Also on today’s menu:
Judge Upholds First Amendment Rights In NSC-131 Protest
House Rejects Action Against Its Own Members
‘Scouting For Food’ Collection This Saturday
What does ‘Reader-Supported’ Mean?
Franklin’s personnel advisory board heard competing testimony on October 31 in the appeal by Jacob Drouin who maintains that his dismissal from the Franklin Police Department was retaliation for his criticism of the police chief and an attempt to weaken the patrolman’s association of which he was union president. Paul Fitzgerald, Franklin’s legal counsel and a former Laconia mayor, called Drouin a liar and accused him of falsely submitting worker compensation requests.
Drouin had been placed on administrative leave a day before the police union cast a vote of no confidence in the department and city leadership and, the following March, he was let go altogether. City leaders, including Police Chief David Goldstein and City Manager Judie Milner, said Drouin lied about his ability to work, and the city’s insurer, Primex, secretly collected video during his vacation that showed him lifting items after he had told the city he was unable to lift heavy objects.
Drouin and his lawyer argued that the city's decision to terminate his employment was a tactic to undermine the union’s vote which called out Goldstein for “absentee leadership” and “retaliatory and unjust treatment of union members by subordinate leadership or himself.”
An example cited by the union was Goldstein’s response to criticism from Miriam Kovacs, owner of the Broken Spoon restaurant on Central Street, who complained that the police department had failed to respond or protect her after she received threatening messages because of her outspoken stance against a white supremacy group. Goldstein posted a Facebook message in response and sent a letter to Mark Faro, who had been dating Kovacs, expressing concern about the relationship.
“I realize that your relationship with Ms. Kovacs presents you with a conundrum,” he wrote, “however, the challenges presented by your affiliation with Ms. Kovacs are unacceptable as they exist and the solution is completely up to you. … The purpose of progressive discipline is to assist a department member with recognizing their errant behavior and work toward acceptable change.” Faro left the department after receiving the letter.
The union said that, when officers went to Goldstein with complaints about mistreatment, he was unwillingness to listen or understand. Since the vote of no confidence in February, eight officers have left the department.
The three-member appeals board will continue the hearing on November 17, at 9:30 a.m. in Franklin City Hall.
Judge Upholds First Amendment Rights In NSC-131 Protest
Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Davis Ruoff upheld his previous decision that hanging a “Keep New England White” banner off the Route 1 overpass in Portsmouth is protected speech. The New Hampshire Attorney-General’s Office had appealed the earlier decision, saying the Civil Rights Act requires punishment of NSC-131 leaders Christopher Hood and Leo Cullinan. (Cullinan died of a drug overdose over the summer.)
Ruoff wrote that the broad interpretation the AG’s Office wants to apply to the Civil Rights Act would punish all kinds of political speech, leading to significant violations of the First Amendment. “[T]he broader interpretation raises a concern for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement where regulation of the conduct and speech does not serve the goals of the Civil Rights Act, leaves similar conduct unenforced, or risks the government bringing sanctions against only those messages with which it disagrees,” Ruoff wrote. Application of the Civil Rights Act would chill legitimate speech across the board, and the Constitution requires that the Civil Rights Act be applied narrowly, Ruoff said.
When Portsmouth police officers told NSC-131 members that they would need a permit to hang banners, the group took down the banner and held signs for about 20 minutes before departing. Despite there being no “incident” after the police order, the AG’s Office sought enhanced Civil Right Act trespassing penalties against the group.
House Rejects Action Against Its Own Members
The US House of Representatives rejected, 222-186, a resolution put forward by Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene to censure Democrat Rashida Tlaib of Michigan over her criticism of Israel. The action would have required a two-thirds majority, or 272 votes, to pass.
A Democrat then attempted to censure Greene for a long list of her comments, but it did not proceed to a vote.
A move to expel New York Congressman George Santos also was defeated on a 179-213 vote. Twenty-four of Santos’ fellow Republicans voted to expel the man who has been indicted on 23 corruption charges and refuses to quit, but more than 30 Democrats joined Republicans in voting against his removal.
Republicans need Santos to pass legislation that Democrats will not support, such as the plan proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Lousiana) to only approve aid to Israel if the $14.3 billion request is offset by an equal reduction in funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that reducing the IRS appropriation would add $26.8 billion to the national budget deficit because the agency would not be able to conduct audits and collect taxes owed by wealthy Americans with a reduced staff.
‘Scouting For Food’ Collection This Saturday
Boy Scouts of America Troops 59G and 59B will be collecting non-perishable food on Saturday, November 4, between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the entrance to the Bristol transfer station. It is part of the BSA Scouting for Food program that collects food and money to support food pantries such as that of Bristol Community Services.
The Scouting for Food program follows the Law of the Pack, which is to spread goodwill and help other people at all times. Across the country, thousands of troops and Cub Scout packs collect tens of millions of pounds of food for distribution to needy neighbors.
Typically, on the first weekend of November or the last weekend in October during years such as this when Veterans’ Day falls on a Saturday, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturers, Explorers, and their leaders deliver Scouting for Food door hangers throughout their neighborhoods. In Bristol’s case, scouts also handed out notices at the transfer station announcing that, on November 5, Scouts will return to take donations of non-perishable food items for distribution.
What does ‘Reader-Supported’ Mean?
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