A 2nd Legal Attack To Silence Save Forest Lake

As many of you know, my name is Jon Swan and I am the founder of Save Forest Lake. Upon learning in 2019 about a proposed landfill development next to our beloved Forest Lake State Park, I began an organized opposition group of citizens from throughout the North Country and beyond to stop this disaster of a development project. Since then, we have over 1000 supporters and have now entered our third year of opposition, with numerous victories along the way and a wide-array of fronts opened in orde to prevent this development from happening.

In April of 2020, I was sued by the developer, Casella Waste Systems, for defamation. The obvious goal of this suit was to silence me, as we were obviously having a significant impact on the project via our campaign to raise awareness and share information with the public. That suit continues, with the majority of the claims thrown out by the judge and we are entering the discovery and deposition phases of the suit.

On Monday evening, June 7, 2021, the eve of the Town of Dalton election/town meeting, I was served with a stalking protective order by one of the landowners, with a litany of outrageous claims made against me by the petitioner, with the judge issuing the order informing me that I must stay 300 feet away from that person. This was another attempt to silence me, preventing me from participating in the election and more importantly, the town meeting, in which the "Emergency Temporary Zoning" ordinance that I was responsible for getting enacted in July, 2019, was up for a crucial vote to extend for 1 more year. I was able to get a stay on the protective order, reducing the distance to 10 feet with no interaction. I was able to speak to the zoning article in front of the citizens of Dalton, and the zoning article passed successfully, protecting the town for 1 more year.

In the meantime, I continue to work with the law firm handling my free speech case, but with a different attorney and a new legal front, which will hopefully end at the July 1, 2021 2:45pm hearing in Lancaster, NH at the Coos County courthouse. I would appreciate any help you can provide with my legal expenses. My attorney has informed me that we cannot seek damages or legal fees. Thus, I am going to need your help as it is my goal to see this entire fight thru to victory and the defeat of the Casella landfill project next to Forest Lake. Thank you! Jon Swan