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PR search causes flak in Hampstead [The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.](Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, MA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 01--HAMPSTEAD -- Comments about the Timberlane Regional School District's search for a public relations consultant have led to a public relations mess in Hampstead. In an email to the Hampstead School Board, Jorge Mesa-Tejada warned officials the district should not follow Timberlane's route. "Not only would we run you out of office," Mesa-Tejada wrote to officials on Oct. 15, "you wouldn't like to experience the ensuing firestorm." Mesa-Tejada is the chairman of the Hampstead Budget Committee, of which he has been a member for about 10 years. He said he wrote the member as an individual citizen, not as a member of the Budget Committee. In his email, he also criticized Timberlane officials. "Evidently, they are not coherent enough to explain what they do in terms that their constituents understand," he wrote. "Or, perhaps the board doesn't like the fact that the constituents understand it very well and they don't like the voters' reaction/opinions." Hampstead school officials were not pleased with Mesa-Tejada's message. School Board Chairman Gregory Hoppa said he believed the email was a threat and a form of bullying. "We don't tolerate this behavior at our schools and I do not tolerate this behavior from a member of the public," Hoppa said at the School Board meeting Tuesday. As a result, Hoppa restricted Mesa-Tejada from commenting at future meetings -- outside the public comment period. But, he said Tuesday, the School Board can vote to allow Mesa-Tejada to speak about consent agenda items in the future. "We should expect more from our elected officials," Hoppa said. Mesa-Tejada stood his ground, although he said the email was not intended to be read aloud. "I will not change my mind," Mesa-Tejada said at the meeting. "My job is to hold my public officials accountable, and I will do the best I can to serve the town of Hampstead." Hoppa, who is in his sixth year on the School Board, said he has never restricted any resident's speech at meetings. "It's my authority as the chair to decide who speaks and the board has given me that authority by electing me the chair," he said Friday. The policies are on on his side. The Right-to-Know law, according to the Attorney General's Office, does not expressly permit public comment during a municipal meeting. "The public's right to attend a meeting established by the Right-to-Know law does not convey a right to speak or participate," according to a 2009 memorandum from the AG's office. Other laws may apply to a regulated opportunity to speak and many boards do have a voluntary public comment period, according to the memorandum. In Hampstead, the policy states there is a 10-minute public comment period and people may speak for up to three minutes, unless waived by the board. In addition, no one can speak to the Hampstead School Board about personal complaints or against any person in the school system, according to the policy. There is no right to speak at a public meeting, according to the New Hampshire Municipal Association. But when a municipal board creates a public comment period, according to the NHMA, it becomes a public forum and the constitutional right to free speech is protected. Hoppa was not the only school official upset by the email. "He's completely misinformed," superintendent Earl Metzler said. The search for a public relations consultant has been discussed for years, Metzler said, before he was a superintendent. One Timberlane Regional School Board official said the ideal candidate would know members of the media in the area and a public relations consultant would share good news with media outlets. The decision to search for a public relations consultant has nothing to do with his decisions, Metzler said. "For him to make that kind of leap, it's just inappropriate and inaccurate," Metzler said of Mesa-Tejada's email. But Mesa-Tejada said he wanted more clarification on Hoppa's decision. "It was very hard to understand," he said. He said he did not considering voting someone out of office a threat. "That's a normal activity citizens engage in," he said. ___ (c)2014 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |