Jen Wiencek: Reporting lacking in full membership of Gunstock Area Commission

To The Daily Sun,

I recently read about the proposed masterplan and development by Commissioners Gary Kaidaisch and Brian Gallagher for the Gunstock Ski Resort in your Oct. 29, edition. Also, in the same edition, you reported an article about “political realities” of such a development. In this article, you mentioned how the four commissioners, who are all men, filed a document with the Belknap County Delegation relating an apparent private discussion with New Hampshire State Rep Norm Silber and quoted him as saying that he recruited Commissioner Peter Ness and Mrs. Jade Wood, who was appointed by the delegation to the commission in a meeting held in September 2021, to join the commission. These four commissioners seemingly disparage both Commissioner Ness and Mrs. Wood in the process. What I find curious is that this is the first time that The Daily Sun had even mentioned the appointment of Mrs. Wood to the Commission. The Daily Sun utterly failed to cover her appointment by the delegation in September 2021. By contrast, The Daily Sun had written articles about the four other male commissioners at the time of their respective appointment, namely, Commissioner Gallagher on Nov. 7, 2017, Commissioner Kaidaisch on Nov. 15, 2018, Commissioner Ness on Nov. 28, 2019, and Commissioner McLear on June 2, 2020. Why no such article about Mrs. Wood detailing her background or vision for Gunstock? Amazingly, her appointment represents only the second woman appointed to the commission in 20 years. The members of the delegation who voted for her should be commended for their vote especially State Rep. Silber in trying to add needed diversity and youthfulness to the commission. One can only wonder about the absence of such an article about Mrs. Wood and what it may represent. An explicit bias or hostility to women like Mrs. Wood? Or, simply a lack of journalistic integrity? Your fawning coverage of Commissioners Kaidaisch and Gallagher where they unveiled their proposed masterplan and development of Gunstock makes a reader wonder. Nowhere in this article did your reporter ask any critical questions of either Commissioner Kaidaisch or Gallagher of their proposed masterplan and development of Gunstock. For example, did the reporter interview the other members of the commission about their views of the proposed masterplan? Were Commissioners Kaidaisch and Gallagher even asked whether they had revealed the proposed masterplan to the other commissioners or the delegation before unveiling it to The Daily Sun?

As a lifelong, avid skier who has skied Gunstock many times, I am concerned about its future. Gunstock is a real treasure in the Lakes Region and holds a special place in the hearts of many in Belknap County. I look forward to reading an article about Commissioner Wood and her views of the proposed development of Gunstock in the near future in The Daily Sun.

Jen Wiencek

Canterbury