Gunstock election measure gets the ax

CONCORD — Legislation to have members of the Gunstock Area Commission elected by the voters was killed Thursday when a committee voted to strip the measure out of the bill to which it had been attached.

The Senate members of a committee of conference acceded to House conferees who opposed the measure.

The measure, which passed the Senate on May 5, was sponsored by Sen. Bob Guida who offered it as a floor amendment to a bill to lengthen the terms of elected Rockingham County officers.

On Thursday, Guida, who had been on the committee of conference, was asked to yield to the House conferees’ position, but when he refused he was removed from the committee by Senate President Chuck Morse.

“They threw Gunstock under the bus,” said Guida. “Instead of doing the right thing, they did what was expedient. I was not going to accede to turning down what I believed so strongly in.”

The bill would have had the five Gunstock commissioners elected for overlapping six-year terms.

Guida’s proposal, however, was opposed by most of the current Gunstock commissioners and many members of the Belknap County Delegation, which is the body which currently appoints the commissioners.

Asked to comment on the committee’s decision, County Delegation Chair Mike Sylvia said in a text, “Few members of the Legislature read The Laconia Daily Sun, therefore they are not misinformed.”

In offering the measure, Guida said direct election of Gunstock commissioners would remove the panel from the political influence of the County Delegation, which on Thursday he accused of skullduggery and misusing their lawful authority in order to advance their own agenda.

“They’re Free Staters. They’re not Republicans or Democrats,” said Guida, who on Thursday also announced that he was retiring from the Senate after three terms.

“When you have a problem with a political body, you reach out to the people,” he said in explaining why fought for the direct-election idea.