Resident requests investigation of alderman’s alleged actions at Beech Street shelter

MANCHESTER, N.H. – A request has been sent to the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) asking that Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor face a conduct review board for allegations related to the Beech Street Shelter.

The request has come from Manchester resident Rosanna McMahon, claiming that Kantor entered the shelter and left with information that included names and bed numbers of residents at the shelter, without authorization.

McMahon has requested that the BMA initiate a formal Conduct Board review of the allegations and censure Kantor if it is found that the allegations against her are true.

Manchester Ink Link reached out to Kantor for comment about the incident as described in McMahon’s letter. She declined to comment for this story.

McMahon told Manchester Ink Link that she has not talked to Kantor and is unsure of her intentions, but taking information about shelter residents without permission violates their privacy and is psychologically damaging during a time when they are already likely facing various traumas in their lives. In particular, she noted that if this information became public, it could result in physical harm to any homeless individual trying to escape domestic abuse if their abuser discovered their whereabouts.

“Some people might be forgetting that while these people are homeless, they still have rights,” said McMahon.

Over the past few months some aldermen, including Kantor, have pressed Director of Housing Stability Adrienne Beloin for data on how many people have moved through the shelter since opening, and how long those who are there have remained.

In a report published earlier this week by the NH Union Leader, Manchester City Solicitor Emily Rice indicated that aldermen would not be entitled as a matter of law to obtain information related to residents’ personal data. Rice stated in her opinion that such an action by any Alderman would violate Part 1, Article 2b of the New Hampshire State Constitution, amended in 2018, which grants that an individual’s right to “live free from governmental intrusion in private or personal information is natural, essential, and inherent.”

Rice’s determination was that the daily shelter logs were not subject to disclosure because they don’t appear to meet the definition of a “governmental record.”

Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long on Tuesday said he disagrees with Rice’s opinion and believes that because the city is paying the shelter staff through a contract they have the right to access data.

“It’s a matter of transparency,” Long said.