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The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office issued a cease and desist order to Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess and three fellow Democrats on the city’s board of aldermen over their use of public property to promote their side of a 2021 political debate.

The issue was Proposition 2, which would make substantial changes to the way the city’s police commission is composed.

The government property used was the city’s PEG, or public access TV channels and equipment, which the Attorney General’s Office ruled Donchess and the aldermen used to campaign for their political views.

“Following an investigation, this Office determined that each of your messages constituted electioneering because your messages were specifically designed to influence the votes of voters on Ballot Question 2,” Assistant Attorney General Brendan O’Donnell wrote in the order dated Jan. 11. 

“The Mayor of Nashua and its alderman… remain subject to the prohibition against using government property or equipment to electioneer. Accordingly, this Office orders each of you to cease and desist from using city property, including but not limited to the City’s PEG channels and cable television equipment, to electioneer.”

O’Donnell’s order is directed at Donchess and Aldermen Ben Clemmons, Michael O’Brien, and Lori Wilshire. But Donchess told NHJournal he and his fellow Democrats had every right to take to the airwaves.

“I think (the letter) ignores First Amendment issues,” Donchess said.

Laura Colquhoun, the Nashua resident who filed the complaint, said Donchess and the others clearly broke the law.

“Please understand that political people should not be using public TV stations to sell their message to residents. If it was a debate with both parties showing up, that would not be a problem. However, when you only have one side going on the TV station, that is electioneering, and that is against the law,” Colquhoun told NHJournal.

In 2021, Nashua voters were set to vote on Proposition 2, which would make substantial changes to the way the city’s police commission is composed. Nashua is one of a handful of New Hampshire municipalities where an independent commission oversees the police department.

Nashua is unique in that the three civilian members of its commission are appointed by the Governor’s Office and confirmed by the Executive Council, not by local representatives like the mayor or board of aldermen. Donchess backed Proposition 2 to take back local control of commission appointments.

Under Proposition 2, the commission would be expanded to five members, with three appointed by the mayor, and two appointed by the board. All of the appointments would require board confirmation.

Donchess used Nashua’s local cable access station to make his case for the changes, recording a 15-minute presentation that aired 25 times before the municipal election. Clemmons, Wilshire, and O’Brien recorded their own separate presentation opposing Proposition 2.

“We never intended to do anything wrong,” O’Brien told the news site InDepth NH.

Proposition 2 ended up losing at the ballot box. Colquhoun later used the presentations for her complaint. O’Donnell’s cease and desist letter acknowledges that state law includes an exemption for public officials appearing in a news or information program. It states that while the separate presentations produced and aired by the politicians were a violation, if Donchess and the aldermen participated in a debate about Proposition 2 and had that broadcast on the station, they would not be violating the law.

O’Donnell’s cease and desist letter makes no sense, Donchess said. Both he and the three aldermen have an absolute free speech right to speak on political issues of concern to Nashua citizens.

“Both I and members of the Board of Aldermen were attempting to inform the voters about what the issues were pertaining to the ballot questions,” Donchess said.

Why two separate, competing presentations are against the law, but a debate on a particular issue is OK also makes no sense, Donchess said. It would still see elected officials making their arguments for an election issue on public cable. 

“I do not see a distinction between (a debate) and the two presentations on the police commission,” Donchess said. 

Hours after Nashua’s James Morris was charged with senselessly assaulting police officers during a traffic stop, he made bail and was back on the streets.

“It’s certainly frustrating for the officers,” said Nashua Sgt. John Cinelli. 

James Morris

Morris, 32, is just one of the alleged violent offenders who have caused mayhem in recent days in incidents throughout the state, incidents abetted by New Hampshire’s reformed bail system. 

The 2018 bail reform was meant to eliminate the unintended consequence of the cash bail system that resulted in cases of poor people charged with relatively minor, nonviolent crimes but who were unable to afford bail.

People like Jeffrey Pendleton, a 26-year-old Nashua panhandler arrested in 2016 on a marijuana possession charge. Pendleton ended up in Valley Street Jail in Manchester when he couldn’t come up with the $100 cash bail. Five days later, he was found dead in his cell from a drug overdose.

But now, instead of protecting poor, nonviolent offenders, bail reform is letting people charged with violent felonies stay on the street.

Police stopped Morris’ car near School Street Friday night, and he refused to give the officers his identity before he decided to start fighting with them, according to Cinelli.

“We have no idea why he did that,” Cinelli said.

On Thursday, Concord homeless man Victor Manns, 23, allegedly stabbed two tourists on South Main Street and led officers on a prolonged manhunt. Manns’ was walking around despite being charged with assault in June and again in August in separate incidents.

Victor Manns

According to police, the couple were in their car parked in front of a business on South Main Street when Manns, wearing a mask and a hood, approached and began hitting the car. The alarmed couple got out of the car. Manns reportedly brandished his knife, threatened the pair, and then stabbed them, according to police.

Manns ran from the scene of the attack, kicking off a two-hour police search of the downtown area before he was captured.

On Friday, Claremont woman Brandie Jones, 33, allegedly hit a Nashua police officer with her car to avoid a felony arrest. At the time of the incident, Jones was wanted in Londonderry on warrants, including a breach of her previous bail in another case.

Brandie Jones

Nashua police had previously stopped Jones but gave a false name to officers as she had been convicted of being a habitual traffic offender by the state. If caught driving, habitual offenders face new felony charges.

After getting stopped for the second time on Friday night, Cinelli said Jones was getting out of her car as instructed by police when she changed her mind. With the door still open, she got back in the driver’s seat and sped off. The open car door hit one officer, Cinelli said.

Jones made it to Londonderry, where she ditched her car and ran. Londonderry Police eventually found her with the help of a police dog and took her into custody. 

Cinelli said that none of the Nashua officers suffered any serious injuries from the incidents involving Jones and Morris. The couple attacked by Manns both suffered lacerations, and one sustained minor injuries, which required a trip to the hospital. 

Cinelli said the 2018 bail reform law makes it easy for people charged with a crime to avoid jail, get back out, and re-offend. 

“When these guys are getting bail and getting out that quickly, what is going to stop (them) from doing it to more officers or civilians who don’t have the ability to defend themselves,” Cinelli said.

Jay Ruais, the Republican running to replace Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, has been demanding changes to the state’s bail system as crime becomes a bigger problem in the Queen City. In recent weeks, two men charged in an Elm Street shooting got released on relatively low cash bail. In another incident, 10 people were arrested for being part of a street fight in the area of Auburn and Cedar Streets, where two men were stabbed. Most of those suspects were quickly released on bail.

“Violent, dangerous, and repeat offenders should never be on our streets,” Ruais said. “As mayor, I will make sure our police have the resources and tools they need to make our community more safe.”

A New Hampshire family said in a new lawsuit their daughter is one of the victims in the child sex abuse image case brought against former Democratic state Rep. Stacie Laughton and Laughton’s girlfriend, Lindsay Groves.

Both Laughton, 39, and Groves, 38, are currently held without bail on child sex abuse image charges out of state and federal courts. Groves used her position at Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsborough, Mass., to take explicit nude photos of children and text them to Laughton, according to court records.

The family also suspects their daughter was sexually abused by Groves, according to the lawsuit.

Filed in Middlesex Superior Court in Massachusetts, the lawsuit claims the New Hampshire child was the subject of sexually explicit photos Groves took while she was enrolled at Creative Minds. 

Creative Minds is owned by Maura Sheehy Costello and Erica Jussaume of Massachusetts, with daycare center branches in Dracut and Tyngsborough. Neither could be reached for comment.

According to the suit, Sheehy Costello and Jussaume allowed Groves access to the children at the daycare despite the fact that Groves was repeatedly reported for inappropriate behavior. The family is suing the business owned by Sheehy Costello and Jussaume for negligence in hiring Groves and keeping her employed despite the red flags.

“As a result of the Defendant’s neglect, the Plaintiffs have reason to believe that their daughter may have been sexually exploited by Lindsay Groves while the minor was under the care of Creative Minds,” the lawsuit states.

The family is being kept anonymous in the legal filings, with the father and mother referred to as John and Jane Doe, and the child referred to as Jane Doe. They are represented by Lowell attorney Roger Peace. Peace did not respond to a request for comment.

This is the second lawsuit brought against Creative Minds since Groves and Laughton were arrested in June.

A Massachusetts mother filed a lawsuit against Creative Minds last month alleging her young son was sexually molested by Groves at the Tyngsborough center. That lawsuit also alleges Sheehy Costello and Jussaume were told about Groves inappropriately touching children in 2018 and told she was taking explicit photos in 2022, and yet she remained on the job.

According to court records in the criminal case, Groves and Laughton exchanged approximately 10,000 text messages over the past 18 months, including numerous explicit photos of the children Groves was caring for at the facility. During one text message conversation, the pair discussed raping children, and Laughton appeared to admit having raped a child in the past.

“LAUGHTON: I was asking because I know we’ve had some back-and-forth, and I know we initially said we do nothing with kids ever again, and you said you were afraid that if we had kids if they would go back and tell the parents the same with the kids you work with.”

In the same exchange, Laughton and Groves discussed the possibility of raping children at Creative Minds.

“GROVES: I want to do it with the kids at work 

GROVES: than you can put your **** inside them

GROVES: I wasn’t being serious about the kids running back and telling their parents 

GROVES: Plus, I want to do it with kids who use to come here cause they can enjoy it 

LAUGHTON: Well, I know but you were afraid that the kids at work might tell their parents and we said we would do it if we knew we were not gonna get caught and I was just wondering like like basically you have no problem with that…”

Laughton became New Hampshire’s first transgender elected official in 2012 but is now more famous for a career of criminal exploits. Laughton, a Democratic state representative, was forced to resign shortly after the 2012 election when it was learned the erstwhile lawmaker was still on probation for a felony theft conviction. Laughton has also been charged with stalking and making bomb threats.

Laughton was reelected to a Nashua House seat in 2020 and, after winning reelection again in 2022, spent weeks in jail after being charged with stalking and harassing Groves, according to court records.

Though Laughton and Groves remain at Valley Street Jail in Manchester pending trial, Groves was recently deemed safe for release by a federal judge. The Boston Office of the United States Attorney is appealing that decision. Groves is staying locked up until the appeal is heard.

The Hudson woman who allegedly supplied former Democratic State Rep. Stacie Laughton with child sex abuse images is set to be freed from jail.

A federal judge ruled Lindsay Groves, 38, can remain out of jail pending her trial on charges of sexual exploitation of children, aiding and abetting, and distribution of child pornography so long as she meets certain conditions.

Laughton, 39, faces identical federal and state charges of distributing child sex abuse images. Laughton, who identifies as transgendered, is being held without bail in the male population at Valley Street Jail in Manchester.

A federal judge ruled last week that Groves can be released safely, meaning she would not be a danger to the community so long as she lives with her parents, has no contact with children, and does not use an iPhone or other internet-connected devices.

“Critically, however, the court finds that conditions of release can be fashioned to address this risk and reasonably assure the safety of the community,” the ruling states.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston will appeal this order. Groves will remain locked up until another judge hears the appeal and rules on the potential release. Groves is also being held at the Valley Street Jail with the female population.

Investigators said Groves used her job at Creative Minds Daycare in Tyngsborough, Mass., to access young children for the graphic photos she shared with Laughton. Court records released in the case include a text conversation with a seeming admission from Laughton that the pair had raped children in the past and planned to do it again.

Groves and Laughton were arrested last month in the child sex abuse image case, a culmination of their twisted relationship. In recent years, the pair have been involved in multiple court cases and no contact orders. One case last year landed Laughton in jail for stalking Groves right after Laughton had won re-election to the legislature. According to the court records in the stalking case, Laughton was publicly calling Groves a pedophile and using social media to amplify that accusation.

As Laughton was receiving the child sex abuse photos from Groves, the disgraced lawmaker was engaging in sexually explicit text conversations with Groves about having sex with children, according to court records. Laughton started showing other people the photos being sent by Groves last month, and texting the photos to those people, according to the complaint filed in federal court. The people who got the photos were disturbed by the images and reported the matter to the police, according to the complaint.

Laughton became New Hampshire’s first elected transgender state representative in 2012 and was praised by New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley as part of the “backbone of the Granite State.”

After days of evasion — and under pressure from public officials hearing from a concerned public — Hillsborough County jail officials confirmed to NHJournal Thursday that former Democratic state Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton is being “housed in a male unit.”

The information was released the same day Laughton — a biological male who identifies as a woman — was indicted on new federal charges in a child daycare pornography case. The graphic details of the alleged crimes — involving children under the age of five — have left many in the Granite State stunned.

On Thursday, a grand jury handed up indictments against Laughton, 39, and lover Lindsay Groves, 38, on three counts each of sexual exploitation of children. Groves is also charged with one count of distributing child pornography.

Laughton additionally faces state charges of distributing child sex abuse images. The pair have been held in jail since their arrests last month.

After refusing for days to disclose where accused child pornographer Laughton is being held, Hillsborough County Department of Corrections Superintendent Joseph Costanzo relented and confirmed New Hampshire’s first transgender elected representative is being housed with other men.

“The individual you are seeking information on is housed in a male unit in accordance with PREA standard 115.42(c) & (e). The specific location and housing unit and cell assignment will not be disclosed to protect the safety of all individuals and the security of the institution,” Costanzo told NHJournal via email.

Laughton is listed as a biological male on the jail intake forms.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL TIMELINE OF LAUGHTON’S CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, RECORD AS NH HOUSE DEM

Both Groves and Laughton are being held at Valley Street Jail in Manchester. Costanzo initially told NHJournal it was his policy not to disclose that information, claiming it was not a matter of public record. However, he could not cite any specific written policy or law prohibiting public disclosure.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA, policies Costanzo cites deal with screening transgender and intersex inmates for housing assignments.

“(c) In deciding whether to assign a transgender or intersex inmate to a facility for male or female inmates and in making other housing and programming assignments, the agency shall consider on a case-by-case basis whether a placement would ensure the inmate’s health and safety and whether the placement would present management or security problems.”

And:

“(e) A transgender or intersex inmate’s own views with respect to his or her own safety shall be given serious consideration.”

State Rep. Kathrine Prudhomme O’Brien (R-Derry), who was among those pushing Costanzo to disclose Laughton’s housing gender assignment, said Laughton being kept with biological men is a victory for public safety.

“The safety of female inmates is important, and there shouldn’t be loopholes that could be taken advantage of that make them more vulnerable. I’m pleased to learn Laughton is housed appropriately,” Prudhomme O’Brien said.

Laughton has been in long-term relationships with biological women like his wife, Lisa Laughton, and Groves.

Laughton made national news in 2012 by becoming the first elected transgender member of the New Hampshire legislature, winning accolades from New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley — despite the Democrat’s criminal history. After years of run-ins with the law, Laughton was still on a suspended sentence for a 2008 felony credit card fraud conviction under his original name, Barry Laughton, when Democrats endorsed him for the state House.

Laughton’s tangled criminal and political career also includes making a bomb threat at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and stalking Groves.

According to a statement released Thursday, Groves worked at Creative Minds located in Tyngsborough, Mass. It is alleged that, between May 2022 and June 2023, Groves took nude images of children at the daycare and sent the photos to Laughton.

The pair engaged in graphic text conversations in which they discussed child rape. At one point, Laughton appears to admit to having raped a child in the past. Groves is accused in a civil lawsuit of molesting children at the daycare.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Stacie Laughton is a convicted sexual predator who stalked a woman and is now accused of heinous crimes against children. Is the former Democratic state representative now incarcerated with women? One GOP House member who served with Laughton is trying to find out.

The placement of transgender inmates, like former Democratic Rep. Stacie Laughton, in New Hampshire jails is up to individual jail administrators as well as the specific medical status of the inmate.

Laughton is currently being held without bail in Valley Street Jail in Manchester for alleged trafficking in child sex abuse images supplied by Laughton’s lover, Lindsay Groves. According to reports, Groves and Laughton are currently jailed at Valley Street pending their trials. 

Valley Street’s superintendent, Joseph Costanzo, did not respond to a request for comment on Laughton’s placement. 

However, Rep. Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien (R-Derry) told NHJournal she had concerns about the safety of women who might be incarcerated with an alleged sexual predator like Laughton, saying she had reached out to the superintendent.

“The superintendent reiterated to me that he can’t tell me where they both are housed and that it’s a security concern,” O’Brien said. “He only shared that they are following federal guidelines of The Prison Rape Elimination Act regarding intersex, binary and trans inmates.

“I am not happy with this lack of information as I do think this is a safety concern for female inmates,” O’Brien added. “Or maybe I should say ‘guests’ as a corrections officer in the state prison told me that’s the new term.”

New Hampshire’s Department of Corrections does not automatically house transgender women in the female population or transgender men in the male population. Hillsborough County Jail is unaccredited and does not follow published guidelines for housing transgender inmates.

In New Hampshire, decisions on transgender inmate housing are generally made on a case-by-case basis. The placement of those individuals tends to correspond with biological sex unless the individual is far along in treatment for a medical sex change, though there are exemptions to allow transgender-identifying individuals to be housed with the gender of their preference despite a lack of medical transition progression.

A legislative effort to tighten up the exemptions for incarcerated people,  HB 1180, “Relative to State Recognition of Biological Sex,” failed last year. The bill would have allowed the Department of Corrections to keep transgender individuals housed with members of their biological sex. Laughton missed the House vote to table the bill in March of last year.

Laughton, born Barry Laughton, has been identifying as Stacie Laughton since at least 2012 when Laughton became the state’s first elected transgender lawmaker. It was not clear how far Laughton’s medical transition had progressed. Laughton appears to be balding with many masculine features, though the convicted felon wears makeup and clothing traditionally identified with women. 

Laughton was married for many years to Lisa Laughton, the alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that resulted in the felony conviction that temporarily derailed Laughton’s political career. Laughton has also conducted a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women. 

Laughton and Groves were both arrested last month in the child sex abuse image case. Groves allegedly used her position at Massachusetts daycare facility, Creative Minds in Tyngsborough, to take explicit photos of young children. Groves would then text the images to Laughton.

Laughton and Groves shared approximately 10,000 text messages, at times engaging in graphic discussions about raping children. At one point, Laughton seemingly admitted to past child rape in one conversation, according to court records.

A civil lawsuit filed in Massachusetts alleges Groves herself molested children at the daycare, as well as taking the photos.

Groves and Laughton are facing federal charges connected to the case. Laughton is facing state charges as well. 

Last June, New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley gave a shoutout to state Rep. Stacie-Marie Laughton as one of the “LGBTQIA+ Democrats who are the backbone of the Granite State.”

Today, former Rep. Laughton is under arrest on charges of trafficking child sex abuse images taken by a former lover at a Massachusetts daycare.

When Buckley gave his endorsement last year, Laughton had already been in and out of jail on multiple charges, including credit card fraud and calling in a false bomb threat. But the shocking new charges — Laughton’s partner allegedly took photos of young children at Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsboro — are more serious than the crime of stalking for which Laughton was most recently jailed.

Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, N.H., allegedly used her position at the daycare to take explicit photos of children, sending them to Laughton, who in turn distributed those images to others, according to court documents.

The arrest warrant affidavits in both their cases were still under seal Friday afternoon in the Hillsborough Superior Court—South in Nashua, but the available records show a link between the two cases.

“Groves allegedly used natural bathroom breaks for the children (routine diaper/pull-up changes before ‘naptime’) to take multiple photos of the prepubescent children in a private bathroom and then sent the photos to the individual via text message,” federal prosecutors wrote in a statement on Groves’ arrest.

That same day, Laughton was arrested in Nashua after police were tipped off about the Democrat’s alleged distribution of child sex abuse images. The court descriptions of the child sex abuse images that Groves took with her cell phone and the images that Laughton distributed to others are identical.

Laughton, New Hampshire’s first transgender elected official, spent weeks in jail last year after being charged with stalking and harassing Grove, according to court records. 

Laughton and Groves have a disturbing relationship, and Laughton reportedly harassed Groves and her family off and on for years. When Laughton was arrested last year for harassing Groves, the state representative was accused of using a radio show and social media accounts to stalk Groves and repeatedly called 911 to report Groves was suicidal, according to court records. At one point during the campaign of harassment, Laughton used the word “wife” to describe Groves.

A strange twist in the harassment case alleged Laughton repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job at Creative Minds and spread rumors on social media and on the radio that Groves is a pedophile, according to court records.

Laughton’s criminal history is extensive, including being convicted in 2008 for credit card fraud for stealing from a person in Laconia and charged in 2015 for calling in a bomb threat at the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center hospital in Nashua. Those charges were later dropped as Laughton claimed to be suffering from a mental health crisis at the time.

Laughton first became a state representative from the Democratic stronghold of Nashua in 2012 but was forced to resign soon after when the 2008 credit card fraud arrest became public. Despite pressure from the Democratic Party, Laughton tried to run to fill the vacancy created by the Democrat’s own resignation. But that bid was cut short when it was deemed Laughton was legally ineligible for office since the candidate was still technically serving a suspended sentence for the felony credit card fraud case.

Laughton ran for the seat again in 2020 without any public pushback from the New Hampshire Democratic Party. But re-election in 2022 turned problematic when the stalking arrest left Laughton behind bars on Organization Day, unable to cast a vote for the Democratic Caucus. At that point, Buckley and other Democrats called for Laughton to resign. 

Laughton left the House and entered a plea agreement on the stalking charges. Asked by NHJournal if this was the end of politics for the Nashua Democrat, Laughton said another run for office after completing court-ordered therapy is possible.

The number of opioid-related overdoses first responders treated in Nashua rose sharply in March, up nearly 80 percent over the previous month, according to stats compiled by American Medical Resources (AMR). It is yet another sign the state’s opioid crisis continues in its two largest cities.

Chris Stawasz, the Northeast Regional Director of Government Affairs at AMR, said medics responded to 87 suspected opioid overdoses in March; 62 in Manchester – up 13 percent from February and 25 in Nashua – up 79 percent from February.

While the total number of opioid-related overdoses for the year in both cities is trending lower than last year’s record-setting high, 2023’s death count continues to rise. Last month, there were 10 suspected opioid deaths in Nashua and Manchester, with three in Manchester and seven in Nashua. 

Nashua is getting hit particularly hard this year, according to Stawasz. Suspected fatal opioid overdoses in Nashua are trending 29 percent higher than last year. Even more alarming: one in four suspected opioid overdoses (27 percent) in Nashua this year have been fatal.

AMR medics have responded to 224 suspected opioid overdoses in Nashua and Manchester through the end of Marc,h with 35 resulting in suspected opioid OD deaths; 21 in Manchester and 14 in Nashua.

Jay Ruais, who’s running for mayor of Manchester and has had his own struggles with addiction, points a finger at Mayor Joyce Craig’s management during the ongoing crisis.

“Our city needs to alter our approach to this crisis, the current trajectory is clearly unsustainable. We must grow our police department and fully empower them to go after drug dealers while building better systems for vulnerable individuals at critical intervening moments in our hospitals, jails, and schools.

“As Mayor, I will work to ensure we are coordinating with all those fighting to improve our community and save lives,” Ruais said.

Why are such a high percentage of overdoses becoming deaths? Stawasz believes fentanyl is the culprit.

“The significant increase in deaths is attributed to very potent synthetic fentanyl,l which is now found in all types of illicit substances,” Stawasz said. “People who are using illicit substances can have no idea that what they are using contains synthetic fentanyl – or how potent the synthetic fentanyl in the product is. Synthetic fentanyl can be lethal the first time you use it, knowingly or unknowingly.”

In all, there were 62 suspected opioid overdoses in Manchester during March, bringing the year-to-date first-quarter total to 173. The total number of suspected opioid overdoses in Manchester is currently trending the same as last year on an annual basis, with 12 percent of all suspected opioid overdoses responded to by first responders in Manchester this year having been fatal.

There were 25 suspected opioid overdoses in Nashua during Marc,h bringing the year-to-date first-quarter total to 51. The total annual number of suspected opioid overdoses in Nashua is currently trending 15 percent lower than last year on an annual basis, Stawasz said.

As three-term Mayor Joyce Craig prepares to leave office later this year — possibly to run for governor — she’s leaving behind $276 million in debt, a hole in city budgeting most taxpayers know nothing about.

That is the finding of the nonprofit Truth in Accounting project, which analyzes government budgets and reveals what the public books would show if industry practices were followed.

The Illinois-based 501(c)3 recently looked at the financial reports for New Hampshire’s two biggest cities, Manchester and Nashua, and found both laden with debt that isn’t always disclosed to residents. That type of debt and tax hiding is hurting taxpayers and harming communities, said Sheila Weinberg, co-founder and president of Truth in Accounting.

“We really believe that our representative forms of government are being harmed because citizens are making decisions on tax policy, spending policy, and who they even vote for based on misleading or wrong financial information,” Weinberg said.

On a grading scale of A through F, Manchester and Nashua got D’s from Truth in Accounting, partly due to the lack of transparency.

Looking at the 2021 audited financial reports for each city, Weinberg found Manchester taxpayers face $276 million in debt, while Nashua residents have $272 million thanks to practices like inflated revenue projections, understating the true cost of government functions, and counting borrowed money as income.

In Manchester, clearing out that debt would cost $5,800 per resident. According to the report, it would cost $7,300 for each Nashua resident.

The biggest accounting problem Weinberg found is how the two cities report retirement and healthcare benefits for city employees. In Manchester, the city only recently started including total employee compensation costs in financial reports. Before that, the city would not report how much taxpayers would be paying to fund the pensions and healthcare of employees once they retire.

“That is going to have to be paid by future taxpayers. So these employees are gonna retire, these employees are not gonna be working for future taxpayers, right,” Weinberg said. “But those taxpayers will be responsible for paying for their healthcare when they retire.”

Manchester taxpayers are shouldering a $267.5 million bill for unfunded pension obligations and $54.3 million in unfunded “other post-employment benefits,” or OPEB. Nashua’s split is $221.9 million in unfunded pension obligations and $76.4 million in unfunded OPEB benefits.

Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig announced she is leaving office after years at the helm, letting the next mayor deal with the more than $300 million in unfunded taxpayer obligations.

Jay Ruais, the Republican candidate for mayor, called the report a wakeup call on the need for a fiscally-responsible chief officer in the Queen City.

“A mayor has a responsibility to be a steward of the taxpayer’s dollar and to manage the city’s finances responsibly,” Ruais said. “Our city cannot reach its full potential if we treat taxpayers like a piggy bank and fail to properly plan and prioritize our budgeting, both now and in the future. Using one-time funds for long-term projects, the routine increase in taxes and spending, and the inability to make difficult choices put the city on a dangerous fiscal path.”

Neither Ward 2 Alderman Will Stewart nor At-Large Alderman June Trisciani, both Democrats running to replace Craig, responded to a request for comment.

According to Weinberg, elected politicians tend to spend money that should be going to pensions and OPEB obligations to keep taxes low and fund more popular government programs. This cost-shifting just pushes the bill onto future taxpayers, while politicians appear to be balancing their budgets while keeping taxes low and funding services, she said.

Truth in Accounting’s mission is to show taxpayers the real cost of their government.

“We have worked for years to recast government’s financial reports to show a truer picture of their financial condition, bringing business accounting to these financial statements instead of the political math that is used by the governments,” she said.

State Rep. Stacie Laughton (D-Nashua) will remain in jail as her attorney negotiates a plea agreement in the criminal case alleging she serially harassed a Hudson woman. 

Laughton, New Hampshire’s first elected transgender state representative, is not leaving Valley Street Jail in Manchester until at least Dec. 22, the date of her next hearing. Her attorney, Elliot Friedman, told Judge John Curran he hoped to have a resolution to the numerous criminal charges worked out with prosecutors in the coming weeks.

“We are negotiating a resolution,” Friedman said.

Laughton’s continued custody complicates Democratic hopes of wresting control of the House of Representatives from the GOP. With a razor-thin 201-198 GOP majority in the House, control of the body and the outcome of the secretary of state election on Organization Day (December 7) will come down to attendance.

Laughton is accused of repeatedly violating orders to leave a Hudson woman alone as well as charges of stalking, criminal defamation, and making false 911 calls. Laughton is already facing jail time after she pleaded no contest this summer to charges of making false 911 calls about the same victim. Prosecutors have told the court they plan to ask for the imposition of the suspended nine-month sentence brought in that case.

Laughton is being held without bail on the grounds she presents an ongoing danger to the community and the alleged victim. She was under court orders to leave the woman alone when she allegedly continued her campaign of harassment that stretches back to 2019.

Laughton’s status hearing, held in the Nashua District Court on Thursday, left the troubled state representative in jail pending the plea negotiations. Laughton appeared in court via video feed from Valley Street Jail. Laughton offered little comment during the brief hearing other than to object to the presence of media in the courtroom.

“I object to the press,” Laughton told Curran. “I will give interviews, but I figure right now this is a personal matter I need to deal with without the pressures of the press.”

Curran denied her objection, stating there is no reason to keep the press out of an open court proceeding.

Laughton could technically still travel to Concord for Organization Day, legislative sources said. New Hampshire’s Constitution bars police from stopping representatives from attending sessions at the State House. The question is, how badly do Democrats want her there?

Democratic Caucus leader, progressive Rep. Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester), declined to respond to repeated requests for comment.

Laughton’s disturbed behavior has been apparent for years before she won office as a state representative in 2020. She was convicted in 2008 of credit card fraud for stealing from a person in Laconia. Laughton was then charged in 2015 for calling in a bomb threat at the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center hospital in Nashua. Those charges were later dropped as Laughton claimed she was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time.

Laughton won a seat for state representative in 2012 but was forced to resign soon after her 2008 credit card fraud arrest became public. Despite pressure from the Democratic Party, Laughton tried to run again to fill the seat in a special election after her resignation; that bid was cut short when it was deemed she was legally ineligible for office at the time since she was still technically serving her suspended sentence for the felony credit card fraud case.