From Shaun Mulholland in Response to comments made by Acting Town Manager Kim Bernard at the 10\/5\/2026 Town Council Meeting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
October 15, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allegations that emails sent to the \u201cTown Council\u201d group email were secretly blind copied to members of Town staff are simply not accurate. There has been a Town Council email group in existence for some time. I do not know how long the group email has existed. It still has an identifier of .org from the days when the Town operated under .org email addresses. Those email addresses were changed to .gov email addresses some time ago, however the .org email address for the Town Council email group still exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Town Council email group lists the Town Manager, the Executive Assistant and the Administrative Services Director as primary recipients along with the Town Councilors. They are not blind copied. The primary purpose was to ensure that when emails were sent to the group email address that a response was provided to the citizen when a response was appropriate. Commonly Town Councilors would not respond to these emails although Councilors Paul, Dunn and Bouchard did occasionally reply to these emails. Other Councilors may have replied to some of these emails and not blind copied the group. Either staff or the Town Manager would respond to these emails in many cases. This was done in some cases by forwarding the email inquiry to the recipient and providing a response. The Town Councilors were frequently blind copied on these responses. Councilors were aware of this practice in that they received those responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The emails sent to the group frequently expressed concern regarding an issue related to the Town or asked questions. On a couple of occasions, I discussed the response with Councilors Dunn and Faber during our bi-monthly meetings or with Chairman Dunn during our bi-weekly meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emails sent to the Town Council email group are not private. They are subject to public disclosure under the provisions of RSA 91-A. Emails sent to a governing body are not secret or confidential. They are part of the documentation that the public has a right to examine to allow them to know what their government officials are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the arguments made by Acting Town Manager Bernard was, what if someone wanted to file a complaint. When I came to Londonderry, I established a process to handle complaints regarding Town staff and officials. ADM-126 Complaints and Investigations Policy details those processes. ADM-111 Anonymous Hotline Policy details the process and the portal to file complaints regarding Town Officials and Staff either anonymously or by the complainant identifying themselves. My understanding is that this web page and portal may have been shut down by the present administration. I was unable to locate it on the Town\u2019s website. The purpose of the portal was to protect the identity of those who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. It was also a mechanism for \u201cwhistleblowers\u201d who are on staff to allow them a means to report illegal, unethical, waste or inefficient activity by other government officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government institutions in a democracy must be transparent to the citizens they serve. There are exceptions that require some information to be kept confidential, however that should be the exception not the normal course of business. Government officials should not consistently try to conduct business in secret. Democracies cannot survive in an environment of secrecy. Secrecy leads to the abuse of power and public policy that is inimical to the best interest of the people who government officials serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shaun Mulholland
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Town Manager Firing Information Page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n