Steven Hepburn: Time to make a change in county representation

To The Daily Sun,

Given the recent resignation of the whole senior management team, more people are asking “what is going on at Gunstock?"

Gunstock is owned and operated by Belknap County, but the enabling statute allows it to operate more independently than say the sheriff’s department. It is overseen by five Gunstock Commissioners who are appointed by the Belknap County Delegation. The Belknap County Delegation is made up of the Belknap County State House Representatives.

Some members of the Belknap Delegation do not think that local government should run a ski area, and more recent appointments to the Gunstock Commission have been viewed by many as politically driven appointments who immediately changed the approach and tone of the relationship between the commission and the senior management team: notably freezing capital spending, micromanaging the leadership, and halting the Gunstock Master Plan.

The Gunstock senior management team decided en-mass that they could not continue to work in an environment that had become toxic and antagonistic due to the actions and behavior of the Belknap County Delegation and the Gunstock Commission.

And so the commission and the delegation have driven away the most successful management team in Gunstock's recent history.

The Gunstock Commission is now made up of Peter Ness, Jade Wood, David Strang and Doug Lambert.

The Belknap County Delegation is led by Reps. Mike Sylvia and Norm Silber and many other representatives who support their anti-government agenda.

If you think it is time to make a change, you must research your candidates for the NH State Representative elections in November. Who wins there will become the new Belknap County Delegation, and over time the commission can be reconstituted.

This situation is a huge blow for our community-orientated mountain, but with enough time and effort hopefully we can salvage it.

Steven Hepburn

Gilford