Demand accountability: Vote for real change
As an Allenstown resident, it is hard not to notice a persistent pattern of deflection regarding municipal accountability. Recent community discussions highlight serious concerns about our board of selectmen, deep family ties in town management and whether transparency protocols are being followed.
True transparency cannot be selective. Questions have been raised regarding how a formal complaint delivered to the town administration and police concerning the board chair was handled. New Hampshire Department of Justice guidance states that complaints involving high-ranking leadership present a clear conflict of interest and should go to the County Attorney for independent review. Instead, this matter was kept internal and quieted. Taxpayers deserve to know why standard conflict protocols were bypassed.
This is part of a systemic pattern. True accountability means answering for the public record of the town being forced to take its own town clerk to court years ago just to compel adherence to state law. Alarmingly, that very individual now serves as the board chair. When key players from the same management era step away while leaving the town’s current financial affairs behind, it raises fair questions.
The time is now to stop voting for family-rooted names or simply because it is a name you recognize. We must ask hard questions and vote for the town’s best interest, not candidates tied to ongoing controversy and past legal troubles with the very town they want to lead.