Concord Ethics Board Dismisses Meritless Claims Against At-Large Councilor

Concord Ethics Board Dismisses Complaint Against City Councilor as Unsubstantiated

The Concord Board of Ethics unanimously dismissed an ethics complaint against At-large City Councilor Amanda Grady Sexton on Friday, concluding that the allegations were based on conjecture, lacked specific violations of city ethics rules, and misapplied state law.

The complaint, filed in January by Claire Best, a California resident who owns property in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, contained serious accusations against Grady Sexton and her employer, the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Best alleged that they had fabricated assault victims, manipulated evidence in the 2015 trial of former St. Paul’s student Owen Labrie, profited from victim settlements, and engaged in online stalking.

Board member Steve Shurtleff emphasized that the ethics panel “deals simply with facts, not prepositions, not ideas, not thoughts, not conjecture,” highlighting the speculative nature of the allegations. The board, which evaluates complaints to determine if they merit public hearings, noted that Best’s complaint failed to outline any specific action or vote by Grady Sexton that would constitute an ethics violation.

Following the brief ten-minute hearing, Grady Sexton characterized the complaint as “a reckless publicity stunt” and “an abuse of the ethics process.” She added, “Harassment is a crime in the state of New Hampshire, and so is falsely accusing people of crimes. I hope that Claire Best is held accountable.”

The hearing drew more than a dozen attendees, including several city councilors who expressed support for Grady Sexton. Notably absent were Best herself and Ward 5 Councilor Stacey Brown, who had previously repeated some of Best’s allegations. Brown is married to an officer in the Concord Police Department.

In her written response to the complaint, Grady Sexton had stated, “No court, litigant, or regulated entity in the Labrie matter or any of the legal matters referenced in the complaint remotely suggested, let alone found, that I engaged in any of the allegedly unethical or illegal activities referenced in the complaint.”

The ethics board also expressed concern about the timeline of the allegations, noting that events surrounding the Labrie trial occurred nearly a decade ago. Additionally, the board clarified that the public safety board, which Grady Sexton chairs, has no control over police pay or spending, countering another claim in the complaint.

This complaint appears to be part of a broader campaign against Grady Sexton and the Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Best has made similar accusations over the past six years across social media, blogs, and podcast appearances. She also supported a bill in the New Hampshire State House this winter to cut the coalition’s funding pending a financial investigation, a measure that Councilor Brown also endorsed.

After the dismissal, Grady Sexton issued a statement saying the board’s decision demonstrates that “our local processes cannot be hijacked to advance conspiracy narratives.” She characterized the allegations as “demonstrably untrue” claims that have been “repeated online without any evidence and pushed through official channels… in an effort to manufacture legitimacy.”

In an interview following the hearing, Grady Sexton distinguished the situation from a mere political disagreement, saying, “A city councilor is promoting a woman who is making accusations about another city councilor, that she is engaging in human trafficking and has manipulated a trial through DNA tampering. That is very different than ‘Amanda and Stacey aren’t getting along.'”

Expressing relief at the complaint’s dismissal, Grady Sexton said she looks forward to refocusing on her advocacy work in the State House and service to Concord residents, adding, “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”