Town Hall showdown will determine whether email probe continues

Selectmen Andrew Rawson, left, and Mike Beaulieu face a showdown over whether probe sparked by a Right to Know request by former selectman Tom Gray continues.You Tube photo; Inset photo The Lebanon Voice file)

MILTON - A Special Meeting of the Milton Board of Selectmen set for today could set the stage for an exhaustive and costly forensic review of town computers aimed at unearthing emails between two of Milton's selectmen dating back 15 months.

The meeting's official agenda includes discussing the "Approval to allow (town counsel) to move forward with expenditure of mandated funds to satisfy 91-A (Right to Know) requests."

In the wake of Selectmen Mike Beaulieu and Andy Rawson blocking an independent probe of the emails called for by fellow board member Ryan Thibeault at Monday night's selectmen's meeting, The Lebanon Voice has learned that Gray refiled the Right to Know on Tuesday, asking this time for all emails "that involved Selectman Beaulieu or Selectman Rawson dating back to Jan. 1, 2016."

Selectman Ryan Thibeault ... called for independent probe on Monday.

The Lebanon Voice also obtained today a complaint form filed by Gray that claims Beaulieu and Rawson should have recused themselves from a discussion of whether the Town Counsel and town administrator should pursue an investigation independent of selectmen as to whether any misdoing occurred.

In Gray's complaint, he wrote that Selectman Ryan Thibeault "attempted to get an unbiased compitent (sic) report from a neutral 3^rd party IT person. This attempt was thwarted by Selectmen Beaulieu and Rawson. This is at very least a conflict of interest whereas the RTK investigation directly involves those two. Beaulieu and Rawson should recuse themselves and allow the 3^rd party person perform a competent and thorough investigation solely in the hands of T.A. (town administrator) and Town Attorney."

Gray's original Right to Know Requests were apparently in regard to a comment one of the other selectmen had made in February that they had decided on holding off on hiring a town offices employee until Gray left office.

Since two selectmen constitute a quorum, they are prohibited from discussing official business without due process, posting of the meeting and providing minutes on what is discussed.

According to New Hampshire's Right to Know law, all costs in producing documents or emails, no matter how long it takes, are paid for by the town.

In Maine, it's a little different, in that only the first hour of a town employee's time spent finding any document or documents is free. After that an hourly rate based on the employee's salary is applied.

Milton has already been billed $500 for a forensic review of town hall computers into the Beaulieu-Rawson emails that wasn't properly done, officials say.

Whether that vendor is paid remains to be seen.

Today's meeting begins at 3:59 p.m. Also on the agenda is opening of bids for MFPL LCHIP.