from the Eagle Tribune:
ATKINSON — Residents have rights at public meetings, but that can all come to an end when they cause a disturbance.
Resident Gary Brownfield was taking photographs at the town’s deliberative session Saturday, but was told almost immediately that he had to stop.
Moderator Frank Polito stopped discussion and asked Brownfield to stop taking photographs, saying he was causing a disturbance. Polito went so far as to put the question to voters, asking the audience whether Brownfield’s photography should be banned, and they overwhelmingly agreed.
New Hampshire’s public meeting law states specifically that cameras are permitted at meetings. But the law also gives the moderator broad discretion to determine what constitutes a disturbance, according to Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan.
But Brownfield, a frequent critic of town officials, says the ruling wasn’t fair.
He said he was sitting in his seat, taking photographs of Polito and other officials, and was not causing a disturbance. Brownfield said yesterday he was hired by the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers to take photographs and was not causing any trouble.
“I was acting as a paid professional,” Brownfield said.
But Scanlan said if a moderator believes something is disrupting the meeting, he or she can have it stopped or have the offender removed. Residents can always overrule the moderator so putting the issue to a vote of the people was perfectly reasonable, the deputy secretary of state said.
“He wanted the people to be the ones to decide and not just him,” Scanlan said.
Polito said Saturday that Brownfield disturbed the meeting because he was distracting and intimidating other residents who didn’t know where the pictures would end up. Brownfield was told multiple times that if he photographed the event or disturbed the meeting, he would be thrown out.
“I believe you are creating a disorder in the room because you are taking pictures,” Polito said at the meeting.
Polito asked Brownfield to delete any pictures he had taken of him.
Brownfield said the rule was unfair since it was not in the moderator’s rules that were distributed at the meeting and a newspaper photographer was allowed to take photographs.
After Brownfield was banned from taking pictures, a newspaper photographer arrived at the meeting and was allowed to photograph the event. The photographer was asked to identify herself and was given permission by Polito and the audience to photograph the meeting.
Brownfield said he has given his attorney a videotape of the meeting and he may pursue legal action against Polito and the town.
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Note: A few clarifications are in order. First, Mr. Brownfield was not doing anything ‘disruptive’ despite what the first sentence of this article might imply. Therefore, the moderator had no right to take away Brownfield’s right to photograph. There is no guarantee where the other photos would have ended up either. Secondly, Brownfield may have been advised of his RIGHT to take photos or videotape by CNHT, but he was not ‘hired’, which would imply money changed hands. He was not hired and no money has changed or will change hands.