Committee chair reports overwhelming opposition to Gunstock bill

CONCORD — A legislative committee was urged to endorse a bill to give the Belknap County Delegation control over Gunstock’s budget, while opponents urged the measure be rejected because it would hobble the operation of a well-managed recreation facility.

The House Municipal and County Governments Committee listened to more than two hours of testimony at a hearing Monday afternoon. Committee Chair Tom Dolan said the panel would likely meet to vote on whether to recommend the bill toward the end of next week.

State Rep. Norm Silber, the bill’s prime sponsor, said the delegation needs to have oversight of Gunstock’s budget in order to make Gunstock accountable to county taxpayers.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Silber said. “It’s a taxpayer issue. There is no accountability at present.”

Silber said Gunstock is owned by the county and so its budget should be subject to the same scrutiny as the 16 county operation areas which have their budgets submitted to County Delegations for review and approval every year.

“The money in their treasury is taxpayer money,” Silber told the committee.

But more than one committee member noted that Gunstock is accountable to the delegation because it is the delegation which appoints the commissioners and it has the power to remove commissioners for cause. However, Silber said that removing a commissioner would be an extraordinary step.

Silber noted that Gunstock still has three bond issues that it is paying on and if it should happen Gunstock cannot make a bond payment on time, then the county has no choice but to cover the payment because the bonds are issued on the county’s credit.

But Gunstock officials and other opponents of the bill said Gunstock is a well-managed recreation business and so needs to be able to make adjustments in response to unanticipated developments in order to be financially successful.

Gunstock President Tom Day said if Gunstock managers had to go the County Delegation or its Executive Committee to get permission to reallocate funds in its budget in order to pay for repairs to a broken ski lift or snowmaking air compressor it would lose valuable time which would likely result in a loss of customers, and hence a loss of revenue.

“You have to adjust,” Day said. “You have 16 weeks to make money. No matter how much you plan things go wrong,” he added, explaining that Gunstock managers need to be nimble to deal with unanticipated problems or unforeseen changes.

Also testifying in opposition to the bill were Gunstock Commission Vice Chair Gary Kiedaisch, fellow Commissioner Rusty McLear, Brian Gallagher, who recently resigned from the commission, and Gunstock Chief Financial Officer Cathy White.

White told the committee it is imperative that Gunstock be able continue to operate as a business and she echoed Day’s testimony that any delay in decision-making would have negative effects.

State Rep. Ray Howard, who chairs the County Delegation’s Executive Committee, was the only other person to testify on behalf of the bill.

Howard told the committee the delegation has no major complaints with Gunstock’s management “at the present. We just want to see their budget,” he said

However, delegation member, state Rep. Tim Lang, testified against the bill, telling the committee “this is about (some on the delegation) maintaining control.” Noting the contentious relationship between the Gunstock Commission and some delegation members at the moment, Lang urged the bill be rejected.

“You’d be stepping into a squabble,” Lang said if the committee were to recommend that the bill should pass.

Al Posnack, one of two members of the public to testify, said the Gunstock Commission functions like a board of directors and they should be allowed to continue doing their job without unnecessary interference. He likened what supporters of the bill are doing to Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft taking over coach Bill Belichick’s playbook.

Committee Chairman Dolan said the committee had received notices from five people in support of the bill, compared to more than 1,200 who are opposed to it.

In his testimony, Silber said the opponents are well-funded and criticized them for resorting to “vituperative statements and lies.”

Lang said that constituents who have called him about the bill are overwhelmingly opposed to it.