Hum.... Charles Schoetings response to Maxey

[johncoby2]

Dear Fellow Democrat,

For those who know me, I operate in a very straight-forward fashion. Being Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party is a job that requires a lot of effort. That said, I was somewhat startled by Glen Maxey's political broadside and his assertion that electing a replacement Chair is somehow undemocratic, I felt that it was appropriate to point out what Texas Democratic Rules provide:

Section D(1)(k) provides for "Officer Vacancies" as follows:

"When a vacancy occurs in any of these offices between state conventions, a majority of the member of the SDEC shall elect a successor, who need not be a current member of the SDEC." It then provides a procedure to do so. (Page 8, TDP Rules)

The word "shall" is regarded by courts in Texas to be mandatory not permissive.

Filling vacancies has a recurrent theme in T.D.P. Rules. Section 2(f) Page 9, provides for vacancies of SDEC members which states 'a vacancy shall be filled no later than the next meeting of the SDEC following written notice of the vacancy by at least five weeks." Again, a mandatory directive of the T.D.P. Rules passed in 1972.

Under Section E, "County Executive Committee" 5(a) provides that if a County Chair vacancy occurs, the County Secretary may call a meeting to fill the vacancy but upon the "written request of any Committee member, the Secretary "shall call one (an election) for a date not more than 20 days after receiving the request."

".Should the County Secretary fail to act after being requested in writing to do so, the State Chair shall call the meeting in a like manner." (The underlining of the word 'shall' is emphasis added by the author.)

It is clear that Texas Democratic Rules do not provide for succession to fill vacancies in Party positions but demand an election of a replacement.

Rhetoric aside, not only was Mr. Maxey an "insider" as a Party staffer and contractor to two State Chairs, Bill White and Molly Beth Malcolm, but also was the staff assistant to the Rules Committee of the SDEC advising that Committee of proposed rule changes and the impact of such changes. To issue a political broadside denouncing others and me for adherence to our rules is disingenuous, at best.

Historically, every Chair who has resigned from Dr. Elmer Baum in the early 1970's though Bob Slagle and Molly Beth Malcolm have been replaced by a prompt election by the S.D.E.C. which is what Texas Democratic Party Rules provide. The Chair has statutory duties as well as political duties between April and June.

As for me personally, being Chair to the Texas Democratic Party is the highest honor ever bestowed on me, and I am grateful to all Democrats who have found me worthy.

The position is an imposition on my finances and family, which I have gladly endured for our Party. Irrespective of any smirks or speculation, I have a wonderful professional opportunity to provide for my future and that of my family, which requires my attention to a degree that impinges on the time the Party requires.

We have a great opportunity to recapture the Governorship and many other offices in the up coming November election. To say "I completed my term" might stroke my ego, but it would not help the Party I love.

I expect the SDEC to do its duty as prescribed by our Rules on April 22, 2006, and I expect the delegates to the State Convention in June to do their duty and freely elect a Chair who will bring honor and victory to the Democratic Party of Texas.


Very truly yours,

Charles E. Soechting

[sonias]

1. People who are not independently wealthy need not apply

So here is the sentence I found the most interesting:
"The position is an imposition on my finances and family, which I have gladly endured for our Party."

Charles is saying that the job doesn't pay. We know that and that's part of the problem. How are the announced candidates going to deal with this job, not being a paid position?

I think we've discussed the rules about the required election enough, though. Most of us now know that an election is required. That wasn't my issue. My issue was that Charles wouldn't stick it out another roughly three months and not create this issue in the first place. Charles is saying he's just under too much financial duress to finish his term. That's the same thing I'm worried about all of the potential candidates.

Sonia

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

2. You know...

the date of the SDEC meeting is the same date as the Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party's annual meeting. David Sirota is the keynote speaker. The PPC meeting will begin shortly after the conclusion of the SDEC meeting at the Texas AFL-CIO Hall at 1106 Lavaca.

Now having given this shameless plug for the PPC, the following statement comes from me, not the PPC because I'm simply a member, not a spokesperson.

I appreciate this swift response from Mr. Soechting pointing out the inaccuracies of Mr. Maxey's e-mail. I have a very bad taste in my mouth from a consultant who tried to spin a b.s. story about a big hoo hah insisting that the consultant's client should be appointed to fill a local Party vacancy and the consequences of the consultant's failure to make the story stick. Said consultant is an expert at pinpointing the weaknesses of others and exploiting them. I was torn about which candidate to support in this race but when I saw Mr. Maxey's spin urging the people with no knowledge of the Party Rules to make demands that can not be met, there was one less candidate for me to think about.

[sonias]

3. Smarty Pants. I'm going to start a separate thread for this

It's an important meeting for the PPC.

Sonia

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

6. Thanks, Sonia! n/t

[crispini]

4. All I know is...

that SIX MONTHS ago when the TDP chair election started to be discussed, the rumor mill told me that Soechting would step down early in order to give the SDEC's candidate the advantage of incumbency, and what do you know? Mr. Soecthting has indeed stepped down. That's one clever rumor mill.

[NoPasaran]

5. Yep

Soechting, who stuck out the office through surgery and all that, suddenly announces he needs to resign early, to spend more time with his family. Of course, the family will have to wait until April, even though there is an SDEC meeting the following weekend which could have named a neutral chair to run the party through the convention. Then Chris Bell sends out an email, asking everyone to urge the SDEC to elect Boyd Richie, one of the three announced candidates for the chairmanship in June. Richie of course is still the only one of the three who doesn't feel it's necessary to make public any plan or platform about his vision for the party should he be elected chair. A suspicious person might be forgiven for assuming that that's because he doesn't think he needs to deal with all those unwashed, uncouth delegates, the SDEC will do his bidding in April and set him up to retain the chair in June. But in the meantime, don't worry about about Boyd Richie, he's a nice guy, everybody likes him.

If this doesn't reek of backroom deals please give me another word for it. Meanwhile please quit peeing on my shoes and telling me it's raining.

[crispini]

8. Heh, I love that phrase.

And, yeah, the lack of information out there about Boyd Richie is interesting, 'cause it's certainly possible to find out info about Charlie and about Glen pretty easy out here on the net.

[WestHoustonDem]

7. Actually, there was a rumor last June that an over-eager

blogger prematurely posted to houstondemocrats.com. It created all kinds of havoc, including an effort by the some people to either shut the blog down or put constraints on it that would have made it impossible to continue.
http://www.houstondemocrats.com/archives/2005/06/soechting_resig.html
http://www.houstondemocrats.com/archives/2005/06/apologies_to_ch.html

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

9. Bill Bambauch's response to Glen Maxey's statement

Yep, I sure don't like it when consultants play "the card." Very similar to the consequences of the consultant's failure to achieve their goal in my previous post.

The following was posted in the TexasPPC discussion list...

Today I read with sadness an article in the Dallas Morning News where Glen Maxey accused the TDP of opposing him because he was gay. I know the leadership of this party. They are not bigots. For the life of me, I never will understand the "scorched earth" tactics that at least some Democrats use to try to gain political advantage.

I am proud of The Texas Democratic Party's commitment to fairness and equality, and at the same time I abhor those Democrats who would rather bring shame and scandal to our Party then face their opponents on issues and qualifications.

Two months ago, I wrote to Bob Gammage telling him that he "had my vote, but now lost my vote" over his unfounded attacks on Chris Bell. As much as I admire the work that Glen has done in Texas, I tell him now, "Glen, You went to the press and accused my Party of bigotry. I wouldn't vote for you if you were the last Democrat in Texas."

We Democrats will always argue of legitimate philosophy differences and over personalities. That is politics. I am a member of the PPC because my philosophy is one that believes in progressive, grass roots populism. I will work for progressive candidates and causes. I am running for county commissioner because I believe in grass-roots populism. I also believe that we Democrats will forever be (and we deserve to be) political outsiders if we continue to expend our energy and vitriolics on fellow Democrats.

I know Boyd Ritchie, and I am honored to support him as our next state chair. He is a hard working, fair minded, loyal Democrat. I believe he is the best person to lead our party to the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Before the district conventions, I will be sending a letter to all my campaign supporters endorsing Mr. Ritchie for state chair. As a delegate I will vote for Boyd and I'll ask all the delegates in Collin County and the State of Texas to do the same.

Bill Baumbach
Democrat for County Commissioner
Collin County, Precinct 2
www.baumbach.org

[NoPasaran]

10. Awww jeez

The old "You had my vote but then you went and did X so you lost it" ploy.
:nopity:
Sorry, it's still not rain.

[crispini]

11. Bwahahahahahaha!

We're both such cynics. :evilgrin:

[sonias]

12. Oh my dog, we're back to Gene Kelly references again

"I'm peeing in the rain
Just peeing in the rain,
What a horrible feeling,
And I'm sad once again.

I'm laughing at clowns, (Gene Kelly, the politician reference)
So stupid and vain,
The knife's in my back,
And I'm sick of the pain.


Comic relief just for the hell of it. :evilgrin:

Sonia

[Smarty Pants Liberal]

13. That was cute, Sonia:-) n/t