NCGOP leader calls for sanctions against party’s lawyer
Executive committee member Jim Womack put his latest set of concerns in writing to NCGOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse and head mutineer Joyce Cotten:
Dallas & Joyce;
Imagine my disgust at receiving a 5-page “open letter” today from our NCGOP General Counsel providing a very one-sided, incomplete, and questionable account of the activities of our Chairman over the past few weeks. I want to know just how much it cost the NCGOP to publish and mail this open letter to NCGOP members statewide? And I want to know who authorized this to be sent at a cost to our depleted NCGOP bank account?
I serve on the NCGOP Executive Committee and I did not vote to authorize this kind of quill driving for any purpose. As with previous mailings and web postings, there is nothing of substance; but rather innuendo and half-truths in the letter. The missive merely serves to confuse and upset the party base, rather than to inform. Whoever authorized the mailing by our General Counsel should be disciplined, along with Mr. Stark, himself, for sending this useless diatribe. In fact, the letter wasn’t even timely- it was dated March 31st. It contained inaccurate information that was contradicted by the calendar of District Conventions also enclosed.
I am sickened at the sustained onslaught against our Chairman. I demand that we cease and desist in sending this kind of correspondence. These distractions are harming the party’s reputation, eroding support from rank and file GOP activists, and diminishing the chances we can elect or re-elect our Council of State candidates this fall.
Please communicate this immediately to the Central Committee.
Sincerely/
Jim Womack
That note prompted this response from Woodhouse: 
Jim: a couple of points. I believe the decision to release the materials came in part because of the Chairmans call for everything to be released.
As far as costs go, I believe it was minimal because the notice of cancellation of the April 9th meeting.
And then THIS from Womack:
Dallas;
I do not recall the Chairman calling for the release of half-truths, which certainly isn’t a release of “everything,” and I know he didn’t ask for this to be mailed out at expense to the NCGOP. Please tell me why the NCGOP didn’t enclose his written rebuttal to this propaganda? Isn’t that a part of “everything?”
Please assure us this will be the last of these unsolicited mailings that we are all sick of receiving from the Central Committee.
Hasan canceled his call for an April 9th Executive Committee meeting. We were notified of that meeting electronically and we it had already been canceled electronically. I eagerly await (electronic) notification of the Central Committee’s cancellation of the April 30th called meeting that, to date, still hasn’t been authorized according to our Plan of Organization.
Jim
Those participating in the circular firing squad are not very good shots! They keep missing. Sounds like a bunch of power hungry egomaniacs.
This has Dallas Woodhead all over it, he is the one who needs to go!
Not disagreeing about the ED, but behind him is the Central Committee, and behind them are the Legislative leaders and the Governor.
I think I have only seen one document from the Party’s Lawyer. I have read a lot of things from Hasan and from the NCGOP office.
Womack for ED!
We need a legal counsel who is going to be objective, with the best interests of the party in mind. We do not have that with Tom Stark, who has been a very biased factional power player from the beginning. First, he was the chief defender of David Lewis, who had seriously backstabbed the party with the secretive last minute amendments to HB 373, and now he is the chief prosecutor of the party chairman for factional reasons.
Stark’s letter gives him a massive conflict of interest to participate in any way on any of these issues in the future.
This was a huge waste of party money to propagandize in a factional dispute, and it was mostly just a rehash of previous propaganda. At least Cumbie used (or so he says) his own money to pay for his similar diatribe against the chairman. This one from Stark says on its face that it is paid for by the party itself. Shame on him. Stark ought to have to reimburse the party for all costs of this mailing.
After Woodhouse goes, one of the very next who needs to be gone is Stark.
We had the General Counsel but Stark nearly drove him in the grave. David Williams wised up, but Stark has what he wanted and the Cent Comm has committed their path with them. R3voLution isn’t pretty but it is cleansing.
Do not forget that the Executive Committee elected Stark over a real assistant Gen. Counsel. They damn sure ain’t all so wise either so I wouldn’t remain sanctimonious…..those that are.
I heard that there were really vicious threats, both professional and personal to get the previous General Counsel to resign so that they could put Stark in that position. Did Stark do that himself or did others do it on his behalf? The establishment has been engaged in some really dirty power politics in this caper.
The Ex Comm needs its own Legal Counsel I said this weeks ago
Content and overall issue aside for a second… but exactly how is Woodhouse’s response a professional or even appropriate answer to those pretty direct questions? Who does that? Who works like that? Is that just an excerpt?
If you know “who” actually released “that” particular document… you say so… and if you “dont” know, you go find out and then say so.
Same for “what was the cost and who authorized that?” Calling it “minimal” wasnt an answer to the question.
That was a pretty useless response, and it would probably tick me off even more to get something like that back… *shrug*
It is time for this to stop. The Chairman must resign for the good of the NCGOP. If he remains we will lose the entire state to the democrats. Perhaps that is what you all want to happen because you sure as heck are not doing anything to promote electing republicans.
for the good of the NCGOP all central committee members should resign and then let the Ex Comm vote a temporary new board to serve until the 2017 district conventions and then let this new board made up of no one that currently serves then deal with the issues with a fresh perspective
the problems in the NCGOP have been building over the course of several chairman and this one is not the cause in the current problems in the party
I am concerned that it is too late to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Deconstructing the entire party structure and organization in a presidential election vs. replacing the chair. Replace one, or all the others??? Even assuming there is enough blame to go around, it seems there is one way forward.
Even if we were to assume that Hasan and Daniel Rufty are on the good side, and all of the remaining party officers,12 district chairs, and paid staff are wrong, where does that take us? We are in the middle of a presidential election. Are we to burn down the house, and rebuild while organizing to carry North Carolina?
Just saying . . . there is no reasonable way forward on this side of the argument.
We are all imperfect, and some of our decisions are better than others. My guess that everyone in this drama started out wanting to do the right thing.
Does the grassroots have much power to force change OTHER than holding hostage the Governor’s re-election chances? It certainly may be the only efficient leverage the grassroots have. Once the election is over and everyone is safely re-elected, the grassroots have NO leverage. And let’s face it, this isn’t a very grassroots conservative that we have for a Governor…or a Senator. Addition by subtraction. And if either of the latter lose, we’ll likely lose seats in the General Assembly as well. Better to take some hits now than in 2020, the year they start to redraw the lines.
What is the end game? Is it about power, or are we really wanting to get the nominees of our party elected in November? Because if it is the latter, as it needs to be, then we need to keep a working team in place. Hasan started out with nearly all of the elected state party officers and most district chairs on his team. They haven’t fallen away because of influence from the governor or anyone else pulling their strings. They have lost confidence in Hasan, and find they now spend way too much time trying to contain a mess. Just sayin’
You can assume that the paid staff is bad from the fact that the Executive Director is a Karl Rove retread and the Political Director is a Dee Stewart retread. ‘Nuf said!
The first who need to go are the conniving and backstabbing headquarters staff.
The best way to deal with the districts is to require new conventions based on the new district lines. Half of the district chairmen do not even live in their districts any more, and that is just darn inefficient. In the past, we have used presidential year conventions to reorganize our districts along the new lines. The only reason that was not done this year was due to a power play by the establishment.
There should be a host of resignations on the Central Committee starting with the legal counsel and deputy legal counsel and National Committeeman and National Committeewoman.
The only way to solve the problem that this power play has created may be widespread housecleaning of party officials, and it should be done soon so we can reorganize before the election.
I guess I just believe that the Central Committee should no longer be made up of the district chairs to start with and each central committee member should have to be voted in individually by the Excomm and then at any time it would make it easier for the Excomm to call for new elections for the central committee if the committee got out of hand again
Sunny Gal has it ever dawned on you that there is no difference in these Republicans you are promoting and democrats? Name 1 thing the Rinos have done in the United States House or Senate? They control the check book and have fully funded Obama Care, illegal executive amnesty, 20 trillion in debt, all cromnibus spending bills, etc. The list goes on and on. I hope they all lose and maybe people like you will wake the heck up.
Prediction – And I want you to mark it down:
We (NC Republicans) are going to be THE most ridiculed group of individuals this nation has seen during this election cycle – And that is saying a LOT.
THANK YOU Jim Womack for your leadership.
As for Mr Woodhouse – That is your answer Sir? The cost was minimal?
And as for who is ultimately responsible? We all know who that is – The Governor. Anyone who disagrees please say so. Is there a single person who believes this could continue if he said “STOP”?
This reminds me of a backwoods family feud. After while it doesn’t matter who started it. We have reached the point where only harm comes from every shot fired.
I’m telling you – Those of you who are determined to bring down Hassan at all costs – WILL be the cause of our party’s failure.
If Jack Hawke were still alive, he would be getting the governor to knock some heads to put a stop to all this nonsense, but I do not think the governor now has anyone with that level of political savvy on his team, which is very unfortunate for all concerned.
McCrory never was a “party guy” as mayor – he’s even said he could have been a Democrat but the “Democrats left him” going too far let. I doubt he’s paying much attention to intraparty stuff.
I see this as a power play to install Dallas Woodhead Rove’s picks as delegates,nothing more.
Control of the General Counsel’s position is important to the elite’s control of the party. Why do you think we have had him on the front lines battling that grassroots riff-raff? Why do you think measures were taken to get rid of his predecessor? Why do you think he has been in on the strategy sessions to get rid of Hasan and to defend Lewis?
Most of you have probably missed who we slipped in at the last meeting as Deputy General Counsel. Remember the guy who ran against Michelle Nix? The Haymaker did an article about him; how he has viciously attacked Ted Cruz on social media, how he is a big supporter of Common Core and amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and how he is an all-round liberal. Well, that is who our elite faction on the Central Committee put in as the party’s deputy general counsel. Smokin’ aren’t we?
We like liberals just fine. What we do not like are the grassroots riff-raff.
Fundamental to this whole issue that has gotten way out of hand is the question of the registration fees for the state convention, an issue that is highly controversial among party members in general, not just a point of dispute between the chairman and a majority of the Central Committee.
The Plan of Organization is unclear as to who has authority to set that fee, as the fee is not specifically mentioned in the Plan. Arguably, it could fall either under the Chairman’s power to call the convention or under the budget power that is shared by the Central Committee and the Executive Committee. There is no legitimate basis for arguing that it falls unilaterally with the Central Committee, yet that is what the Central Committee and Tom Stark assert.
On the budget, the Plan of Organization gives the Central Committee the power to ”prepare” the budget but gives the Executive Committee the power to ”adopt” the budget. The Central Committee’s budget has never been given effect until it was adopted by the Executive Committee, and this follows the requirements of the Plan.
The current NCGOP budget does not set a specific registration fee for the convention. If that issue had been presented to the Executive Committee, there would certainly have been strenuous pushback against a fee as high as $90.
Tom Stark’s letter blows smoke on this issue by asserting that this fee was set by a ”budget for the convention” adopted unilaterally by the Central Committee on February 28. The Central Committee only has the power to prepare a proposed budget, which then has to go to the Executive Committee for adoption. This budget for the convention has never gone to the Executive Committee. Since his argument on that subject is utter nonsense, most of what follows in Stark’s letter is also utter nonsense.
If the Central Committee wanted to have a separate convention budget, the Executive Committee meeting in Wilmington originally scheduled for today should have been held to consider that budget.
The chairman may or may not be wrong on his interpretation of who has the power to set this disputed convention fee, but the Central Committee definitely lacks the power to set it unilaterally without approval by the Executive Committee, which in this case did not happen. This issue should definitely be clarified in the Plan of Organization. Given the abusive level of the fee the Central Committee is attempting to impose this year, that power should not be placed unilaterally in the hands of the Central Committee. Perhaps the delegates at each convention should vote on the amount of the registration fee for the next succeeding convention.