Nor is the State of NH’s monopoly on alcohol either that’s for another post. What is said below by a senior member of the Belknap County Delegation that oversees the financial aspect of the County owned Gunstock Ski Area is part of the reason why Government should stick to doing things that Govt (which should be a rather small subset of what they actually do today) and shouldn’t be running and in charge of businesses. The backstory is that Gunstock, located in and owned by Belknap County, wanted things to be “as usual” and in this case, a $600,000 loan. The county delegation said enough was enough and voted no. We see an example of “the local swamp” which mirrors not only the mindset of DC (“business as usual – don’t disturb us!”) but at other local levels as well:
Rep. Frank Tilton, R-Laconia, said the decision not to authorize the revenue anticipation note was short-sighted. “This is basically earth shaking and interfering with how they do business,” he said. “They’ve been working without it this summer and are in bad shape. “Six people are undercutting Gunstock. Their whole mindset is, ‘Don’t spend a penny,’ but businesses have to invest.”
Best comeback:
Rep. Norman Silber, R-Gilford, who voted against the revenue anticipation note, objects to Gunstock’s operational model. He said that if Gunstock were leased to a private operator, the county would realize more financial return.
That’s in reference that a number of level headed representatives want to hold Gunstock accountable and went back to the enabling legislation creating the area and its governance mode. Lo and behold, the “good ole’ boys” were rather upset that someone wasn’t just willing to push through and upset their applecart – they wanted it to be where it legitimately belonged – in the private sector. So when Tilton said what he, he really was indicating “hands off – not our business” which is EXACTLY how Gunstock wants things to be. Leave us alone….until we need your money authority. Oh, sharing and paying what we should – leave us alone as we’re a business”.
It isn’t Gunstock that’s the subject of my ire (they have had it in the past even as (full disclosure), TMEW ran their daycare center about 30 years ago), it’s Tilton. He, along with the other county’s NH State Representatives, not only the Authority but the Responsibility to make sure that Gunstock is not only 1) well run and 2) profitable for the COUNTY and not for the Area. It hasn’t been.
What Tilton spouts is typical of Big Government types – not willing to enforce what should be.
Sidenote: It’s like the SDGANH’s mission statement:
Help school board and budget committee members discover their powers.
That’s not meant as a pejorative, it is meant as a re-discovery as in “who is supposed to be in charge: the elected representatives of the people or “the Professionals” (like the Earl of Metzler in the Timberlane School District that we have taken to task over the years and for all of the wrong reasons (on his part)).
Back to Tilton – the nuance is that the Delegation shouldn’t “interfer”. Hate to tell you but saying and thinking just that translates to “Ain’t my job” – even as it really is. Instead, it shows a mindset that I hear a lot BudComm meeting (read any of my Tales from the BudComm posts) – “that’s micromanagement”. Which also translates as “interfering with how they do business”. Which translates, again, to “don’t stick your nose into this area – so abandon your legitimate powers and authority as we already outsourced that to “the Professionals”.
(H/T: Laconia Daily Sun)
