Background
These threads are in chronological order to provide some context. Additional details on the CRA Presidential race are found at http://www.rightondaily.com
Aaron Park, CRA Sergeant at Arms replied to a campaign email from Celeste Greig:
Madam President:
I wanted to report in on my activities this month.
Along with CRA membership secretary George Park – we drove 830 Miles Round Trip to Ventura County to clean up a *mess left behind by SDD Steve Frank. I am pleased to report that the Ventura RA was successfully reorganized with 35 members at the time (they now have 38) – most all of whom have never been CRA Members.
I’d like to make a specific request that we reach out to local Tea Parties in Ventura to let them know about the values of CRA and that there is now a functional Unit in their area.
Celeste Greig, CRA President wrote the following:
Yes, I know that must of you are saying “Not another drama, lets just move on and ignore the park brothers”, well that is what we have been doing for the last 5 years or so, and look where it has taken us.
Then she added:
What mess *? Steve Frank WAS NOT in charge or President of the Ventura County R.A. he only went and met with Regina Risolio last week to get the existing records from her, she was the President, NOT Steve, he was not even on the board, we have been trying to re-activate the Unit for a long time, and had good, solid conservative people who wanted to be part of it, not anymore.
After Park recommends that the CRA President reach-out to the Ventura Tea Party, their President George Miller, attacks::
Mr. Parks:
I have NO idea what you and your brother are smoking up there, but:
1. “Reorganizing” a CRA chapter which is supposed to be “Conservative,” using RINO’s, if not out and out Progressives, will win you no favor in Ventura County, from actual Conservatives and real Tea Parties.
2. Steve Frank was not running the VC CRA chapter. He came in very recently after the fact and tried to revive the corpse. From the looks of your shrinking membership (notwithstanding your phantom units and bought “members), it doesn’t look as though there’s much of real substance left. Add to that its endorsements of non-Conservatives, why bother?
2. We brought some Tea Parties into CRA in 2011, right before you staged your mischief surrounding the CRA Convention. At that time, most of us either exited, changed plans to join, or cut back radically on CRA participation. We haven’t forgotten.
4. Is this mere incompetence, or a deliberate attempt to destroy CRA and what it stands for? Your latest stunt seems to suggest the latter.
Regards,
George Miller
Please note that Celeste Greig was the one that inserted the idea that Steve Frank was “President of Ventura County RA” not Mr. Park as Miller claims.
Mr. Miller,
I received your email last night and wished to respond to it. Clearly someone gave you my address because we have never corresponded before.
Before responding I want to tell you a little about myself. I have been in CRA since about 1989 when I was recruited by Barbara Alby in the Narthex of Capital Christian Center in Sacramento. I have seen many changes over the years. I was active in the Congressional campaigns of both Tim LeFevre and Barbara Alby. My daughter had attended City on the Hill youth camp that is sponsored by CRI. In 2011, I was supporting Karen England for President. My blog on the conflict between England and the Parks, et al was the basis of the court action taken against CRA.
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I arrived at the April 2011 convention ready to vote for Karen England until I saw the circus that was staged on her behalf by Capitol Staffers and others. It was clear that she arrived with a host of paper clubs and was resorting to classic protest tactics I had only witnessed utilized by Leftists. It was a great disappointment to behold.
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I also have disagreed with Aaron Park and others in their treatment of Rodney Stanhope. However, I have had a good relationship with Aaron and George Park for many years.
Unlike you, or Steve Frank or Celeste Greig, I was at the re-organizational meeting for the Ventura Republican Assembly.
Everything Steve Frank said about the meeting prior to it actually taking place was false except that Mike Osborn would attend. Frank’s complaints prior to the meeting were that Osborn worked with Charles Munger and some of his appointments to CRP were from outside Ventura County. These arguments are rather weak. CRA endorsed most of Munger’s slate for the CRP. Celeste Greig had ample time to recruit opponents to the slate and did not. In the old days CRA ran a complete slate for all CRP offices and had an effective proxy drill. Secondly, a County chair can appoint whoever they want to appoint.
Mike Osborn is the County chairman of the Republican Party of Ventura County. The CRA is chartered by the Republican Party. It has been the practice that County chairs will be present at Republican events in their county. This is doubly so when a new group is organizing. I spoke to Mr. Osborn at the Ventura RA meeting and he claims to be pro-life, a supporter of the Second Amendment and wants lower taxes. That may not cover all 14 points of the CRA but it puts him squarely in the Republican column. What Mike Osborn seems to lack is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—something that is beyond the scope of this discussion.
The Steve Frank email that was forwarded to you by Celeste Greig prior to the re-organizational meeting was full of bullet points designed to put a wedge between your group and the CRA. You did not show due diligence to check the truth of Frank’s assertions or attend the meeting as an observer. You were welcome to come and check it out. Like Steve Frank, you did not attend the meeting but you are perfectly will to misrepresent it because it fits your narrative.
Better yet, if you wanted to, you could have had your Tea Party friends show up at George’s meeting, paid memberships and taken the Ventura RA right from under his nose. Since that didn’t happen it makes me wonder why you even inserted yourself into this issue.
No one claimed that Frank was running the VC CRA chapter as you assert in point 2 of your email. Frank—as a Senate District Director—was charged with helping to grow and assist CRA chapters in his assigned area. As I understand it, Ventura went from five chapters to zero. It appears that not until Frank and Greig did a headcount of possible delegates for the April 2013 Convention did they set their sights on reviving the chapter.
Neither Party in the 2011 CRA Convention battle is blameless. I am one of the few that publicly advocated following the existing rules to get thru the controversy. Had Karen England followed the rules and done thing according to the Bylaws she could have won. Celeste and her friends weren’t sure that following the rules would work so they shaded things to their side. For new folks coming into the group, it was not our finest moment.
I can understand your reluctance to be involved in CRA; however, with this email you have inserted yourself not only into an internal CRA controversy but you have chosen sides by the way you have done it.
One last irony that you remind me of is that it was Charles Munger that gave money to the Tea Party in Placer County to take-over their Republican Central Committee and boot out the CRA members.
I wish the Tea Party would either stay out of CRA affairs or pay dues so they can have a voice in what happens. Taunting from the sidelines does not advance either group. It only causes more folks sour on politics and register as DTS.
Sincerely,