John Padgett won
re-election as State GOP Chair with 807 votes to Alex Johnson’s 612 votes with
a total of 1419 votes cast by written ballot. 94 delegates had suddenly
disappeared. Voting was easy and took 10 minutes, but our luck was about to run
out.
Before we had a chance to
zip through the next 6 ballots, the motions to unravel the process and
objections began.
Randy Evans led the
convention using Roberts Rules of Order, designed to arrive at a pre-determined
outcome and objections are dismissed.
Delegate attrition ensued at the rate of 100 delegates escaping every
hour.
At 4PM the horses were
ready to “run to the barn” and with the quorum disappearing the meeting was
adjourned.
The first unraveling of
the convention began with a motion to elect officers by slate, despite the fact
that individual ballots had been distributed to have a secret ballot vote. This
motion failed, but took 30 minutes to wallow in.
The next unraveling came
with a motion to vote by standing and not use the ballots. This passed because nothing is more
irritating than Robert’s Rules disputes eating away the afternoon. This took
another 30 minutes of point-counterpoint.
The final unraveling came
with a motion to use voice votes and approve all Resolutions as a block.
So John Padgett will lead
the GA GOP for another 2 years, but according to the following 2nd
message from retiring GOP treasurer, John Padgett may have overspent on
consultants and may have some ‘spleenin” to do:
Bob Mayzes response to
John Padgett’s defense
John has since issued his
response. To be clear, my decision to not support John Padgett’s re-election
does not diminish my appreciation for John’s extensive service over many years
to the Republican Party. I would like to provide my own clarification and
reiterate my enthusiastic endorsement of Alex Johnson’s candidacy.
Some have alleged that I
didn’t write the endorsement of Alec Johnson, but instead simply allowed my
name to be used. I thoughtfully considered and reconsidered every written word
of the original endorsement and this response. However, I strongly suspect that
John’s response was written by a GAGOP staffer or possibly their communications
consultant ($5,000 per month/$55,000 in 2014).
Reading my endorsement of
Alex Johnson, there is no way one could construe that I remotely questioned the
hard work of GAGOP staff, grass-roots leaders and volunteers. Anyone that has
any knowledge of me, knows that is false and a veiled attempt to misdirect and
spin my statements endorsing Alex Johnson.
My statements challenged
Mr. Padgett’s campaign claims regarding his administration’s fundraising and
stewardship of GAGOP resources. He claims they decided to spend reserves to
avoid run-offs in the Governor and U.S. Senate races. My response is what
farmer eats his seed in the winter so there is nothing for spring planting? Or
what business consumes its working capital reserves so that it can’t survive
the business cycle?
Side note: As State Treasurer,
I found the easiest times for the GAGOP to raise funds is when there is a
run-off. The candidate doesn’t like being in that position, but every
Republican wants to win and coughs up cash. Funds roll in quickly from small
and large donors.
I complement Mr. Padgett
for raising $6.5 million in 2014. Now compare that to 2010, a comparable year
during Chairman Everhart’s administration. In 2010, she raised $9.1 million
with virtually the same dynamics as both the Governor office and a U.S. Senate
seat were on the ballot.
On the topic of
outsourcing, the $55,000 paid in 2014 for communications consulting could have
paid a full- time employee, who could do other things besides press releases.
The monies paid for web services could have employed a full-time staffer, again
capable of other tasks. In 2014, three companies received 42.4% of the $6.5
million (The Stoneridge Group 28.3%, Paces Direct 7.4% and Creative Direct
6.7%). The Stoneridge Group got $1.83 million; more than the total paid to the
next top ten suppliers combined.
It has been 24 hours
since I released the endorsement of Alex Johnson for State Republican Chairman.
I am even more committed to the success of his election and his administration
as the next Chairman of the Republican Party. I support MR. ALEX JOHNSON, the
next GAGOP Chairman.
Sincerely, Bob Mayzes, State
Treasurer (retired)
Comments
At the end of the day,
the score was GA GOP Establishment 7, challengers 0, and John Padgett should
take a hard look at his consulting expenses.
Our federal government will continue to be “top-down” until 2017, so a “top-down”
state government will continue to collect its $21 billion a year in federal
bribes. The real necessity for the GOP
now is to have “bottom-up” county organizations out listening to the voters, so
there is no question about what bad laws were passed since 2008 that need to be
repealed in 2017.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA
Tea Party Leader
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