By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — A city councilor’s publication of information obtained through internal city communication has raised questions about the appropriate line for separating public and private intelligence and its handling by officials.
In an interview with the Eagle Times on Tuesday, Claremont City Councilor Jim Contois (Ward II) discussed his recent letter to the editor sent to and published by numerous area newspapers, including the Eagle Times, about the council’s lack of leadership in the effort to combat the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. In the letter, Contois published information about an employee-related health issue that the city had not publicized, to illustrate the novel coronavirus’s spreadability within Claremont and its public buildings.
The city of Claremont closed its Central Collections Office on Sunday, Nov. 14, stating that the office was short-staffed.
According to City Manager Ed Morris, there is only one available employee to work in the office due to a temporary employee absence. The city requires at least two employees to staff the office due to the handling of money.
Typically the Central Collections Office staffs four positions — three full-time and one part-time — though two are currently vacant and in the process of being filled.
When asked by the Eagle Times on Monday, Nov. 15, Morris only confirmed that current staff were still employed but that an employee needed to take a temporary leave for personal reasons.
Morris, however, communicated more specifics in his notification to the city councilors.
In an email to city councilors on Sunday, Nov. 14, Morris stated that “someone in Central Collections” was exposed to the novel coronavirus and was now “experiencing symptoms.”
The email did not disclose the employee’s name or position. Instead, it essentially briefed the city councilors about why the Central Collections Office was closing and the city’s course of action in response to the developments.
Contois, however, shared about the exposure in his newspaper letter submission, which the Eagle Times published under the headline, “The state of city affairs,” in its print edition on Saturday, Nov. 20.
“As of Sunday, Nov. 14, the city manager has closed the Central Collections Office (the city clerk) due to COVID-19 exposure of employees, along with symptoms,” Contois wrote.
Contois clarified to the Eagle Times that “the city clerk” phrase meant “the city clerk’s office,” not the city clerk.
“I don’t know who the employee was,” Contois said.
Additionally, Contois said the plural usage of “employees” only applied to possible exposure to the novel coronavirus, not that there was more than one employee with symptoms.
Contois said his intent was to illustrate the spreadability of the novel coronavirus within city buildings to support his reasoning behind not attending city council meetings in person.
“The councilors are mostly unmasked, not social distancing, and some may still be unvaccinated,” Contois said.
Contois, who is a grandfather, has long stressed his priority to protect his family members from illness. Contois said he only attends outdoor public events, where he will still mask and maintain a recommended social distance. His only indoor visits are “carefully timed trips” to the supermarket, which is a spacious and well-ventilated building.
Contois has continued to participate in meetings through Zoom, while the rest of the city council has returned to meeting in-person.
But several city councilors have expressed annoyance about Contois’ refusal to attend in-person.
In June, city councilors sought to require all members to attend meetings in-person but were thwarted when Contois read the state statute that permits public officials to participate remotely for public health reasons.
Last month, the city council took another route, by targeting the permissible technologies for remote participation.
On Wednesday, Oct. 27, the city council voted 6-3 to exclude the use of Zoom participation in meetings, with an exception for scheduled out-of-town presenters or consultants.
Contois called the motion discriminatory, saying it is specifically targeted at a city councilor rather than the use of Zoom itself.
“It implies we have two classes of citizens,” Contois said. “They’ve created a provision for guests but not for city councilors.”
City councilors who backed the motion said that Contois’ remote participation slows down the meetings because it requires every action to vote by roll call rather than a show of hands.
Contois disputes that rationale, saying that the roll call voting only takes about 20 seconds, according to his timing of past votes.
While Contois is still permitted to participate over telephone, he said that technology is less ideal. In addition to lacking a visual component, the phone placed in Council Chambers picks up too much interfering noise like the shuffling of papers on the table.
Additionally, some city councilors plan to propose rules next term that would approve each meeting for a city councilor to participate by telephone, which could potentially cut Contois off from remote meeting participation entirely.
In regard to publishing the information about the novel coronavirus exposure, Contois said he did nothing wrong. The email qualifies as public information under New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know law, as described in NH RSA 91:A.
And there seems to be considerable “confusion” in the public and private sectors regarding the release of health information, Contois said. For example, Contois said his eye doctor’s office informed him that all its employees were vaccinated while his former dental office claimed that answering whether all employees were vaccinated would violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, otherwise referred to as HIPAA.
Morris declined to comment about the city councilor’s letter in an interview with the Eagle Times.
In specific circumstances the city will inform individuals if they had a close or prolonged exposure to the novel coronavirus, Morris explained. But municipalities and school districts only publicly announce internal cases of COVID-19 when it does not identify an affected individual.
For example, school districts may release public announcements of positive cases within a school but rarely specifics such as which classroom the cases were found.
The city’s Central Collections Office is still closed. Residents who need to make a payment may access online payment services located on the city website at claremontnh.com/central-collections or to leave their payment in the dropbox outside the Central Collections Office.
reporter @eagletimes.com
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