What a year it has been.
In November 2015, I ran for President of the Beach Cities Republicans, since three-time President Evan Chase had to step down because of term limits.
There were a lot of things that I liked about what he did.
Besides, he had made it a friendly place again, and he encouraged people to do things that they had not done before.
My biggest interest going in rested on making sure that the party stood for the values that the platform had laid out for all. I wanted to see our club grow, and I also wanted to see more people join.
The meetings have been great. We have seen people from all over the state visiting our club. Marco Gutierrez was a featured guest in October. The National Committeeman Shawn Steel was a guest speaker, too! I have had a lot of fun doing this!
Of course, there are subversive, liberal elements, even within the local Republican circles who have been trying to take me down or stop the Beach Cities Republicans.
One attempt after another they fell apart and ended up walking as failures with nothing to stand on.
1. Let's start with what happened in March, 2016.
This meeting turned out to be a significant success. Olivia Valentine, a councilmember in the city of Hawthorne, spoke to our club about all the things that she is doing. She used to be an independent, but came back to the Republican Party, in larger measure because she received support from other Republicans in the area, including myself.
But there was the first attempt at a coup to try and get rid of me.
John-Paul Tabakian, one of a corrupt set of regressives (who likes to advertise themselves as progressive) tried to sabotage the meeting. He had seduced one of the board members, Damien McDowell, to embrace liberal views which violate the GOP platform, including amnesty, open borders, and homosexual marriage. All of it was really disappointing.
In a vain attempt to try and embarrass me, he ended up irritating the club. He was trying to silence me for my views, and chose to do so in front of the rest of the club. I called him out for it, and told him he should have spoke to me about any issues or concerns which he had faced.
Tabakian believed that he had set the perfect trap, and everything was recorded by Joseph Lopez, another weak Millennial whom Tabakian had seduced.
Here's the video:
Tabakian and his clueless crew attempted to undermine and the rest of the Beach Cities Republicans.
It was a major fail.
The next day, some members of the Central Committee tried to pressure me to resign, even though I had done nothing wrong. This is not the way to lead. This is not how men and women change the culture of their better in their communities.
Tracy Hopkins stood with me and supported me the whole time! She has been a real gift and a prime example of how to lead for the better.
2. The second attempt by Establishment forces to get rid of me came to light in late August.
A close contact informed me that the 66th Central Committee was trying to get rid of me. Unbelievable! What kind of leadership undermines the grassroots? The men and women who fight for what is right need support, not to be undermined.
They had plotted to get rid of me, but they failed! As soon as I informed friends and supporters, they rushed in to support me and showed up to vote for me! People from all over Southern California support what we are doing in the Beach Cities Republicans, and so many people have joined our club--and they refused to go along with Establishment leaders who do not want to fight for what is right!
People from Rancho Cucamonga have visited the Beach Cities Republicans! Friends from Northern California have also attended our club. Men and women from other sections of Los Angeles County have attended, too!
The Establishment, led by Janice Webb and other members of the Central Committee failed to get rid of me. (More on that later)
3. Janice Webb, the Chairwoman of the 66th Central Committee, had plotted to get rid of me ... and she needed to know that I was going nowhere. I decided to sit down with her and confront her on these issues.
Instead of owning up to her lack of courage, she revealed how fearful and petrified she really was. I invited Marco Gutierrez to speak to the Beach Cities Republicans. Gutierrez has inspired a Twitter storm when he warned voters that if we did not control our immigration problems, there would be "Taco Trucks on Every Corner."
Webb pressured me to cancel the meeting. Guess what? I refused to do so!
BAM! I refused to be bullied and shamed into stopping a public event because a couple of people were afraid of what would happen at the meeting. Webb was particularly insulting because she claimed that I would do something "video worthy" that would connect me to former Assemblyman David Hadley to Donald Trump.
Well, it made no difference what some people feared. The October meeting went very well:
All of us had so much to celebrate, too!
It was a great meeting. Shame on Janice Webb and her colleagues who tried to silence us.
4. RPLAC tried to get rid of me.
The next day, after the election, I received a terse and unjust email from Executive Director Jason Maruca. Hiding behind his title as Executive Director, Maruca told me that I had violated the by-laws, and then listed a whole set of other arbitrary charges against me. I demanded answers from the By-Laws committee chairman Gary Aminoff. First he told me that he had documentation of the complaints against, then he told me that he did not have to show anything to me.
HUH?
Well, the leadership behind this nonsense did not think that I was going to punch back and reject this kangaroo court. I demanded answers. I reached out to national leaders, and they supported me.
5. Potential confrontation with Executive Committee, and the Committee backed off.
I contacted supporters from around Southern California, and they were ready to confront the RPLAC executive committee. One of my friends took a close look at the RPLAC by-laws, and found a number of disturbing irregularities!
The committee eventually backed off.
BAM!
6. Winning the BCR Election.
I am so grateful for the supporter from the many people who attended the November 19th meeting!
Especially Michael Ramirez, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist:
This was a stunning election. Out of 49 votes cast, I won 34.
It was really something!
So much support.
At the same meeting, I had intended for Janice Webb and other members of the Central Committee to speak to the rest of the club, and explain why they had been working to get rid of me. One member of the Central Committee, Ken Hartley, could offer nothing more than just his concerns about the behavior of other members of the committee.
7. The Central Committee moving its meeting at the last meeting and preventing Omar Navarro and Rick Marshall from attending.
I called on the Central Committee numerous times for an answer to this violation of the by-laws. There was supposed to be a meeting on November 21--but the meeting changed at the last minute, and no one was informed about it!
What?!
Final Reflection
There is something very powerful about standing on principle and not giving in to people's fear.
The Establishment in Los Angeles County and throughout the state of California needs to make up its mind. Are we going to fight for the right, or are we going to cave to every threat and take flight?
It was disappointing and sad that instead of receiving support and back-up, RPLAC leaders were looking for ways to accuse of things which I had not done, for refusing to follow the proper process of allowing every person to receive a proper hearing.
This kind of double-dealing and backstabbing is completely unacceptable.
It's been a great year for the Beach Cities Republicans, and we look forward to more victories in the months to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment