Guaranteed Public Comment Period
Senate Bill 410 Would Require 30-Minute Period At Start Of School Board Meetings
Also on today’s menu:
Emergency Rental Assistance
‘Fallen 7’ Trial Set For July
Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) testified on February 8 in favor of Senate Bill 410, which would require a 30-minute public comment period at the beginning of all school board meetings. She told the Senate Education Committee that she sponsored the bill after observing what happened at many school board meetings during the summer and fall over parents’ concerns about the impact to education of COVID-19 decisions and restrictions. She said public comment periods often are offered at the end of meetings when parents should be at home with their children.
Supporters said such a structure would help to “calm the waters” over mask mandates, plummeting academic scores, remote learning, and vaccinations. Carson said a lot of the dissent at meetings is due to parents feeling they are not being heard or do not get a chance to speak.
The New Hampshire School Boards Association opposed the bill. Executive Director Barrett M. Christina said most school boards already hold public comment periods, although some limit testimony to three minutes per speaker. He said there could be problems if a board convenes to address something like a roof caving in from an ice storm. “We have to hold a 30-minute public comment period before that? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Emergency Rental Assistance
Governor Chris Sununu sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, seeking assurance that funds under the American Rescue Plan, such as the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, will be flexible and quickly available.
“As you may be aware, the State of New Hampshire has been effectively running its Emergency Rental Program,” the governor wrote, saying New Hampshire’s Department of the Treasury submitted its request for the remaining ERA allocation of $69,263,260.68 on December 30 and made a minor adjustment in its request at the U.S. Treasury’s insistence on January 3. “Since that time, New Hampshire has received no additional correspondence on the request, no confirmation of the request, and no indication of when it will receive this funding. The State has contacted Treasury multiple times, both through the contact provided for the ERA program and individual contacts at Treasury. The State has not received any response.
“The situation is now critical,” he said. “If New Hampshire does not immediately receive its remaining ERA 2 allocation, the State will need to cease funding grants for those households only eligible for ERA 2, threatening the housing stability of those families in need.”
‘Fallen 7’ Trial Set For July
Coos County Superior Court Judge Peter Bornstein said on February 7 that the trial of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy remains on track to begin in late July, despite the need for a background check on the defense’s new accident-reconstruction expert. Zhukovskyy is charged with the deaths of seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club on June 21, 2019. Questions had arisen about the veracity of the defense’s former accident-reconstruction expert who found that “quite a bit was missed” in the state’s reports about the Randolph accident.
Zhukovskyy, of Westfield, Massachusetts, was working for Westfield Transport when he encountered an eastbound group of riders. The state initially said Zhukovskyy crossed into the eastbound lane, causing the deadly collision, but the state later issued a second report that said the lead Jarhead rider had crossed into Zhukovskyy’s lane. The truck driver is facing seven counts each of negligent homicide, negligent homicide-DUI, and reckless manslaughter, as well as one count of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.
Bornstein gave the defense time to find a new expert and, on Tuesday, Public Defender Jay Duguay said they had retained one, but the new person will need to review both of the state’s accident reports.
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