Concord City Council Candidate Caught Up In Sign Disclaimer Flap

CONCORD, NH — A complaint about illegal signage was filed against a candidate in the Concord City Council Ward 4 special election race this week but she quickly moved to fix the problem.

At least one complaint was filed with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office against Karen McNamara for not posting identification information on her signs, a violation of state law and a city ordinance. Nicholas Chong Yen, an assistant attorney general who handles political investigations, confirmed the complaint on Tuesday and said the department would be following up with her about the signs.

McNamara is one of three candidates attempting to win the special election, slated for July 13.

At issue is NH RSA 664-14 which requires all political advertising to have identifying information about who paid for the advertising. In McNamara’s case, it was her signs. The law requires all political advertising to have “the names and addresses of the candidate, his fiscal agent, or the name and address of the chairman or the treasurer of a political committee, or the name and address of a natural person, according to whether a candidate, political committee, or natural person is responsible for it.” With printed or written items, “the signature and address of signer shall be printed or written in a size of type or lettering large enough to be clearly legible.” Signs can have an Internet address in lieu of the signature and ID requirements.

McNamara’s opponents, Edith Chiasson and Connor Spern, both included the "paid for" information, with Chiasson posting a phone number, too.

On Tuesday, McNamara said by email that it was a “non-issue” due to all of her signs having “paid for by Karen McNamara” on them. When sent a picture, taken on Monday, showing there were no notices on her signs, she said the issue had been “totally remedied” and “that was yesterday, they have all been taken care of.”

Improperly marked political advertising, like signs, has been an issue in a number of political races recently.

David Croft, during his 2020 primary race for Merrimack County Sheriff, was repeatedly warned about the issue by the AG’s Office as well as the placement of signs organizations that were doing business with the county, where he worked, at the time, in the diversion program.

After the warnings, Croft, too, placed stickers on his signs to make them compliant. Some had stickers with ink that quickly washed away when it rained. Croft went on to win the primary and general election, too.

In 2016, illegal mailers, with not only improper labeling but a false designation that it was paid for by the National Rifle Association, promoting two indie candidates for U.S. Senate, clearly shifted tens of thousands of votes to those candidates costing then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) her re-election campaign. She lost to then-Gov. Maggie Hassan by about a thousand votes.

Despite the mail meter being used in a prior illegal mailer in 2014 to New Hampshire, Montana, and other states, and the involvement of a Dartmouth professor in that mailer, no legal actions were taken against the New Jersey mailing company and no investigation appears to have been conducted either, according to state and federal officials.

Nearly 10 years ago, two complaints were filed against Concord School District officials involved in attempting to hijack a School District Charter proposal allowing for district election of board of education members.

A published report in the Concord Monitor stated Jack Dunn, then a school board member, collected $300 for the signs from then- School Board President Kass Ardinger, former board members Claudia Damon and Megan De Vorsey, Maureen Redmond-Scura, the former chairwoman of the Charter Study Commission and later, a school board member, as well as others. The signs, however, were not labeled and posted on utility poles, a violation of the law. No campaign committee was started to collect the funds either — another state requirement.

The proposal was approved by voters by a slim 34 votes, with Ardinger seen with another supporter with the sign at the Ward 5 polling location, proving that the illegal signs influenced the election returns and could have stopped the one school district reform approved by the charter commission. Other proposals that were not approved including allowing city voters the opportunity to approve capital projects at the ballot box — a right nearly every other resident in New Hampshire has.

Dunn later told investigators he paid for the signs — a complete contradiction to the interviews in the newspaper article.

Seven months later, Dunn became the district’s business administrator.

ICYMI: Ward 4 Candidate Profiles

• Connor Spern, Concord Ward 4 City Council Candidate
• Edith Chiasson, Concord Ward 4 City Council Candidate
• Karen McNamara, Concord Ward 4 City Council Candidate

The school district's charter expires this year — with races open for new commission members during November's election.

Spern Stands By ‘Defunding Police’ Concept

One of the candidates running for the Ward 4 city council seat is standing by comments that she supports defunding the police, at least in a theoretical sense, as part of criminal justice reform.

Back in June 2020, during a conversation on Facebook, Spern appeared to offer support for a discussion of the concept of defunding or disbanding police after a friend requested others to embrace the concept and write letters.

The friend, who lives in Bow, wrote, “as we continue conversations and advocacy around defunding and disbanding police, I am wondering if one or two people who are knowledgeable can write letters …” She then said, “‘Defunding the police’ is a misleading slogan for the concept and is only going to make it more difficult to convince the public that this is a good thing.”

Spern replied, jokingly, “we need a committee,” but added, “Honestly though, I think Concord really has a groundwork if resources and organizations and community involvement could make that possible.”

When asked about the comments, Spern said there was a difference between abolishing police and supporting the work that eliminates the root causes of crime.

“If the end goal of criminal justice is not that we end up needing fewer prisons, have fewer people experiencing homelessness, substance dependency, or mental illness, and — by proxy — a lesser demand for emergency services, then we are approaching criminal justice in the wrong way,” she said.

Spern stated her campaign was about “working collaboratively to increase efficiency and communication between organizations that work in these fields, first responders, the city, and the public — not eliminate them,” while adding she has required police services in her line of work on multiple occasions.

“So, in short — no, my position has not changed, because it has never been to abolish the police,” she said.

The fiscal year 2022 police operating budget for Concord is $14.2 million. Of that budget, $13.5 million or 95 percent, is compensation and benefits for officers and staff. So, any plan to redirect money toward more social services or “increase efficiency” to free up funds for other things would, in fact, defund departments in nearly every community in New Hampshire with a police department — since most of the costs are personnel. While the complete data is not available yet, police estimate in 2021 that they performed 42,500 calls for services in Concord, including fatalities, issued 1,700 traffic summonses, went to 1,150 accidents, and made more than 800 drug, domestic violence, and drunken driving arrests, and 42 violent crime arrests, like stabbings and shootings.

Spern asked to see the direct quote and it was provided to her. When asked specifically about disbanding police and being shown that a shift of the police budget would lead to fewer officers and lessened police services, she did not reply with an answer.

Republicans Offer Support To Chiasson

Special election campaign finance reports were filed two weeks ago, with another due on Tuesday, a week before the election, and the money race, so far, is being won by Chiasson.

Chiasson reported raising $945.75 in donations including some from Lakes Region Republicans.

Those donations included $100 from state Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), the senate majority leader, $200 from the Common Sense PAC, an effort by state Rep. Brodie Deshaies (R- Wolfeboro) to elect candidates with “a bipartisan attitude” to bring “civility and compromise back to Concord,” and $100 donations from state Rep. Mark Alliegro (R-Campton) and his wife, and state Rep. Norman Silber (R-Gilford), too.

A Better Way New Hampshire PAC, formed by Chuck McGee and Kerry Marsh, active Concord City Republicans, also donated $199.75. McGee said he was impressed with Chiasson and called her the most qualified candidate in the race.

“Edith is getting bipartisan support and donations and we just thought that she would be a good addition to the city council,” McGee said, “and that’s why we made a small investment on our part.”

The candidate also has the backing of former city Councilor Robert Washburn, a Republican who served in the seat previously as well as in an at-large capacity, too.

Chiasson has also spent more than $783 of her donations on palm cards, mailers, stamps, and a website.

McNamara, in her filing, reported $100 in donations including $50 from state Rep. Christy Dolat Bartlett (D-Concord), who lives in Ward 10.

So far, she has spent nearly $794 on signs, palm cards, and a Facebook ad.

Spern has raised $638 including a $50 donation from former city Councilor Meredith Hatfield, who moved to Hopkinton earlier this year, requiring her to resign and forcing the July 13 special election. She also received $100 in donations from two residents of Desert Hills, Arizona. Another $288 in donations were not itemized due to being less than $25.

Spern, too, spent the bulk of her money, about $416, on signs and palm cards.

Politicos with state connections and large organizations getting involved in Concord municipal races are not an anomaly in recent years, despite what some people may think. The big push by Republicans, who often are not as active in city races, is something new.

During her race for a Ward 10 city council special election in 2019, Zandra Rice Hawkins received support from SEA/SEIU Local 1984, the state employees’ union, as well as firefighters, via phone banking, leafleting, and get-out-the-vote resources, which helped her best Joe Shoemaker by about 102 votes.

Democrats across the state, too, in 2019, actively recruited candidates to run and celebrated their wins — more than two-thirds of the races that year, even though all but a handful of municipal races in New Hampshire are nonpartisan.

In 2011, Kris McNeil ran against Jan McClure in Ward 3 and received campaign support from Robert Clegg Jr., a Manchester state Senator at the time and active Republican.

During the 2007 mayoral race, firefighters also got behind Katherine Rogers’ effort to become mayor which was ultimately unsuccessful. She was handily defeated by the city's current mayor, Jim Bouley.

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