Niel Young

To the editor:

The report of the Alton/Barnstead School Board decision to reseal “non-public session” minutes that had been sealed for a year begs the question of what could possibly be that confidential that the taxpayers of those communities are told that they cannot learn of what elected representatives did behind closed doors in years past.

Reminds me of when the Newfound Regional School Board voted to seal the “non-public session” minutes for 50 years on a matter that most would question why sealed for that long?

And then there are the secret meetings that our own Laconia School Board has participated in or organized in the past year.

I speak of meetings taking place at a Water Street location with Laconia City Council members in attendance, “two at a time,” to avoid posting a meeting and necessarily divulging information presented to the members — and by whom.

Or maybe a better question would be: who knew what, when, and where?

I am referring to meeting(s) where School Board Chairman Joe Cormier and Mayor Matt Lahey were discussing the actual — well we are not sure — cost of the new middle school with non-elected persons.

Too many “non-public sessions” by city councils, school boards, and boards of selectmen take place — and that is one of the reasons leading to my activism for honest and open government.

And yet we take such pride in the N.H. Right-to-Know law. Is that pride just on the surface? Elected officials and others are not always that concerned because they do not expect the public to really take an interest in local politics.

Sooner or later new people must step forward to seek public office or nothing will ever change.

Niel Young

Laconia