E. Paul Stanley.Com

We had a packed house for the Conservative Forum on July 12, 2008, and the First Amendment was in full swing.  Although sponsored by the Hall County GOP, all are invited to hear conservative speakers at our Forum.

In attendance were the following elected officials:  Representative James Mills, Representative Carl Rogers, District Attorney Lee Darragh, State Court Judge Charlie Wynne, Hall County Commission Chairman Tom Oliver, Hall County Commissioner Bobby Banks, Probate Judge Patty Cornett, School Board Member Craig Harrington, and Hall County Commissioner Billy Powell’s wife Helen Powell.

The following non-elected officials were present.  U. S. Marshal Richard Mecum (also former Hall County Sheriff and Former Hall County GOP Chair), Associate Magistrate Court Judge David Burroughs and Chief Assistant Solicitor General Jennifer Scalia.

The following former officials were present: Former Sheriff Bob Vass, Former Hall GOP Chair P. Martin Ellard, Former Hall GOP Chair Joe Cwik, and former Hall GOP Chair Gordon Sawyer.

The following candidates for office were present:  Candidate for State Court Judge Sonny Sykes, Candidate for Elections Commissioner J.C. Smith, Candidate for Hall County Commissioner Chris Masters.

The speakers were the candidates for Hall County Clerk of Court: Charles Barker, Jennifer Gibs, and Bob Vass.  All three speakers started with a 5 minute opening statement.  Then they fielded about 10 questions.  All three candidates agreed that the passport money should be returned to Hall County and pleged to do so.  They all agreed to have clerks in the courtrooms during open court and to have clerks be in charge of the clerk’s files for court (something not done now one attorney had a client bring a clerks file in a felony case to her office one time).  They all agreed to provide certified copies of convictions for outside agencies (something the DA’s office does now).  They all agreed that the jury pool needed to be expanded. 

The differencees I heard were that Charles was most interested in the expanded jury pool and the technical issues surrounding that process and he has 30 years of experience working under Dwight; Jennifer wants to put her audit and computer experience to work to automate the clerk’s office to include electronic filing and she had concerns about employee overtime and specifing the amount of work each employee is required to do; and Bob has experience as a former elected official in Hall County, managing a large Hall County budget, and understanding the Hall County court system.  I was timing the speakers to I might have missed some interesting stuff, but so did Access North Georgia.

Of interest to the press was Charles Baker’s revelation that he had questiond Clerk Dwight Wood’s authority to keep the passport fees and that the Commission has requested that Dwight return $25,000 of that money to the budget.  Everyone keeps saying there is nothing “illegal” about keeping the passport money, however, for what it is worth, I have an unofficial opinion of the Attorney General that says the money must be returned to the County account.

After the forum, we had an informal meeting with the members of the Executive committee, James Mills, Marshal Mecum and others to discuss the Bob Vass matter.  No offical action (or reconsideation of any prior action) was taken at the meeting.  I will develop a written statement and present it on this blog (and through other media  outlets) when appropriate.  Since I have been criticized by many Democrats (who support Bob Vass) and personally threatened by Bob Vass’ Democrat campaign manager Alex Taylor, I guess I better be careful what I say. 

In an unprecedented move, the Hall GOP has publicly denounced a candidate as not qualifying as a Republican.  Republicans In Name Only (”RINOs”) are the biggest threat to our party today.  It is no longer enough that an elected official simply call themselves a “Republican,” but they must also actually BE a Republican.  In Hall County the GOP Executive Committee (and the voters) will decide who is a real Republican.  Past performance, voting history, campaign supporters, and those you support are factors used to determine whether someone is a Republican.  I hope the move the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee took is one we will not have to take again.

Others who have changed parties in the past, like Congressman Nathan Deal and State Representative Carl Rogers embody the principles of the Republican Party in their actions.    They have proven themselves to be true Republicans and great Americans.  Others, like soon-to-be-former-Clerk Dwight Wood, have not passed muster.  It is the responsibility of the local Republican Party to police its ranks and to ensure that only quality conservative Republican Candidates get to use our party brand.  You simply can’t vote for Hillary or Obama and fit that description.

Vote on July 15, 2008 for either Jennifer Gibbs or Charles Baker for Clerk of Court.

Read the story here–>GOP: Vass ‘does not qualify as Republican’  Look for the paid advertisement in The Times on Sunday and listen to WDUN for Republican Alerts.

I tried to make changes to our by-laws to limit RINOs from qualifying for elections under our rules at the last County Convention.  Joe Cwik tried before me as well.  I will continue to pursue this most important issue.  We can’t allow our Republican “brand” to be watered down by those who do not support our positions.  I’m fond of saying that our tent is big enough for just about everyone to come in, but you have to order off of our menu.  Voting for Hillary, Obama, or Edwards is not on our menu.  Donations to or from the Georgia Democratic Party are not on our menu.  Donations to or from Mark Taylor (the former “big guy”) are not on our menu.  As the Chinese philosopher/warlord-advisor Sun Tzu says, the friend of my enemy is my enemy.

This blog entry is not paid for by any candidate or any candidate’s committee.

According to an email I received today, William I. “Sonny” Sykes has qualified to run for State Court Judge against Charlie Wynne.  Look for a lot of interesting information to come out during the campaign.  If you are interested in helping any campaign then call the candidate up.  Their number is in the book.

UPDATE:  Per the request of P. Martin Ellard, I have removed Sonny Sykes phone number from this blog entry.  Even for those the believe that your voting history is between you and the Almighty, both candidates have spotless Republican voting records.  This is a NON-PARTISAN race for office so the Party rules do not apply.  I believe that all races (including judges, city council, etc.) need to be by party.