We won’t take a dive into the dustup between Manchester Alderman-at-large Joe Kelly Levasseur and a parking officer regarding a ticket she gave him for parking at an Elm Street bus stop. For one thing, diving into dust can hurt.
What we would like to know is how does the police department justify “redacting” the names of the two principals? The parking person filed a complaint with the police regarding the alderman’s conduct. The parking person is a public employee. The alderman is a public official. The complaint was taken by another public official and the resulting document is a public record.
Good on Levasseur for acknowledging to the Union Leader that he was the one involved. But demerits to the police department. Claims of wanting to be “transparent” with the public ring a bit hollow when it resorts to blacking out names in cases such as this. It looks like a coverup, literally.
Besides, we thought white-out was the preferred choice in legal circles these days.