(Find background information about this issue at The El Paso Fiasco.🔗)
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF):
El Paso County GOP is asking members of the Colorado Republican Central Committee (CRC) to demand that COGOP Chairwoman Burton-Brown rescind and cancel the special meeting called🔗 for January 31, 2023, as regards:
Purpose
1) “[D]etermine the status and regularity of the organization of the El Paso County GOP and to establish procedures regarding the rules, execution, and conduct of the upcoming reorganizational (sic) meeting required in statute of the El Paso County GOP to ensure there is integrity in the election of officers and bonus members.”
2) “[D]etermine the legally valid list of members of the Central Committee of the El Paso County GOP.”
And
Relief sought/resolutions considered
“[T]o determine a) whether a neutral party outside El Paso County should conduct the re-organizational (sic) meeting, and b) whether the SCC can ensure that a legally valid list of voters is used in the re-organizational meeting.”
Rationale and Argumentation:
Chairwoman Burton-Brown is asking that the CRC assemble predicated on unspecified complaints from an unspecified number of unspecified CRC members who are concerned about the conduct of the El Paso GOP. There is no provision in state bylaws for convening a special meeting for such unfounded reasons. Although Chairwoman Burton-Brown has implied that “two main motions” will be considered, these motions are not defined, therefore, CRC members are unable to prepare for this meeting.
There is no information regarding what the unspecified members’ complaints are; no grievance has been brought to the El Paso County GOP either from within or without the County Central Committee.
The relief being sought is not supported by any authority granted to the CRC. The appointment of “a neutral party outside El Paso County [to] conduct the re-organizational (sic) meeting” is beyond the scope of the CRC. Neither is there any valid reason for considering this action. The actions of the COGOP Chairwoman in this regard are arbitrary and capricious. There is no reason to call this meeting much less pursue such an extreme course of action.
The COGOP Chairwoman has (apparently) received and considered complaints from anonymous members, but has not taken or considered evidence or information from the El Paso County GOP. This meeting and the proposed actions are entirely predicated on anonymous accusations without consideration for the other party (El Paso County GOP). At best this is an incomplete investigation seeking to punish an accused party without due process.
COGOP Chairwoman Burton-Brown has not indicated what misconduct or violations the El Paso County GOP is accused of committing. No bylaw or statutory infractions have been brought.
There is no reason to believe or to suspect that the list of El Paso County GOP voters is illegal or invalid. All precinct leaders have been seated in accordance with the El Paso County bylaws which have been in place for over ten years. The El Paso County bylaws indicate that precinct leader vacancies (not filled during caucus) shall be filled by a vacancy committee that consists of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Secretary:
Section 7.04 Vacancy Committee--the Executive Committee acting as Vacancy Committee shall delegate to the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary as a subcommittee to fill vacancies in precinct leaders positions
There is no precedent that would suggest the CRC has the authority to take such extreme actions as to seize control of a county organizational meeting and remove voting members from that body. To take such action would be to invent this power and ascribe to the CRC the sole power of determining county central committees’ composition, membership, and actions. Every county in Colorado would be subject to the CRC as a supreme authority.
There is no provision for a special meeting of the CRC for the purpose of conducting an investigation. It is absurd to believe that the CRC could conduct an investigation during a virtual meeting in a single setting. Therefore, it must be concluded that this meeting is for the purpose of resolving a controversy as described in Article XV in the CRC bylaws. However, no such controversy has been presented. Section C. (Other Controversies) in Article XV directs the CRC to determine controversies arising at the county level, but since none has been presented, the meeting has no purpose. At no time have any aggrieved parties in the El Paso County GOP presented a controversy and asked for resolution. Neither has there been any controversy brought to the attention of the El Paso County GOP from any other party or entity.
That there is no basis in fact or in law for this meeting to take place and to seek the ends indicated in the meeting call, it must be concluded that the purpose of this meeting is to afford a small group of disaffected persons in El Paso County the opportunity to seize control of the February organizational meeting in order to influence or direct the outcomes of those elections. Not only is this unheard of, it is illegal.
There has been no due process afforded the accused (El Paso County GOP): the accused has not even been made aware of the accusations or the accusers.
There is a process for resolution of controversies and it is not followed here; there is no controversy.
The actions being sought are solutions in search of problems. None of the offenses they anticipate have occurred. There is no reason to implement such extreme measures when the problems they seek to remediate have not happened.
Furthermore, Chairwoman Burton-Brown has publicly and clearly proposed (at Republican club meetings and on broadcast media) that members of the CRC should seek the actions sought by this meeting. It is absurd to believe that she would be impartial holding this meeting as she has openly promoted the removal of the El Paso County GOP Chairperson and the dissolution of the El Paso County GOP. This call to meeting is clearly not predicated on unsolicited reports from members throughout the state, but more likely the product of collusion among the COGOP Chairwoman and disgruntled members almost exclusively within El Paso County.
It is highly inappropriate and dangerous to ask that CRC members underwrite this reckless power trip by a Chairwoman who is not seeking re-election. Those members who participate in this will set an ignominious precedent by creating an overpowered state authority able to wield unnecessary control over what should be sovereign county parties. Demand that this meeting be cancelled, and the call be rescinded.
Here is Chairwoman Burton-Brown's email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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p.s.
Two valid controversies were brought before the Chairwoman and she has refused to call meetings about them. See - REPUBLICANS RECLAIMING PARK COUNTY!
One is that several State Central Committee (SCC) members have requested a full forensic audit of the State party's books after the forced resignation of Dick Elsner as treasurer. The other is the request for the SCC to vote to remove from their positions Park County Chairman Deb Elsner and many on the Park County Executive Committee. Dick and Deb openly campaigned for the DEMOCRAT in the race against the REPUBLICAN running for County Commissioner, and the Executive Committee voted against removing Deb as Chairman, even though supporting Democrats is, obviously, against their bylaws.