Thursday, March 18, 2010

THE ANSWER IS SO SIMPLE

GE&P attended the BC Executive Committee meeting Monday night. There was a lot of activity, some good and some bad. All in all, it was interesting and encouraging.

Before the meeting started, GE&P had some old business to attend to. At the January meeting, The Chairman gave the Treasurer's report as the Treasurer, Judy Hogg had not yet fully recovered from her illness. Toward the end of the report, Mr. Callanan added (for general information) that none of the officers were taking any funds from the Party bank account for any of their personal expenses.

Mr. Wayland Moody interrupted the report (January) to announce that they (he) had never taken any money out for expenses either. The members of the audit committee sat there and shook their heads in amazement. We decided we would straighten out this misstatement at our first opportunity. Mr. Moody did not attend the February meeting so we had to wait until the March meeting.

Monday night we approached Mr. Moody with the bank print out of the canceled checks from his administration. These documents plainly indicated money had been used for expenses such as gas, food, and other travel expenses. We pointed out that, according to the documents, his statement that his administration hadn't used Party money for personal expenses was false. Mr. Moody insisted he said at the January meeting that "he" not "we" had never taken out any expense money. We pressed for clarification. Again, Mr. Moody insisted he said "he" had never used any Party money. Then, we pointed out the checks that he signed, authorizing such expenditures and the check made out to him and signed by him for personal expenses. Mr. Moody offered no further explanation. Mr. Moody declined our offer to allow him to correct his statement made at the January meeting.

A few weeks before the March meeting, the BC State Executive Committeeman, Mac McBride resigned his position. Electing a new person for this position was on the Monday night agenda. When nominations were opened, Mr. Thomas Dubose, Jr., Lebanon Precinct, nominated Mr. Wayland Moody. A point of order was made that Mr. Dubose was ineligible to make a nomination as he was no longer a member of the EC. According to the SCGOP Rules, since Mr. Dubose had missed 3 consecutive meetings a certified letter was sent to him explaining his name had been removed from the roll.

This point of order stopped the nominating process cold. The committee was required to hear Mr. Dubose's appeal in his attempt to keep his seat. Mr. Dubose made a touching statement about his work schedule and his responsibility to support his family. A vote was taken and Mr. Dubose kept his seat.

GE&P has no quarrel with Mr. Dubose concerning his work schedule or his responsibility to support his family. But, we do question why, knowing he can not attend the meetings or contribute his time or energy to the organization, he would insist on maintaining his position.
Why would he not relinquish his seat to someone who wants to and can actively participate? Of the ten (10) meetings held, Mr. Dubose has attended one (1)meeting before Monday night. Both of these meetings had items on the agenda that held special interest for Mr. Moody. When Mr. Moody required his vote, Mr. Dubose found a way to rearrange his schedule so he could attend.

It was common knowledge that several of these "place holder votes" existed on the EC. Almost half of them were eliminated on Monday night. The number of "place holders votes" is shrinking and we would imagine it is becoming increasingly embarrassing for these few folks to show up to "do bidding".

The nominating process continued. Mr. Dubose nominated Mr. Moody. Mr. Terry Hardesty was, also, nominated. The vote was taken and Mr. Hardesty won by a two to one count. Once again, Mr. Moody and his sparse "place holders" lost.

Mr. Jack Stahl created quite a scene when he confronted the Chairman about our tee-shirt fund raiser. Mr. Stahl insisted the Chairman had no authorization for the expenditure. The majority of the membership expressed confusion that Mr. Stahl was unaware of the fund raiser. The project had been discussed and planned for months with the enthusiastic support of the EC.

Upon reflection, the BC Executive Committee is well on the way to being a functional, respectable organization. Admittedly, there are a few fly specks left but, with more sunshine and house cleaning, this too shall pass.



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