Sylvia resigns as chair of county delegation; Bean elected to fill his position

LACONIA — Five minutes into Thursday’s Belknap County Delegation meeting, the body’s chair, Rep. Mike Sylvia of Belmont, resigned.

The meeting had been called at the request of the county commissioners so that the delegation could weigh proposals for an appropriation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. 

The proposals, eventually, were all approved, but not before a change in delegation leadership, the abrupt departure from the meeting of Rep. Dawn Johnson of Laconia, and a ratification of the actions taken by the delegation at an Aug. 1 emergency meeting, the legality of which has been challenged both verbally by Sylvia and in court by a private citizen. 

Sylvia’s resignation, and the meeting as a whole, could mark a tone shift in county government. 

The delegates voted to ratify the decision to expedite the departure of Dr. David Strang from the Gunstock Area Commission — whose appointment by the delegation in February was controversial. They also voted — without exception or amendment — to approve all the ARPA appropriations requested by the county commissioners and a pay increase for corrections and nursing home employees. Both are types of action the delegation has been reluctant to take previously.

At the outset of the meeting, per a motion by Rep. Tim Lang of Sanbornton, the delegation amended the meeting’s original agenda, adding action items to approve the minutes of the Aug. 1 meeting, to ratify the actions taken at the Aug. 1 meeting, and to fill the vice chair position vacated by former Rep. Ray Howard, who resigned in July when he moved out of state.

A quorum of the delegation, led Rep. Harry Bean of Gilford, called an emergency meeting on Aug. 1. Meetings are usually called by the chair. 

At the time, Gunstock Mountain Resort’s management team had resigned and conditioned their return on the departure of then-commissioner Strang from the Gunstock Area Commission. Without the senior management team, the mountain’s insurance company was considering withdrawing coverage and the mountain was unable to run its lifts. Soulfest music festival organizers threatened legal action if the mountain did not offer the full array of services included in the upcoming festival’s contract.

At the commission’s July 31 meeting, Strang had said he would resign if the delegation could call an emergency meeting and appoint a new commissioner. The delegation appointed Denise Conroy to the commission on Aug. 1, and thereupon accepted Strang’s verbal, conditional agreement to resign. Strang has since said he never formally resigned and is pursuing legal action against the GAC.

At the time, County Attorney Andrew Livernois released a letter to Sylvia, who was verbally challenging that the meeting was allowed to take place. Sylvia asserts that only the delegation chair, not a quorum, is able to call an emergency meeting. In his letter, Livernois gave his opinion on the legality of the meeting. 

Livernois also wrote that, to overcome any questions of the meeting’s validity, the delegation could, at a later meeting, vote to ratify and affirm any actions taken on Aug. 1. 

As the delegation moved ahead with the amended agenda, starting with the approval of the minutes, Sylvia’s disagreement with the delegation’s previous actions led him to step down as its leader.

The Aug. 1 meeting “was not properly called; it was not actually a meeting,” Sylvia said. “As such, frankly, I believe that this delegation needs to be led by someone other than myself, and so I am stepping down as chair.”

In the election for a new chair immediately following, Bean was elected to succeed Sylvia. Rep. Barbara Comtois was also nominated and, after Bean won the chair position, stepped down as delegation clerk. Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia of Tilton was the only nomination for a new clerk. 

The emergency meeting’s minutes were unanimously approved by those who attended it. As Rep. Thomas Ploszaj noted, this was an approval that “legal or not, this is what happened” at the meeting. Ploszaj was the sole attendee of the Aug. 1 meeting that did not vote to ratify the actions taken there. He noted that, at the time, he had voted against acceptance of Strang’s resignation, with regrets, because he did not believe that Strang had in fact resigned.

During discussion of ratification, Sylvia criticized Gunstock’s management and accused Lang of bribery for accepting a campaign donation from Gunstock General Manager Tom Day: Lang clarified that this donation of $100 took place in May, before the standoff between the delegation and the GAC.

Sylvia, when the audience laughed at his accusations, referred to “the marxists in the audience” and said that he “wouldn’t be surprised to see federal racketeering charges come out of this.” 

The delegation, after discussion of any item, moves to exit discussion and hold a vote. Lang stated his belief that further debate about Gunstock and various legal accusations would not be productive, and moved for a vote. It was clear other delegates still wished to speak on the matter, notably Comtois.

Johnson disapproved of this move. “You’re basically limiting anybody else having an opinion other than your own,” she said to Lang. When Bean said her comment was out of order, since it was technically time to vote, she stood and abruptly departed the meeting. 

Chair Bean joined Rep. Paul Terry in admonishing members of the delegation that joined the audience’s applause at Johnson’s departure. Bean urged delegates to respect one another. 

In an interview, Johnson explained why she left. “What was the point of ratifying illegal votes when they weren’t going to allow the discussion that needed to be had and the questions that needed to be asked?” Johnson asked of Lang’s motion. “It was disrespectful to me, to the other delegates and to the citizens.” 

The bulk of the meeting was dedication to federal ARPA fund appropriations under consideration by the delegation from the county commissioners as well as a new employment contract for nursing home and corrections employees. Those proposals included funding for a small portion of an upcoming WOW Trail expansion, improvements to the Belknap Mill and Laconia Municipal Airport, and repair projects approved by the delegation in the past, where ARPA funds will be used to cover cost increases since the projects were originally approved. These proposals were all approved by the delegation, for a total cost of about a half million dollars.

At the end of the meeting, Lang was appointed as vice chair in a close vote where Rep. Gregg Hough of Laconia was also nominated. Lang and Terry both provided support and advice to new Chair Bean on the rules of order throughout the meeting. 

After the meeting, Bean said he was glad to be selected to lead the delegation, and sees it as an opportunity. 

“As chair I will be striving to regain a working relationship not only with the entire delegation but the county commissioners, the department heads and the taxpayers, as well,” Bean said. Communication, he believes, is the key to this repair. 

He spoke highly of Sylvia’s procedural support throughout the meeting. “He handed me the gavel — he didn’t have to do that,” Bean said.