Readers have asked for an update regarding local Republican affairs. While it takes a build up of psychic energy to start any critique close to home it becomes easier once we begin with the realization that local affairs can reflect larger problems within the Party and also group dynamics at various levels.
Whatever the level, one can expect to find people who are attentive and inattentive, responsible and irresponsible, operatives and rent seekers, patriots, influence peddlers, climbers, apparatchiks, glory hounds and genuine leaders, sincere and insincere, hangars on and those with servant hearts, the blind and insightful, a collection of human beings with one or another virtue or frailty, however inconsistent or intermittent those features may be in each of us. Change the names and much of the critique could be interchangeable. Same old concepts, different group.
May 23rd Meeting of Scott County Republican Central Committee (SCRCC)
As it turned out one of the smaller rooms at the Bettendorf Library would have sufficed. The total attendance voting and nonvoting appeared to be much less than one half of the March election turnout. Quorum appeared to be strained. The newly elected Treasurer was not present nor two other officers.
Of course the powers that be worked overtime for the March election meeting in order to put together a pretentious, manipulative and ungracious campaign, drag out support we will never see again, and install a few more before the vote. Total time in office for the later group, not elected by any precinct peers, prior to determining the direction of the Party — maybe an hour. When one attends one of the SCRCC meeting of late, one wonders why is it that a sense of internal electoral decorum is absent while we criticize the electoral manipulations of Democrats?
Anyway, attendance by a majority of the SCRCC at a non-election meeting where scrutiny of actual performance by Republicans might go on did not happen. Maybe there was a Cubs game on. And because the attendance of only 2/5 to 1/2 of the voting compliment is the norm for SCRCC affairs, that assures us that the Cubs have a winning team and plays all year long.
Notice regarding last month’s meeting had featured that the Speaker of the Iowa House, Kraig Paulsen would be a special guest. He was unable to make the meeting. His cancellation that day was not advertised so potential attendees were not likely aware that he would not be in attendance even though the session ended that day. Attendees could have expected to hear about the results of the concluding legislative session from the second most powerful Republican in the state, but nearly two-thirds of the SCRCC blew it off.
Speaking of attendance, I suspect there are members elected at the precinct caucuses who I would guess have either never attended one meeting during this term or one meeting at best.
It is mathematically impossible for them to fulfill the “demands” of office requiring attendance at one half of SCRCC meetings scheduled prior to the next caucus without being subject to removal. But some of those are, shall we say, “convenient members” or otherwise considered innocuous by the powers that be, so don’t expect that there will be an attempt to remove them and replace them.
To be sure some of the non-attendees got the lay of the land after the first meeting and decided then that it was not worth the effort to spend half of future meetings being read reports that could have been made available in writing prior to the meeting. Speaking of which . . .
Readers of this publication know that we have called for written key reports and the facilitation of communication avenues for SCRCC members repeatedly. It should be a huge embarrassment that the Chairwoman of SCRCC has been part of preventing communication by heretofore failure to heed or for her opposition to such calls. In our judgement the opposition was palpable.
So the one good takeaway from the meeting was the communication presentation by Mike Bawden, an SCRCC member who was introduced as experienced in marketing and public relations. It was explained, and the committee approved an authorization, that every SCRCC member would be issued an in-box at the SCRCC web site for e-mail messages. It would seem to present the possibility of removing some of the excuse (however ridiculous) of an organization of the supposed budget and influence of SCRCC not having written minutes, and other key reports available, not to mention facilitating an informed membership.
Disregarding that such low cost technology has been available for years, nevertheless we do see it as a positive development even if it is a begrudging capitulation by the administration to the possibility of a better informed central committee. Because of who is in charge and the paranoid culture they engender, the full usefulness remains to be seen.
There were also brief entirely inconsequential “reports” provided by the heads of two of the various outreach efforts we have been hearing so much about. Not that anything heard has been substantive. Frankly we suspect it will be a wheel spinning exercise for the most part, and that’s the potential upside for some of the categories. More on the outreach subject in later posts. At least two of the heads of the outreach categories were not present at the meeting.
City elections were discussed and a listing of candidates was read. Davenport and Bettendorf each have a non-partisan municipal election process. Parties do not officially nominate candidates. I guess we are supposed to get behind anyone who is a registered Republican, no matter how they have or intend to vote on matters that are addressed in the platform. No intra-party vetting process or structure for vetting exists.
The formation of a political action committee would be a step toward that, but in spite of the year or two of talk under the current administration, nothing has been done. The relation of the SCRCC to such an entity has not been resolved.
Under the current executive committee administration one can envision a scenario regarding a platform item such as our opposition to Agenda 21, or species of it at the municipal level, and the vetting of candidates by them. Actually no we can’t envision it because they know so little about what is in the platform, or apparently care, and anyway they do not think Republican policies should have anything to do with Republican endorsements or support under their purview. At least that was the import of their ridiculous unified response to a related question at the March election meeting.
Understand that the Constitution of the Republican Party of Iowa’s statement of purpose includes the guiding determination first “to promote Republican principles and policies.” County parties are formed under the auspices of state law and that document. Accordingly the Constitution of the Scott County Republican Party expresses similar language. Electoral activities are in pursuit of that guiding determination and logically subservient to it. Political parties are organized in pursuit of an ideology, policies, a platform not meaningless club identification. Officially ignoring such purposes and responsibilities is an abrogation and wrong.
Moving on. A bum’s rush “report” regarding District Executive Committees was made by the Chairwoman. Such entities are provided for under the Republican Party of Iowa Constitution, and are being reinvigorated. Fine. I am unsure of the exact chain of events but as best I remember the Chairwoman appointed herself and proposed a largely unknown person as the second of the two Scott County positions authorized by the state bylaws establishing the District entity.
Mr. Transparent Government
We question why there was not an actual transparent process to the nominations with adequate notice of the open positions, you know, whereby people are made aware of the position ahead of time, its responsibilities and influence, the creation of a process for the fulfillment of the position. Folks, the Obama administration provides more transparency.
We wail against the thought that local party Central Committees are simply electoral service clubs for club nominees to elective office. That the only meaningful Republican activity is electoral and focused only on election day. A purpose limited to electing Republicans to office is an abrogation of the governing state charter, a disservice to sincere elected officials and especially to Republican voters who will not be loyal if they perceive that “the party” merely uses them periodically to install members regardless of policy formation.
We see such an attitude as a formula for marginalization and manipulation of local parties. To never exercise the responsibility of calling Republican office holders to task is toadyism but is why such a “leader” can accumulate endorsements from incumbents and various office and rent seekers. It is a reflection of either irresponsible, incapable or ignorant “leadership.” Regrettably our local leadership has actually voiced their accidence to such in spite of good examples to the contrary from even the RNC. More on this subject in upcoming posts as well. R Mall
Note: this article was revised after first being posted.
