lieutenant accused of groping officer
The Portsmouth Police Commission has convened an independent panel to review the case of Lt. Rodney McQuate, who is accused of groping the breast of a female officer during a police convention in Washington D.C. in May. McQuate was suspended with pay while police conducted an internal investigation of the incident, and Chief Michael Magnant later suspended him without pay for an unspecified period. The lieutenant is now back at work.

Various media outlets have reported that many officers within the department were not satisfied with the punishment, and a memo leaked to the Portsmouth Herald was written by four female officers who expressed dissatisfaction with how the department dealt with the issue.

As a result of public outcry and media attention, the Police Commission called for an independent review of the incident and the department’s reaction to it. During a commission meeting on Thursday, July 12, Commission Chair John Kelley announced that the panel would be composed of attorney John Lyons, former City Councilor Phyllis Eldridge and State Police Maj. Susan Forey. “They shall be provided all necessary documentation and background relative to the case,” Kelley said. “We’re going to search and find out does the penalty match the incident.”

Kelley said he approached N.H. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and the Chief of Police Standards in Concord, both of whom felt the disciplinary action Magnant imposed was appropriate. “The decision of the chief to do what he had done, along with the deputy, was not done singularly,” Kelley said. “It was looked at extremely carefully before any move was made.”

Magnant could not attend the meeting, although Deputy Chief Len DiSesa was present. The department is conducting a separate investigation into who leaked the memo from the four female officers to the press. The victim of the groping has said she does not want McQuate to be fired.

“It’s just unfortunate there has been so much misinformation out there over this incident,” Commissioner John Russo said. Commissioner Gerald Howe agreed and said that public scrutiny made an independent review necessary. “I think that a third-party, objective look at the incident and the reaction to the incident serves the city of Portsmouth well, as well as the Portsmouth Police Department,” Howe said.

Kelley said he expects the panel to complete its report within two weeks. He added that more details regarding the case would be made public in coming days. “More factual evidence is going to be forthcoming,” he said. —MK

state employees to pay for health care
The New Hampshire State Employees Association recently announced the approval of a new contract effective through June 30, 2009. The contract calls for all state employees to pay for a portion of their health care in exchange for several pay increases. The old employment contract expired on June 30.

The new contract will benefit state employees in several ways, according to Diana Lacey, chair of the SEA’s bargaining team. It increases wages enough to cover inflation and the rising cost of living. Also, the additional wages will close the income gap between state employees and workers in the municipal and private sectors.

“We are very pleased with the outcome. This is about moving forward in a progressive manner instead of being reactive. We are looking at problem solving for the future,” Lacey said.

Health care and wages were the most contentious issues brought up during contract negotiations. For the first time, state employees will have to pay for a portion of their health care directly from their own pockets. Many workers opposed the contract stipulation, but Lacey contends that people have been paying all along by accepting lower wages in exchange for free health care. Furthermore, because employees’ pensions are determined by their wages, accepting lower wages ultimately leads to smaller pensions.

Under the previous contract, people already employed by the state could not negotiate pay raises, while new employees had the ability to negotiate their salaries. The new contract allows existing state employees to negotiate the terms of their salaries. “We’re moving into a pattern or relationship with employers that treats us just as fairly as a brand new employee,” Lacey said.

Although much of the focus revolved around health care and wages, contract negotiations stirred many other debates. “We went in with over 40 proposals,” Lacey said. Several of the SEA’s proposals were approved, including calls for a meal reimbursement plan, a more thorough employee orientation plan and a restructured state personnel classification system, which is how the state determines the pay scale for different positions. —PL

York disputes Forbes report on pollution at Short Sands Beach
A recent article published in Forbes Magazine called Short Sands Beach in York one of the most polluted beaches in America. But town officials and state scientists disagree with the assessment, citing incomplete data and faulty journalism as reasons for the erroneous report.

The article was based on a report completed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, called “Testing the Waters.” It found that, in multiple tests conducted in 2005, Short Sands Beach exceeded allowable levels of the bacteria Enterococcus. York officials and representatives from the Maine Healthy Beaches Program believe that high levels of rainfall and extreme tides triggered spikes in bacteria.

“The theory was that, along with extreme tides, high ground water levels could have been pulling the pollutants from the ground and into the water, thus creating high levels of pollutants,” said Esperanza Stancioff, coordinator of the Maine Healthy Beaches Program. “We have spikes on a variety of beaches following rainfall conditions, and I think that in the 2005 season we had some issues with certain beaches that we haven’t had prior to or after 2005. I don’t know why anybody would single out Short Sands. I think part of the problem was with the NRDC report of 2005. They didn’t have it verified. They are doing that now, to their credit, but all they had to do was go on our Web site and they would have found all of that data accessible,” she said.

“I think it was irresponsible journalism,” said Michael Sullivan, York’s director of parks and recreation. “I can’t debate the fact that their information was correct. However, there was an awful lot of information that was available that they didn’t use,” he said. Sullivan and other town officials have been challenging the report ever since the Greater York Chamber of Commerce emailed him a copy of the Forbes article.

According to Sullivan, the beach is monitored for bacteria and other pollutants on a weekly basis. If an unusually high level of pollutants is detected, the beach is tested again the next day. When spikes in bacteria levels followed heavy rainfalls in 2005, tests conducted the next day showed that the pollutant was “practically nonexistent,” Sullivan said. “For Short Sands, for that one isolated time, as soon as it was retested, it was clean,” Stancioff added. 

“Where it is totally inaccurate is to say that Short Sands is one of the most polluted beaches in America. That is actually ludicrous. That beach is so far from one of the most polluted. They used that information to imply something that wasn’t true. It also failed to add that there was not one spike in 2006 and not one so far in 2007,” he added. “Am I upset and discouraged? Sure, but we’ve been trying to get the right information out there.” 

“I think Short Sands Beach is a very clean beach. There are some places that do have chronic issues, but Maine beaches are clean for the most part,” Stancioff said. —PL

Star Island still closed                                                                                                                                                 A failed fire safety inspection of buildings on Star Island has caused a longer delay than officials previously anticipated. In early June, Rye Fire Chief Richard O’Brien visited the island for a yearly inspection. The chief identified several fire code violations, many involving electrical wiring that did not meet safety specifications. This came as unfortunate news to the Star Island Corporation and its many tourists, who use buildings on the island for a variety of conferences on topics like art, music, natural history, world affairs and spirituality. Amy Lockwood, executive director of the Star Island Corporation, initially expected the buildings to remain closed for about a week, but recent developments have lengthened the timetable.

“Initially they had asked that we have some independent consultants come in, and we were hoping that would take about a week to do,” Lockwood said. “But now the fire department wants more research done on the electrical systems, and that will take more than just a week to do.” The new goal for the reopening is early August.

Until then, the Star Island Corporation is expected to lose nearly $1.15 million in revenue. In response to the financial loss, YAC (Young Adults Conference), YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists), and Dover Yoga—all groups that use the island for various activities—have joined to start the Save Our Star organization, a fundraising effort to help ease the island’s financial burden.

The organization hopes to find bands that will donate a portion of the proceeds from their shows to the Save Our Star fund. It’s primarily a music-oriented movement, but Dover Yoga’s Carrie Tyler says other contributions are welcome. “We’ll do anything,” Tyler said. “Dover’s going to do a yoga-thon weekend, there’s talk about a New York City concert and there are a bunch of smaller things as well.” There has even been a classical music concert in England that will contribute funds to the island, Tyler noted. Participating bands will be listed on the Save Our Star Web site at www.saveourstar.org. —GN

announced presidential candidate visits

candidate:
• Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D)
when/where:
• Thursday, July 19, Sunapee, details TBA
• Friday, July 20, Hampton and Manchester, details TBA

candidate:
• Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R)
when/where:
• Sunday, July 22 at noon, Crowne Plaza, Nashua

sources: PrioritiesNH.org and candidate Web sites