The Hampton, NH selectman who abstained from votes to accept federal ARPA funds in 2021.

Back in 2021 when NH was sucking up the American Rescue Plan Funds, I abstained from the vote to accept these funds in Hampton. Below is the very first term and condition in accepting these grant funds;

• A recipient of a grant or cooperative agreement awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with funds made available under the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L.116-123); the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, 2020 (the “CARES Act”) (P.L. 116-136); the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (P.L. 116-139); the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and/or the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) agrees, as applicable to the award, to: 1) comply with existing and/or future directives and guidance from the Secretary regarding control of the spread of COVID-19; 2) in consultation and coordination with HHS, provide, commensurate with the condition of the individual, COVID-19 patient care regardless of the individual’s home jurisdiction and/or appropriate public health measures (e.g., social distancing, home isolation); and 3) assist the United States Government in the implementation and enforcement of federal orders related to quarantine and isolation.

When I inquired with other board members and the town manager during the public meeting in regard to this condition the response was crickets.

In my view, this condition was an unacceptable risk to local sovereignty.