Amherst Citizens Association Has (Many) Questions On Town Administrator, Finances

The Amherst Citizens Association is seeking more answers to issues around the town administrator’s administrative leave and town finances.

The watchdog group sent a letter to the Amherst Board of Selectmen this week with a list of questions from anonymous residents and town employees. 

The ACA said that the questions below came from a much longer list gathered through mail, email, phone calls, meetings and conversations. 

“It is not our intention to overwhelm the towns government with questions, but to seek answers on behalf of those who we represent, and whom we feel deserve the information they and we need to properly evaluate how our town is being run.”

They have given no time-frame for answers to any of these questions, but warn that they may demand answers under the Right-To-Know Law.

“It is now, as it always has been, our hope and desire to work with our towns government in an open, honest and transparent manner.”

The following questions were sent to Amherst Selectmen:

• Who requested the check for the new dump truck and on what date was the request made?
• Was there a purchase order number assigned to this request?
• What date was the check issued?
• What date was the check presented to the dealer?
• What date was the truck delivered?
• Was a request made to the elected treasurer for a signature for the check used to purchase the truck, before the check was issued?
• If not, how long after the check for the truck was issued was the elected treasurer notified that her electronic signature was put on a check for over $130,000.00?
• What was the date that the BOS approved the purchase of the new DPW truck?
• What date did the finance director notify the TA about the DPW truck check situation?
• Was any selectman aware of this situation before the TA was told what had taken place?
• What date was the first time that Chairman Bowler was made aware of the DPW truck check being requested and issued ?
• What date was the first time that the Board of Selectmen was made aware of the DPW truck check being requested and issued?
• Was it the towns attorney who decided that a conversation about a dump truck purchase and town purchasing procedures qualified for non public (protected from the public ) debate ?
• How is it that the finance director, Paul Hebert, the elected treasurer, Liz Overholt and DPW director Bruce Berry didn't know that a lease purchase agreement has to be approved by the voters before it can be entered into ?
• Was finance director Paul Hebert up front and totally honest with the TA and the Board of Selectman when asked about the details of the DPW truck purchase? Assuming that at some point the BOS asked for the details.
• Was it ever necessary for Mr Hebert to later clarify some of his statements to the BOS regarding the details and time line regarding the DPW truck purchase?
• What details were provided in Mr Hebert’s clarification statement, and when was it presented to the BOS, if there was such a statement?
• Was the last DPW truck, or any other town owned vehicle (a 10 wheel dump truck) purchased using the same procedures?
• If so, what vehicles were purchased this way and when ?
• Was the Department of Revenue Administration consulted to confirm the legality of this purchasing procedure?
• How many times has the Town Administrator been investigated for possible wrong doing?
• Were all of these investigations approved by a vote of the Board of Selectmen in advance?
• How much have these fruitless investigations cost the tax payers of Amherst ?
• How do you as a board reconcile the conflicting statements coming from the board regarding the investigation into the truck purchase ? Chairman Bowler says the TA was not the sole focus of the investigation, indicating the possibility of multiple personnel issues, while selectman Galinson says the investigation was to examine purchasing procedures and internal communication.
• Was TA Jim O'Mara's employment contract ever reviewed by any law firm as part of this or any other investigation into his job performance ?
• If so, was this done with the complete prior knowledge and approval of all 5 members of the board ?
• If the town had one FTE and one part-time employee in the financial office how is it that over 11 million dollars in adjustments needed to be made in order to reconcile the town’s books?
• Is this a normal volume of adjustments that need to be made each year?
• How is it that the firm used to conduct audits didn't identify any short comings in the town's financial practices given what is now known ?
• Is it true that former financial director, Merri Howe is or was a partner in a tax consulting firm, Howe & Margola CPA’s, located at 173 Chapman Road in Keene New Hampshire, 358-3399 ?
• Is there any reason to believe that Ms Howe conducted any tax consulting duties with her firm, while working in the Amherst Town hall, on town time?
• Has the BOS or any other person or entity investigated the possibility that emails exist indicating that Ms Howe may have been doing private tax consulting while working for the town of Amherst?
• Why did Ms Howe leave her position with the town in March of 2012?
• Is there any reason to believe that Chairman Bruce Bowler had any knowledge of the possibility that any private tax consulting was being done by Ms Howe while she was working in her position for the town of Amherst ?
• Was her departure in any way related to the two audits she was required to do that had not been done in accordance with state law? 41:31-c Duties:

I. All municipalities shall annually, or more often as necessary, conduct an audit of the accounts of any officer or agent handling funds of the municipality. Elected auditors conducting such audits shall follow audit procedures in rules adopted by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 541-A.

• Was one of the results of these audits the discovery that the town’s book keeping was not current?
• How far behind were some of the required data entries discovered to be while we had 2 people working in the financial office?
• What is the role of the elected treasurer in relation to keeping the towns books ?
• Was she aware that the towns accounts were 11.5 million out of balance ?
• Should she have been ?
• Was she aware that the towns cash accounts were over a year out of date ?
• Should she have been ?
• At any time, has the Chairman of the board of selectmen, Bruce Bowler ever shared information about town business, conducted in non public session, with any member of the general public, and/or more specifically, the fire, police and EMS dispatchers at the Amherst Communication Center, or any fellow employees at his place of employment ?
• What is the selectman's response to concerns raised by Amherst residence that, while they want to ask questions about town business, they are reluctant to do so due to their concerns for possible retaliation from Chairman Bowler, if they were to ask, what Chairman Bowler might consider the wrong question ?
• What would the selectman's response be to concerns raised by town employees, who fear for being removed from their jobs if they were to ask questions or say something to a tax payer that Chairman Bowler might decide he doesn't like ?
• Could each selectman please comment on their personal thoughts regarding the state of the town's financial  and current management situation ?