Sometimes citizens’ voices are heard and, sometimes, miraculously, even heeded. This winter, New Hampshire said “Hell No” to both the ICE facility in Merrimack and a pending contract to house ICE detainees at the Rockingham County Jail. In both cases, citizen opposition was not ignored. In Merrimack, citizen and local officials’ opposition put so much pressure on the governor that she traveled to D.C. to shut it down. In Rockingham County, persistent public opposition caused a county commissioner to take a more considered look at the ICE proposal.
Upon hearing that our Rockingham County Commissioners voted 2-1 to apply for a contract to house ICE detainees at the jail, a Deerfield friend suggested with some trepidation, “We really ought to talk with the other side.” Our town was in the midst of a bruising fight over our school budget. Several elected officials noted frequently hearing from constituents who agreed with their position. They didn’t seem to hear from those who didn’t.
Living in a gerrymandered House district with far-right representatives, we often feel it is a waste of time to approach our elected officials, but my friend Maureen decided to give it a try. Her inquiry led to a meeting of five Deerfield women with our Republican commissioner.
In his initial phone call with Maureen, Commissioner Tom Tombarello, who had voted to apply for the contract, expressed concerns about the wisdom of entering into a contract with ICE. He agreed to meet and spent an hour and a half with us. He encouraged us to attend the Rockingham County Commission meeting the next day and express our concerns before the full board. At the Feb. 5 meeting, Commissioner Tombarello moved to indefinitely postpone all contract considerations. With support from Commissioner Katie Coyle, his motion passed, letting loose a rousing burst of applause from the audience.
In these days of seemingly unshakable polarization, this experience stands out. Opponents of the contract had been attending Commission meetings for months, sometimes demonstrating outside with just a few people. As news spread about the contract, the crowds grew and, in one meeting, the commissioners sat through two and a half hours of citizens’ comments even though this issue wasn’t on the agenda.
Many in the audience expressed heartfelt thanks to Commissioner Tombarello for listening to them and indeed he did. The steady drumbeat of people opposing the contract with thoughtful testimony had a significant impact. There were other factors too which, upon reflection, speak to the importance of choosing our elected officials carefully.
What stood out here was how carefully our commissioner looked at the proposal before him. He initially supported the contract because it appeared to be a potential financial win for the county. During the ensuing months, he visited an ICE detention facility in Massachusetts, he attempted to visit the Strafford County Jail which had the first state contract for ICE detainees, he spoke to our jail administrators and to the line staff. He also watched the ICE actions unfolding in Minneapolis. A former deputy sheriff with years of law enforcement experience, he couldn’t make the Minneapolis videos make any sense. He was deeply appalled.
By the time he met with us in late January, he already had reservations. At that meeting, we listened to him, and he listened to us. As we were pleasantly surprised by his sincere interest in our concerns, he too seemed pleasantly surprised that five Democratic women could be reasonable and maybe even nice. He mentioned meeting with the “Deerfield Five” at the Commission meeting the next day. He was also moved by the two and a half hours of citizens comments, particularly by the young mom who said when she told her 11-year-old daughter she was going to a meeting to oppose ICE, her daughter asked, “Mom, are you going to get shot?”
The combination of the steady drumbeat of testimony over a period of months, his research and law enforcement experience moved this commissioner to take a courageous stand. He acknowledged that this vote may cost him re-election this fall. At the end of citizens comments, he spoke with pride about the public input process — the heartfelt testimony and almost entirely respectful manner of the audience.
It is instructive to think both about who we elect to public office and how impactful it can be to voice your opinions. We need not look for candidates with whom we agree all the time. But rather, seek candidates who are genuinely curious about the complexity of issues, who give more than a passing shrug to “do their homework” before making a decision, who welcome opinions from all constituents. The stars aligned in Rockingham County last month because our commissioner was open to facts and moved by the concerns of his constituents who raised their voices and kept them raised month after month.
Rebecca Hutchinson lives in Deerfield.