Concord city councilors will review their process of approving labor contracts without any public notice or public information before a vote.
Mayor Jim Bouley made a motion Monday night requesting that City Solicitor Jim Kennedy work with the council’s Fiscal Policy Advisory Committee to look at the issue of making public contracts’ cost items public prior to a city council vote.
The mayor referenced recent articles by the Monitor, which revealed most cities in New Hampshire make the details of collective bargaining agreements public prior to legislative body approval.
Concord is among three cities – along with Keene and Claremont – that choose to provide no information to the public prior to a vote on a labor contract.
Several attorneys who advocate for the public’s right to know urged Concord officials to provide more information.
Bouley asked Kennedy to work with several city councilors “to review what other communities do and see if there are other ways we can approach this that might be better for the community.”
“I’ve not had anybody approach me on the street about this, but I think the articles were interesting and worthy of some follow-up,” Bouley said.
The only discussion from councilors on the issue came from At-Large Councilor Amanda Grady Sexton, who sits on FPAC.
“I think that it’s always great to look into these issues, I just want to state that I have not heard any concerns from any constituents about the issue,” she said. “I’m very happy to look at alternative ways.”
Before approving a new teacher’s contract in November, the Concord School District publicly released details about changes and costs to the new agreement, which was expected to add $1 million to the school budget.
The mayor’s motion came at the end of the meeting, after other agenda items had been addressed, and was similar to what At-Large Councilor Fred Keach suggested recently when asked whether the city should change how it handles cost items.
Last month, three of the four at-large councilors said they supported looking into the issue.
“It really is a driver of the budget,” Keach said then. “But there’s not a lot of discussion when it comes to that. It’s possible people have a lot of faith in the competitive bid process.”
Labor contracts comprise up to three-quarters of a city’s operating budget, but those agreements are not up for approval during the city budget process. The city has six unions and is currently negotiating with its police supervisors’ union.
FPAC members include all four of the city’s at-large councilors and the mayor, along with Ward 9 Councilor Candace Bouchard and Ward 7 Councilor Keith Nyhan.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)