Thanks to a heads-up by one of our CNHT pals I have an interesting clip from The Blaze that shows pretty much how NOT to get public information – if you really want it.
This old trick of “the staff felt threatened” is used by NH school superintendents just as the municipality in Florida used it. We see it over and over.
Here is how it works:
A taxpayer has every right to ask for copies of, or to look at, any public documents a municipality has in its possession. It is that simple.
There are some exceptions to this law, RSA 91-A, but if you want to see something specific you ask for it in as specific a fashion as possible – in writing when you know it exists and what it might be called.
Remember, uncooperative bureaucrats have their own language, like French waiters, and will hold you to the exact name of something you are looking for so don’t confuse, for an example, an abatement with an assessment or an appraisal if you want to get a public document without a hassle.
And the hassle part is where the charge of threatening comes in.
NEVER debate or ague with any public servant behind some desk – simply ask directed questions or don’t talk to them at all if you suspect trouble.
You will always be the bad guy in that world.
I had a taxpayer in Brookline having trouble with some past superintendent there. He was ordered out of the office for threatening – which he did not do. He called CNHT and I called the office and told them I was coming down to pick up exactly what our taxpayer had asked for and to have it ready. It was a document regarding student population numbers.
When I got there I introduced myself and put my card on the table with a written request for the document. The secretary said they would supply it. The super brought it out and started to hand it to me and said it came with “an explanation.”
I told him he and I had nothing to talk about and that I was picking up the document – that was all. Thank you – gone.
There is no need to discuss anything with a public employee who has shown he will try and accuse you of threatening, intimidating, or whatever. You will simply lose focus on the subject at hand and spend costly time.
Our taxpayer activist had caught onto a scam that had a local school ginning up student numbers to get more state money.
Now isn’t that more important than arguing with some bureaucrat?
Treat the secretaries well when you deal with any municipality. They are the ones most likely to really know what is going on.
And never argue with the puffed up suits.
Get what you came for – that is winning.
Or call CNHT.