Silber Service, Tarnished

In NH, we have a 400 member volunteer House of Representatives. We have their contact information. We can call them. We can email them. We can email committees. 

They are our representatives. 

They get a lot of email. They hear from constituents. They hear from people all over the state who are concerned about issues. They also hear from lobbyists and special interest groups - from both inside and outside the state. They get paid $100 a year. It's a lot of work. 

They are our representatives.

That's why this exchange is so troubling: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kimberly Meuse 
Sent: Monday, May 1, 2017 1:51 PM
To: HouseElectionLawCommittee@leg.state.nh.us
Subject: No on SB3

Dear House Election Law Committee,

I’m very troubled by the solution-seeking-a-problem with our state’s SB3 bill. Our own Secretary of State has had to admit that there are no occasions where out-of-staters have come over our border to vote in our elections, and certainly his own claim of “perception” manufactured without evidence by some state reps isn’t enough to put this law into effect. The result would be limiting the ability for legitimate residents to vote based on fear-mongering and partisan gain. Town officials have no clue how to affect the requirements in this bill and pay for the staff to go door to door to fulfill the bill’s draconian measure of proof of domicile. Finally, the bill would require voters to pay a poll tax of $5000 if they don’t have proof of domicile within a small time frame. This isn’t about making our elections “fair”. It’s about recourse for the 1000 voter margin that put a Dem in the Senate.

Enough. 

Best,
Kimberly Meuse

             And the response? 

From: Norman J Silber <njs@silbersnh.com>

Subject: RE: No on SB3

Date: May 1, 2017 at 4:06:48 PM EDT

To: Kimberly Meuse 

Who are you and where do you live? Do you have anything intelligent to add to this debate- your email certainly indicates a lack of a realistic understanding of the issues.

Unhelpful emails such as your just clog my in box and will  be blocked in the future.


Norman Silber
Member of the NH House of Representatives Belknap County District 2- Gilford & Meredith

 Ms. Meuse didn't do anything to deserve this kind of a response. 

The arrogance and rudeness is astounding, coming from a freshman state representative. It seems Rep. Silber counts on that R next to his name to ensure his re-election, and not charming disposition or  his behavior toward voters who have the nerve to question him. 

A reminder from the House General Court Handbook, back in the days when it was still online - before the behavior of the majority party was so embarrassing that they took this down: