Silber complaint to state GOP against local reps unlikely to bring action

At the end of November, with party committee elections on the horizon, Belknap County Republican Committee Chair Norm Silber submitted a formal complaint to the New Hampshire GOP asking them to suspend the state party committee membership of former Rep. Gregg Hough (R-Laconia) and Reps. Mike Bordes (R-Laconia) and Travis O’Hara (R-Belmont). The reason, according to the complaint, was because the three had publicly supported a candidate for public office of another party when a Republican option was present, a violation of NHGOP bylaws.

The candidate in question was Gunstock Area Commissioner Denise Conroy, whose appointment allowed the delegation to accept a verbal, conditional resignation from former commissioner David Strang, current BCRC treasurer. The Belknap County Delegation, made up of the representatives elected to the Statehouse, is charged with appointment and removal of the Gunstock Area Commission, the five-member board that oversees Gunstock Mountain Resort’s management. 

According to emails obtained by The Daily Sun, state party Vice Chair Pamela Tucker forwarded the complaint to Jade Wood, a Gunstock commissioner who also serves as area vice chair for the state party. Wood was elected to the state committee, which elects county party leadership, on Wednesday.

“If it was such a big issue, why now is he bringing it up?” Tucker wrote. The appointment cited in the complaint took place on Aug. 1.

“The position of a Gunstock Area Commissioner is non-partisan and being in attendance for the appointment hearings, I can attest that Denise [Conroy] was in fact the most qualified,” Wood responded.

“Norm should have learned that injecting politics into the management of Gunstock is a poor choice, long before it cost his (and several others) re-election,” Wood continued. “What he's doing is a shabby attempt to hold onto power.” 

Tucker and Wood did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their exchange. Tucker and NHGOP Chair Stephan Stepanek did not respond to a request for comment on the complaint.

If the state party membership of O’Hara, Bordes and Hough — who were each re-elected to the state committee Wednesday — were suspended, it would be a boost to Silber’s chances at reelection as chair of the BCRC. All three are vocal critics of Silber’s leadership. 

Hough said he had been contacted once, when a party official asked him whether the GAC was a partisan position. Bordes said he has not been contacted by the NHGOP and believes it unlikely that the complaint will be acted upon. The bylaws in question ban party members from supporting other candidates when there is a Republican nominee. Not only is the GAC a nonpartisan county body, Bordes said, but applicants are not nominated, identified or sorted based on party affiliation. 

“The complaint is totally baseless,” Bordes said. “We all voted for who had the best resume.”

Silber could not be reached for comment specifically on the complaint and declined comment on BCRC elections. BCRC Vice Chair Rep. Paul Terry said he was unaware that the complaint had been made.

“This was not an action of the Executive Committee,” Terry said, though he emphasized that the chair has the right to make such complaints.