Ombudsman: Legislative intent on what 'citizen' means weighs heavily in RTK case

Editor's note: This is one in an occasional series focusing on The Rochester Voice v. City of Rochester complaint over the city's refusal to honor digital Right to Know requests made by The Rochester Voice. The city of Rochester contends it doesn't have to comply with such requests, because Rochester Voice editor Harrison Thorp is not a New Hampshire citizen.

ROCHESTER - While many Rochester Voice readers have expressed outrage over the City of Rochester's attempted marginalization of the award winning digital daily, the state's newly formed 91-A Ombudsman's Office has made it clear that the sole issue before them is whether the city violated 91-A by refusing to hand over Right to Know documents on the basis that The Rochester Voice - and its editor Harrison Thorp - are not New Hampshire citizens.
During a Sept. 22 prehearing conference the ombudsman, Att. Thomas Kehr, noted that his focus was on "what the New Hampshire Legislature meant by the use of the word "citizen" ins RSA 91-A: 4, I."
Since the verbiage in 91-A never mentions the words "New Hampshire," only "citizen," The Rochester Voice argued during the Sept. 22 prehearing conference that it most likely means a citizen of the United States, but it clearly was not meant to exclude anyone that didn't reside in the Granite State.
Rochester City Att. Terence O'Rourke argued that the words "New Hampshire" may not be in the statute, but it's implied.
While Freedom of the Press and the First Amendment are tangential issues that come to the forefront amid this debate, Kehr notes that is not in his purview as ombudsman. He is solely focused on what legislators meant when they used the word "citizen" but excluded the words "New Hampshire" as modifiers.
During the prehearing conference, Kehr also noted that the facts of the case are not disputed. Thorp admits that he is a resident of Maine.
O'Rourke argued that the city routinely denies Right to Know requests from out-of-state interests, while Thorp argued that for five years - between 2017 and April 2022 - the city of Rochester had supplied The Rochester Voice with Right to Know documents without argument, including documents that led to The Rochester Voice winning a Community Service Award for its series of stories on a flawed land purchase for a third city fire station.
Without those documents, investigative pieces by The Rochester Voice would not have been possible.
O'Rourke said the city initially believed The Rochester Voice was based in New Hampshire because its mailing address is a Milton Post Office box. He said through investigation they learned Thorp and The Rochester Voice were domiciled in Maine and therefore discontinued the practice of supplying digital conveyance of government documents to The Voice.
O'Rourke also noted that illegal immigrants living in Rochester could, unlike The Rochester Voice, receive government documents without question.
O'Rourke added that The Rochester Voice is welcome to come to city offices during regular business hours and ask to view government documents, but they will no longer be supplied digitally through emails.
Thorp contends that would amount to a logistical nightmare adding hours or even days to get the facts the digital daily needs to do its work.

Meanwhile, Kehr said in his most recent order that since the facts are not disputed, an adjudicative hearing may not be necessary and he may soon render his decision on both the City of Rochester's Motion to Dismiss and The Rochester Voice's complaint.

The city's war against The Rochester Voice began in May 2022 when former City Manager Blaine Cox declared that The Voice was not a legitimate news source and he need not answer its questions or reply to its emails. Cox pivoted from being amicable and cooperative with The Voice to being a critic after the digital daily criticized him for his lack of info to the public in the runup to the kangaroo court-styled Chris Rice trial in which one of the accusers - Mayor Paul Callaghan - presided over what became a tawdry spectacle.

Shortly thereafter, Callaghan also ceased answering any questions or replying to emails from The Voice.
Newly appointed City Manager Katie Ambrose maintains the same stance as Cox.