Sen. Bob Giuda: Government is about responsible, rational representation

To The Daily Sun,

Having served in the New Hampshire House and Senate for 12 years, I’ve learned that truly serving constituents requires balancing our views with the voices of those we represent.

For a year, a group of representatives defied the clear voice of Belknap County citizens, enforcing their will on Gunstock. They were warned that they’d be held accountable at election time. They discarded any semblance of balance and pursued a misguided, destructive political agenda. It is now accountability time.

They replaced a profit-record-setting Gunstock Area Commission (Gary Kiedaisch, Rusty McLear, Brian Gallagher, and Russ Dumais) with utterly unqualified political appointees whose arrogance and tactics caused the mass resignation of the resort’s exceptional management team. [Note: Gunstock’s future depends on filling the two current vacancies with people qualified to plan the future of a multimillion-dollar ski resort/recreation facility.]

Given the opportunity to remedy their mistake, the extremists instead tried to sabotage those acting to avoid catastrophe by boycotting the critical meeting that reopened Gunstock. Had rational representatives not prevailed, Gunstock would have lost its insurance and faced litigation for breach of contract, causing serious if not disastrous consequences to the mountain, local businesses and Belknap County.

The following representatives boycotted that meeting, hoping to prevent a quorum: Norm Silber, Mike Sylvia, Barbara Comtois, Peter Varney, Glen Aldrich and Dawn Johnson.

They dismissed 3,600 petition signatures, spurned offers of mediation, and bullied those who opposed their actions, derisively calling them “the Lang Gang.” My friends, this isn’t what we need in Concord.

The remaining representatives did the right thing. They listened to you, and under the leadership of Tim Lang and Harry Bean, reversed course, temporarily ending this shameful debacle. They deserve your support at the polls as much as those who caused this mess do not.

Please vote wisely Sept. 13.

Sen. Bob Giuda

Warren