Why all the secrecy?

   A little birdie told us that the Selectmen and Town Manager are so embarrassed by the Town’s new Pay Plan that they are holding all the hearings on the Plan’s appeals in secret.
   While the Town Manager told the Board of Selectmen, the News-Letter and the residents that there were only a “handful” of appeals, we have learned otherwise. Apparently, that “handful” is somewhere between 40-50% of the employees covered by the plan have appealed the plan. 

   These secret, non-public meetings are being held in violation of the citizens' Right to Know law, RSA 91-A.  The law limits the ability of town officials to have these secret meetings.  One of the allowable reasons for going into non-public session is to avoid discussing the reputation of the person being discussed.
    However, what is being discussed in the appeal is whether the pay range for a particular employment position is the proper range. It is not about whether a particular employee’s performance merits moving that position to a different pay range. 
     For example, during the debate on adoption of the Pay Plan, one of the employment positions that many felt was in the wrong pay range was that of the Assistant Fire Chief. People expressed concern that, as a first responder who is on call 24/7 and has a risky job, the Asst. Chief pay range should be at a higher level than the IT Director or Finance Director. No one spoke about whether the individuals in that position should be paid more because of their performance. We don’t know whether this is one of the positions being appealed, but if it were, the sole basis for the appeal should be the job function, not a person’s performance.  If an appeal was lodged and was successful, and an Asst. Chief quit soon thereafter, the pay range for that position would remain the same because it is based on the position, not the person.
    I remember Selectman Chartrand getting up at the Deliberative Session in March and proclaiming that the Town government is “radically transparent.” If this is an example of radically transparent government, I would hate to see what a merely transparent form of government is.  
   Why are the Town Manager and Dan Chartrand continuing to support these illegal secret meetings? The Board of Selectmen and Town Manager should stop hiding and shine the light of day on the Town’s business. The citizens do have the right to know.