Damage control in the Ohio Republican Party! A text book case of what not to do!
When faced with scandals - its time to embrace ethics, whistleblowers, and transparency.
We are supposed to be better than this!
The December 3rd meeting of the ORSCC (Ohio Republican State Central Committee) is fast approaching, and it looks like it is business as usual. Will County Central Committee leaders recognize that we have a pandemic of unethical behavior within the Party? Will County leaders finally step up and voice their disgust with the inexcusable conduct leadership is exhibiting and the unethical manner the Party is being run? Will the Party take steps to stop hurting its own credibility with registered Republicans? All questions we have to ask….but first we need to address some points.
Inarguable point #1:
Burying your head in the sand and hoping everything will work itself out is not a strategy. As Republicans, we should not ignore or try to bury our scandals. Instead, we need to examine what went wrong and communicate what we are doing to prevent it from happening again. With the multitude of humiliations that Republicans are dealing with - we have had absolutely no resolution from the Party on what they are doing to prevent future scandals. We need to put the adults back in charge. For heaven's sake, we've lost two house speakers from FBI investigations, a former governor who went to the dark side to defeat a popular Republican president, and a current governor who closely identifies with Cuomo, Fauci, and BLM rioters. But don't worry - if you think the scandals have ended and Ohio cannot worsen, more scandals are brewing.
Inarguable point #2:
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity! We recently had Republicans implicated in the largest scandal in Ohio’s history - this involved the Speaker of the House - a person that the State Central Committee has traditionally delegated all the endorsements in the Ohio House of Representatives. Do ORSCC members believe that this is a practice that should continue unabated? How are we reassuring donors that the Party is not being sold to the highest bidder?
Inarguable point #3:
The bylaws of the party are legally binding documents - and failure to follow the bylaws as commonly understood is a breach of trust all registered Republicans! Let's be clear, "tradition" never trumps a legally binding document. A new hire - claiming that misappropriating funds to spend on unendorsed candidates "is a tradition", is absolutely laughable to any legal professional. You don't have to be Einstein to realize that such a precedent would make ORSCC members irrelevant. To believe that a Chairman does not work within a budget and has unprecedented and unlimited discretionary spending powers is just ignorant and naive. Where does the Chairman's power stop?
Inarguable point #4:
Doubling down on stupidity, only begets more stupidity - and destroys credibility! When a professional auditing firm takes an unprecedented approach of ending its audit midstream because the books are so poorly organized and that there was a lack of cooperation - "Houston, we have a problem!" What assurances are being made that there were no financial irregularities and that the Party is not being fleeced of donor's funds?
Then having your finance director leave in the middle of the turmoil.
Then, the Chairman marginalizes and retaliates against GOP whistleblowers by removing them from their committees.
This behavior is outrageous and simply unforgivable. At the very least, it merits discussion and careful and diligent consideration.
WHAT “NOT” TO DO DURING A CRISIS
Don't be oblivious to the crisis, and don't try to brush off the crisis.
When the Party is confronted with a very public scandal - and then significant accounting irregularities are discovered - and then your finance director steps down amid the turmoil - you do not punish the whistleblowers by removing them from their committee assignments.
Do not double down on secrecy and increased opaqueness.
WHAT TO DO DURING A CRISIS
When you have a very public scandal amid accusations that question the ethics of management - you use the opportunity to adopt:
an ethics code
a whistleblower policy
a transparency policy
Take the opportunity to lead the world and the United States by putting the Party's finances on OpenGov.com and opening them to the world for examination.
To challenge the rest of the political parties in the United States to do the same.
This would help to restore confidence in the Ohio Republican Party.
What can you do?
You can write a letter similar to the one below to all the local County Central Committee members and State Central Republican leaders.
Dear Ohio Republican Leadership and Management,
The actions of the ORP (Ohio Republican Party) over the last two years have been outright embarrassing, and those of you rushing to carry the water for upper management are doing the Party no favors. Instead, you are destroying the Party from the top down. Now is the time for you to call out this incredulity or be implicated with it.
We have all watched, with great astonishment, the Republican utopia created by one of the most successful political parties in our nation's history. After dominating Ohio's politics for a half-century and controlling everything for the past 12 years - Ohio is:
one of the most left states,
its major cities are controlled by Democrats and Socialists,
our schools are controlled by liberals and socialists,
opioids are out of control,
human trafficking has reached epic proportions,
and the behavior of our Republicans during the pandemic was eerily similar to the Cuomo Communists of New York.
The Party has seemingly been victorious in everything except implementing conservative principles that would better the human condition in Ohio and stop our long slide back into the swamp.
The Party has not learned from past mistakes. It has allowed socialism to flourish at home while our brave men and women have fought overseas. Our cities were burned and pillaged while the "Party-in-charge" sat on their hands and watched the Statehouse be ransacked. I am ashamed of the Ohio our soldiers and sailors have to return to. Leadership has not learned to adapt and overcome obstacles. Instead, leadership has worn rose colored glasses while wearing ear plugs. Ohio has suffered, families have suffered, and our women and children suffer the most. Your attention is needed ASAP in:
adopting a code of ethics for the Party
adopting a whistleblower policy
enforcing the bylaws of the Party
reprimanding the State chair for his reprehensible and totally unacceptable behavior
and adopting a platform of policy solutions that define the Party and holds candidates accountable
All of these actions are self-evident for persons of integrity that have ever run a non-profit and depend on donations. Leadership has no business endorsing candidates for 2022 before these these five simple things are accomplished. To do so would remove all doubt that your alliance is not to registered Republicans of Ohio but to the Chairman of the Republican Party. Don't Venezuela my Ohio! Don't let us become a third-world nation. Take ownership and responsibility for the problem at-hand and represent your constituents!
Sincerely,
John Doe
Consider mailing to your State Central Committee members and these County Committee Chairmen: <GHWallingford@earthlink.net>, <chairman@allencountyohiogop.com>, <ctunnell@zoominternet.net>, <chairman@ashtabulagop.com>, <pgcouladis@hotmail.com>, <jkal@bright.net>, <browncountyohiogop@yahoo.com>, <toddhall@toddhomesllc.com>, <jeffmangun@yahoo.com>, <robccgop@gmail.com>, <dch@dharkins.com>, <gregsimpson@fuse.net>, <gopguy63@gmail.com>, <dwjohnson@summitville.com>, <radiatorservice@roadrunner.com>, <lstickan@cuyahogacountygop.com>, <kathleendeland@gmail.com>, <scuckler@taftlaw.com>, <stidhac2@gmail.com>, <jmfix66@gmail.com>, <mcmarthacooper7@gmail.com>, <josh@franklincountygop.org>, <bradmccloud@hotmail.com>, <skbarber@roadrunner.com>, <mdaines256er@yahoo.com>, <nmcarthur@windstream.net>, <jcaupp@att.net>, <j.basham@roadrunner.com>, <gopchair@firewireinternet.com>, <judgealext@gmail.com>, <findlaybj@gmail.com>, <rradway@gmail.com>, <contact@harrcogop.com>, <stephen.kryder@prudential.com>, <rdonley@cinci.rr.com>, <ladyautumn41@yahoo.com>, <robhovis@outlook.com>, <bschwinn12@gmail.com>, <jccf301@gmail.com>, <matt@mamagscatering.com>, <knoxrepublicanchair@gmail.com>, <dalefellows@sbcglobal.net>, <stephens.jcs@gmail.com>, <jeannebolton@windstream.net>, <srlentz@embarqmail.com>, <davidar333@gmail.com>, <mwagoner@shumaker.com>, <nickadkinslaw@gmail.com>, <tommccabe@sbcglobal.net>, <marionohiogop@gmail.com>, <jrenacci@gmail.com>, <raspaun@yahoo.com>, <richarddelzeith@gmail.com>, <anthonykendell@yahoo.com>, <tenaciousdan1@yahoo.com>, <philplummer@mcohiogop.org>, <tcjenkins@centurylink.net>, <deo5557@yahoo.com>, <ph@putnamtruckload.net>, <Mikeyoungcyc@gmail.com>, <jillies32@frontier.com>, <jerryzielke@gmail.com>, <steve_baker22@yahoo.com>, <mwhitten80@hotmail.com>, <dmanuta@dmanuta.com>, <amanda@targething.com>, <davidhaber58@gmail.com>, <chairman@putnamrepublicanparty.org>, <msj@neo.rr.com>, <dianecarnes55@gmail.com>, <sancogop@gmail.com>, <rhslbarnett@gmail.com>, <cwidman@goodshepherdhome.com>, <tiamia915@gmail.com>, <matthews@starkgop.org>, <info@summitcountygop.org>, <kevin@lewisconstruction.com>, <dwills@tusco.net>, <justinh0808@gmail.com>, <tdlichtensteiger@gmail.com>, <thebps1994@gmail.com>, <gopjeff@gmail.com>, <jpderkin@gmail.com>, <bdeeken@neo.rr.com>, <pattirockey@gmail.com>, <info@woodcountyohiogop.org>, <sstansbery1957@gmail.com>