Your request will be filled in 4 years

The last post covered the ease in which the Department of Revenue (DRA) could obtain contractor returned public records to investigate and research the compliance of a contract. Did the city of Nashua receive  what we paid for? No doubt, the DRA was able to formulate an opinion but the public in Nashua is unable to do so.

 In August 2019, another request was submitted for records provided to the contractor by the city. These were most certainly public documents. In this case, the city agreed to provide the records, however, they required four (4) years to complete the search and delivery for all records. (I was requesting 1270 records; the City will willing to search for 25/month). By my estimation, the City was willing to “invest”  2 minutes per work day to produce the letters. That’s a pretty lame effort. The request came at a time when the City wasn’t nearly as busy with requests as it is now. 

This response time tells us the City did not want to search and gather the records, was irritated by the request, and decided to shut it down.

Exactly like the request from the DRA, I was seeking about 1200 letters. It’s terrific and appropriate that a state agency, the boss, received 2500 records from the City in three weeks. Preferential treatment for the boss is understandable; the City made no effort to even create the appearance of responsiveness with the four year effort to complete the record retrieval. 

By the time I would have obtained the records, it would 2022 and Vision Appraisal would be releasing the new assessment updates for Nashua. By the time this information is delivered, it will no longer hold any relevance. I withdrew my request for this information; at the time I wasn’t yet familiar with how to file a right-to-know lawsuit. I was simply looking for information.

This type of response time for the 2019 request has continued into 2020. The terms “unreasonably described and unclear” are thrown around by the Attorney’s Leonard and Bolton frequently to dismiss requests for information. Best case, the city is too lazy to search. Worst case, they have something to hide. Both are sorry excuses to restrict information from the public. Access to public information in Nashua will remain reserved for the wealthy and educated, who can afford lawsuits, unless we employ reasonable people who are willing to provide reasonable responses.

Ask the Aldermen to keep records open for public access.