Kiedaisch withdraws resignation from Gunstock Area Commission

GILFORD — Gary Kiedaisch formally withdrew his resignation from the Gunstock Area Commission via a letter submitted to the county administrator on Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. Kiedaisch’s letter was addressed to the Belknap County Delegation, the government body made up of the state representatives for the county charged with appointing and removing members of the GAC.

Kiedaisch said he had obtained the legal opinion from a third-party legal expert — an unnamed, retired lawyer — that his resignation had never been accepted or confirmed by either the Gunstock Area Commission nor the Belknap County Delegation.

When asked whether there was any record of Kiedaisch’s resignation being accepted or confirmed by the GAC or county delegation, County Administrator Debra Shackett wrote in an email, “I can only confirm that there has been no meeting of the Delegation and therefore, they have taken no action.”

Delegation Chair Mike Silvia told InDepthNH.org on Monday that he planned to convene a delegation meeting “no sooner than mid-September” to appoint a replacement commissioner for Kiedaisch. Sylvia said this timeline was to allow for the standard period of advertisement for the position and due to the challenge of convening the delegation during summer months. 

Sylvia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an interview, Kiedaisch said that he decided to rescind his resignation after Commissioners Jade Wood and Doug Lambert showed support for the Gunstock management at Tuesday’s commission meeting. Lambert’s support was particularly striking.

“Seeing Lambert realize that Gunstock cannot be run by the GAC, and join forces with Wood,” was instrumental in his decision to reconsider his resignation, Kiedaisch said. “I wouldn’t put myself back into the fray if I thought it would be the same environment as it was before.”

Kiedaisch said he resigned because, during his time on the commission in recent months, “my single vote meant nothing. Lambert had voted 100% in lockstep with Ness and Strang — until yesterday.” 

In an interview at Tuesday’s meeting, Kiedaisch said, “I resigned because I saw no future. If I had known that [Lambert] was going to flip like that, I wouldn't have resigned.”

He is now willing to resume his role on the commission because he feels Wood and Lambert will be supportive of the management team and of Gunstock’s future as a “viable, contributing county asset.” 

When asked for comment, Lambert said in writing, “I don’t really know what to think about that at the moment — I have been here all day with Commissioner Wood and haven’t had time to think about much outside of the job at hand, which is to assist staff with Soulfest prepping and trying to keep vital services in some form of operation.”

Wood said she had no comment on Kiedaisch’s resignation withdrawal.

Kiedaisch also expressed frustration at seeing the GAC deadlocked during Tuesday’s meeting, where Wood and Lambert’s motions to open public comment were defeated by Ness and Strang, and Ness and Strang’s motions to adjourn the meeting were defeated by Wood and Lambert.

“I want to be a blocker of any initiative to lease Gunstock to a private company,” Kiedaisch continued.  

If Kiedaisch is prevented from withdrawing his resignation, and if Ness and Lambert either resign or are removed from the GAC by the county delegation — a significant “if” — the GAC would be left with only two members. Wood and Lambert alone would not constitute a quorum, as the GAC enabling statute requires three members, a majority of its intended body of five, to take any action.