Don Giguere: Citizens for Belknap helps expose the Free Staters in NH

To The Daily Sun,

One of the local organizations that takes democracy seriously is the Citizens for Belknap, which was formed to rescue the Gunstock Recreation Area from the Free State movement a few years ago.

Citizens for Belknap scheduled several non-partisan forum discussions between Republican and Democratic candidates for the 2026 election season. The aim was to present a stable discussion from the input of the local residents who hand-wrote all the questions in each town forums. There were different moderators for each forum from each of the localities. The moderators read the questions from the audience members. There were four completed forums in the locations of Meredith, Belmont, Gilford/Gilmanton and Laconia. The League of Women Voters have done five, the fifth being Thursday, Oct. 29. They will do forums in Center Harbor and New Hampton.

Unfortunately, some of the forums were undermined from the beginning by an organized boycott from the Free State sympathizer campaigns, using the Republican party as their tool. The Voters Guide published on the internet, indicate those persons who boycotted the forums. The Citizens for Belknap continued with the forums with some bipartisanship depending on the more independent minded party members. The questions were answered and the forums were a success for those who participated.

One of my favorite quotes; I paraphrase here from Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts … The credit belongs to the man in the arena … If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly … .” With this in mind, I would like to thank the Citizens for Belknap Steering Committee and the volunteer group, and specifically Brian Beihl, Hayden McLaughlin and Prudy Morin Veysey. Thanks goes to Citizens For Belknap as they continue to expose the Free Staters in our government.

Don Giguere

Tilton