Cindy Conroy: No conflict of interest

My opponent in his recent letter in the press attempts to paint a picture of me as being unable to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of being a member of the Board of Selectmen because I have family members employed by the Town.

I have never attempted to deny this. In fact it’s ridiculous to bring this up since nearly everyone in Town knows me, my family, and that these relationships exist.

I have given careful consideration to my candidacy and its implications. I have done extensive research on conflicts of interest and I can tell you that the picture my opponent is attempting to paint is not only inaccurate; I think it’s intended to be misleading.

Take a look at this article from the New Hampshire Municipal Association on conflicts of interest:

https://www.nhmunicipal.org/TownAndCity/Article/522

My opponent also neglects to tell you that the Board of Selectmen by New Hampshire law must stay out of all personnel matters. All personnel work is performed by the Town Manager. The Manager is even required by New Hampshire law to set their salaries. Check out this article on NH RSA 37a:

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2016/title-iii/chapter-37/section-37-6/

I am running for all of the right reasons. I see Newport floundering and I see unreasonable expensive proposals being brought forward in the budget. I am not a wealthy person, my family struggles just like the majority of Newport residents to pay taxes, while appearing to receive fewer and fewer services each year.

A recent case in point is the Town Office of Planning and Zoning, which has been decimated in this budget and there is no coherent plan to go forward except to follow what Sunapee and New London have done.

Well, we aren’t those towns and their organizational structure and caseload are not comparable to ours; ewe have industry, commercial business, multi and single family dwellings. So either the right questions are not being asked of the Town Manager or the majority of the board members are blindly following whatever he and a couple like-minded selectmen say.

The same questions need to be asked about our Public Works Department and all of our Emergency Services. These are serious decisions with significant consequences for our citizens. I don’t see these items being discussed in open meetings and this concerns me.

We need more transparency, not less, and that includes how construction projects are being awarded and who participates in the planning and decision making process. Public voting is what’s generally thought of when one recuses him or herself but what about all the non-quorum meetings and private conversations that take place?

There is not one issue I can think of related to money that I would be faced with on the Board of Selectmen that would be a conflict of interest.

Everything related to my family is under the umbrella of the Town Manager; any votes on budgets are only advisory to the people who vote at Town Meeting. As it relates to projects being awarded by the Town my opponent clearly has an interest.

It’s my hope that he has always seen these potential conflicts but I don’t know that he always has.

Cindy Conroy

Candidate for Newport Board of Selectmen