Fireworks at the Republican Central Committee

Another resigning Treasure (second one in the past year), Republican Woman demand a 15% cut from last month's fundraiser, and the passage of contentious changes all contributed to last night's fireworks at the Republican Central Committee.

In 2010, Ken Edmunds resigned as Treasurer after posts from Jefferson is My Hero shared his blotched filings with the State Board of Elections. Ken has recently resigned as Committee Man giving his post to newly appointed Mrs. Dixon.  After Ken stepped down as Treasurer, AJ Church was appointed to take the reigns. AJ resigned last night citing unethical practices after numerous confrontations with Chairwoman Gretchen Clelland, who demanded AJ issue un-approved checks, as all requests over fifty dollars must be approved by the committee. No one was reappointed as the Treasurer, though Gretchen advised the committee she would like to appoint someone of her flavor.

The Republican Woman then, spurred on by a verbal commitment from Gretchen, were all up in their fur-coated arms demanding a 15% cut from the Lincoln Day Fundraiser they hosted last month (to less than stellar attendance). After debating for the majority of the evening, the fleet of Republican Women got their 15%, and then abruptly left the meeting.

The rest of the evening's agenda was disbanded to allow for time to address the PATRIOT Act Resolution, and a change in the meeting date of the Committee. The PATRIOT Act Resolution was to affirm that Twin Falls Republicans believe unconstitutional provisions in the PATRIOT Act should be allowed to expire; that Americans can be both safe and free, and that Americans should not have to give up our Constitutional rights to combat terrorism. This falls on the heels of Rep. Mike Simpson voting for the extension of the PATRIOT Act in recent weeks.

The final order of business was to vote on a proposed change to the monthly meeting day. For many years, committee members have debated on moving the day the monthly meetings are held. Because of some member's religious commitments, it was more advantageous to select Tuesday rather than Wednesday. It had been proposed in 2008, but denied any breathing room, and some started to wonder if the meeting was intentionally being held on Wednesday to keep the religiously active out of the committee. After a spirited speech by Carter Killinger, that was cut off by Chairwoman Clelland, the motion passed. Future meetings will be held the 2nd Tuesday of the month.