Through most of the public hearings, it was apparent to me that there was a real division between what the town felt it was putting out and what the people felt they were hearing.”

Council member Charles Levesque

There’s an undercurrent of people who want to disagree with us just to disagree with us, and they will always disagree. It’s just the way it is; it’s the nature of politics.”

Council member Keith Hamilton

PORTSMOUTH — There’s been a growing disconnect between the Town Council and many members of the public lately and something needs to be done about it, one council member says.

It’s gotten so bad, said council member Charles Levesque, that the town should hire a communications consultant to make sure the council’s message is conveyed accurately to the public through press releases, on its website, and in social media.

Levesque floated the idea of hiring the consultant, which he estimated would cost about $40,000 to $50,000 annually, at the council’s Feb. 26 meeting. As for the job description, Levesque included as backup a request for proposals issued by the New Orleans City Council for a communications consultant that he said was similar to what he had in mind.

The need for the new position became apparent to him, Levesque said, in the wake of five contentious meetings the council hosted at Portsmouth High School. The well-attended meetings on the future of the transfer station, the East Main Road roundabout, and SouthCoast Wind’s application to run transmission cables through a section of Portsmouth were held in October, December and January.

Each meeting was characterized by people speaking out of turn, heckling from the audience, and tempers flaring between residents and some council members. 

“Through most of the public hearings, it was apparent to me that there was a real division between what the town felt it was putting out and what the people felt they were hearing,” Levesque said.

The council member pointed to the fact that some residents claimed they knew nothing about a request for proposals (RFP) regarding the future operation of the transfer station until right before an Oct. 23, 2023 meeting on the topic at PHS.

In fact, the council first voted to develop an RFP for a “hybrid” program — keeping the transfer station open for diversionary of bulky items while also offering curbside pickup for all — in October of 2022. In May 2023, the council reviewed the draft RFP before voting 4-3 to advertise it. 

Both meetings were duly advertised on the town’s website, featured lively debate from residents who wanted to keep the transfer station open, and were covered both in print and online by The Portsmouth Times. 

And it goes beyond residents claiming ignorance about the posting of meetings, Levesque said. Either at meetings, through e-mails or on social media, he said, some residents often accuse town officials of “deliberately misreporting” information.

Public communication is a unique skill which he believes most town staff members do well, but a professional communications consultant would improve the town’s messaging while freeing up administrators’ valuable time, he said.

Such a consultant would make sure “that the information the town has is properly presented to our clients and customers — the citizens — so they know as much as we can possibly let them know about what’s going on.”

Council member Keith Hamilton said he couldn’t support spending $50,000 on a consultant to help get the town’s message out more effectively, noting there are far more important items that need funding. 

“Checking facts and arguing with people online seems like a waste of funds for the town. I could think of a thousand different things that would be better,” Hamilton said. (As an aside, Levesque complimented Hamilton’s ability to diplomatically correct residents’ statements of error on social media.)

Besides, Hamilton said, there will always be people who will speak ill or falsely about their elected officials.

“If somebody didn’t know there was something going on with the transfer station, they weren’t reading the 40,000 signs on the side of the roads, or the six or seven articles that were in The Portsmouth Times, or the 30,000 comments that were made on a Facebook page,” Hamilton said.

“There’s an undercurrent of people who want to disagree with us just to disagree with us, and they will always disagree. It’s just the way it is; it’s the nature of politics. You could say we’re going to give every resident $1,000 next year, and somebody would find a way to disagree with that.”

Noted Council President Kevin Aguiar, “We’re not going to do that, just for the record.”

Website addressed

Vice President Leonard Katzman said when it comes to the town communicating information, his biggest gripe was with the municipal website (www.portsmouthri.gov). 

“The search features are sometimes very useful, and sometimes they’re not,” Katzman said. “If we’re going to be sinking more money into improving information dissemination, I’d like to see it spent on improving (the town’s website).”

Aguiar agreed the town should always look toward improving its technology, and the council could do a better job in communicating its message on particularly controversial topics.

Levesque said the perceived communications gap is “not an emergency,” but he wanted to bring it to the council’s attention for discussion. No action was taken.

This was the second time in as many weeks that Levesque requested an agenda item to address to fallout from the five PHS meetings. On Feb. 12, he and Katzman agreed to draft a six-bullet document of additional rules of conduct at public meetings that will be submitted to the council for final approval.

Levesque said most of his suggestions are already followed by the council, or covered under Robert’s Rules of Order. One change he proposed was for residents sign up to speak beforehand, rather than have a long queue develop in front of the rostrum. Not all council members agreed with that idea, however.

At the Feb. 26 meeting, Levesque introduced a “totally voluntary” method for audience members to be recognized: He purchased a few small American flags from Amazon and placed them near the coat rack just inside the entrance to the chambers. Anyone could grab one and wave it when they wanted to speak, he said.