To the Editor:
There is a show trial/public lynching which will take place on February 12 at 6pm in Portsmouth City Hall chambers. Conducted and orchestrated by our City Attorney and City Manager, this action will forever change Portsmouth and its rich tradition of citizen involvement.
This action has no precedent in Portsmouth. It is a brutal political attempt to change the make-up of the Planning Board and avoid close examination of projects which will be coming before the Planning Board.
This rare and unheard-of action to remove a Planning Board member has been tried in one other case in New Hampshire. It failed in the past, which resulted in civil damages being awarded to the Planning Board member.
This unheard-of action will call into question every Portsmouth Planning Board decision, both past, present, and future.
James Hewitt only has another year to serve — why is it so important to get him off the board NOW and totally slander his reputation?
Is it to send a message to other citizen volunteers to follow the city line on all decisions and act like good soldiers? Or is it to get a future project across the finish line which someone does not want him to question and examine?
So much for the city of the open door where freedom of speech is welcomed and embraced, but only for select individuals.
Our current City Manager and City Attorney should be embarrassed by what they are doing and how they publicly slandered James Hewitt. It is quite frankly very troubling and sets a new low in Portsmouth, which I have not seen in my 30 plus years of living here as a resident.
I do not understand WHY and am quite frankly wondering if the Attorney General of New Hampshire should step in and investigate what is going on in our city with our Planning Board. This is a blatant political attempt to influence decision making on development projects by removing a member who does not agree with the powers at City Hall.
Our elected officials continue to be silent especially our mayor. The mayor could end this tomorrow —Instruct the City Manager to end the show trial and apologize to Mr. Hewitt.
Otherwise, I fear we are headed for another major lawsuit and more divisive issues.
Please end this madness and let’s start to bring the city together. This is a total distraction.
We need to make Portsmouth a place where everyone’s opinion is respected. We deserve better as residents!
Peter A. Whelan
Portsmouth
