By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
STEWARTSTOWN – Outgoing Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier said he plans to use whatever means possible to see that Coos County Commissioner and fellow Berlin City Councilor Robert Theberge is called to task for what Grenier considers theft of “more than $500” in county funds, and which Theberge denies.
Grenier reviewed mileage reimbursement requests for the first three quarters of 2023 for his successor on the commission and found that Theberge charged the county for more than $3,200 in mileage. Grenier claims some requests were fraudulent.
Theberge said Friday at a public meeting of the commission that there is one reimbursement for just $14.08 that he will repay, which was an oversight.
Theberge stands by all others as justified. Theberge said he plans to take all the other claims by Grenier and respond to them in writing.
On the one for $14.08, Theberge said, “I don’t mind reimbursing the county…It was not done intentionally. It was a mistake on my part.”
The charge was for mileage to Milan to the Berlin Airport for a meeting when Grenier said the meeting was in fact at Berlin City Hall, just prior to the regular meeting of the council.
“He owes a hell of a lot more than that,” Grenier alleged in a phone conversation after the meeting, which InDepthNH.org covered remotely by Zoom.
“I had not approached the Attorney General to go that route to get to the bottom of this,” but Grenier said he would now use any means possible to see that the county is made whole.
Theberge couldn’t be reached after the meeting.
Grenier, who did not run for another term on the Coos County Commission and lost his bid for another term as mayor, also claims that Theberge put in for two trips to Concord to attend hearings on House Bill 142, related to the Burgess biomass plant. Grenier said he was there both days and did not see Theberge, nor did he sign in as in favor or opposed to the bill and did not testify.
Grenier said that annually, he might put in for $800 to $1,100 in mileage, and the other commissioners’ mileage was within the normal range, but Theberge put in for over $3,000 in reimbursements for the first three quarters of 2023.
Theberge said during the meeting, “I’ll be honest with you, if Mr. Grenier were honorable and a gentleman, he could have handled the situation…he could have conferred with me one-to-one…”
Theberge is a Republican, and a former state representative who holds a doctorate from Pennsylvania State and worked as a Russian interpreter for the U.S. Navy. He is a native of Berlin and switched from Democrat to Republican in political affiliation in 2017 and has previously served in the House of Representatives.
Grenier has been the longtime Democratic mayor of Berlin, who lost reelection this November and his last day on the job is Tuesday.
The three-member Coos County Delegation met with its attorney, Jonathan Frizzell in public session Friday, He outlined applicable state law and suggested the commission have a policy in place to deal with what constitutes and does not constitute a justifiable mileage request.
A copy of his memo is here: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox?projector=1
Frizzell said he represents the whole board and not a specific commissioner. He said he did not review Theberge’s mileage but noted a 2013 change which required commissioners to submit an agenda or some evidence of their attendance at a meeting.
He said if Theberge followed what policy existed, he was fine so long as any oversight was repaid. He also provided a draft new policy which could be adopted.
The three commissioners also discussed important factors relative to more than one commissioner attending a meeting, noting that two – when they are together constitute a meeting quorum – and Frizzell said that it would be advisable that only one attend.
Frizzell said any commission action on a policy would be a recommendation to the Coos County Delegation which would have to act on any policy.
The commission took the legal information under advisement and did not take any specific action Friday.
According to the draft minutes of the Coos County Delegation on Dec. 11, Grenier asked for a full investigation by the delegation into mileage reimbursements for Coos County Commissioner Theberge and distributed copies of Theberge’s mileage requests for the first three quarters of the year 2023 totaling about $3,200.
He said there were a number of questionable charges “that appear as downright fraud and should be investigated” including disbursements for mileage to Concord, a meeting at the Berlin Airport, the Coos County Planning Board and the Coos Economic Development Committee the latter two boards of which Theberge is not a member.
State Rep. Mike Ouellet, R-Colebrook, asked the County Attorney to investigate but he declined stating a conflict of interest.
Frizzell said the commission could hire an experienced private attorney to investigate but noted it would likely cost the county upwards of $25,000.
He said Grenier has legal recourse in the matter by asking for a special counsel.
Frizzell said it is hard to say if there was a violation of policy as there “is not much of a policy to begin with” and he sees his role as advising the entire board and not taking up any prosecution of an individual member.
In April, 2023, the Berlin Sun reported that Grenier stepped down from the Androscoggin Valley Regional Refuse and Disposal Commission after 19 years because the County Commission had appointed Theberge to it, while Grenier still had a term through March of 2025.
While Grenier said it was illegal to remove him and awkward when the two men appeared at a meeting, he resigned “in the best interest” of the board and said he was proud of his service.
Grenier lost his re-election as mayor to Republican Robert Cone who will take office next week.
He said the matter is not over with Theberge’s comments at the table.
“I’m not going to let him blow it off,” Grenier said.
It comes as a mileage scandal is playing out with respect to the former state Rep. Troy Merner, R-Lancaster who resigned from the House and as a Lancaster selectman following allegations he moved out of his district and continued to vote in the House and collect state mileage from the district.
Merner pleaded not guilty to the charges and the Attorney General’s Office is continuing its investigation.
The Lancaster selectmen have asked Merner to repay the $3,575 stipend he accepted while serving as a selectman after he moved out of Lancaster to the time he resigned.
He hasn’t done so, but has until early February. Merner hasn’t been charged with any crime in connection with the selectman’s stipend.
Paula Tracy has covered news in New Hampshire since 1987.