Thursday, 18 June 2015
A Matter of Jurisdiction
At the June meeting of the LCRCC there was some confusion at least on the part of one of our members over a ruiing on the minutes
It seems that in the past the Body has Voted and Ruled that No Attendence List of the Members should be included in the Minutes put online by the Secretary
That should on the face be simple enough to do.,
Just don't put a list of those who attend a meeting in the version of the Minutes put online,
But with our Exective Committee simple things can become complex
We have been told that it does not matter because the information is public record.
True but that does not replace the fact that the Secretary is REQUIRED by the County Constitution to follow the orders of the Body,.
The Chair made the claim that all motions passed were voided by the last Executive Officers Election
We know that is not true
We also know that James Knox asked that very same question of the Robert's Rules of Order Online Discussion Forum
And was told that unless the a motion has a sunset clause it stays in efferct until the Body votes otherwise
They even gave Mr Knox the page number of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th edition where that is stated Page 111 footnote ***
We also know that Ms Althea Cole READ that footnote off that page in that edition during the meeting to the Chair
Who ignored it
So the question, Constutionally, as to what the Secretary is supposed to do is quite evident
That our Executive Board ignores such things is also quite evident.
At the end of all this one of our more informationally challenged members Huffily brought up the issue of a recording of the meeting being placed on line.
If my readers will recall the requirement was
That the Secretary of the Linn County Central Committee refrain from putting an Attendence List of the Meetings in the Online Minutes
This is our Secretary Gary Ellis
This is the Secretary when the Motion was originally passed Mary Ernzen
This is Me Dan Kauffman
We are not the same people. It would be really hard to confuse me with one of the two people above that are required to follow that rule.
To clear up any further confusion that may remain let me state for the record that what you are reading now is NOT
The Linn County Central Committee Minutes
And while I retain my right, if I so chooae, to post audio files of our Montly Meetings
So that the Country Republican Community may hear for themselves the Violations of our Contitutiion and Rules of Order are quite common during them
I will promise NOT to post an Attendence List of any kind
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Sounding Brass
For sometime the question has not been will our LCRCC leadership violate the Rules of Order,
But how many times in a meeting will this happen?
The June meeting of the Linn County Central Committee had no surpriseds.
Some of my readers might have noticed I have not posted earlier this week as I normally do,
That may be a disspointment for some and welcomed by others.
I have been a tad ill and am still not fully recovered so instead of listing the entirety of Tuesday Nights Transgressions,
I will present the most flagrant.
The single most importand defense of the Body from Abuse of Power from the Chair.
Is the Right to Challenge or Appeal the Decsion of the Chair
It is described in Robert's Rule of Order as
When a presiding officer makes a ruling and a member disagrees, the proper thing to do is to rise and say, "Mr. President, I appeal from the ruling of the chair." If another member seconds the appeal, the procedure is rather simple: The president puts the question to the members, who decide whether to sustain his ruling. But under Robert's Rules, the presiding officer gets to speak first and last in any discussion about the appeal or her decision.
An appeal from the ruling of the chair
Can interrupt a speaker who has the floor.
Needs to be seconded.
Is debatable unless the immediately pending question is not debatable.
Can't be amended.
Requires a majority vote to overturn the decision of the chair.
Can be reconsidered.
That seems pretty simple and straight forward, Or it would be if our Chair FOLLOWED our Rules of Procedure
Rather than IGNORING A Challenge of the Chair's Decision as the Linn County Central Committee Chair Cindy Golding did during the June Meeting
The Republican Party or most of it stands for adherence to Constitutions and Rule of Law
Some of us Walk the Walk,
Some of us just Talk the Talk
Some do not bother to do either,
Unfortunatelu the LCRCC seems to be burdened with Leadership of the latter sort,
To paraphrase a section from Corinthians
Though They speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not Truth, They are become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
I will try to go into this matter in greater detail in a later post
Friday, 12 June 2015
Setting The Record Straight
I have discovered I need to "Set the Record Straight" and present a retraction for a charge I have made in a previous post.
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Section V Paragraph 4 Sentence 3 which states
Checks in excess of $500.00 and not previously budgeted shall have the approval of the County Central Committee
That Claim was
WRONG
The check in Question was in Fact less than $500.
This lapse of mine was first brought to my attention by Jim Conklin a Former Treasurer while we were discussing some of my newest Hate Mail and later by Robin Tucker our Present Treasurer left a message for me on the subject in my Voice Mail,
The other Two Charges that
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Removed funds from the Treasury with a Check that was NOT Signed by the Duly Elected Treasurer in Viiolation of the
Section V Paragraph 4 Sentence 2 which states
All checks shall be signed by the Treasurerand countersigned by the Chair or Co-Chair
And
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Refused to sign checks presented to her in payment for the efforts of volunteers.
Said payments authorised by a Vote of the Linn County Central Committeee
In Violation of the
Section VIII Sentence 3 Which States
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.
AND
the Constitution of the Republican Party of Iowa
Article VI Section 3 Sentence 1 which states
Any County chair or co-chair may also be removed by the Republican State Central Committee upon recommendation of the appropriate District Executive Committeefor failure to fulfill the duties of the office
Still Stand
Thursday, 11 June 2015
A Question Of Loyalty
It would appear that the Loyalty of one of Our Exectives has been called into question by another.
What is of concern is a perception of a lack of Loyalty to the Chair.
I am not certain from where this stems
The Exectuives are Co Equal Soveriegn Entities
There are no words anywhere in the County Constitution, the By Laws or Roberts Rules of Order giving any Officer such as the Chair any Authority over any other Officer
As a matter of fact the ONLY mention of authority or someone being under the "Orders" of someone else
Is in the Constitution where it specifically states that the Executive Committee is under the Orders of the Central Committee and that NONE of the actions of the Executive Committee SHALL conflict with those of the Central Committee
Reading that portion of the Constitution might make one think that they were trying to prevent some future Abuse of Power by the Exective Committee and/or the Chair?
The offense was based on the contention that the Officer in Question
Had been talking to ME
And some others of my association and members of the Iowa Conservative Union
This constituting Heresy and Breach of Loyalty to the Imperial Chair.
But I got to thinking and realised there was another way to look at this
You see-- I and my friends and members of the ICU SUPPORTED this person when they ran for office.
We are his CONSTITUENTS
We also helped him get a higher vote count than any other officer that night.
And THEY
What were THEY doing that night
Why THEY were trying to get SOMEONE ELSE Elected to the postition that this Officer now holds.
Tell me.
Loyalty goes WHICH way in this picture??
I mean just imagine a Tea Party Candidate who got elected and to curry favor to and to show Loyalty to the Party Leaders, decided they no longer had time for the people who worked to get them elected,
What would we be calling them?
Besides Loyalty needs to be earned and I dont't see much of that happening
I do hear that the Same officer is not that thrilled with the Loyalty of some of the Teams,
Such as the Convention Team
Seems they got in a rush the night of the St Patrick's Day Massacre
They did get rid of all the Sub Committees and replace them with Teams controlled by their friends
But they forgot one small detail
There is Not One Word in their
2016 Victory Plan
That gives them any Authority over the New Teams
I know they have ASSUMED such Authority but that is all it is an ASSUMPTION it is backed up by not one single word
In their Plan
the County Constitution
The By Laws
Or
Robert's Rules of Order
OOPS
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Say It Isn't So Cindy
Along with the claim that I insinuate there are also claims that what I report
Isn't So
Let me try to expound in a simpler and easier to understand manner
By asking Questions.
UPDATE: Retraction
Item number one is Incorrect the expense was not over $500
Items Two and Three still Stand
1) Did or Did Not
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Pay an Insurance bill over $500 in Violation of the
Section V Paragraph 4 Sentence 3 which states
Checks in excess of $500.00 and not previously budgeted shall have the approval of the County Central Committee
Please respond with a Yes or a No, the word But or any other verbiage is not an acceptable answer.
2) Did or Did Not
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Pay the above mentioned Bill with a Check that was NOT Signed by the Duly Elected Treasurer in Viiolation of the
Section V Paragraph 4 Sentence 2 which states
All checks shall be signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by the Chair or Co-Chair
Please respond with a Yes or a No, the word But or any other verbiage is not an acceptable answer.
3) Did or Did Not
the Linn County Central Committee Chair
Cindy Golding
Refuse to sign checks presented to her in payment for the efforts of volunteers. Said payments authorised by a Vote of the Linn County Central Committeee
In Violation of the
Section VIII Sentence 3 Which States
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.
AND
the Constitution of the Republican Party of Iowa
Article VI Section 3 Sentence 1 which states
Any County chair or co-chair may also be removed by the Republican State Central Committee upon recommendation of the appropriate District Executive Committee for failure to fulfill the duties of the office
Please respond with a Yes or a No, the word But or any other verbiage is not an acceptable answer.
These items come associated with checks that are dated and have signatures
A person may indeed Say it isn't so but
I sit pat in the words of Mark Twain
"With the Calm Confidence of a Christian holding 4 Aces"
Waiting for Ms Colding or one of her supporters to lay down something like a Busted Flush
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Thou Shalt Not Muzzle
When the Executive Board hit the Central Ciommittee with the Gang Rush of the St Patrick's Day Massacre
There were a few clever surprises that got slipped in during the confusion.
You can look at the entire motion made by the Executive Board HERE
And one of the sneaky little details was
LCRCC members are asked to signup as a voting member for one team. Each team starts with 5 voting members. The objective is to match volunteer time and skills with the mission or activity of the team.
It also looks like one of the MAJOR objectives was to make certain their people had majority control of the important Teams
Notice how a controlling number of each team's "voting" members had already been selected by THEM?
So much for showing respect for our Volunteers,
Not that they had done much of that in the Past.
Ask them how many of the major volunteers were invited to the Inauguration in Des Moines?
I was given the explanation by one of the Executives that the new system was to prevent a small number of people from having undue influence by being on more than one Committee/Team
So instead they just made sure THEIR people were the only ones who had influence by appointment rather being more involved than in just one Committee/Team?
I mean the people who DID actively participate in multiple Committees/Teams were among the more active Volunteers so it make perfect sense to penalize them..
Also under the Old System we went from a Committee which HAD to take up a collection during each meeting because we did not have enough money in th bank to cover one meeting to-
One that sometimes had as many as 200 attending our meetings, highly sucessful Events and when Cindy Golding took over 20K in the Bank
God FORBID we continue a system that was SO sucessful
No foiks it was never about
Respecting our Volunteers
Or their Time
It was always about
POWER
and CONTROL
The members of the Committee cannot be allowed to make their own choices those choices must be made FOR them by their Betters,
The Exectives will ensure that the "Right" people are in charge of the Teams and the Peons can do what they are told and remember to keep their places,
Unless they vote differently?
Remember there IS a section of the County Constitution which 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
All it would take would be one motion
I move that the members of the various Teams shall ALL have the same voting rights
And a majority Vote.
Monday, 8 June 2015
How Did I Get HERE?
Did you ever look up while driving and have the thought come to you-
How did I get HERE?
In these present times where my wondering how the Chair of the LCRCC can walk and chew gum at the sametime is considered a terrible breach of Decorum
But their calling me and 4 of my friends Morons and calling one in addition Frankenstein is deemed OK considering the situation,
The situation being that they spent about half of a three and a half hour Team Leader meeting ranting about how to purge the undesirable fringe group that prevent them from getting the work done to Get Repbulicans Elected,.
Bear in mind none of us were at that meeting and they STILL did not spend that much time working on Getting Republicans Elected,.
As I understand it they did not spend a single minute on the Caucuses but they did spend a lot of time on me and my friends.
As for the name calling? Doesn't really matter to me, I am quite capable of returning the favour, And Have.
But the question remains how DID we get HERE?
There was at one time a Linn County Central Committee that was SO broke it HAD to take up a collection to pay for our monthly meeting.
We did not have enough in the bank to do that.
Attendance was the pits.
Then we got a new Exectutive Committee with a Chair who vowed to folllow the instructions in the Constitution and ByLaws\
Who realised that the Decision making power was Constitutionally in the hands of the Body and the Executives were to assist and advise and perform such functions as were assigned to them.
That by the way is a very close paraphrase from the By Laws
We created Sub Committees to handle the work everyone in a Sub Committee had a say and a vote.
Whether somebody was in a Sub Committee was determined by THEM
The LCRCC flourished and grew.
At times we had as many as 200 people attending our meetings
(I got that number from someone who has been working on LCRCC credentials for years)
Our events were very well attended and were very sucesssful.,
They followed one of the cardinal rules of sucess in such ventures
Have a specific event about the same time of the year to build up a following for it.
When that Chair stepped down for reasons to do with their business and health they handed over a thriving LCRCC
With a bank account of over 20K
No longer was it NECESSARY to take up a collection to pay for the monthly meeting.
So when the Co Chair took over from the Chair we supported her because we believed that we were just continuing the sucess we had been enjoying for the two years before.
Boy were we WRONG
At first the signs were small
The Chair had a screaming fit before an event because one of the ladies was putting more than Five mints on each table.
Sitting with me one night at the Starlite after a Communications meeting the Chair said that "Some People" wanted to move the meeting to the downtown Library and while she COULD make that decision she thought it best that the Body did it,
She did NOT like it when I told her (as the Parliamentarian that I was at the time) that since the Body had voted on the Time and Place of the meeting only the Body could make that decision at least if you followed the Constitution
Which apprently she did not want to.
Things kept going down hill after that more fussing more Violations of the Constitution and Breaches of the By Laws.
We were not running under the Rule of Law laid down by the County Constitution, By Laws and Roberts Rules of order but by Cindy Goldings Rules.
The Body Voted to reward volunteers?
Cindy refused to sign the checks because she did not feel like it.
The By Laws say all checks must be signed by the Treasurer and if they are over $500 the expense must be approved by the Body?
Too much trouble in the spirit of Frank Sinatra
Cindy Golding
Did It HER Way
Then they got rid of the Committees replaced them with something called Teams that do about the same thing,
Difference is they got to choose the Team Leaders and they limited voting rights to only 5 members and put their own people in as voting members.
I recall a week before all this happened one of the Exectutive Board came to a Communications meeting and told us they wanted to
Break down the Walls of Distrust and find a way for all of us to work together,.
I took him at his word.
We agreed that I would stand down and not hit the Executive Board with my Blog Posts--which I did.
In return we would all work together for the good of ALL
I means we almost joined hands that night and sang Kumbaya.
A week later was what I have been calling the St Patrick's Day Massacre.
It was a Play to talk me into laying off them and dsitract me from the knife being shoved in my back
Now since then they have made overtures
Why can't we be Friends
Why can't we ALL work together and
Just Trust Us
Again.
I had a discussion last week on just those lines with someone who KNEW that the Team Leader Meeting spent over an hour and a half discussing the removal of me and my friends?
Yeah why don't you tell me why I should trust you.
Friday, 5 June 2015
The Political Shapeshifter
Well I got another letter from my anonymous commenter and they have shifted their identity yet again
If you will remember the return address on the first letter was
The next one the return address was "A Friend" and the signature was
Now they have made a further leapr the return address is "A Democrat" and the signature is
Not as much meat in this last letter. I is composed mainly of quotes from my previous responces along with ahort fable
I see your Friend got to you. Obvious you are a Democrat! !I We all see how you responded to your FRIENDs questions using tricky words to dodge the meaning. That's clever In a Democrat sort of way.
Q - So why is the Hot Air Blogger promoting keeping more people on the Auditor's staff than the Linn County Supervisors think he needs to do his job?
A - Because they have been transferring his staff to other depts and if the next reduction goes into effect the Auditors office will be down from 52 not more than 2 years ago to 13. Which will hamper his efforts to document their swilling at the public trough.
First No I have not been "got to" In my time I have had people looking for me with guns. A letter from some pathetic anonymous author is certanly going to "Get" to me."
Second I am not promoting any elected official keeping more people on his staff than he needs to DO his job. I am opposing pork swilling County Supervisor moving the Auditors employees to other areas so he will not be able to do his job
IE audit Wasteful Government Spending and Fight Pork
The last time I checked most Conservatives supported that sort of activity
So -Its true -It is Important to you to have a Democrat in office. Its important to you to have as many people as possible working for a Democrat. That's Great.
Q ·"Constitution of the Republican Party of Linn County" "The purpose of the organization shall be, under one central committee ... to aid in every way the establishment of Republican principles and policies .... and assist ... in support of the Republican ticket."
A - Great Mr Friend has read part of the County Constitution, Had he read some further he might have discovered that the charge in the Constitution is active support of an opponent of a Republican nominee. I know our educational systems deterioration has lowered literacty standards but I would think that is plain enough that it would not be mistaken for supporting a Non-partisan office in their attempt to document waste in the County Government
In the words of one of my favorite Conservative Statesmen. "There you go again" Creating some Fable from your fevered imaginatioin so you can tilt on it.
I want you to find in all my writings one quote where I contend that it is important to me to have a Democrat in office
In this case both sides of the issue are controlled by members of the Democrtica Partyl The Auditor is a Democrat the County Supervisors are 60% of that Party.
LOL if the Auditor were a Republican he would be screaming like a stuck pig about what the Evil Democratic Controlled County Supervisors were doing.,
I like how you ignored the purpose of the Republican Party and said its a nonpartisan office. Great EXCUSE! This Democrat can't spell literacy either. Hahaha.
I love it that you never explained where you "aided" a Republican. I know you can't explain where you "assisted" and "supported" a Republican ticket ... because you never did.
Which shows how much they know, Tell you what don't take my word for it
Ask Ken Rizer, Harry Foster, Dan Zumback or Rod Blum.
Notice how he makes something up and then hysterically attacks it?
I would be disappointed if you had.
He wold be disappointed if I had supported Republican candidates? LOL
Look who is getting confused?
I think your blog is great for Democrats. We love watching you stir the pot and throw mud around at good Republicans. Thanks for never throwing any dirt at Democrats. Thanks for supporting the Democratic Party and working to divide Republicans. A FELLOW DEMOCRAT
Yawn at his points his froathing at the mouth hysteria just becomes tedious.
And he becomes just a dated curio
Check it out I have HATE MAIL
Cool almost NO ONE gets mail in the Post anymore, I wonder what Dinosaur sent it??
Thursday, 4 June 2015
Lèse Majesté
Lèse-majesté is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning
sovereign
Now that we have an Imperial Chair I suppose it was only a matter of
time before the Executive Committee would decide to remove members
from the Body not for the reasons listed in the Constitution and Bylaws but for the Crime of
Lèse Majesté
Whispers on the Wind inform us that is on the next agenda.
Why we are even informed that those same people who go into withdrawl if the LCRCC meeting goes over 30 minutes, actually had a Team Leader's Meeting that lasted over 3 hours.
I asked someone who was there if any work was done on the Caucuses and was told no, but that half of the meeting was concerned with how to purge me and 4 others from the Committee.
It is nice to know my work has been noticed.
It appears that the Imperial Chair has decided to act wih firmness to protect the Body from Me and My Fellow Minions
All of this is no surprise.
I mean they make up Directions from Roberts Rules that do not Exist
They do not feel that the portion of the Constituion which states that the Executive Committee is under the Orders of the Linn County Central Committee and no Action taken by the Executive Committee shall confilict with that taken by the Central Committee applies to THEM
They feel that the portion of Roberts Rules of Order found on page 467 the the 11th edition were it STATES that except for a ballot vote a Parliamentarian should NEVER vote
is Optional
Also Optional to them is the Sections which mandate that if an expenditure is above a certain amount the Bodies approval is required and that ALL checks while they can be Co-signed by either the Chair or the Co-Chair MUST be signed by the Treasurer
Little details such as Violating the Constution or Breaching the ByLaws are beneath them because
They are Working to Help Republicans get Elected,
They are ALSO walking all over the County Constitution, our By Laws and our Rules of Order
But that does not matter,
So if they decide to create new Rules that give them the ability to remove anyone they choose?
It will be business as usual for this Chair and Exective Commitee
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Convienient Lies
Before we get to specifics it might be in order to discuss the Nature of Truth, Untruth and Lies
While it is True that ALL Lies are Untrue
It is Not True that all Untruths are Lies
We have to include Mistakes and Human Error.
What mistakes could lead one to uttering something Untrue?
Possibly Ignorance, that is lack of knowledge
Or
Someone could be told something that is Untrue by a person they trust and repeat it.
Our Executive Board and our Chair in particular have in the recent past kept repeating something that is patently Untrue
That All motions and decisions of the Body are voided by an Executive Election.
How do we KNOW this is untrue?
Well for one thing someone with the username jknox65 asked that very same question on the Official Robert's Rules or Order Discussion Forum and was given an emphatic
NO
It turns out that username is also the Facebook Username of our Webmaster James Knox. Still the forum does not have photos so the possiblity does remain that there might be another jknox65 out there in the world wide web.
However if you google jknox65 you get a LOT of hits with his photo
So I would expect that the probability that the Robert's Rules Discusion Forum jknox65 is our jknox65 to be so close to 100% that one might die of old age before they finished listing all the required 9s.
If you wish to see the forum qestion and answers just go HERE and put jknox65 in the search field
You will see the question and the answers and you will see a quote from Robert's Rules or Order Newly Revised 11th Edition
"Unless an adopted main motion specifies a time for
the termination of its effect, it continues in force until
it is rescinded." (RONR 11th ed., p. 111, ** footnote)
So what does this tell us?
First that the claim that motiions made before the Officers Elections are voided is Untrue
AND
That Mr Knox, a person close to the
Executive Committee, was aware of this FACT back on
the 28th of January
It does not tell us whether Mr Knox shared this with the other members of the Exective Committee
We have no way of knowing WHERE they got the False information from in the first place
We do know that I have repeatedly refuted their claim and presented evidence and that they have repeatedly made the same claim
Perhaps they never read my articles
However
During the May Meeting a member of the Committee rose and READ from Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th edition page 111
the above quote
"Unless an adopted main motion specifies a time for
the termination of its effect, it continues in force until
it is rescinded." (RONR 11th ed., p. 111, ** footnote)
The responce was that the Executive Committee would take it under advisement?
That they would investigate it?
LOOK AT IT.
It is in PLAIN ENGLISH the BOOK was right there.
The only germane quesiton would have been were those words actually IN that copy of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th Edition,
Anyone who has a Problem understanding that sentence and needs to "take it under advisement" and have the Executive Committee "investigate it"???
Should probably never try to walk and chew gum at the same time
One other thing we do know now, is that anyone capable of understanding that sentence, who was at the May Meeting of the LCRCC no longer has any excuses
If they continue to make that same claim they will have passed out of the area of Mistakes and Human Error and entered the Land of Lies
Or they might just be mentally deficient rather than morally deficient
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