Gunstock Commission seats will likely remain vacant until after the primary

GILFORD — The turmoil embroiling Gunstock Mountain Resort, and almost costing it the winter season, has put a spotlight on the members of the Belknap County Delegation. Despite the departure of former Gunstock Area Commissioners Peter Ness and Dr. David Strang and the return of Gunstock’s management, that spotlight has not dimmed — and the Sept. 13 primary is fast approaching.

Questions about the relationship between various Republican factions in county and state politics swirl in Gunstock’s fallout. Meanwhile, there are still two empty seats on the commission for the delegation to fill, and it is unlikely they will do so before the primary. Gunstock, therefore, and how representatives have addressed its turmoil, is symbolically on the ballot come September.

In an interview, delegation Chair Rep. Mike Sylvia of Belmont said the timeline for appointing new commissioners would be discussed at a delegation meeting, but noted that he had no current plan to call one.

Representatives, responsible for appointing and removing Gunstock Area Commissioners, were pressured by the public at recent GAC meetings, as well other members of county leadership, to remove Ness and Strang — who the management said caused their resignation by creating a toxic work relationship. 

Before Strang’s departure from the GAC, Sylvia appeared ready to make an appointment. A meeting called by Sylvia was canceled days before it was scheduled to take place Aug. 8; the agenda for that meeting had been to appoint a commissioner to serve the remaining term of former Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch, who resigned July 20. Sylvia also said that he had instructed Strang not to resign and was ready to hire replacements for management.

The delegation then held an emergency meeting on Aug. 1, where the attending 10 members appointed new Commissioner Denise Conroy to serve out Kiedaisch’s term and accepted a verbal resignation from Strang. That Aug. 1 meeting was called by a quorum of the delegation, led by Rep. Harry Bean of Gilford, who presided as temporary chair in Sylvia’s absence. 

The original agenda of the Aug. 8 meeting, then, was no longer relevant. When the meeting was canceled, County Administrator Debra Shackett read a statement to The Daily Sun that read: “​​The business that was noticed for that meeting has been addressed, therefore the meeting is canceled.”

As the timeline for when GAC seats will be filled extends past the primary, questions about what makes a good commissioner, and what criteria the delegation should use to make its appointments, linger. 

The new appointments, when they are made, will serve for the remaining terms of Strang and Ness, who resigned on July 29, which will expire in November of this year and in 2024, respectively. Members of the public keyed into the Gunstock debate, such as those attending the GAC’s recent meetings, have kept one eye on who should replace Ness and Strang since before they left the commission.

In public comment at the July 26, 29, and 31 GAC meetings, some county residents pointed to Ness and Strang as only demonstrations of the mountain’s broader affliction, namely, they argued, the agenda of the county delegation’s leadership.

The February appointment of Strang in particular — though also those of Ness, Wood and Lambert — drew criticism from members of the public who saw the delegation as replacing ski and hospitality industry professionals with political allies. Strang is the treasurer of the Belknap County Republican Committee and Wood is a state committee representative with the group. 

Commenters at these meetings expressed concern that Sylvia, along with political ally Rep. Norm Silber of Gilford, who chairs the County Republican Committee, could find replacements for the controversial commissioners, chosen for their political relationships rather than exclusively for their relevant experience and qualifications. Several asked their fellow voters to do more research on who they were voting for in the primary.

At the commission’s Aug. 15 meeting, Kiedaisch, as he has before, advocated for stricter screening and qualifications for commissioners and said that the mountain’s turmoil was caused by the appointment of two unqualified commissioners who “never should have been appointed.”

Lambert and Wood took issue with this comment, though Kiedaisch later asserted he was referring to Ness and Strang.  

“As inexperienced as you may think that I am, I am here. I believe the people in this room and these employees stand with me,” Wood said. Wood has also, when public comments turned to politics, reminded meeting audiences that the same delegation that appointed Ness and Strang also appointed her and Lambert, whom the public and Gunstock employees have vocally supported at meetings. 

At Monday’s meeting, Conroy complimented Wood and Lambert. She also echoed statements the two have made previously about what makes a good commissioner: “I think a qualified person is any member of the community that has integrity, that has an open mind and that is curious and can learn,” Conroy said. Lambert and Wood, in interviews, have both described open-mindedness and a willingness to listen and learn as the qualities of a good commissioner.

Conroy also underscored the importance of the GAC operating outside of partisan agendas and affiliations. Conroy has previously identified herself as a registered Democrat: she noted that she and the representatives from Belknap County, as well as the other Gunstock Area Commissioners, occupy different political circles but commended the Republicans that appointed her anyway. 

The bare majority of delegation members that came together to accept Strang’s verbal resignation at the Aug. 1 meeting reflects how Gunstock’s turmoil, and its publicity, could reshape political power and alliances in county representation.

Bean, who led the group of delegates that circumvented Sylvia in calling the Aug. 1 meeting, said that he thinks the GAC seats should be filled after the primary because the result of the vote will show where voters stand on how the delegation handled Gunstock’s recent conflict. Bean, and two other representatives who attended the Aug. 1 meeting, voted to approve Strang's appointment in February.

Citizens for Belknap, a bipartisan political action committee whose mission is to vote out representatives they find to be “radical” and vote in those they find “reasonable,” has put Gunstock at the center of their advocacy — alongside budget concerns for the county nursing home and sheriff’s department — and leveraged awareness of Gunstock’s turmoil to grow their following.

Brian Beihl, an organizer at Citizens for Belknap, said that the PAC is not advocating for the seats to be filled immediately by the delegation. The group has advocated that every representative that did not attend the Aug. 1 meeting should be voted out of office. 

“We are content to wait to ensure that there is an organized process that will appoint reasonable, responsible and qualified candidates to the commission,” Beihl said. “We want to make sure the coalition that brought about the return of Gunstock Senior Management holds together and assures that proper appointments are made.”

Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify the correct title and role of Belknap County Administrator Debra Shackett.