Amid 'Voice' probe of ex-councilor's trespass order, city throws a 91-A knuckleball

Clockwise from top left, City Attorney Terence O'Rourke, ex-city councilor Chris Rice and Rochester City Manager Blaine Cox. (O'Rourke, Rice/screenshots; Cox (Rochester Voice file photo),

ROCHESTER - About five minutes after The Rochester Voice sent a Right to Know request asking the city to make available a police report that supports a trespass order against a former city councilor, City Attorney Terence O'Rourke replied with a startling announcement that will make it more difficult for The Voice to continue to investigate malfeasance and corruption in the Lilac City.
"As you know, RSA 91-A:4, which pertains to a public bodies obligation to send records to a requester, only applies to citizens of New Hampshire," O'Rourke wrote. "Based on research, it is clear that you are not a citizen of New Hampshire and the "Rochester Voice" is not a citizen of New Hampshire either. Unless you can provide proof of citizenship, I will no longer be providing you with governmental records."
This chilling rebuke of The Rochester Voice First Amendment Rights came as the digital daily was trying to report on a lawsuit brought by former city councilor Chris Rice, who was removed from office last May.
Rice's lawsuit seeks to vacate the trespass order at City Hall, the Annex and at the tax collector's and auto registration office at the James W. Foley Memorial Community Center.
Rice said he was served with the no trespass order by a Rochester Police officer on Nov. 8 while voting.
Rice is also fighting with the city over its denying him the ability to register his vehicle as a business asset of his newly formed In Beer We Trust LLC, which will be part of a food truck enterprise.
Rice filed an ex parte request in Strafford Superior Court asking the court to overrule the city and allow him to register his truck, without going through the planning department.
During a codes and ordinance meeting on Thursday City Councilor Steven Beaudoin asked O'Rourke why the city was making it so difficult to register a truck under a business name.
"They told him (Rice) he had to file a project narrative regarding the business," Beaudoin said. "Why? He's just trying to register a car under the business name to protect him from liability."
Beaudoin said when he queried Cox about the holdup, he cited two state statutes and an administrative rule that Beaudoin felt don't apply in this case.
O'Rourke said if a resident is registering a vehicle under a business name, they have to be able to prove there's a business on the property, prompting Beaudoin to reply that Rice is just now starting the business after filing the LLC with the Secretary of State's Office.
"There is no business at the address he gave," O'Rourke claimed.
Rice's name never came up during the back and forth, but most knew they were referring to Rice.
Meanwhile, The Rochester Voice will continue through whatever means are available to find out what was represented in the trespass order that would allow the city to prohibit one of its citizens from conducting routine business at City Hall and city offices at the community center.
Rice said he was unable to go to a Christmas church service held at the Rochester Opera House due to the ban and that the only way he can go to the tax or auto registration office is if he contacts Rochester Police Chief Gary Boudreau and they work out a mutually agreeable time when he is allowed to enter said premises.
The first hearing on Rice's lawsuit against the city is set for May 4. Defendants in the case include Cox, Mayor Paul Callaghan, planning director Shanna Saunders and tax collector Doreen Jones.
Rice said it's likely the only one that will show up on May 4 is O'Rourke.