A Comment on the Select Board Work Session

We received the following post from Sandra Coleman.

On the morning of Monday August 8, 2011, The Board of Selectmen held their work session in the conference room at the Town Hall.  In attendance were three selectmen, the Town Administrator, three department heads, and the recording secretary for a total of eight people.  The table in the conference room accommodates six people comfortably.  Consequently, there was room for four folding chairs for the public.  Other members of the public found it necessary to sit outside the conference room.  This meeting was not very well planned, as the past experience indicates there are always more than four members of the public at a work session. 
In my opinion, the Board of Selectmen violated RSA 91A, Attorney Generals’ Memorandum of July 15, 2009, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II.  The RSA has been defined in the BLOG, and on page 12 in the Memorandum of Attorney General Kelly Ayotte.  The Title II of the American with Disabilities Act states “Title II requires that the State and local governments give people with disabilities and equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities.  I will agree, the Board of Selectmen in order for them to accomplish their agenda, has the right to exclude the public from speaking or asking questions.
However, to deny the public the opportunity to be present or make it difficult for them to sit or stand is ‘just wrong’.  For the past year and some months, the work sessions were held in the evening and in a handicap accessible facility (school library).  The time and the place gave all residents to opportunity to see ‘Town Government’ in action.  The library has a wheelchair ramp that my my husband and I used when attending the meetings.  Time in the evening afforded people who needed a ride, could attend after friends/family were out of work for the day.
“Openness in the conduct of public business is essential to a democratic society”, read in the Constitution of New Hampshire.
What does the Board of Selectmen plan to do next in the wake of what they have done these past few weeks?
Sandra Coleman