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Paid for by District 12 Republicans
11506 Heritage Court #7Eagle River, Alaska 99577
ALASKA REPUBLICANS DISTRICT 12EAGLE RIVER/CHUGIAK/FORT
RICHARDSON
www.facebook.com/District12ARP
[email protected]
On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the
time when the Constitution was
adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and
instead of trying what meaning may be
squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the
probable one in which it was passed.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Judge William Johnson, Thursday,
June 12th 1823
May 24, 2013
Greetings to our fellow district and statewide Republican Party
Officers,
Let us be clear: A brand new formula for determining quorum in
the Republican Party is a
non-starter. It is a fool-hardy way to attempt to upend the
results of a district election, and theramifications of the newly
proposed formula are utterly ludicrous. The fact that another
organization
in some other state uses the words authorized vote in a
particular way has little impact on how we
have used the term over many years, and how it was universally
understood during the recent districtconvention election process.
Districts become organized through the regular district
convention
process. There is not a single district in the state that
employed the need for an expanded quorum
during their district convention, and with good reason.
Immediately following the districtconventions, employing such an
interpretation would have instantly disorganized every district
in
the state, and the SCC along with it. If the new formula were
employed in every district today, the
SCC itself would cease to have a quorum, and then who would
choose the members of the SCC?
ADOPTING A FILL ALL YOUR VACANT POSITIONS FIRST APPROACH IS A
RECIPE FOR NOTGETTING ANYTHING DONE. District 15 made that mistake
in 2010. In the fall of 2010, District 15
was able to successfully fill every single one of their voting
district positions (including all
precinct leaders). And that was the last time that they were
able to meet as a district. FromAugust 2010, until redistricting in
2012 (18 months), they were never again able to reach quorum
at a meeting, and their district chairman eventually gave up on
calling meetings. If the goal is to
not get anything done, thenby all meanschange the quorum
requirements. But realize that a
change to higher quorum requirements does not mean higher
standards, it means less work.
DISTRICTS DONT TURN ON/OFF LIKE A LIGHT SWITCHTHEY GROW OR THEY
SHRINK OVERTIME. Districts are, and for the foreseeable future will
continue to be, the lowest organized level
of the ARP. At the lowest level, there will always be ebbs and
flows in activity. Gone are the
days of precinct secretaries, precinct committeewomen, precinct
committeemen and precinctcampaign chairs. Those chapters in ARP
Rules were removed years ago to reflect the fact that
district activity is rarely so overwhelming that it spills over
into the creation of precinct
meetings, precinct fundraisers, contested precinct elections,
and the like. At the lowest active
level of the party you take what you have and you work with it
to build something better.Turning on the light does not result in a
fully-formed, sustainable district, but starts the long
process of building and organizing. To stop that process of
growth part-way, because of its small
size, does not inspire the plant to grow to higher heights. It
merely keeps it from taking root.
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TARGETING DISTRICTS THAT DONT SUPPORT YOU DOESNT MAKE THEM GO
AWAYTHEY
JUST FIND NEW WAYS OF EXPRESSING THEIR DISPLEASURE. While it may
be tempting to seek outsupporters in such a district and to shake
things up, in hopes of moving your supporters into
leadership positions, we suspect the proper way to go about
targeting districts to Dissolve
would be to find a district that doesnt have a history of having
an average of 12-24 people show
up to a district meeting. Also, it just looks bad when you show
up to a meeting on the night of ascheduled election and decree by
fiat that one of the candidates running, who lost the same
election only a month before, will now become temporary chairman
and serve as an SCC
representative for a district that no longer exists. When you
are tempted to shake things up,remember that it is only on rare
occasions that butterflies emerge from a hornets nest.
WHO IS DISTRICT 12EAGLE RIVER/CHUGIAK/FORT RICHARDSON?DISTRICT
HISTORY
AND UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS
Military Community (Much of the district is located on Fort
Richardson/JBER) 3 Republicans for every Dem One legislator has
been seeking (unsuccessfully) to make the district committee an
extension of his campaign/staff Full delegation to State
Convention (+ alternates) District represented at every SCC Meeting
since district convention District jointly-sponsored a very
successful event in preparation for the recent Anchorage
Municipal Election that was attended by more than 50 people, and
featured lengthy
presentations by all regional candidates for Anchorage Assembly
and five out of sixcitywide candidates for Anchorage School
Board
Low number of registered voters (34th/40) Low voter turnout
(32nd/40) District Committee: 9 Members
Our district organization was formed in 2012 as part of the 2012
statewide redistricting
process. As one of our first activities as a district, we were
pleased to be able to facilitate theparticipation of 292 Republican
voters who took part in our District 12 Presidential Preference
Poll on March 6th
. Three days later, on March 9th
, our district committee was formed at the 2012
Republican District Convention held at Jitters Coffee Shop in
Eagle River. Through the hardwork of our convention organizers, 25
delegates to our district convention participated in
electing the members of our district committee and determining
the direction of our district for
the next two years. It was at this point that the leadership of
our district passed from ourtemporary chairman and secretary (Peter
Giessel and Rep. Dan Saddler respectively) to our
district committee, comprised of the five elected district
officers (District Chairman, Vice-
Chairman, Bonus Vote, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary) and
our two elected Republicanlegislators. At no time since the
convention has our district committee consisted of fewer than
six officers.Also at our district convention, we elected a full
state delegation consisting of 12 state
delegates (as well as a number of alternates) to the 2012
Republican State Convention. All ofour delegates were credentialed
as having been properly elected at our district convention and
over the course of the weekend worked diligently with other
delegates in committee and on thefloor to represent the Republican
voters in our district. At the urging of our temporary
chairman,
Peter Giessel, our district convention chose not to pursue the
recruitment of a district treasurer or
assistant treasurer, as the ARP State Treasurer had offered to
perform those duties on behalf ofour district, and a treasurer
duplicating those duties at the district level was not needed.
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Likewise, we did not elect precinct leaders, as no precincts had
been organized prior to the
district convention, and the absence of precinct leaders, while
a valuable and contributing part ofthe district when active, was
universally understood by all districts in Alaska, as no reason
to
immediately cause the business of a district committee to come
to a screeching halt.
Additionally, while we applaud the few individuals in our
district who have expressed
interest in possibly serving as a precinct leader, we also
recognize the difficulties of serving as aprecinct leader in a
district such as District 12, as our district is greatly impacted
by the transitory
nature of military service, with nearly half of our precinct
leader positions located on Fort
Richardson (JBER). Owing to the frequent nature of military
deployments and reassignments,and the severe restrictions placed on
political activity occurring on military installations, we are
cautious not to too quickly recruit individuals who will be
unable to fulfill the duties and
responsibilities of a precinct leader. We are all too aware of
the hardships encountered bydistricts who have rushed to fill all
of their precinct leader positions only to then be unable to
achieve quorum and conduct any district business whatsoever, as
in the case of the previous
District 15. We have learned from such unfortunate situations
and established a process by which
any individuals desiring to be a precinct leader will be
well-acquainted with the duties of the
position prior to their appointment being approved by the
district committee. We recommend thatall districts do
likewise.Summary: Following the results of the election held at our
March District Meeting, which
was properly noticed and attended by 100% (all six) of the
members of our district committee, our
district became the target of an attempted hostile takeover of
our district committee, meant to steal
from us the extensive work of our committee since the 2012
convention. We declaim any support
whatsoever for the attempted takeover of our district and the
attempt by state party leadership to
interfere with a properly held district election process in an
effort to overturn the results of that
election.
Sincerely,
David Eastman Wayne Ozosky Devin Homan
District Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary
Laura Temple Karen Perry Ronnie Barcak
Assistant Secretary District 12 Bonus Vote Treasurer
Theresa Barcak
Assistant Treasurer
Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should,
therefore, be construed by
the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be
sought for in metaphysical
subtleties, which may make anything mean everything or nothing,
at pleasure.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Judge William Johnson, Thursday,
June 12th 1823
