McLear booted from Gunstock Commission, says he'll re-apply

GILFORD — Gunstock Commissioner Rusty McLear was stripped of his right to participate in the commission’s proceedings at the outset of its meeting Wednesday.

Three of the commissioners voted to support the move, citing the questions over the legality of McLear’s membership on the five-person commission, and that commission’s appointive authority had declared his seat vacant.

The only commissioner to vote against divesting McLear of his role on the panel was Gary Kiedaisch, the acting chair, who instead urged that McLear be allowed to participate until the Belknap County Delegation appoints a new member which is scheduled to take place on April 12. Commissioners Peter Ness, Dr. David Strang, and Jade Wood voted to strip McLear of his role. McLear was not allowed to vote.

The Belknap County Delegation appointed McLear to the Gunstock Commission in June 2020 for what was officially noticed at the time as a five-year term. McLear joined the commission after Commissioner Stephan Nix resigned before completing his term. Nix’s term was due to expire in November 2020.

Delegation chair, state Rep. Mike Sylvia, told McLear in a letter that announcing in 2020 that the term was for five years was an error, and that rather the term should have only been for the six months remaining in Nix’s term, under the terms of the Gunstock Commission bylaws.

“... you are not presently validly serving as a GAC commissioner,” Sylvia told McLear in the letter dated March 16.

Strang said McLear was disqualified from participating in commission business because the delegation had declared his seat vacant.

But McLear said his lawyer had advised him that the view that he was no longer validly serving was incorrect and that he intended to proceed based on the advice his attorney was giving him.

“I don’t want to make a big deal about this, but that’s what my lawyer is telling me,” he said.

In offering what he called a compromise, Kiedaisch asked that McLear be allowed to continue serving as a “de facto” member until the delegation appoints another commissioner next month.

Strang, however, indicated the matter was not negotiable.

“The law is clear,” he said, referring to Gunstock’s bylaws. “His term ended in November 2020.”

Kiedaisch cited what he would only describe as an “anonymous legal opinion” which concluded McLear’s term of office was for five years because that is what was officially advertised at the time the position was filled. When pressed by other commissioners, Kiedaisch declined to identify its author.

Ness said without knowing who provided the opinion it was impossible to assess its credibility.

“We’re entitled to know where legal advice is coming from,” Ness said. “Is it coming from LegalZoom or someone who has legal credentials?”

After the motion was made to have McLear step aside, McLear asked that the wording be amended to include the disclaimer that his presence on the commission beyond November 2020 was “through no fault of his own.”

“I don’t admit my membership is illegal. I don’t plan on resigning and I plan on applying to be reappointed,” he said.

Ness said McLear was not being accused of having acted with ill will.

Strang said causing McLear to step aside was strictly a matter of enforcing the laws governing the Gunstock Commission. But McLear said he believed that the move to remove him from the commission was politically motivated.

McLear, an entrepreneur, known for his development of a group of hotels in Meredith, was a strong supporter of expansion plans for the county-owned recreation facility. Those plans included adding hospitality amenities such as a slope-side hotel and mountain-top restaurant.

However, Sylvia and some other members of the county delegation have become increasingly uncomfortable with the direction Gunstock has taken in recent years, particularly as manifested in the area’s master plan presented last year.