Gunstock Commission and County Delegation — business vs. politics

GILFORD — From a business perspective, it’s hard to argue against the success and competence of Gunstock Mountain Resort’s current leadership.

During the pandemic, the county-owned ski resort finished the 2020-2021 season with record skier visits, season passes and lift ticket sales, and record profits of $5 million – the most in its history. Over $1 million in capital improvements and $1 million toward retiring long-term debt were paid out of proceeds, without any county contribution or reliance on taxpayers.

A question hangs in the air: Why, at this time, would the Belknap County delegation want to remove the three Gunstock Area Commissioners with significant financial, ski resort or resort development experience in order to appoint three of their choosing? Such an action is within their right, as long as they can prove just cause. 

On Thursday, three Gunstock commissioners – Brian Gallagher, Gary Kiedaisch and Rusty McLear – are seeking an injunction in Belknap Superior Court that will stop the delegation from going forward with a hearing to remove them without due process, which will require hearing witnesses and testimony from both sides. That seems like a reasonable request - and a guaranteed expectation under U.S. law.

Rep. Mike Sylvia of Belmont, chair of the delegation, hopes the court will deny the injunction, which he says is unnecessary.

Rep. Richard Littlefield of Laconia said, “The delegation by law has the right of process for any sort of just-cause removal. The Gunstock Area Commissioners are trying to stop that process. I would hope that Constitutional rights are kept intact.”

At issue are differences of opinion on what Gunstock is, and how it should be run: Is it a business or a government entity?  Are financial and management decisions to made at public meetings, or with county oversight? Or can they be made at business meetings, provided the commission does not direct expenditures or operations, and merely approves large or emergency expenses requested by Gunstock’s general manager?

“Gunstock is not a business. It’s a government entity. It’s hard to merge the two,” Sylvia said.

Both the delegation and the commission say they want transparency, their rights under the law and for the county-owned mountain resort to be sustainable.

For that to continue, Gallagher and Kiedaisch say, Gunstock must be run like a business – with prudent decision making, staff management, long-term goals, and knowledge of when and where to spend and cut back, including the ability to respond with quick decisions and allocations in emergencies, without calling a public meeting. Waiting for a public meeting would mean delays in making time-sensitive repairs to a chair lift when a major part has broken down, and not being able to quickly tap funds from unused budget categories, Kiedaisch said. 

Kiedaisch and Gallagher believe Sylvia’s recent recommendation to the delegation to remove them was motivated by a desire for power and control, in order to appoint their own people, without any evidence or justification - and made partly in retaliation for their no-confidence vote to remove Commissioner Peter Ness, for conflict of interest and other charges that Sylvia said were unproven.

“These folks are politicians that view acquiring power more important than serving taxpayers and residents,” said Gallagher, who has a background in public finance, and is up for reappointment to the commission next year. “They simply are jealous of the fact that we have accomplished remarkable things at Gunstock and have a vision to move ahead.”

Gallagher said at GAC meetings, “We’ve offered (delegation leadership) an opportunity to sit at the table and participate in an official capacity,” which he said they’ve declined. “They are more comfortable making accusations from afar that creates a problem rather than a solution.”

“We are running a business. Gunstock happens to be an entity that is attached to Belknap County,” Gallagher said. “We’re not trying to run a non-profit or a subsidized charity. We earn our money. We pay our people. We expect them to perform.”

“I’ve been asked to resign. I was running it like a business. I got 14 votes over a candidate (for commissioner) that was pre-determined to be the winner,” said Kiedash, who ran Stowe, a major ski resort in Vermont, for eight years and has served as chief executive officer of other companies. “I know how to assemble people, put people to work and run a sustainable business. Gunstock doesn’t receive any income from taxpayers or charitable organizations. Any income comes from customers who choose to buy our services over alternative activities they could do.”

Reps. Ray Howard, Norm Silber, Dawn Johnson and Paul Terry, all members of the Belknap County Delegation, sponsored legislation, HB 1078, to remove budget control from commissioners and place it with the delegation – which amounts to the same control the delegation has in approving funds for the Belknap County Nursing Home. It recently struck monies allocated for oxygen from the nursing home’s budget.  

Kiedaisch and Gallagher worry that, just like in the delegation’s decision not to remove Ness, the delegation will not be allowed by its leadership and core supporters to hear and review evidence and testimony before voting on whether to remove Kiedaisch, Gallagher and McLear.

McLear said he worries that if not required by the court, the delegation - which he says is controlled by a core group that includes Sylvia, Howard and Silber - would not have a public hearing. “What they were going to do was vote to remove us without giving a reason,” McLear said.

The three are requesting the court “to intervene to allow a public hearing where the facts and evidence can be presented,” Kiedasch said.

A 1959 enabling act was designed to keep politics out of Gunstock. It limits the delegation’s control to removing commissioners with just cause, and to approving any bonding or borrowing from county taxpayers. It doesn’t give the delegation any financial management or authority over operations.

“I don’t have a beef with the way it’s being run, as long as it’s being run as a government operation and with transparency,” said Sylvia. “Information is what I want. We appoint commissioners to run the area. I don’t want to run it. We want to make sure it’s done properly.”

Sylvia said he has concerns over whether certain groups such as ski clubs or racing organizations may be  getting preferential treatment or rates, but has no evidence other than hearsay. “I want to know if there are financial considerations that certain groups are getting that are not ordinary in the business, that the owners of the area (county residents) are not informed of. I want the information to be available to the public,” including other commissioners.

Sylvia said he hopes the court will see the commissioners’ complaint and request as “absurd.” He said the delegation has not yet voted whether to remove Gallagher, McLear or Kiedaisch, but will revisit and re-evaluate their removal after the court’s decision.

“It can’t continue to be a government asset if we don’t have transparent operations so it does continue,” Sylvia said. He said he has not reviewed Gunstock’s master plan and did not attend the Dec. 4 meeting detailing the resort’s plans for expansion.

He said he and Rep. Howard have attended commission meetings to listen, but that he has not asked specific questions about contracts or expenditures.

“One great ski year does not make a sustainable operation,” he said. “I want it to be run according to enabling statutes. GAC is a public body that needs to be run in accordance with 91A” – state statutes that require government bodies to hold public meetings.

Uprooting the current commission in charge of what’s viewed as Belknap County’s treasure is widely considered a foolish and self-destructive move, when the county-owned entity is being competently and efficiently run. A recent petition arguing against the removal of Kiedaisch, Gallagher and McLear was signed by 2,200 county residents and published in the Laconia Daily Sun. Gunstock doesn’t depend on tax dollars to stay in business like Cannon Mountain, which is owned by the state of New Hampshire and doesn’t turn a profit. Only once in 21 years did Gunstock need to borrow from county taxpayers.

Not all delegation members back their leadership’s position regarding Kiedasch, Gallagher and McLear.

Littlefield said the majority will want to hear testimony and evidence first. “I’ve seen things that are questionable, but nothing that is criminal,” he said. “I attempted to vote for witnesses and testimonies at our first meeting regarding the attempted removal of Peter Ness.”

He believes a majority of delegates will press for a vote to hear evidence for and against, because most are Constitutional conservatives, but can’t guarantee that such a vote will be taken. “A Constitutionally correct process involved witnesses and testimony,” Littlefield said.

Rep. Mike Bordes of Laconia said, “There needs to be more transparency on both sides. I want to be presented with actual evidence, if and when they did something. I think we should kick that back down the road. We need to re-evaluate the situation with Commissioner Ness as well. I’d like to see facts and know all the details and not just go off he said, she said.”

Bordes said he recently started going to Gunstock Area Commission meetings. “I just think there needs to be a better line of communication” between the delegation and the commission. “At this point I haven’t seen any wrongdoing.” If there are possible 91-A violations, “I think we need to sit down and educate them on 91-A rules, not just jump to removing commission members.  I don’t think anyone would purposely violate something.”

Rep. Tim Lang of Sanbornton, who has a background in law enforcement, believes in due process, including before making decisions on whether to remove someone from office. “You still have the public hearing and let everyone who’s going to testify, testify – and then vote.” In the case of Peter Ness, “We didn’t have a chance to do that.”

“I find Kiedaisch to be an extremely good businessman,” Lang said. “The way he might have done things is a little bit different from the way things are done in the public realm. His career has been in business. You just have to educate him.”