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WMUR’s John DiStaso reported that the New Hampshire Democratic Party filed a right-to-know request calling on the Sununu administration to release all documents related to the awarding of a half-million dollar, no-bid contract for a massive ad campaign that stars Chris Sununu — instead of medical experts. You can read the right-to-know requests here.
Key points:
“The New Hampshire Democratic Party has filed a series of right-to-know and similar requests with Gov. Chris Sununu, several state offices and a federal agency seeking documents related to the governor’s award of a $434,000 federally-funded contract for television, social media and public service announcements urging Granite Staters to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”
“The requests follow WMUR’s report Friday on the ads, which were awarded by the governor unilaterally under his emergency powers as set out by state law and several executive orders.”
“In the requests, NHDP Chair Raymond Buckley repeats his allegation that – as Buckley wrote – ‘it appears that Governor Sununu is using tax dollars to boost his potential run for higher office – at the expense of a more effective and evidence-based communication strategy.”
“In the requests, the party seeks all documents -- including emails, text messages, memos, contracts, requests for proposals and invoices -- related to the public service announcements. Specific requests were tailored to the agency to which the request was sent.”
“‘Given that Governor Sununu is openly discussing a bid for higher office with Mitch McConnell (according to a recent report in Politico), people need to know why Chris Sununu is using federal tax dollars to help himself instead of them,’ Buckley said. ‘Research shows that medical experts and community leaders, not politicians, are the best messengers to encourage people to get vaccinated.’”
NH Primary Source: NHDP seeks all documents related to Sununu-approved vaccination PSA contract
By John DiStaso SEEKING DOCUMENTS. The New Hampshire Democratic Party has filed a series of right-to-know and similar requests with Gov. Chris Sununu, several state offices and a federal agency seeking documents related to the governor’s award of a $434,000 federally-funded contract for television, social media and public service announcements urging Granite Staters to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The requests follow WMUR’s report Friday on the ads, which were awarded by the governor unilaterally under his emergency powers as set out by state law and several executive orders. The governor was not required to – and did not – bring the contract to the Executive Council for approval but instead listed them as informational items on the agenda of the council’s May 19 meeting. In the requests, NHDP Chair Raymond Buckley repeats his allegation that – as Buckley wrote – “it appears that Governor Sununu is using tax dollars to boost his potential run for higher office – at the expense of a more effective and evidence-based communication strategy.” [...] The no-bid, sole-source contract was awarded by Sununu to GYK Antler LLC of Manchester on April 2. The initial contract totaled $426,490 with GYK Antler LLC of Manchester to “develop and deliver a comprehensive multimodal PSA campaign.” Sununu then approved an additional $8,000 for the contract, bringing the total $434,490, later in the month. In the requests, the party seeks all documents -- including emails, text messages, memos, contracts, requests for proposals and invoices -- related to the public service announcements. Specific requests were tailored to the agency to which the request was sent. The party sent right-to-know requests under RSA 91-A to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Administrative Services, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery, the New Hampshire Department of Justice, and the New Hampshire Department of Safety. The Office of the Governor, which is exempt from the right-to-know law, was asked to produce documents under a provision of the state constitution, while the federal Freedom of Information Act was cited in a request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which funded the PSAs, according to the contract. “Given that Governor Sununu is openly discussing a bid for higher office with Mitch McConnell (according to a recent report in Politico), people need to know why Chris Sununu is using federal tax dollars to help himself instead of them,” Buckley said. “Research shows that medical experts and community leaders, not politicians, are the best messengers to encourage people to get vaccinated “Granite Staters deserve to know how and why Governor Chris Sununu chose to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a public advertisement campaign starring himself ahead of a potential run for U.S. Senate.” [...]
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