This story appeared in the Derry News on June 7, 2007

Council chairman: Coyle broke open meeting law

DERRY | The chairman of the Town Council is accusing a colleague of breaking the law by publicly discussing details of the prospective town manager's contract.

Bulkley said Councilor Kevin Coyle violated the state's Right-to-Know Law by talking about the draft contract for Gary Stenhouse, the council's choice for town administrator.

In exchange, Coyle is complaining that Bulkley alone is negotiating the contract for Stenhouse, leaving the rest of the council out of the discussions.

"I think that any negotiations regarding personnel is a nonpublic issue," Bulkley said. "Until such time the contract is voted on, going to the press with confidential information like that before the process has been completed (constitutes) a violation."

Bulkley said Coyle's actions could jeopardize negotiations with Stenhouse.

Coyle denied Bulkley's claim, saying the draft contract was e-mailed to every councilor, and there was never a vote taken to enter nonpublic session to discuss the matter. For that reason, he said the e-mail communication constituted a public meeting.

"We're supposed to be conducting business in public, and Craig has been Mr. Secretive about everything," Coyle said. "Accusing someone of violating the law is a big deal, and you shouldn't do it lightly. I didn't violate anything."

On Monday, Coyle, upset because he said the council had been left out of contract negotiations with Stenhouse, showed The Eagle-Tribune the problems he saw with the draft contract.

Specifically, he was concerned with a clause that would require the council to pay for the rest of Stenhouse's proposed two-year, $114,000-a-year contract if it decided to terminate his employment early. Coyle was worried that could be a bad deal for taxpayers.

Councilors talked about Stenhouse's contract for an hour in a closed-door session this week, but did not take a vote. Bulkley said negotiations will continue. He did not indicate when the council would discuss the issue again.

"We're not ready to bring it forward." Bulkley said.

Stenhouse left his job in Rochester after the City Council there bought out his contract because of disagreements. He worked there for nine years. Coyle and Councilor Janet Fairbanks voted against hiring Stenhouse.

Bulkley said he had requested a legal opinion about whether Coyle had broken the law by discussing the contents of a draft contract for Stenhouse.