I hear things and I get told things. On Monday, a source called me and gave me a heads up. Details on this in a moment but here’s the salient point of Law concerning the Gunstock Area Commission (“GA”) for its overwatch duties over Gunstock Mountain Resort (aka, Gunstock Ski Area):
LAWS OF 1959 CHAPTER 399
As Amended
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE BELKNAP COUNTY RECREATIONAL AREA.399:3 Membership of the Commission. The commission shall consist of five members who shall be resident property owners in the county of Belknap, and shall be invested with all the duties hereinafter granted to and imposed upon said commission
I note that this clause of RSA 399 was NOT updated by the 2020 bill amending the Act. So, does this mean that decisions/votes this Commissioner took taint such votes? Naw – that process was already ruled to be out of bounds by the Commissioners concerning prior actions of former Commissioner Rusty McLear when he was asked told to leave for overstaying his time on the Commission well past the expiration of the vacant term he was appointed to fill.
So in a nutshell:
- Brian Gallagher was the Chair of the Gunstock Commission and was elected to the GAC in Oct/Nov 2017 until he quit earlier this year (Jan 12, 2022 – Laconia Daily Sun).
- He was the Chair when he and Commissioners Kiedaisch and McLear brought the lawsuit against Belknap County Delegation to keep them from removing Gallagher, Kiedaisch, and McLear from the GAC (Laconia Daily Sun).
- He bought his property in 1980
- He sold that property on 11/06/2020 – see the tax stamp on the below document for $7,800 (click on the link at the bottom of this post for the entire document).
- A search was conducted that turned up no other properties associated with Brian Gallagher.
So, to recap:
…who shall be resident property owners in the county of Belknap…
Thus:
Why didn’t Brian Gallagher resign from the GAC when he KNEW that he no longer fit the requirements to be a Commissioner (much less, being the Chair of the Commission)?
- While Rusty McClear was, it seems, a “pass” on past actions thinking he was “legal”, what about Gallagher knowing that he wasn’t?
- Is there, should there be, legal ramifications for being part of the vote that brought the lawsuit by the GAC against the Belknap County Delegation?
- The Delegation’s cost to defend themselves is over $40,000
- Not having examined the GMR budget in detail yet, I have heard it was over $110,000
Both amounts were taxpayer monies spent for no good reason at all.
And if Gallagher was NOT a legal Commissioner at the time, shouldn’t both the Delegation and the GAC seek to recover monies from that failed exercise of a legal maneuver to save Gallagher from a seat he didn’t even possess?
After all, if he was not entitled to vote on ANYTHING after selling his home, the lawsuit would never have gone forward, right?
Entire deed document:
To Be Continued…
