Participants
Everyone the recording shows taking part. Names follow the project's dialogue file and the 2015 to 2023 roster; no minutes were available to check spellings against. Where the dialogue file says Unidentified, this page does too.
| Name | Role | Participation |
|---|
| Frank Sprague | School Board chair; presiding | Called the meeting to order; announced the August 14 Newport school funding forum; reported meeting gubernatorial candidate Steve Marchand; volunteered to book the Community Center for the candidate forum; voted no on tabling. |
| Charlene Lovett | Mayor; ran the council's items | Announced the city's EPA merit award for childhood lead poisoning work; introduced the information officer item and argued for a pilot; organized the candidate forum and the New Futures training; reported the mayors' letter on SB 365 and SB 446 and said she was now hesitant. |
| Ryan McNutt | City Manager | Presented the public information officer report; said the city had no money in the FY19 budget for such a position; offered to invite a working information officer. Transcribed once as Mr. Bennett. |
| Allen Damren | Assistant Mayor (council) | Seconded the June 21 minutes; wanted "a solid written plan" before any information officer; voted no on tabling. |
| Scott Pope | City Councilor | Supported the position; recalled the weekly school updates Mayor Lovett once wrote as a board member; said he received the training menu at 1:45 that afternoon; suggested sending candidates questions in advance. Recognized as Councilor Polk. |
| Jonathan Stone | City Councilor | Wanted to hear from a working information officer and to look at the position in the fiscal 2020 budget. His remarks were diarized with the chair and restored by override. |
| O'Hearn | City Councilor (first name not on the recording) | Noted his absence from the June 21 meeting; urged waiting for the permanent superintendent before deciding on the information officer; voted yes on tabling. |
| Unidentified | City Councilor | Spoke at length for the position at 0:30:42 after the mayor's recognition transcribed Counselor here: "I know I'm the one who always says, let's do it". The garbled word may be a councilor's name; the recording does not establish whose. |
| Russell | City Clerk (first name not on the recording) | Called the roll and the tabling vote; asked who moved and seconded the minutes. |
| Carolyn Towle | School Board member | Reported on the Berlin funding meeting; said information officer work was already a board objective; asked for materials seven days ahead instead of the afternoon of the meeting. |
| Jason Benware | School Board member | Called further information officer study "an exercise in futility"; suggested recording or streaming the candidate forum; seconded the training motion and adjournment. |
| Rebecca Zullo | School Board member | Opposed the position for now ("champagne tastes on a beer budget"), suggesting student work instead; received the training menu late. Abstained on the June 21 minutes. |
| Michelle Pierce | School Board member | Suggested involving students for credit in civic and communication work; seconded the SB 365 and SB 446 motion. |
| Steven Horsky | School Board member | Called the information officer "a city position"; moved to table it until the permanent superintendent search was complete; moved the training and energy-bill motions and adjournment. |
| Michael Petrin | School Board member | Proposed that the two leaders pick the training date and invite others, including the Unity board. Named among the minutes abstentions (Like. Peter.). His remarks are attributed partly on Horsky's later "go with what Mike said" (medium confidence); the seven school board votes on the tabling roll call confirm the full board was present. |
| Cory LeClair | Assistant Superintendent, SAU 6 | Tied school funding to students' behavioral health needs; asked about New Futures as a provider; confirmed pellet boilers at the middle and high schools. |
| Cornelia Sergeant (spelling unverified) | Citizens' comments, Ward 2 | Asked the mayor not to sign the mayors' letter urging an override of the governor's vetoes of SB 365 and SB 446 without further study, citing waste incineration. |
| John Cloutier | Citizens' comments, Ward 1; state representative | Asked to join the school board's August 15 discussion of career and technical center renovation funding; asked to be kept informed on the Connecticut River boat landing; later described the legislative calendar. Transcribed John Claudia. |
| Named, not speaking | Others | Andru Volinsky, executive councilor and former Claremont lawsuit attorney (Andrew Current), and attorney John Tobin, presenters at the Newport forum; Cindy Gallagher; Mr. Herzog, the new technical center director; Mr. Wright of the hospital; candidates Steve Marchand and Molly Kelly and Governor Sununu; the e-Ticker's editor (Phyllis Musser, spelling unverified). |
Order of business (reconstructed)
No agenda for this meeting is posted in any school district share, and the city's copy was not inspected, so this list is reconstructed from the presiding officers' transitions. A written agenda and packet existed (the chair announces "the number six old business"; the mayor refers to "the packet"). Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped entry for the full text.
| Taken up | Item | Agenda text / disposition |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | Call to order, pledge, roll call | Roll by the city clerk from 0:00:45; see Attendance above. |
| 0:01:28 | Minutes of June 21, 2018 (joint) | Moved by an unidentified member, seconded by Assistant Mayor Damren; approved by voice with three abstentions, named by the chair as O'Hearn. Zullo. Rebecca. Zullo. Like. Peter. (O'Hearn, Zullo, Petrin). |
| 0:02:44 | Mayor's report | EPA Region 1 merit award for childhood lead poisoning work, ceremony September 12 at Faneuil Hall; lead testing at the Back to School festival. Informational. |
| 0:07:05 | School funding forum | Tuesday, August 14, 6 p.m., Richards Elementary School, Newport. Informational. |
| 0:10:10 | Citizens' comments | Cornelia Sergeant (Ward 2) and Representative John Cloutier (Ward 1). Closed at 0:16:32. |
| 0:16:32 | Old business: public information officer | City manager's report. Horsky moved at 0:50:46 to table "until after the permanent superintendent position is filled"; seconded (unidentified). Voice vote contested; roll call by body 0:51:44 to 0:54:23: council 2 yes, 4 no; school board 5 yes, 2 no; declared tabled 7-6. See flag 1. |
| 0:54:40 | Invitation to gubernatorial candidates | Forum with Steve Marchand set for Saturday, August 25, 6:30 p.m., at the Community Center; Sprague to book it; questions to be prepared in advance. No vote. |
| 1:05:04 | Scheduling New Futures training | Children's behavioral health system training. Horsky moved at 1:18:21 that the mayor and chair select a date and tell members; seconded by Benware; voice vote at 1:18:44, passed. |
| 1:18:54 | New business: community-wide energy policy; SB 365 and SB 446 | Energy Advisory Committee filled; mayors' letter urging a veto override. Horsky moved at 1:28:44 to have information on both bills presented to both bodies, with feedback before the council's meeting on the 22nd; seconded by Pierce at 1:29:11; voice vote at 1:29:42, passed. |
| 1:29:53 | Next steps; next joint meeting | November 15, 2018 agreed at 1:31:58. |
| 1:32:36 | Good of the order | Towle on receiving materials the afternoon of a meeting. |
| 1:33:38 | Adjournment | Moved by Horsky, seconded by Benware; voice vote at 1:33:41. |
Discussion timeline
Chronological, from the dialogue CSV. Times are the start of the cited exchange, taken from the CSV's own second count. Hover over (or Tab to) a clipped cell for the full entry.
| Time | Topic | What was said | Flags |
|---|
| 0:00:08 | Call to order | "I like to call this joint meeting of the Claremont City Council and the Claremont School Board to order on Thursday, August 9th, 2018." | |
| 0:01:28 | June 21 minutes | Clerk at 0:01:47: "Who made the motion, please?" and "Second, please." O'Hearn at 0:02:01: "I would like to make a note that I was not here at that meeting." Chair at 0:02:23: "Three abstentions." | POSITIVE |
| 0:02:44 | EPA award; lead testing | Mayor: "the city of Claremont will be given a merit award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Region one for our work, our collective work on addressing childhood lead poisoning." At 0:05:47: "the school district has the policy of showing, evidence of lead testing for enrollment purposes." | |
| 0:07:05 | Newport funding forum | Sprague: "And I call it the pitchforks and torches meeting will take place." At 0:08:04 the presenters are Volinsky (Andrew Current) "and attorney John Tobin". At 0:08:40: "we as these joint bodies expect the support to of the community as opposed to the status quo." | |
| 0:10:32 | Citizen: SB 365 and SB 446 | "My name is Cornelia, Sergeant Ward two". At 0:10:44 she urges the mayor to "defer this to further study the mayoral letter that is currently circulating urging and override of the governor's veto." At 0:11:51: "this bill includes waste incineration as renewable energy." At 0:12:29: "We in Claremont have learned that lesson the hard way." | POSITIVE |
| 0:14:08 | Citizen: Representative Cloutier | "I'm John Claudia from Ward one." He asks to join the August 15 discussion of renovating the technical center: "I hope you would could include me on the agenda." At 0:15:52 he asks to be kept "in the loop" on the Connecticut River boat landing. | |
| 0:16:55 | Information officer: the charge | Mayor: "One of our priorities is the Pio position and how to better manage our online presence." At 0:17:28: "How has anybody seen the packet". | OBSERVATION |
| 0:18:13 | City manager's report | At 0:20:04: "in 2015, the city proposed designating $90,000 for the budget" and the position "was eliminated from the budget and no job description was ever formulated." At 0:22:37: "Currently, the city does not have any money and the FY19 fiscal the FBI 19 budget for a position such as this". At 0:27:29: "the city's messaging and communications can be handled with existing staff." | |
| 0:28:03 | Board members respond | Benware: "it's an exercise in futility at this point." Zullo at 0:29:05: "a lot of times we have champagne tastes on a beer budget." An unidentified councilor at 0:32:49: "I do think we should make a plan for the next fiscal year of making this happen for ourselves." O'Hearn at 0:34:08: "the school board is in the midst of looking for a new superintendent". Towle at 0:34:35: "it's one of our objectives to gain control of as far as the school board is concerned." | |
| 0:37:53 | More views | Pope: "I do support the position." Horsky at 0:39:57: "I think it's a city position." Mayor at 0:44:03: "Do a pilot program, see what happens, have measurable goals". Damren at 0:49:35: "It needs to have a solid written plan that we agree with". Stone at 0:50:24: the position "would be better suited to be looked at the 2020 fiscal year budget". | |
| 0:50:46 | Motion to table | Horsky: "I'm going to make a motion to table this topic until after the superintendent permanent search is completed." After a contested voice vote, the mayor at 0:51:29: "You're gonna have to do a." Chair at 0:51:36: "We'll do the school board first." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:52:59 | Counting the roll call | Clerk: "What was the final count?" Benware at 0:53:28: "No. Should be like 7 to 6." An unidentified voice at 0:54:03: "You have two school boards that are. No. So you add that to the four and that gives you six nos. And there then you had two yeses from your council to our five makes it seven yeses." Mayor at 0:54:23: "Now still tabled." | OBSERVATION |
| 0:54:46 | Gubernatorial candidates | Sprague on Steve Marchand: "he's aware that there's a groundswell coming of protest around the lack of the state to follow through." Mayor at 0:57:21: "The two Democratic candidates would prefer to come to Claremont separately, not together." Sprague at 1:02:24: "I will book the community center." Benware at 1:04:19 asks about recording it "So if someone can't, they can watch it later at a later date." | |
| 1:05:04 | New Futures training | LeClair at 1:06:30: "Our, our school funding crisis is directly tied to student behaviors and mental and emotional and behavioral health needs". Towle at 1:07:49: "Just got this late this afternoon." Pope at 1:08:24: "I haven't had a chance to really look at this. I got this at 145 this afternoon." Zullo at 1:10:46: "I got it really late today, and I didn't have a chance to read it thoroughly." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:16:03 | Training: who schedules | Petrin: "I would put it upon the our two leaders to come up with a date". Horsky's motion at 1:18:21: "I move that the mayor and chair, select the date, and from there they disseminate that information to us so we can see if we can or cannot make it." Passed at 1:18:44. | |
| 1:18:54 | Energy policy | Mayor on the Energy Advisory Committee and the governor's vetoes; at 1:21:22: "there's an effort by the 13 mayors of this various cities in New Hampshire to sign on to a letter". Sprague at 1:22:16 on Stevens High School: "the biomass, wood pallets is primary". | |
| 1:24:08 | Mayor reconsiders the letter | "early today, you heard, the individual that spoke during citizens form talk about 365". At 1:25:05: "I'm a little hesitant at this point until I really understand the ins and outs of this bill, because of some of the strong sentiments I'm receiving from members of our community." At 1:26:36: "I would like to make the decision by our next council meeting on the 22nd". | POSITIVE |
| 1:28:44 | Motion on SB 365 and SB 446 | Horsky: "I will make a motion, to have information provided on Senate Bill 365 and 446 presented to both the City Council and the school boards". Pierce seconds at 1:29:11; passed at 1:29:42. | POSITIVE |
| 1:30:00 | Next joint meeting | Mayor: "we meet on a quarterly basis." Horsky at 1:30:36: "on the school board side, we're getting ready to gear up for budget." At 1:31:58: "How about November 15th?" | |
| 1:32:46 | Materials in advance | Towle: "I find it very hard to receive information the afternoon of our meetings." "I've kind of instituted that whole thing at the school board level about seven day in advance." | OBSERVATION |
| 1:33:38 | Adjournment | "Now I'd like to make a motion to adjourn." Benware seconds; voice vote. | |
Items flagged for review
Flags are a reviewer's aid generated by comparing the meeting against the law in force on August 9, 2018, cited as it then read. They are not findings of violation, and nothing here is legal advice. Where no verified rule applies, the flag says so and is recorded as an observation. A joint meeting is two public bodies, and each is considered separately. Five flags follow, ordered by severity.
OBSERVATION The information officer item was tabled by pooling both bodies' votes, although the City Council voted against tabling
When the voice vote on Horsky's motion was contested, the clerk took a roll call (0:51:44) and, after a confused count (0:52:59 to 0:54:17), the tally was stated as the council's two yes votes plus the school board's five, against four council and two board no votes: "seven yeses" and six nos (0:54:03). The mayor declared the item "still tabled" (0:54:23). Counted by body, the School Board voted 5-2 to table and the City Council voted 4-2 not to. The City Council and the School Board are separate public bodies under RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d), each acting by its own members. No rule was verified for how a joint agenda item is to be decided, and tabling a discussion item committed neither body to anything, so this is recorded as an observation. The practical point is that the combined count reported a result that one of the two bodies, voting on its own, had rejected.
Sources: RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (source note ends 2008, 354:1, so in force in 2018): each "legislative body, governing body, board ... of any ... municipal corporation, school district" is a public body.
OBSERVATION Members of both bodies received the training materials on the afternoon of the meeting
Towle (1:07:49), Councilor Pope ("I got this at 145 this afternoon", 1:08:24) and Zullo (1:10:46) said they had not been able to read the New Futures training menu, and Towle closed the meeting by asking for materials in advance, noting the school board's own seven-day practice (1:32:46). RSA 91-A:2, II, as it read in 2018, required notice "of the time and place" at least 24 hours ahead and said nothing about distributing materials, so no rule was breached; the item was resolved by delegating the date to the two leaders. Recorded because late materials limited deliberation on the one item that needed a choice.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification, in force through 2018): 24-hour notice of time and place.
OBSERVATION The agenda, the information officer report and the minutes are not in the school district's online shares; the city side was not inspected
The mayor referred to "the packet" containing the city manager's report and job descriptions (0:17:28), and the bodies approved minutes of their June 21 joint meeting (0:01:28), so a packet and minutes existed. MAP.md section 77 records that no school district Drive share holds anything older than 2022 (checked 9/26/26). The city's notice, agenda and minutes for a joint meeting would sit in the city clerk's records, which were not inspected for this page, so no city-side negative is stated. The project's missing-records rule is applied on its online-availability limb.
Sources: Input/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md section 77; RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification): minutes open to inspection within 5 business days.
POSITIVE A citizen's comment changed the course of an item: the city's position on the vetoed energy bills was deferred for study
Cornelia Sergeant used the comment period to urge that the mayors' veto-override letter on SB 365 and SB 446 not be signed without study (0:10:44). When the item came up, the mayor cited that comment and "the strong sentiments I'm receiving from members of our community" and said she was now hesitant (1:24:08 to 1:25:05), and the bodies voted to have information on both bills presented to each of them before the council decided on the 22nd (1:28:44 to 1:29:42). The comment period was offered at a joint meeting where no statute then required one, and the public's input visibly shaped the outcome.
Sources: the recording at 0:10:44, 1:24:08 and 1:28:44.
POSITIVE The clerk recorded movers and seconders, and a contested voice vote went to a roll call
On the June 21 minutes the clerk asked "Who made the motion, please?" and for the seconder (0:01:47), and the abstentions were named for the record (0:02:32). When the tabling vote was disputed the presiding officers moved to a roll call by body (0:51:29 to 0:51:44) rather than declare a result. In 2018 RSA 91-A:2, II required minutes to name "members" and record "final decisions"; the rule that minutes name each mover and seconder did not take effect until January 1, 2019 (2018, 244:1), so this practice was ahead of the law.
Sources: RSA 91-A:2, II (2017 codification; source note ends 2017, 165:1 and 234:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2018).
Appendix: source files
Official and public sources
- Cablecast show 9953, "JOINT MEETING of the CITY COUNCIL & SCHOOL BOARD of 8-9": Claremont Community Television. Every timestamp on this page links into this recording.
- No school district Drive material: neither the Claremont nor the SAU 6 share holds a year folder older than 2022, and the Meeting Minutes share starts at 2023 (MAP.md, checked 9/26/26). No agenda, packet or minutes for this meeting were located there. The City of Claremont's records were not inspected.
- Related pages: SAU 6 Board, July 26, 2018 (interim superintendent chosen); Claremont School Board, August 15, 2018 (the Newport forum and the technical center discussion Representative Cloutier asked to join); SAU 6 Board, August 23, 2018 (permanent superintendent search).
Project files
Working files this page was built from. The dialogue file is linked; the others are not published with the page.
Dialogue/9953 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint080918.mp4.CSV (558 attributed rows; the basis of this page)Input/Videos/9953 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint080918.mp4Input/Transcripts/9953 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint080918.mp4.jsonScripts/attribution_reports_2015_2023/9953 SchoolBoardCityCouncilJoint080918.mp4.mdInput/SupportingDocuments/MAP.md, section 77
Laws and rules cited on this page
- New Hampshire statutes, as in force on August 9, 2018. RSA 91-A:1-a, VI(d) (public body; unamended since 2008). RSA 91-A:2, II (notice and minutes; 2017 codification, before 2018, 244:1).