Months after a state audit revealed incompetence and gross mismanagement at the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights (HRC), no-show Executive Director Ahni Malachi is finally out.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has pledged to reform the scandal-plagued agency, which emerged as a symbol of government ineptitude during the Sununu administration. Ayotte recently appointed a new chairman, Ray Pinard, and vice chair, Dr. Stewart Levenson, tasking them with fixing the failing commission.
Malachi could not be reached for comment. Her LinkedIn profile indicates she left her position in May, though NHJournal could find no record of her departure in Executive Council meeting minutes or in publicly available HRC records.
Critics say that lack of transparency is consistent with the agency’s conduct during Malachi’s tenure.
Pinard did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Wednesday, and Levenson referred all questions regarding Malachi to the Governor’s Office. NHJournal did not receive a response from Ayotte’s staff.
Malachi’s LinkedIn also lists her current role as a full-time human rights compliance consultant for “Singnalfire (sic) Consultants.” NHJournal was unable to find contact information for the organization.
Under state law, the Executive Council must formally accept resignations and appointments for positions such as Malachi’s. At its Wednesday meeting, the council accepted the resignation of Commissioner Basra Mohammed, an immigration attorney for New Hampshire Catholic Charities. Mohammed did not respond to a request for comment regarding her departure from the board overseeing the embattled agency.
In February, the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant released a performance audit revealing that the HRC was deeply mismanaged and essentially nonfunctional. At the time, the commission had a backlog of 237 unresolved cases, some dating back to the Reagan administration.
According to the audit, it took the commission an average of 18 months just to assign a complaint to an investigator, and nearly another year to resolve the case.
Due to those delays, the statute of limitations often expired before a decision was issued, denying complainants the ability to pursue their claims in court.
“Our review of 228 cases closed during the state fiscal year 2023 found the Commission took an average of 840 days (2.3 years) to close a case. We found 62 of 228 cases (27.2 percent) reviewed were closed after the three-year statute of limitations that would have allowed complainants to have their cases heard in Superior Court,” the audit stated.
The report placed blame squarely on the HRC’s leadership.
“We found the Commission did not perform necessary management control responsibilities such as developing a strategic plan; defining objectives; developing performance measures; identifying, analyzing, and responding to operational risks; and resolving prior audit findings,” the audit concluded. “As a result, there was an increased risk the Commission would not achieve its objectives.”
The 92-page report also included anonymous, sharply critical statements from attorneys who interacted with the agency.
“Over the last few years, the investigators in my cases never reached out or talked to my witnesses. In other words, cases were delayed for years and then decided without talking to witnesses,” one attorney said.
“This agency should either be completely overhauled or eliminated. As constituted, it serves no purpose,” said another.
“Because the investigators are not experts in the law, they fail to ask for evidence from the employers that would be required,” added a third.
“I’ve been told in several cases that none of the witnesses I listed were contacted,” said a fourth.
Malachi’s responsibilities as executive director included overseeing the commission’s daily operations, staff management, and budgeting. Before being appointed by then-Gov. Chris Sununu, she worked as a public service manager at WMUR.
She has been on extended sick leave since last year, during which time investigator Katrina Taylor has served as acting executive director. Malachi’s absence drew scrutiny within the agency after it was revealed she took time to assist the City of Concord in hiring “Cash Cow Consultant” James Bird Guess as a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultant.
