Would you believe me if I told you, less is more? Less government would mean more prosperity? You’d be at least 30% richer if we eliminated the bureaucratic red tape strangling our economy today. Tammy tells us about the new documentary, Flynn, we discuss the upcoming elections, shocking RTK prosecutions, and more!
It’s Sunshine Week again, when we highlight the necessity of open government, and I’m waiting to hear back from the Union Leader on my op-ed for this year, but:
1. Below was one of my proudest moments as an activist… Why? Because SHOWING ordinary Granite Staters real physical censorship galvanized new RTK (Right-to-Know) and open government activists. Hard to justify blacked out blocks in a newspaper and claim you’re “the good guys.”
2. If you’re interested in shrinking government (and who here isn’t?) then understanding and utilizing the tool of open government requests should be a priority for YOU.
3. If you want to learn more about this area of law/potential for useful activism, please attend the RTK talks with me, Laurie Ortolano and Greg Sullivan at Liberty Forum tomorrow, Friday 9-11am in Ballroom B.
4. Did you know a bill was introduced this session by Josh Yokela to put all RTK requests in a searchable database? NH will become THE leader on open and transparent government soon!
Did Carla do BUFO in Mexico, and other stories from Anarchapulco… And, Tammy announces a great get in Tulsi Gabbard speaking at Liberty Forum on March 16th. GET YOUR TIX NOW.
This week, Manch Talk is in the new studio and bugs are still being sorted. We cover the moves towards more secretive government and censorship, with Carla uncovering some startling revelations from Grok on X, including “#FreeAssange” being banned.
I will upload the Grok screen grabs here later.
HB 1002 is a REALLY bad bill. I don’t understand how it made it out of committee with an OTP–colluders!
The Union Leader op-ed desk and stalwart reporter Mark Hayward agree with me, and Right-to-Know NH, when we say this bill will destroy what’s left of the media in New Hampshire.
Think you don’t know what your government is up to? Imagine if they can drag their feet for 9 hours and then start charging you a service fee to provide Constitutionally required information? As I often say, incentives matter, and these incentives are aligned with a lack of transparency, places an unnecessary burden on citizens, and is not needed.
Here is a document prepared by RTKNH’s president Katherine Kokko. She and I will be distributing them at the statehouse this morning before the session starts.
Heading to the NH state house this morning to stave off one of the worst bills I've seen in a while (HB 1002).
— Carla Gericke, Live Free And Thrive! (@CarlaGericke) February 1, 2024
Activists & independent media like me use RTK requests to figure out what's happening & keep government accountable.
Now Municipalities want to charge a service fee… https://t.co/b55i97OvMu pic.twitter.com/W1DpdljyeK
We talk about Right-to-Know and whether updates in the law should be applied ex-post facto (probably not) and whether Human Rights should trump special interest groups that only give “rights” to some people (definitely).
Read more about the case we mention in the Union Leader: Former Claremont cop seeks to keep files secret (paywall)
Right-to-Know activist and stellar human Laurie Ortolano joins Carla for this week’s edition of TCGS. We delve into some history of her cases, and what the open government landscape currently looks like.
Fresh back from the NHGOP Unity Breakfast, Carla shares some insights on the primary races and vows to do this if elected… Watch to find out!
This RTK request was sent to the following email addresses and submitted via the Mayor’s online form this morning: “Jeanine@jeanineandcompany.com, smacleod@manchesternh.gov, mayor@manchesternh.gov, PCD-ARPA@manchesternh.gov”
July 19, 2022
Dear Mayor Joyce Craig, et al (also submitted via the online form for the Mayor’s office):
RE: Right to Know Request per RSA-91A for West Side “Mark Stebbins Community Center” Project
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A), I am requesting public access, within 5 business days, to the governmental records reasonably described as follows:
All records, no matter what form, including but not limited to, printed documents, electronic documents, e-mails, or any other form of records regarding the “Mark Stebbins Community Center” Project for the period from the initiation of the project or 07/01/21, whichever first occurred, up to and including 07/19/2022, the date of today’s Board of Alderman meeting.
In your record disclosures, please include all information relating to this project, even if it was known as something else prior to being designated the “Mark Stebbins Community Center,” including all the partners involved.
Please also include all information about alternative West Side properties considered and rejected.
Please also include any relevant federal or local grant applications submitted regarding this project.
Please also include any environmental impact studies done.
Please include information provided to abutters of the proposed “Mark Stebbins Community Center” property, including when they were informed and the opportunities, including length of time, provided to the abutting tax-paying property owners to discuss the proposal.
Please include a proposed budget and tax assessment for the services to be provided at this site.
Please also include the committee report from Lands & Buildings regarding Lot 318-3, including the criteria used to deem a property as “surplus” to City needs.
Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at: carla@carlagericke.com.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Carla Gericke
XX Durette Court
Manchester, NH 03102
Cell: 917-607-4X5X
Email: carla@carlagericke.com
Per RSA 91-A, governmental records means “any information created, accepted, or obtained by, or on behalf of, any public body, or a quorum or majority thereof, or any public agency in furtherance of its official function. Without limiting the foregoing, the term “governmental records” includes any written communication or other information, whether in paper, electronic, or other physical form, received by a quorum or majority of a public body in furtherance of its official function, whether at a meeting or outside a meeting of the body. The term “governmental records” shall also include the term “public records.””
I have been slacking on my police accountability work lately, mostly because I have grown very frustrated with how little and slow the progress is, and how little people seem to care. BUT, once in a while, the needle moves in the direction of open and transparent government.
The Laurie’s List was released last week. This is fantastic news for accountable policing! There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s always great to see years of work come to fruition.
Last week I said this on Facebook:
Looks like the Laurie’s List of Bad Cops has finally been released–only partially because what else you can you expect from corrupt people? Of course, they have done everything in their power to reduce the number of names on the list since April 2019 when Judge Temple ordered that the list was in the public interest and should be made public, including:
* Rochester’s police chief antics (https://www.nashuatelegraph.com/…/rochester-police…/);
* 28 names being removed the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving (http://indepthnh.org/…/ag-removes-28-names-from-laurie…/);
* Approx. 13 sealed (i.e. “secret”) cases now in NH Courts–secret courts to listen to secret cases about secret bad police, tsk, tsk, tsk. BUT… progress…https://www.wmur.com/…/new-hampshire-police…/38636851https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/…/laurie-list…
I will be doing a show about this topic soon, so stay tuned and remember to SUBSCRIBE to my Odysee channel. Thanks!