Sununu Should Recuse Himself
When the Executive Council votes on the Mt. Sunapee ski resort expansion plans, I urge Councilor Sununu to recuse himself. As a gubernatorial candidate, there are no good choices open to him by voting on this issue. Sununu’s “yes” on Commissioner Rose’s plan? As CEO of Waterville Valley Ski Resort with long-standing professional interests in New Hampshire’s ski industry, Councilor Sununu will be subjected to critical commentary by many individuals, rivals for office and media outlets. They will see bias and conflict of interest regarding the Sunapee expansion plan, since expansion at Waterville Valley remains one of his strongest goals. Meanwhile, his connections to ski resort entrepreneurs will be scrutinized.
Sununu’s “no” on expansion? He’d also be accused of, and criticized for, a personal financial stake in the outcome. The grounds: Mt. Sunapee ski resort is unwanted stiff competition for his own enterprise. It’s of comparable size and distance from Boston (actually closer) and other major southern New England urban centers, with matching trail numbers and acreage as it currently exists. A reasonable person could perceive an appearance of impropriety in his “no” vote. Any vote Councilor Sununu registers on this matter will likely be proclaimed a violation of impartiality, a compromise of public trust in his decision-making — hardly a sound recommendation for governorship. Councilor Sununu has no reasonable course but to recuse himself from this vote, as he has on such issues in the past.
Alan Shulman
New London
Stop Ski Resort Expansion
In a letter dated March 31, I have asked Gov. Maggie Hassan to negate, if necessary, any vote by the Executive Council to expand development of Mt. Sunapee State Park by private resort developers. I fear this expansion will set a bad precedent. I vigorously oppose the privatization of our beautiful state parks in New Hampshire by private developers who abut the boundaries of the parks.
The process lacks integrity in the too-brief time to review the final submission of the documentation before the vote and the lack of public hearings in the final stage of this process.
We need to stand up a democratic process with integrity. We need to stand up for local control of our natural environment. This expansion would open the door for further outside interests financially motivated to move in on our state’s finest public lands. We need them preserved for our children and grandchildren, not exploited for financial gain by private resort developers.I am also concerned about the future of the Summit Trail, as Executive Councilors Pappas and Van Ostern have expressed. I have enjoyed beautiful Mt. Sunapee State Park’s flora and fauna since I was a child, and do not want to see further development of this area, especially of the nature proposed and by those who are proposing it.
Additionally, Councilor Sununu needs to recuse himself from the vote, as he has done in the past, due to his interest in the ski industry in New Hampshire. As CEO of Waterville Valley Ski Resort, he has an affiliation to the ski industry that ethically should require him to recuse himself from this issue.
Rebecca MacKenzie
Claremont
At the Co-op’s Annual Meeting
Having attended last Saturday’s Co-op Food Stores annual meeting, I read the report in the Sunday Valley News with interest. Not reported on was the best part of the meeting: the hour or more hearing from more than a dozen growers/producers about how they and the Co-op have benefited from their special relationship. They made the Co-op look good.
Given the Co-op’s recent personnel and financial issues, however, I was skeptical about what to expect at the meeting. First, the notice of the meeting suggested that there would be little parking, but offered no suggestions. Next the board chair opened the meeting declaring that this was not an open meeting, and no photos or recordings would be allowed. Then the candidates for the board were allowed two minutes to speak. During the remarks from candidate William Craig, the man behind me spoke out loud, and at the end of Craig’s remarks hurled an expletive loud enough for neighbors to hear.
Later, I chose to suggest that the nominating committee process could be improved by charging the committee solely with ensuring that there were enough candidates to fill the open slots on the board, thus eliminating the divisive “suitably qualified” label applied to certain board candidates and not others. A speaker from the audience strongly disagreed with my humble suggestion, offering that “creeps” and other terrible people might become candidates for the board. I thought that pretty creepy myself. In this community, I would assume that we could trust Co-op members to make their own decision about whom to vote for.
Bud Haas
Bradford, Vt.
Co-op Governance
The March 31 Forum included a contribution from Michael Whitman headlined “Co-op Candidates.” It is clear that Mr. Whitman looks at our local Co-op and sees an organization he admires. Naturally, his selection of candidates reflects this view.
I leave to readers to make their own choices and expect their choices will reflect how they view the organization Mr. Whitman admires. Not surprisingly, people can be viewing the same attributes but can differ in how they feel about them. We all have prior experiences that influence us in different directions.
As for myself, I had the opportunity to view and study Co-op administration. In December 2009, I was approached by the board member who had been assigned the task of providing candidates for election. He told me he felt the Co-op would benefit from having board members with experience managing an organization as I had (for nine years I had been the CEO of a company that had, at the end of those nine years — it was 1978 — sales far greater than today’s Co-op. I told him that before agreeing to seek election I wanted to attend board meetings and to read the book he offered me that detailed the Co-op’s governance policies. In the end, I was clear that I wouldn’t fit in well as a board member. What I saw, heard and read was not how I saw organizational management, especially as it relates to interaction of management and employees.
Through graduate business school and afterward, I read extensively about management techniques. My end conclusion was that there is no single best way. It depends on the nature of the business and what those at the top are comfortable with. But I have to admit that there are some management methods I am personally uncomfortable seeing. In 2009 I took away with me discomfort with aspects of the Co-op rules of governance that now affect how I will vote in the upcoming election. This view of Co-op governance does not intrude on my shopping experience.
Louis A. Kislik
West Lebanon
Mail Takes the Slow Route
Over the past two years, I have mailed envelopes from the White River Junction Post Office on Sykes Avenue. Each time my envelope was addressed to a financial institution in Montpelier I do business with. Because I can track my account there, by computer, I can track when it arrives. Each time the envelope has been lost, once arriving six weeks later later, the next one, three weeks later.
I have been sending my mail from the Lebanon Post Office because for some reason it arrives in Montpelier in two days! But occasionally I am closer to the post office on Sykes Avenue and have to mail it from there. I should know better by now, you say.
Employees I’ve spoken with at that facility throw up their hands and tell me, “All mail was processed. Perhaps you should have sent it ‘return receipt requested.’ ” That’s what I need to do for one piece of first-class mail?
I remember Sen. Bernie Sanders stepping in to save 250 jobs at Sykes Avenue a few years back, so we could continue to receive this service. Thanks, Bernie!
I am mailing this letter from the Lebanon Post Office to make sure it arrives at the Valley News.
John Nelson
Wilder
Lebanon City Planners Go Too Far
Lest people get the wrong idea from a recent Forum letter (“Check the Codes,” March 29) about the leeway granted to Lebanon officials in interpreting New Hampshire’s democratically enacted building code, the International Building Code itself specifically details city officials’ limited freedom of decision:
“SECTION 104 DUTIES AND POWERS OF BUILDING OFFICIAL.
“Section 104.1 General. The building official is hereby authorized and directed to enforce the provisions of this code. The building official shall have the authority to render interpretations of this code and to adopt policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies and procedures shall be in compliance with the intent and purpose of this code. Such policies and procedures shall not have the effect of waiving requirements specifically provided for in this code.”
At no point are officials authorized to go beyond the building code. Note that they are expressly restricted to enforcing its “intent and purpose.” However, under certain conditions, the law allows them to slightly relax the rules imposed by the code:
“Section 104.10 Modifications. Wherever there are practical difficulties involved in carrying out the provisions of this code, the building official shall have the authority to grant modifications for individual cases, upon application of the owner or owner’s representative, provided the building official shall first find that special individual reason makes the strict letter of this code impractical and the modification is in compliance with the intent and purpose of this code and that such modification does not lessen health, accessibility, life and fire safety, or structural requirements.”
The code does not provide for its rules to be made more stringent by anyone. Had the Legislature desired to grant that power to city officials, it could easily have done so. It did not. Rather, it placed clear limits on their power.
That’s as it should be. In America, building laws are voted on by our elected state legislators. No individual or group — even employees of the city of Lebanon or members of its Planning Board — is granted the authority to make up new ones. How anyone can imagine that unelected bureaucrats and civic volunteers can have such authority is beyond me.
Joe Asch
Owner, River Valley Club
Lebanon