This story, which has a long history, highlights the importance of local elections. A lot happens there in NH, so you’d better get out to vote this week on both ballot box voting days and town meetings. (March 11-13)
APPARENTLY, BILL GREINER’S BEHAVIOR HAS LED TO MAJOR FOIA REQUEST BY NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST
submitted by Aaron Day, Bedford NH, March 09, 2014
Ben Swann’s Truth in Media Project Submits FOIA and NH RSA 91:A Requests to Town of Bedford
On Tuesday, March 11th, voters in Bedford, New Hampshire will go to the polls to elect town officials and decide on budget measures. Two of the candidates, Aaron Day for School Board and Matt Philips for Town Council, have come under attack by a local real estate developer.
On February 21, 2014, the following YouTube video of Bill Greiner was posted on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxFzHC01fW4 in which he draws attention to the fact that Day and Philips are associated with the Free State Project, and makes several other inaccurate and misleading statements.
Greiner rejected an invitation to meet to discuss the inaccuracies in the video. Subsequently, numerous concerned Bedford residents have approached us regarding alleged questionable business dealings, intimidation, and unethical behavior in town.
We suspect that the Free State Project is not the real issue or concern and that this is simply an attempt at misdirection away from other activities that are going on at the state and local levels. The Free State Project isn’t a political party, it is simply an effort to attract to the state of New Hampshire more people who already resonate with the New Hampshire “Live Free or Die” spirit. I encourage you to research this yourself at http://www.freestateproject.org. More importantly, as individuals, I encourage you to speak with us directly and research what we have actually done.
The silent majority in Bedford values limited government, lower taxes, and local control, but have often been drowned out by a small faction of insiders and well-funded organizations that have been pushing a personal, economic agenda in town over the past decade.
The Bedford Taxpayers Association (BTA) endorsed Aaron Day for School Board and Matt Philips for Town Council. Separately, they declined to endorse the proposed $30 million road bond. At the Town Council meeting on February 26, Town Councilor Jim Scanlon blamed us for the BTA’s decision to not recommend the road bond. Aaron Day is running for school board and has made no comment on the road bond. Matt Philips is running for town council and in his public debate and his interview on “Tell it Like it Is” has indicated support for the road bond. This is questionable behavior for a sitting Town Councilor. We have put together the following 3 clips from the last town council meeting. We have a number of questions regarding both the practice of some of the Town Councilors as well as some of Greiner’s business dealings as they relate to property taxes.
“Is Jim Scanlon Improperly Trying to Influence Voters”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3N5DNbY9M
“Is this why Bill Greiner is Attacking The Free State Project?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOJ6M1lP-fU
“Ethics and Honesty on the Bedford Town Council, Jim Scanlon Edition”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL6FqNh6-FE
The escalation of the attacks against us through print, newspaper, television, private e-mails, and phone calls has spurred Ben Swann’s Truth in Media Project to submit a FOIA Right-to-Know Request to the Town of Bedford, NH.
The following is an excerpt from the request:
Mr. Swann requests and is entitled to receive the following pursuant to N.H. RSA § 91-A:
1. Copies of all contracts and agreements in effect at any time within the last five years, between the Town and Greiner;
2. Copies of all emails sent from or received on any Town email address within the last five years which in any way relates to the subject matter covered in ¶ 1;
3. Copies of any disclosures, which the town currently possesses or has possessed within the last five years, filed by any Town official or employee relating to the acceptance or receipt of any sort of gift or gratuity from Greiner;
4. Copies of any disclosures, which the town currently possesses or has possessed within the last five years, filed by Greiner relating to the acceptance or receipt of any sort of gift or gratuity from any source;
5. Copies of all emails sent from Greiner and received within the last five years on any email address owned, controlled, or operated by the Town or any Town official or employee; and
6. Copies of all emails, sent or received within the last five years, from any Town email address associated with Greiner.
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Regardless of the results of this election, we are committed to living in a town that is free from intimidation and crony capitalism and will continue to fight for the rights of all of our citizens.
If you are aware of any inappropriate behavior at the town level, please contact us at:
(970) 325-3785 (3ALERT5) or bedfordwatchdog@gmail.com
Aaron Day is currently the Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, Board Member at The Bedford Republican Committee, board member of The Free State Project, CEO of The Atlas Society, Chairman and CEO of Tangerine Wellness, and was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Industry Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital firm. Day is currently a member of the advisory committee for the X-Prize Foundation. The Boston Business Journal selected Day in 2004 as one of their 40 Under 40 leading business leaders and innovators. Day studied mathematics at Duke University and biology at Harvard UES.
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronday
Twitter: @AaronDayAtlas
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/aarondayfornh
Matt Philips is an entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Right Media in 2003 after having worked at DoubleClick. He graduated from Princeton with a degree in Politics.
Ben Swann is an Edward R. Murrow award and Emmy award winning journalist. Having worked as a news reporter and anchor in Cincinnati, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, Ben has the largest Facebook following of any local journalist in the nation and is larger than many national network anchors. His Reality Check and Full Disclosure series has over 10,000,000 video views on Youtube and local websites and is watched in over 140 countries.
Website: http://www.benswann.com
Contact: http://benswann.com/contact/
Twitter: @BenSwann_
Sincerely,
Aaron Day, Candidate for School Board, Bedford, NH
Matt Philips, Candidate for Town Council, Bedford, NH