Councilor's Call to Cop About Summons Lands Him In Hot Water

The Concord City Council will soon investigate whether a Ward city councilor inappropriately became involved in city business by talking to a police officer about a traffic summons issued to a friend.

According to an inter-office memo submitted to the council on Jan. 9, Officer Christian Lovejoy of the Concord Police Department reported on an interaction he had with Ward 8 City Councilor in December about a traffic summons issued to Tyler Martel, a Concord resident who is a friend of Patten’s.

In the report, Lovejoy stated he received a voicemail from Patten on Dec. 13, asking for a return phone call to discuss why Martel received a summons instead of a warning. Lovejoy returned the phone call and told Patten that he had observed Martel making an illegal left-hand turn from Clinton Street onto South Spring Street. Lovejoy noted that there were three signs notifying drivers that the turn is not allowed. He told Patten that Martel reportedly said he had been making the turn for years and never noticed the signs. Lovejoy then issued the summons.

Lovejoy stated that Patten reportedly asked why Martel didn’t receive a warning and Lovejoy said he told Patten that he always issued summonses at that intersection. He said that a warning was insufficient, since he didn’t think Martel would change his driving behavior.

In the report, Lovejoy stated that Patten reportedly asked if it was city policy to issue tickets and not warnings. Lovejoy said it was at the discretion of the officer. Patten reportedly asked why he issued a summons with Lovejoy saying he re-explained his position.

Lovejoy stated that Patten “continued to question my decision” and “over the course of several minutes Patten sounded to me as if he was becoming agitated and did not like the answers I was giving him.” Lovejoy then wrote that Patten reportedly asked, “How would you feel about me speaking with one of you supervisors about this.” Lovejoy wrote that he told Patten he had that option and ended the conversation. The officer stated that he then spoke to his watch commander, Lt. O’Malley, about the conversation.

On Jan. 9, during the city council meeting, Mayor Jim Bouley distributed the report as a suspense item and requested that the Rules Committee look into the matter. All 15 members of the board, including Patten, were in attendance and received a copy of the report, according to Bouley, with the board approving the referral by voice vote. There were no nay votes to the motion, he added.

Bouley said, “We treat (complaints) all the same. I received it and I put it on the agenda.”

City charter violation?

The Rules Committee will analyze whether or not Patten violated Section 27 of the city charter. The section states that councilors “shall not seek individually to influence the official acts of the City Manager, or any other officer; or to direct or request, except in writing, the appointment of any person to, or removal from, office; or to interfere in any way with the performance by such officers of their duties; but they may make suggestions and recommendations.”

Any councilors who are investigated and found guilty of the interference can be suspended for up to 45 days or even removed from office. If removed, a special election would be held to fill the council seat.

Bouley said since it was the beginning of a new term, all boards and committees were in the process of being re-seated. He said he would re-seat a new Rules Committee on Jan. 13. The committee would take up whether or not the incident rose to the level of interference and what to do next.

No comment

Patten, who is a former police dispatcher, did not offer comment on the incident or the report. He referred calls to his attorney, Katherine Rogers, a former city councilor who also served as chairwoman of the Rules Committee.

Rogers confirmed that she agreed to represent Patten but did not offer comment about the case at this time. Rogers was elected to the city council in 1991 and served until 2007, when she unsuccessfully ran for mayor. She noted that there had been previous cases before the Rules Committee, including in the 1990s when two sitting city councilors had been alleged to have “misapplied the rules” by interfering with Planning Board meetings.

Rogers, a Democrat, previously served as a state representative, one term as the Merrimack County Attorney, and eight years as a prosecutor for the Allenstown Police Department.

NHGOP gets involved

The New Hampshire Republican Party issued a press release on Jan. 12, calling for a “serious review” of the incident, claiming that Patten tried to fix the ticket, based on their reading of a story published in the Concord Monitor. The newspaper published an editorial today suggesting Patten step down.

The press release stated that the incident raised “serious questions about integrity and (Patten) should receive an immediate review by his supervisors.”

“The fact that Councilor Patten called a police officer, used his official title and threatened to contact the officer’s supervisor all raise serious questions,” said New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Wayne MacDonald in the press release. “I’m glad this is being reviewed because law enforcement’s role must be respected by everyone.”

Nowhere in Lovejoy's report does it state that Patten tried to fix the ticket. City councilors in Concord are elected, not appointed, and therefore do not have supervisors.

Rogers said she was “not surprised by the partisan attack,” adding that the press release seemed to be inaccurate, with Republicans “fanning the flames, trying to damn the other side.”

“To me, it’s a typical partisan reaction to anything,” she said. “It’s a part of the problem. It’s not unexpected but it’s unfortunate.”