Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John and his sidekick, Hamilton County resident, David Brooks, are at it again.
First, John decided he would only give the list of precinct committeemen list to Angel Rivera, one of several candidates running in the vacancy election for Council at-large representative. That idea got scuttled when the move was loudly protested.
But Chairman John and Brooks were not finished. Thursday night they held a candidate forum for the at-large candidates with about 100 precinct committeemen attending. Brooks and John would only allow Rivera and Chino Reeves to speak at the forum. None of the other 9 candidates were allowed to address the crowd. That is the first time I have ever heard of forum in which eligible candidates were not allowed to address the PCs at a party function.
First, John decided he would only give the list of precinct committeemen list to Angel Rivera, one of several candidates running in the vacancy election for Council at-large representative. That idea got scuttled when the move was loudly protested.
But Chairman John and Brooks were not finished. Thursday night they held a candidate forum for the at-large candidates with about 100 precinct committeemen attending. Brooks and John would only allow Rivera and Chino Reeves to speak at the forum. None of the other 9 candidates were allowed to address the crowd. That is the first time I have ever heard of forum in which eligible candidates were not allowed to address the PCs at a party function.
Tom John's actions continue to undermine the grass roots of the Marion County GOP, the hard-working men and women who do the grunt work for the party. As a chairman, he expects the absolute right to dictate who the candidates will be and the wishes of the precinct committeemen and the Republican electorate are merely obstacles to his getting what he wants.
As far as Brooks goes, the idea that he continues to serve in a leadership role in the Marion County GOP organization when he doesn't even live in the county, is an insult to every member of the Republican county organization who might otherwise be serving as Area Chairman instead of Brooks.
Enough is enough. Tom John needs to go and David Brooks needs to be given a permanent ticket out of the Marion County GOP. They have inflicted enough damage on my party.
As I understand it, these are the candidates who will be competing on Monday:
Jacqueline Cissell
Gary Conner
Kevin Green
Dorothy Henry
Michael Jezierski
Michael Kalscheur
Avachino Reeves
Angel Rivera
Bruce Schumacher
Eric Smith
Aaron Williams
Gary Conner
Kevin Green
Dorothy Henry
Michael Jezierski
Michael Kalscheur
Avachino Reeves
Angel Rivera
Bruce Schumacher
Eric Smith
Aaron Williams
I have heard from a PC that Dorothy Henry's boss at the Indiana Health Care Association sent out a letter to PCs on IHCA stationary supporting her candidacy. I would very much like to know if that is true and would like a copy of the letter. In a previous post, I explained my strong opposition to Dorothy Henry given her rubber stamp, anti-taxpayer performance while serving on the Capital Improvement Board. If her boss at IHCA is violating IRS rules limiting non-profit corporation's involvement in politics, I'd like to know that. I saw enough of that stuff during the Wishard and school referendums last year. The IRS really needs to reign in these non-profits which are getting away with so much.
UPDATE: Apparently David Brooks is promoting the need for "diversity" in the party in support of his choice for Chino Reeves or Angel Rivera. I know David Brooks very well. He was Pike Township Chairman when I was a ward chairman underneath him. In the 1990s I met with Brooks to discuss with him the need for more diversity in the party. Brooks' response? I'll never forget it - he said said that the Marion County GOP is wasting its time reaching out to African-Americans and other minorities and to simply forget it. Now Hamilton County resident David Brooks is playing the "diversity" card in support of his preferred choice? Has Brooks no shame?
3 comments:
Tom John seems to relish belittling people.
Paul, The entry of 11 candidates into this race has handed control over the outcome to leadership more than any of the actions on behalf of Rivera and Reeves. As you know, many of the PCs are appointed and will follow leadership's advice. With so many outsiders entering the race, the opposition has divided itself. I suspect that at least 5 or 6 of those candidates will be eliminated after the first round for failing to get 10%. The only monkey wrench for leadership has been the entry of Jackie Cissel, Aaron Williams and Dorothy Henry into the mix. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend tonight's caucus because of my continued illness. I personally favor Bruce Schumacher. I think the party leadership should be ashamed of its shabby treatment of him. He ran for Angela Mansfield's seat in 2007 and came within a few dozen votes of beating her. He deserves better treatment from the party leadership.
Gary...
It appears that nearly everyone except for a few party insiders deserve better treatment from the Marion County GOP.
What I personally find offensive is that Tom John and his party insiders feel they owe nothing to the activists who did the hard work for them in 2007 to give the the council majority and the mayor's office.
Tom John will be handed his toxic you-know-what at the next election.
I do hope people are smart enough to disconnect themselves from him while they still can.
Tom John = POISON
It's personally insulting to me that he took the credit for Ballard's election.
Do you know that those arrogant jerks literally stood around laughing at me and whether or not to send a nomination through for me to win the Sam Adams Award in 2007 after the election? More than one person has told me of their backroom scoffing of me and the Sam Adams activist prize. They should watch their mouths. They have no idea who I know. Their arrogance is always their achilles heel. Just like it was for Peterson.
The reality is that Tom John did not win the election for Greg Ballard.
Ordinary citizens who did the work for Ballard (work that Tom John would not do) won the election for Ballard.
There is zero doubt in my mind that Tom John was in on some kind of back room deal to let Peterson win the election.
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