‘Shaken to my core’: Gunstock employees take issue with communication from commission

LACONIA — What the Gunstock Area Commission characterizes as “doing our jobs” has created unrest within the ranks of Gunstock Mountain Resort’s staff members, and their distress bubbled to the surface during the commission’s June 22 meeting at the Belknap County Complex.

“This is the first time in my experience I have ever been shaken to my core,” said Robin Rowe, who serves as director of resort services at the county-owned recreation area. She said the entire organization has been suffering “because of what we are living here on a day-to-day basis.”

“It is troubling,” Rowe said. “The morale is affected. I don’t know if you realize this. It is not good, and it is because of this contentious nature that I’ve never experienced, ever, in 21 years.”

She continued, “I want to know from all of you, what are you so angry about? ... Everything that comes out of your mouth is argumentative, like you are on an attack.”

The comments came during a discussion of the annual company audit, which Dr. David Strang, vice-chair of the commission and chair of the newly established audit committee, had halted.

Commission Chair Peter Ness explained that he sent an email at Strang’s request, saying the audit would be halted, after contacting the auditing firm to let it know that the commission had established an audit committee. The auditors told him, Ness said, that they would need to meet with the audit committee before proceeding. A meeting has been scheduled for next week.

Strang appointed Representative Barbara Comtois of the Belknap County Delegation and former representative John Plumer to serve with him on the audit committee, but the committee has not yet met.

Although Ness had signed the audit agreement on May 25, he claimed not to know that the audit would be getting underway on June 20. Strang had just pulled together the audit committee when they learned that the audit was already in progress.

Strang challenged Chief Financial Officer Cathy White after learning that Gunstock was continuing to do the field work necessary for the audit even after she had received Ness’ email halting the process.

“Who’s in charge of the mountain?” Strang asked, to which President and General Manager Tom Day responded, “I am.”

“I disagree, and I’m very concerned that you’re in charge of the mountain,” Strang shot back. “What role do you think that the commission has?”

White said the audit committee has no role to play until the auditors file a draft report, and she complained that she had not even received notification when the members of the audit committee had been appointed.

“This should not be contentious like everything else,” White said.

Ness attempted to calm the situation by explaining that the audit committee is something new, and he said they were not pausing the field work, just seeking to get their questions about the audit answered. He characterized the problem as miscommunication.

“It’s my personal experience that, unfortunately, when the primary means of communication with a large group of people is email, so much is lost in translation,” Ness said.

“The fact that we’re having this type of conversation for more than a year,” White said, “this is not some obscure thing that happens; it happens every year. I reached out for clarification of the audit committee, the framework, and how I can assist.”

Commissioner Jade Wood addressed Strang, saying, “It’s not miscommunication when you didn’t let them know who was on the commission.”

Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch observed that he has not received much communication from the rest of the commission, and he urged Strang to “tone it down. There’s no need to go on the attack.”

Ness said he did not think the letter calling a halt to the audit was “that significant” but he acknowledged that “It has turned into a matter of grave concern.”

Wood said it is a fair question to ask whether a single member of the commission can issue a directive such as the one halting the audit. Ness said he would make sure to look into that question because “certain things don’t require a public meeting and some do.”

Public comment

The contentious atmosphere was present from the beginning of the meeting when Ness announced a new public comment policy in response to criticism last month about having to wait until the end of the meeting to speak, when decisions had already been made. Ness said he wanted to try allowing public comments at the beginning of the meeting instead.

As part of the new procedure, he asked that Gunstock employees not speak during the public comment period to ensure that other members of the public have time to speak. He said employees should bring their questions to Gunstock’s management instead.

That produced an outcry from the crowd gathered in meeting room, about half of whom were employed by Gunstock. In contrast with last month, many of them also said they preferred speaking later, after hearing the discussion of agenda items.

Ness responded by asking the commission to allow public comments at both the beginning and the end of the meeting.

Former Commissioner Ruth Larson accused the current commissioners of imposing “death by 1,000 cuts” in an effort to destroy Gunstock. She asked by what authority the commission could say that employees cannot speak.

When several people suggested allowing comment during the discussions on individual agenda items, Strang retorted, “How do you feel about a seven-and-a-half-hour meeting?”

During the second public comment period, Heidi Preuss again addressed the audit, saying it was a messy process because the committee was established at the last minute. She said the commission needs to “get to a place of calm.”

Skip Murphy said, “It’s clear there is a discontinuity here. There’s a lot of animosity, and frankly, I think the audience, mostly made up of employees, I think you have a right to free speech, I don’t have a problem, but it’s clear when you all yell in one voice about something that’s said that you don’t like, it’s clear that it’s political... I think almost all of the animosity that’s going on is because a political power base shifted, and it’s not being well-appreciated.”

An unidentified speaker disagreed. “In the past, we had a commission that helped propose new ideas, that developed a master plan. And I certainly see that there are some issues with the master plan that not everyone likes, but there’s been no discussion since this new commission has been made up, of what a new master plan should look like.”

A public nonpublic session

There was to be a nonpublic session to discuss Day’s refusal to turn over personal contact information on Gunstock employees. With charges of insubordination likely, Day asked that the session be open to the public.

Ness explained that the request came from the attorney looking into the background of the commission’s lawsuit against the Belknap County Convention. The attorney is preparing a final report, Ness said, and he wants to be able to contact employees as part of his investigation.

Day said he did not understand why they would need personal emails and telephone numbers when anyone they wanted to speak with could be reached through Gunstock. Besides, he said, no seasonal employees would have any knowledge of the lawsuit except what they read in the newspapers.

Becky LaPence, Gunstock’s director of human resources, said releasing the personal contact information would violate expectations of privacy and that direct contact with the attorney, rather than channeling the information through Ness — an involved party in the matter under investigation — would be a better way to go.

Kiedaisch said the four commissioners who initiated the lawsuit — himself, Brian Gallagher, Russ Dumais, and Rusty McLear — are the ones with the most information, but the attorney has yet to contact them.

“What they’re doing is plucking away because there’s enough documentation and enough recordings and videos to be able to clarify exactly what happened, when it happened, and how it happened,” Kiedaisch said, adding that there was no reason to seek information from Gunstock employees.

Ness conceded that having the attorney contact Day and make a formal request for what was needed would be a satisfactory response to the matter.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the last name and title of staff member Robin Rowe, director of resort services, and to correct the first name of Peter Ness, chair of the Gunstock Area Commission.