the delegation was privy to the rest of the emails, they could not be hidden from a Right To Know request.
“What [Silber’s] seeing is only he and Sylvia have the privilege and not the delegation, the delegation is clearly the client,” Taylor said. “Frankly, if one believes in transparency in government, one would not keep those secrets. I don’t know what he’s doing other than playing chicken with us.”
The next county commissioner's meeting will be held Monday, July 11, at 5:15 p.m.
(1) comment
Do as I say, and not as I do. Silber et al claim to be fiscal conservatives, but not when it comes to spending taxpayer money to fund their personal agendas.
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