BELMONT — The chair of the Belknap County Delegation said no meeting is scheduled for the replacement of Gunstock Area Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch who resigned on July 20, but Rep. Mike Sylvia, R-Belmont, said he expects to convene a meeting “no sooner than mid-September” to appoint a new commissioner.

The Gunstock Area Commission was established by the state Legislature to oversee operations of the county-owned recreational area, and is non-partisan. However, the Belknap County Delegation, comprising all of the state Representatives from the county, is responsible for the hiring and dismissal of the Gunstock Commissioners. At the current time, all of the Belknap representatives are members of the Republican Party.

Sylvia, who came to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project advocating for smaller government, explained, “As is normal, the position will be advertised for several weeks prior to a delegation meeting to make the appointment. In normal times, assembling a quorum in the summer can be a challenge, [and] adding the primary election to the mix doesn’t help.”

He said a September meeting is likely, “lacking a demand from a majority of the delegation members to the contrary.”

Kiedaisch resigned from the Gunstock commission after members of Gunstock’s top management resigned and walked out of the July 20 meeting. They cited the commission’s decision to have them sit in the audience, rather than in the front of the room, as the final insult after months of aggressive questioning of their decisions.

In submitting his resignation from the Gunstock Area Commission, Kiedaisch “made a motion” to have Chair Peter Ness, Vice-Chair David Strang, and Secretary Doug Lambert “show up at 6 o’clock in the morning from now until you can find somebody to replace this talented team, which I highly believe you will not be able to find anybody that would be willing to work with you.”

He continued, “I’m disgusted by you [Ness] and disgusted by Dr. Strang. I’m shocked by Mr. Lambert and I’m sad for Ms. [Jade] Wood to be part of this political shebang. Good luck.”

Sylvia commented of the recent developments, “I find it difficult to reconcile statements made by some, expressing their caring commitment to Gunstock, with the actions to walk out, which has done immense damage to the business.”

The county-owned Gunstock Mountain Resort shut down operations in the wake of the resignations, although the remaining staff members have indicated that scheduled events such as Soulfest will go on as planned, and the campground remains open.

The Gunstock Area Commission has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, July 26, at 10 a.m., at which time it may address the management resignations and preparations for next winter’s ski season. Planning for the winter normally begins in September.

The conflicts over the past year began with four of the Gunstock commissioners asking the county delegation to remove Ness for alleged harassment of Gunstock employees and an attempt to sell his company’s snowsports software to the resort.

“The GAC under Kiedaisch appears to have conspired to remove Ness, primarily because he asked inconvenient questions,” Sylvia said. “Those questions were directly in the performance of his duties as a commissioner. The GAC in July/August of 2021 made its recommendation to the delegation without giving Ness due process, and without examining or presenting any actual evidence of wrongdoing. I believe that they expected me to conduct a kangaroo court proceeding at the delegation meeting with surprise witnesses making unsworn testimony.”

Instead, Sylvia allowed no new testimony and accepted Ness’ denial of wrongdoing. The delegation found insufficient evidence to remove him from his position on the Gunstock commission.

A review of the historical record by Attorney Peter Callaghan of the law firm Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios has concluded that the allegations of wrongdoing by Ness “are unfounded and that there was a concerted plan to remove Commissioner Ness from office following his requests for information, particularly financial information, and his asking questions about the Gunstock operation.”

Callaghan concluded that, although Ness had recommended changes to the ski school that included “improving the delivery of the snow sports school services through better trained and better compensated ski instructors, improving the conversion rate of those receiving lessons, and modernizing the use of technology,” his recommendations did not mention the Otto software his company produced, nor did he advocate for its use at Gunstock.

The attorney did note, “We determined that it was not necessary to interview other witnesses in order to address the current questions posed by the Commission. However, additional investigation is recommended….”

The commission did not seek further interviews with regard to Ness’ actions, but it did ask for further investigation into the lawsuit that prior members of the commission launched against the Belknap County Convention to prevent the delegation from seeking the removal of commissioners Kiedaisch, Brian Gallagher, and Rusty McLear.

Kiedaisch says that Sylvia told him he’d be seeking Kiedaisch’s removal immediately after exonerating Ness last year, and that an email to other members of the delegation indicated that Sylvia would be scheduling a meeting to remove the three commissioners. The commissioners initiated the lawsuit to prevent their ouster.