The Founding Fathers were concerned about tyranny, that of the despot and that of the majority.
Which is why they set up our government with checks and balances and formed a constitutionally based Representative Republic.
Our Linn County Republican Central Committee is also set up with checks and balances, a constitution, and bylaws.
One of the foremost tools to prevent abuse of power is found in the section on the Executive Committee in the County Constitution:
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
Regretfully, we have an Executive Committee which is convinced that due to the purity of their intent.
If there is a section of the County Constitution, the By-Laws, or the Rules of Order which forbid their actions,
Such strictures are optional.
They are not adverse, either, in creating a faux crisis and engaging in what one might term "creative reality" to achieve their goals.
Last year, during the first meeting of the Committee after the officers' election they, breathlessly informed the body that
Robert's Rules of Order stated that all actions--motions, committees, etc., established before the officers' election were voided by it and had to be replaced.
THIS WAS NOT TRUE.
The also informed the body that a gentleman who is in Republican circles in Iowa, the "go-to guy" for parliamentary procedure, had told them this.
THIS WAS NOT TRUE.
And of course, all of this meant they we had to completely redo all these things they claimed that were NOT TRUE,
RIGHT NOW,
And that there was not time to think about it and debate it at a later month's meeting.
So, we adopted their motion, which contained a few poison pills.
The thriving sub-committees, including Finance, which handled all of the budgeting decisions; Communications, which included web activities and press releases; and Credentials, which ensured that the voting was consistent with the by-laws and limited to only elected committeepersons; were all eliminated, and replaced with "Teams."
Previously, anyone could join a subcommittee and have voting rights, but the "Teams" were limited to five voting members, including the "Team Leader." The "Team Leaders" had already been appointed by the Executives, and most of the voting members had already been chosen by the Executives, the Team Leader would decide who could be on a team.
Then at a later meeting, they presented their opinion that the Executive Committee Secretary should replace the "Team Leader" of the "Membership & Meeting Setup" team.
This was, of course, AFTER they tried to edit the original motion to replace the Team Leader voted in with someone else, and were called on it.
Did I mention they engage from time to time in creative reality?
I have a copy of the second version which includes the wording:
To accomplish this, the Executive Committee moves to accept the following plan for 2015-2016 Election Cycle: APPROVED BY VOTE OF THE LCRCC 3/17/15
The problem was this section:
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree, Justin Wasson uncommitted)
You see, the version that was actually VOTED on,
Had Justin Wasson as the Team Leader. Not Mike Dupree.
Now, they have found a section of Robert's Rules of Order which states that the Secretary keeps the records of the membership list.
So, they decided to replace the Team Leader again with someone else this time--the Secretary.
The Central Committee, by a resounding margin, rejected this and reaffirmed Mr. Wasson as the Team Leader.
This was almost a year ago.
Yet, it now seems they have decided upon a new tactic.
We had recent precinct caucuses, and the Form As have all the new committee persons listed.
The Executive Committee has not seen fit to deliver this information to the Membership and Meeting Setup Team, which was given the duty by the Central Committee to handle:
Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting
Recall that this is the wording of their own motion to the body, which was adopted, and now they do not wish to abide by it.
I head some muttering that the Form As need to be..."credentialed?"
Anything resembling "credentialing" is accomplished when the Caucus Chair and Secretary sign them.
No, this is yet another blatant power play by the Executive Committee, which chooses not to follow the County Constitution, where it says:
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
Updated: Sunday, 14 February 2016 11:29 PM CST
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