City's response to 'The Voice' RTK request nothing short of an embarrassment

Cliff Newton (Courtesy photo)

The Rochester Voice is the only real voice for news of our city unless you consider the government owned/operated "Rochester Post" or very limited articles, maybe a couple a week, in the Foster's

So, the City seems to be going full steam in the real estate business these days. The Rochester Voice, according to a recent article, asked under the Right To Know law for "all the documents that represent all the real estate the City owns."

"Your request is too vague," (City Attorney Terence) O'Rourke wrote. "It does not reasonably describe any governmental record that may be in the possession of the City. No further response to this request will be given by the City."

Was O'Rourke's response an April Fools joke?

In a recent (October 2022) N.H. Supreme Court Ruling "Colquhoun V City of Nashua it determined that a " A reasonably described request would be sufficient if it enabled a professional employee of the agency who was familiar with the subject area to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort."

So, is the attorney implying that our assessors don't know who is and isn't paying taxes on property? That they don't know what property the City owns, what properties they need to send out tax bills for?

The New Hampshire Municipal Association recently filed a paper on this court case and I suggest that the Rochester City Attorney, The Rochester City Manager., and the Rochester Mayor all read it, by researching -Colquhoun v. City of Nashua New Hampshire Supreme Court Case No. 2021-0253 Wednesday, October 26, 2022 - and reconsider their embarrassing actions.

Why? Because, the right to Know Preamble states "Openness in the conduct of public business is essential to a democratic society. The purpose of this chapter is to ensure both the greatest possible public access to the actions, discussions and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people."

Cliff Newton is the state rep for Strafford District 9 and a lifelong Rochester resident.