Wheeler led three Republican councilors in halting 21 contracts in one meeting until the state produced the records to justify them. It was a record number.
Led by Republican Executive Councilor David Wheeler of Milford, fellow Republican councilors Joe Kenney of Wakefield and John Stephen of Manchester voted as a block to hold off on agreeing to a variety of contracts, stating a lack of data available within the contract which would help them decide whether to support them.
InDepthNH, October 15, 2025
What was missing was not exotic. Certificates of insurance. The names of the people who actually own these companies. What the last contract cost. Every one of those is a way taxpayers get taken, and every one of them was absent from the file.
Wheeler offered to take the contracts up days later at a special meeting, the moment the documents were public. Nobody was asking for delay. They were asking to see what they were being told to sign.
The Council approves every state contract over $10,000. If the paperwork does not have to be there, the threshold means nothing.
