The newly elected chairman of the Troup County Republican Party said that he wants the local party to come together and be more inclusive.
Patrick Crews was elected chairman among a slate of new officers for the Troup County party on Saturday, when it held its regular nominating convention in conjunction with the state. The local party officers and delegates to the state were voted on during the convention, securing officers and delegates for the next two years.
“I have no political agenda, and I’ve been personally very disappointed with lack of unity in the local party,” Crews said this morning. “I think there’s been too much strife and while I certainly think things need to be different in Washington (D.C.), I think it’s important to come together as a local GOP first; and my idea in this group is to bring unity to the local party”
Crews said he wanted the party to be more inclusive and set a “kinder and gentler tone” to meetings. He referred to attention the local party received last year with disagreements among factions in the party.
Last year, disagreements among then-chairman Bill Gilmore and some party members became public after Gilmore refunded the members’ local party dues, saying membership was a privilege and they didn’t agree with the ideals and beliefs of the republican party. Those who were refunded their dues included County Commissioner Buck Davis and Nancy Green, who filed complaints against Gilmore.
This morning Gilmore praised the turnout of Saturday’s meeting, which he and Jim Thornton, who chaired the convention meetings, said had record-breaking attendance. Gilmore said he believed those elected would do a good job and had the right attitude to move forward.
Gilmore said he chose not to run for an elected post again because he felt limited as chairman.
“I can’t be as political as I want to be,” Gilmore said. “I like being involved in our government, and I can’t write letters to the editor or take positions on certain things because I’m chairman. I’d rather be more involved.”
Crews was elected along with first vice chairman Lewis Davis, second vice chairman Ford McLain, third vice chairman Todd Willis, secretary Danny Daniel, assistant secretary Peter Alford and treasurer Ashley McCoy. Daniel had nominated the officers for the slate, which won 107-58.
The opposing slate nominated by a committee chosen by Gilmore was Mike Freeland for chairman, Bob McCrary as first vice chairman, Freddie Hester as second vice chairman, Frank Barnes as third vice chairman, Janet Caraway as secretary, Tommy Callaway, as assistant secretary and Linda Hanson as treasurer.
“The majority spoke and elected new leadership,” Crews said. “And I think they want to see a more unified party, and that’s what we’ll be working towards. We encourage people to come be a part of it.”
A) Did Mr. Crews ever demand signed oaths of allegiance and promises to vote a certain way?
B)Did Mr. Crews ever demand another American apologize for a prior vote?
C) Did Mr. Crews ever steal campaign signs, then try to weasel out of it by trying to attack the character of the person who caught them red handed?
Tom, your overlooking some MAJOR flaws with the way the prior Troup County Republican party was run like a small wing of the Nazi party speaks volumes.
Whether the change is better or not remains to be seen, and needs to be CLOSELY scrutinized, but without ANY reasonable doubt, change was needed.
Further, I'm not sure why some of you feel that attendance of meetings actually means very much. It simply doesn't. Some of the most clueless people I know attend every meeting of every municipal and/or party governing entity.
And some of ya'll really should refrain from posting anonymously, particularly in your own self-interest . . .Abney. It's rather cowardly and underhanded.
Ron McClellan
Secondly, I wish Matthew Strother, the writter for the above story, would canvass all the newly elected officers of the TCRP to see exactly how many meetings of the TCRP each has attended in the past two years. I find it very interesting that several have never attended a single meeting, while some only attended during their campaigns for public office, and still others only attended the February 27th, 2012 meeting where Mayor Lukken, Mayor Ferguson, Jeff Brown, Buck Davis, and others made a spectacle of themselves being rude and out of order, showing absolutely no respect for others in attendance, the officers of the TCRP, nor Robert's Rules of Order. Mr. Crews, the newly elected Chairman of the TCRP, has only attended two TCRP meetings in the past two years; once on Feb.27, 2012, and once when the TCRP held a forum for local candidates.
Tommy Callaway
(706)302-6211
I was there Saturday morning. Were you? Aparently not. Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore both had decided long ago that they planned on enjoying retirement and life, and had decided that they were NOT going to run for any TCRP office. If you were there, you must have stepped out when the Nominating Committee read off their slate of officers to vote on. Neither Bill nor Ellen were on the proposed slate.
Tommy Callaway
(706)302-6211