Heard on the Tom/Toms
Stephen Frank, Exclusive to the California Political News and Views, 1/20/25 www.capoliticalnewsandviews.com
MONTEREY COUNTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE—INTIMIDATION/LAWYERS/LIKE DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO ACCEPT/ALLOW VOTES
This is not a story about Democrats using intimidation to suppress the vote. It is not about the DNC using attorneys to overturn election results. It is not about Democrats using illegal votes to change the outcome of an election. It is not about Democrats changing the rules to affect the outcome of an election. Democrats will threaten to bankrupt you personally (lawfare) or your committee.
This is about REPUBLICANS using Democrat techniques to keep control.
*The old Monterey Committee appointed people to fill vacancies for 2024. Then they tried to use them to vote in the NEW Committee—though not elected or appointed by the new Committee
*The old Committee called the police, which showed up with SIX cop cars. The old Committee, without a vote of the new Committee, hired two security guards to be in the meeting, to remove Republicans from the meeting. (Even with the intimidation, no one left)
*The old Chair, tried to claim that since he signed the lease, on behalf of the Committee, he had the right to declare people “trespassers” and throw them out (folks refused to leave based on his illegal statement).
*Someone paid Mark Meuser to declare people appointed last year for that term, could vote this term. At one point an attendee called Harmeet Dhillon to clarify. On speaker phone Dhillon noted that Mark was not present, so all of his memo is “hearsay” and not to be used. (Did the old Committee, without a vote of the body, use GOP money to pay Mark?)
*Once the Old Guard lost the election, they sent out a notice that another organizational meeting will be held, this week via ZOOM. Of course they are no longer in charge of the Monterey Central Committee, so have no authority to call a meeting.
Here is copy of the notice by a member, claiming to be chair, though another was elected:
Colleagues,
I am reconvening the MCRPCC Organizational meeting at 6:00 p.m. this next Thursday, January 23rd.
This meeting will be a Zoom Meeting only, and only the 29 elected members of the Central Committee will be allowed to participate.
The link to the Zoom meeting will be sent out prior to the meeting.
The original Organizational Meeting Agenda is attached.
Jerry
—
Jerry B. Edelen
This is how Democrats operate, ignore elections, rules and laws. Just act as if they did not happen. Note that the organizational meeting, properly noticed was never adjourned. Isn’t this how Biden/Newsom and the Democrats operate?
Oh, when the members arrived, they were given a letter from a major donor—if her Establishment candidate was not elected Chair, she would pull her money. Yup, they are willing to bankrupt the Monterey Central Committee to keep control. In a letter given to all members, Melanie Scherer wrote, “For these reasons, my continued financial support-and that are several others—will be contingent on Dave Drew winning this vital position (Chair)”.
The final insult to Republicans? When it was obvious that an activist Republican was going to win the Chair position, the Establishment Chair, refused to go forward. No joke, at this point they turned out the lights!! The lights were turned on and the CRP Regional Vice Chair, Randall Jordan was selected to run the rest of the meeting and held the election of officers, as noticed.
You would think you were at a Democrat Party meeting. But this is going on elsewhere. Obviously, they prefer power to GOP victories.
SAN BENITO IS LOOKING LIKE MONTEREY
Here is the agenda for the January 23 San Benito Central Committee meeting:
“AGENDA
1. Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes
3. State of The San Benito County Republican Party
4. Legal Counsel for Anticipated Litigation
5. Organizational Matters
a. Election of Chairman
b. Election of Vice Chairman
c. Election of Secretary
d. Election of Treasurer
6. Discussion of 2025-2026 Election Cycle
7. Adjourn”
Note they are already planning for a lawsuit, Agenda item #4. Also note that the Chair moved the meeting from a public place to his home. In that way he can remove people as trespassers. In fact, without a vote of the body he has declared it a CLOSED meeting—he did not want Republicans to see what they were doing.
OTHERS
Another Central Committee also moved from a public place, to a private office, then used local police to keep two voters out of the meeting. Grounds? Trespassing.
On January 25, the LAGOP will hold an election. Again, it is closed door. Will they call the cops?
Of course, one candidate, the candidate of the Chair, is NOT opposing the close door event. One candidate, has opposed the close door, the candidate of activist Republicans.
In all these cases, the Establishment has lost and using Democrat tactics to keep control.
(Periodically the California Political News and Views will publish tidbits of political news, to keep you in the loop of what the pooh bahs know. The phrase “tom/tom’s” comes from my mentor, Lorelei Kinder who never passed a rumor, just called to tell me what she heard on the “TomTom’s”. This column is named in her honor.)
Steve,
You do a great service to our Republican Cause; but your last two articles on the Monterey County Republican Party Central Committee have been way off base. I was the Chair of our Organizational Meeting, and from the very beginning, outside agitators and some very emotional Central Committee members refused to follow Robert’s Rules of Order and the Monterey County Republican Central Committee Bylaws. They constantly interrupted, spoke over other participants who had been recognized to speak and refused to be orderly. They even asserted that the Monterey County Republican Central Committee Bylaws were null and void. Seeing chaos unfolding, I gaveled and stated that we were going take a recess for 10 minutes to allow everyone to cool down. This did no good, whatsoever. In fact during the recess period, someone yelled, “I move we remove Edelen from the Chairmanship and install _______” The mood in the room got even more intense, so I gaveled the meeting adjourned. During the recess/ adjournament period, the activists conducted their own election for the new Executive Committee by yelling and screaming. Their so-called election went totally against our Bylaws and Roberts Rules of Order.
Due to the extreme level of agitation, the leasee of the building told everyone to clear the room and they refused, so he called the Salinas Police. When the police arrived, everyone vacated the room peacefully.
I believe in the rule of law and relying on legal advise. All of my actions during that meeting were totally consistent with our Bylaws and on legal advice I had received earlier.
Anyway, please continue to spotlight all of the crazy things that continue to occur in our Great State. I only hope that when you receive deragatory information about your fellow Republicans, you ask for both sides in the future…..
Outside agitators–like the Central Coast Region Vice Chair? He has a responsibility to monitor and advise local committees. Or a CRP member who is an attorney. You want your side to be represented by counsel–but not the others. At least he showed up–someone paid Mark Meuser–who lives in Pasadena to send a memo–which as National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon called “hearsay–or doesn’t he work for her law firm?
You talk about by-laws. But, did the new committee vote for the new by-laws? Your last Committee appointed people to vacancies–then tried to get the new Committee to accept them, even though no motion was made to appoint them to the NEW Committee.
Yes, people got upset. When they walk into a meeting with security guards–who paid for them? Then they tried to throw people out of the meeting, to close the meeting so Republicans would not know what went on. Did the NEW Committee authorize the expenditure? Then having six cop cars. This is what intimidation looks like. This is how Democrats operate. Not a good look for a Republican organization.
Steve, your “reporting” is full of inaccurate information with regards to the San Benito County Republican Central Committee..
The San Benito County Republican Central Committee is a separate organization from the California Republican Party and operates under its own bylaws and direction. Although the duties of a Regional Vice Chair of the California Republican Party is to provide leadership and support to the County Central Committees, there is no solid line (or even a dotted line) of actual control or oversight. Based on our understanding of what had happened in Monterey County, the Regional Vice Chair of the California Republican Party was not providing any leadership or support, except to install the officers that he liked. I am sure the California Republican Party would not like to be party to the interference of a separate entities operations.
I moved the location of our meeting over space concerns, a member indicating they could not manage the stairs to the initial meeting room, and, given the reporting on the chaos that the Regional Vice Chair of the California Republican Party participated in at a neighboring county (so much that 6 patrol cars with law enforcement had to intervene), though it was better not to subject our hosting organizations to such embarrassment.
Central committees are not public entities and have no obligation to have public meetings. Our original meeting place was not in any way, shape or form a public space, but rather privately owned.
The bylaws of the San Benito County Republican Party give complete leeway to the chairman as to how to conduct its meetings and no vote was required to open or close it to the public.
We are a Republican entity and we did the opposite of what you said we did: We had the meetings for only Republicans. One cannot be registered to another party and be a member of the San Benito County Republican Central Committee.
The agenda item regarding the selection of legal counsel had to do with certain members operating outside of the bylaws of the San Benito County Republican Central Committee, even after advised to not do so.
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