Above, Fish and Game commissioner Susan Price of Moultonborough
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – A rare, possibly unprecedented evidentiary hearing will be held next week on a complaint alleging a Fish and Game Commissioner violated state law when commenting on a personnel matter within the department.
The complaint was made by Col. Kevin Jordan, chief of the department’s law enforcement unit, who alleges that Fish and Game Commissioner Susan G. Price of Moultonborough violated state law related to “prohibited acts.”
It states that “no member of the Fish and Game Commission may be engaged in or involved in any personnel matters of the department…”
Neither Price’s attorney, William D. Woodbury, nor Jordan, who is serving as his own attorney, were available for comment Tuesday.
The hearing is open to the public and scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. April 15 at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s headquarters in Concord.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Velardi said he will serve as hearings officer or essentially a judge and the commission, with the exception of Price, will serve as jury.
According to the department’s website, “The hearing is a contested case evidentiary hearing on complaint alleging unlawful engagement or involvement in personnel matters associated with classified employees in violation of RSA 206:4-b, I.”
“Opportunity shall be afforded to all parties to respond and present evidence and argument on all issues involved. All hearings, deliberations, and vote by the Commission under this paragraph shall be made with a quorum of members present and shall be in public session, provided that the Commissioner who is the subject of the complaint shall not participate as a Commissioner.”
Jordan’s complaint alleges that on Dec. 19, 2023, Commissioner Price violated RSA 206:4-b, I, by discussing a personnel matter involving Jordan, who is a classified employee, and another department employee, who is also a classified employee, with the department’s Human Resources Administrator Deirdre Grimes, according to the website.
Official minutes of that meeting, which InDepthNH.org attended and reported on, do not include any information related to the incident alleged with Price and Grimes.
“The Fish and Game Commission will decide whether a violation of RSA 206:4-b, I occurred and if so, whether a recommendation to the Governor and the Executive Council should be made for appropriate disciplinary action or whether the Commission should instead issue a public reprimand,” according to the website.
Jordan had more than 20 years of department experience as a conservation officer when he began climbing the leadership ladder in 2015 to be current head of law enforcement, which he was promoted to in 2010. He was lauded by then-Executive Director Glenn Normandeau for his “work ethic, tenacity, life experience, patience (and) dedication,” among other traits.
The burden of proof at the evidentiary hearing lies with Jordan.
Price was nominated by Gov. Chris Sununu to serve on the commission as a representative of Carroll County and is an avid hunter with dogs and an advocate for that practice in the state.
The 11-member commission is charged with overseeing the wise use of the state’s fish, game and related wildlife, has the duty to recommend or oppose bills in the legislature and has a representative from each county with one member representing the Seacoast.
The commission is nominated, not elected and sets season limits on fishing and hunting among other duties.
Price served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2008 to 2010 representing Strafford District 3.
A retired hydrogeologist, Price moved to New Hampshire as director of environmental consulting at Liberty Mutual in 1992.
According to a letter to the editor in 2021 when she was a candidate for selectman in Moultonborough, she wrote that in 1999 she founded her own firm from which she retired in 2016.
“My wife, Betsy Staber, and I believe in community service. Betsy volunteers at Senior Meals, and I am second vice president of the Moultonborough Lions Club. We attend the Moultonborough United Methodist Church. I am a member of the Winnipesaukee Sportsmans Club. We are avid outdoor and sports enthusiasts and believe in good stewardship of the environment and natural resources of Moultonborough,” Price wrote.
The evidentiary hearing has been scheduled and rescheduled throughout the past few months for various reasons.
The nature of this highly unusual hearing comes at a time when Scott Mason, executive director of the department who does have oversight of personnel issues has announced he will not seek a second term when it expires this summer. Applications for that job, posted on Feb. 26 are due the same day as the hearing.
The commission is charged with providing nominations to the governor for a replacement to that job but the governor can, as he did last time, reject its nomination.
Commissioner Eric Stohl, in a Jan. 5 special meeting convened to create a special subcommittee for a new director, noted that last time, the commission members initialed all applications to ensure all had a chance to read them then chose five to seven nominations for the search committee to work with. The commission voted on a nomination to the governor which was rejected.
Sununu asked them to give him three new nominations, Stohl said.
Sununu chose Mason as the nominee last time, and the Executive Council confirmed him.
The top job overseeing the department’s seven divisions is an unclassified four-year term paying $95,000 to $132,00 and the posting is here https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt746/files/inline-documents/sonh/executive-director_0.pdf.
In previous meetings on the subject of a new director Price has commented on the transparency of the process to select a new director noting that she thought it was “refreshing” it would be so public and might “stop the criticism that the deck is stacked.”
She asked if the governor had someone he wanted to nominate would they be given an interview and Stohl replied in the affirmative.
Commissioners asked if the whole process for interviews was going to be done in public and Stohl said “yes, that is the advice from legal counsel,” according to the minutes of the special meeting Jan. 5.
The selection subcommittee is chaired by Commissioner Meggan Hodgson of Rockingham County, Commissioners Ray Green of Hillsborough, John Caveney of Cheshire County, and Eric Stohl of Coos County.
As for the evidentiary hearing on Monday, the matter will proceed as a trial with witnesses called and there is no requirement for a unanimous verdict. The notice indicates that the hearing could possibly continue if needed on April 16.