THE SITUATION
THERE'S LOTS MORE TO DO IN 2024!
A couple of years ago, a group of runaway legislators took over the Belknap County Delegation. They no longer represented the citizens they pledged to serve. They were overtaken by runaway extremism and had an agenda that was harmful to the health of our county.
The Belknap County Delegation (sometimes called the County Convention) consists of 18 state reps from Belknap County. They were elected to serve by Belknap's voters. Importantly, in addition to their duties in the State House, they also serve as County Officials and as such play an important role in our lives.
That process has run amok in Belknap County!
Our Delegation continues to include Free Staters and Libertarians whose beliefs and agendas represent a tiny fraction of our county’s population. They hide their extremist views under traditional party banners, and then surprise their constituents with their votes - -far outside the mainstream! Although some of the most extreme members of the Belknap delegation were ousted by voters in 2022, and replaced by more mainstream Republicans, a number of them are still in place. These remaining fringe members of the delegation still fit this radical mold! . . . And some of the ousted members are knocking on the door to try to regain their seats!
Governor Chris Sununu said it best:
"The Libertarians are not Republicans. Okay? I know a lot of them like to sign up as republicans and pass themselves off as Republicans. But they're not. Not even remotely."
GUNSTOCK MOUNTAIN RESORT. The County Delegation is empowered to appoint and remove Gunstock Commissioners. We all witnessed what they tried to do in 2022, using their power to declare war on the Gunstock Area Commission and on Gunstock’s outstanding management team.
Eventually, their efforts failed, and the majority of the current delegation has fostered a healthy collaborative relationship with Gunstock's management , resulting in two of the best years in Gunstock history.
But they have not stopped attacking. The same group supports House Bill 1414, which once again declares war on Gunstock by seeking to increase Gunstock’s payments to the county from 1.75% to 3% of gross revenue. The bill’s initial draft made their intentions crystal clear, as it asked for a full 10% of gross revenue - - a predatory amount that would quickly cripple Gunstock’s operation.
Further, their request for a forensic audit every five years is paranoid and irresponsible. Such audits are used when there is serious suspicion of financial wrongdoing, would be on top of the annual audits which are now conducted and would be nothing more than a costly fishing expedition. The last such audit cost the taxpayers $50,000!
What are they up to?? This minority group wrongfully claims that our county-owned gem is a burden on Belknap’s taxpayers. In fact, every penny of its $20 million in revenue comes from visitors to the resort - and much of that revenue flows right back into Belknap County’s economy! Last year, the county received a whopping $352,000 from Gunstock, the largest amount in the county’s history.
SECESSION FROM THE USA! This is not a joke. After the movement to have NH secede from the United States failed in 2022, despite four of our delegation’s members voting to support it, it has been revived again in 2024. One of the four is still in office and voted against the proposal this time, clearly attempting to portray himself as more moderate! Are these the people you want representing you?
SLAVERY! That’s right, SLAVERY! There is a proposed bill to clean up our state constitution so as to officially prohibit slavery and indentured servitude. That bill passed 366 to 5. You should know that two of the five who objected sit on our delegation. Namely, representatives Ploszaj and Smart.
BUDGET CHOPPING. In past years, our delegation openly committed to “serve the taxpayer” by reducing taxes through a slash and burn attack on every molecule of the county budget, Including reckless attacks on the County nursing home and Sheriff's Department. As a result, every county service suffered, including a number of departments whose budgets were reduced to one dollar!
Your current delegation has reversed that practice and supported reasonable budgets for our county services. We need to do everything we can to present an extremist majority from taking over - who will use promises of low taxes to further their radical anti-government agenda.
The voters of Belknap County need to pay careful attention to the candidates in 2024, to make sure that the extremists ousted in 2022 are not returned to office. They claim they have seen the light and are pivoting to the middle. Do not believe that for a minute. Let us all look at their records, and vote accordingly