Laws, Rules, but not Integrity

Laws, Rules, and Something Called Integrity

Recently the current Executive Committeeman of the Chesterfield County GOP wrote what was called “It’s time to put this issue to bed”.  He posted this on their Facebook at this link: Chesterfield County GOP | Facebook

Well, how about we really put this issue to bed?

In his post, he wrote that the GOP is regarded as a party of law and order and that they follow rules.  Or is it only the rules “they wish to follow”?  He further says he will address slanderous comments and letters that they have received from me and a candidate who had run for congressional office.  Fine, let’s address all of these issues.

The organization of a county party in South Carolina is based on what are known as precinct:

Precinct

Angelus-Catarrh
Barrier Free
Bay Springs
Black Creek
Brocks Mill
Cash
Center Grove-Winzo
Cheraw No. 1
Cheraw No. 2
Cheraw No. 3
Cheraw No. 4
Courthouse
Dudley-Mangum
Grants Mill
Jefferson
McBee
Middendorf
Mt. Croghan
Ousleydale
Pageland No. 1
Pageland No. 2
Patrick
Pee Dee
Ruby
Shiloh
Snow Hill-Vaughn

They should be considered the same as counties in the State of South Carolina.  For party organization, each of these precincts should have the following officers:

Permanent president

Vice-President

Secretary

Treasurer

Committeeperson to the county executive committee

These people are elected at what is called the County Reorganizational Meeting.  This meeting and its associated meeting, the Make-up meeting.  These meetings are scheduled to occur in March at a time and date set by the county executive committee, not by the chairman or any other individual.

This meeting has always been announced to all current, up-to-date dues-paid county party members until this year.  This time certain individuals, myself included, were deleted from such notifications. So obviously, since we didn’t know about the meeting, we could not attend.  Is this an example of following the rules?

All of this is outlined in the South Carolina Republican Party Rules. Rule 4, Subsection b, and Subsection c subset 1-10.

Now, let’s go to Subsection C, subset 11.  Here is that rule verbatim in which I have highlighted specific requirements:

The county chairman shall also set a date for a make-up meeting no later than five (5) days prior to the county convention for precincts that have failed to organize or re-organize or that need to conduct further business, including the ability of precincts to fulfill their delegate allotment to the county convention. The make-up meeting for all precincts shall be held in one central location in the county and shall be properly advertised. In the delegate election process for the make-up meeting, delegate positions shall be filled first from among individuals who attend the meeting in person, then by individuals whose membership is set forth in the poll list of the preceding primary election and/or those who are absent from the meeting but who have submitted the properly signed forms. No member absent from the meeting may cast a vote, but they may be voted for and considered a candidate.

Properly advertised would mean a paid advertisement in a newspaper having general circulation in the county.  Since I subscribe to the only two general circulation papers in Chesterfield County, I know for a fact that this requirement was not met.  So once again, how could anyone who did not have direct communication from the current leadership of the county party have any knowledge of this meeting or have the ability to submit signed forms to become a delegate?  Is this an example of following the rules?

Let’s look at another example of “following the rules.”  Rule 5, Subsection b contains the following:

In every non-general election year, the County Convention shall be called by the County Executive Committee in each county having an organization recognized by the State Executive Committee. The convention shall be held during the month of April, no less than 14 days following precinct reorganization meetings, and the specific date, time and location of the convention shall be set by the County Executive Committee. A notice shall be caused to be published by the County Executive Committee once a week for two consecutive weeks, not more than three nor less than two weeks before the actual day of the convention in a newspaper having general circulation in the county. The list of delegates certified by the president and secretary of each precinct shall constitute the temporary roll of the County Convention (7-9-70)

There’s that nasty phrase about publishing a notice of the convention in a newspaper.  Of course, you now know that they never fulfilled that requirement.  I became aware of the meeting and location only when a friend of mine sent me an email she had received about it and asked me why I had not informed her previously.  Of course, I had to respond that it was news to me too.  Is this an example of following the rules?

At this point, the convention and election of the current officials of the Chesterfield County GOP are now invalid since they did not follow ALL that the state party prescribes.  In other words, they stacked the deck in favor of themselves and purposely excluded others from contesting for the positions.  But it gets even better.

As the current committee chairperson states, the Chairman of the Darlington County GOP was elected as temporary chairman of the convention.  Really!  This would be like the state party convention having a temporary chairman from California or the national party convention temporarily electing a chairman from North Korea.  Any person with a reasonable amount of intelligence would find this absurd.  The idea of having an outsider actively involved in the proceedings in Chesterfield County while dues-paying members are denied participation is pure fraud.

So, when it comes to “Following the Laws and Rules” for the current Chesterfield County GOP, it is which laws and which rules they want to follow or follow a little bit.  Yes, in their minds, they are a party of rules and laws, but just not a party of Integrity.