For the last several days the City County Observer and the Courier and Press have been addressing the issue of open hostility towards present GOP Chairman Wayne Parke for his actions in the recent GOP primary elections. We have been informed that Chairman Parke has stated he isn’t going to resign his position as Party Chairman. We also are hearing from a few of his supporters that “Republican Party Rules” have no provisions in its bylaws that address the issue of forcing him to resign.  Attached are the official reference in the State Republican  party rules addressing this issue. Please take time and read the attached sections that will tell you how a local Party Chairman can be removed from his position.
This revision contains all changes approved as of September 18, 2013
RULES OF THE INDIANA REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE. Â PREAMBLE, To further the rights of its members to freely associate to achieve the goals of the Party, the Indiana Republican Party State Committee adopts the following rules for the organization and government of the Republican Party of the State of Indiana:
ATTACHED BELOW ARE THE OFFICIAL STATE PARTY GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW TO FORCE CHAIRMAN WAYNE PARKE REMOVAL AS CHAIRMAN OF THE VANDERBURGH COUTNY REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Rule 3-42. A meeting of the County Committee may be convened at any other time upon call of the County Chairman, or upon written notice signed by not less than twenty-five per cent (25%) of the members of the County committee who have been members at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting date (whether elected or appointed). If a meeting is called by members of the committee, it must be called within twenty (20) days from the date the first signature is obtained. A written notice, signed by each member joining in the call, shall be given to every member and officer at least ten (10) days in advance of such meeting. The notice shall state the purpose for which the meeting is called.
Rule 3-43. (a) At a meeting called under Rule 3-42, a member of the County Committee may make a motion to call for a special meeting to consider the removal of one or more officers of the County Committee, who must be specifically identified in the motion. This motion, if seconded, must be taken under consideration immediately by the County Committee.
(b) If the motion is adopted by a majority of those present, the County Committee shall convene at a date, time, and location set under Rule 3-45(b). The County Secretary shall file a written notice of the need for a special meeting with the Secretary of the State Committee no later than seven (7) days after the adoption of this motion.
(c) If the motion fails, the County Committee shall be prohibited from considering removal of the officer in question for at least one hundred and eighty (180) days or until the next reorganization, whichever comes first.
Rule 3-44. If a special meeting is held pursuant to a motion adopted under Rule 3-43, a motion to remove a County Committee officer requires a vote by two-thirds (2/3) of the eligible precinct committeemen and vice-committeemen to be adopted.
Rule 3-45. (a) Except for a special meeting conducted pursuant to a motion adopted under Rule 3-43, the County Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the County Committee.
(b) If a special meeting is conducted pursuant to Rule 3-43, the State Chairman (or the chairman’s designee) shall preside at the meeting of the County Committee. The State Chairman (or the chairman’s designee) shall set the date, time, and location of a subsequent meeting to consider removal of one or more officers in question, and shall provide notice to County Committee members under Rule 3-47 within ten (10) days after the Secretary of the State Committee receives notice under Rule 3-43. The meeting must be conducted within thirty (30) days after notice is provided under this subsection.
(c) Notwithstanding any other rule, an individual may not be appointed or removed as a precinct committeeman or as a vice-committeeman beginning when the motion is adopted under Rule 3-43(a) or when the required percentage of county committee members have signed a written notice under Rule 3-42, and ending at the adjournment of the special meeting.
Outstanding research CCO. Once again you beat the Courier and Press for doing in depth research.
Looks like Mr. Parke better get ready for a long hot summer. Let the recall of Mr. “Know It All” Wayne Parke begin.
Upon reading these rules, I see that removal of a County Chairman by the Committeemen is virtually impossible. I feel quite certain that each and every PC who has a job with government, or a family member or good friend with one, has already gotten a call reminding them of who they should be loyal to. Political patronage is alive and well, it just isn’t called that any more.
I tend to agree with your analysis, I don’t see 25% of the council or two thirds of the precinct and vice committeemen agreeing on his removal.
Do note and I say this with a sense of deja vu, his supporters say there are no rules and yet it turns out they lied. I recall vaguely Wayne saying sometime ago there were no rules about something but someone posted the nonexistent rules.
Thanks CCO for a helpful spot on article. As a Republican precienct officer I now know how to precede to rid of this Parke guy from our ranks by following the State party rule guidelines. Its time to send Mr. Parke packing because how he misbehaved doing the primary campaign. I’m especially pissed off that he gave Marsha Abell a $10,000 political donation from our local GOP party coffers.
It appears that both parties want to run their preferred candidates regardless of what the people want. It will be interesting to see who the democrats run against Bruce. Will the Republicans do the pinky shake with democrats and campaign against their own candidate? The Republicans owe the democrats one for Winnecke.
Hopefully that “pinky shake” is only at the corrupt city government level? Even though the same players play both city and county sides, the “county only” vote should see thru the political fog produced from both parties and vote the correct way!
Hope all you want, but the county is just as corrupt as the city. The “pinky shake” crowd is nothing new, either. It has been in place for all the decades I have any direct knowledge of.
My theory is that social media has made “bean-spilling” easier for the pathetic hangers-on who cling to the more powerful players in the arena.
There are those – we all can name some – who just want the world to know that they are “in with the in-crowd”, and don’t keep the secrets they way they were kept in times past.
The deals used to be made over dinner at the Petroleum Club, and the information was passed down to the operatives over breakfast in a local bar that no longer exists.
Hey, maybe Mr Park could audition for the sequel of Wayne’s World or the new upcoming movie, “All the Commissioner’s Men” in reference to Waynegate. Hope one of those individuals who has the “letter written by the former GOP county treasurer concerning the $10,000 allegedly illicit contribution to Marsha shall come forward and send a copy to the CCO.
Parke voted for Hillary in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. Voting in a Democratic primary in Indiana can render Republican Party candidates and officers disentitled to head the party or run as a Republican (in a tortured set of circumstances that are malleable and will surely, one way or another, not apply to Wayne).
In 2009 he failed to get himself appointed by a Republican caucus to the City Council. They chose Dan McGinn instead. Wayne beat Holli Sullivan for the chairmanship in 2010. Did he vote in a Republican primary in the interim, between his 2008 vote for Clinton and his 2010 caucus win, absolving him of his primary sin of voting for the Hildebeast? Is he even eligible to be party chariman right now? Somehow I’d bet he is.
Seems Parke has had some trouble with Nick Hermann before. In 2010 Hermann fired him from his treasurer spot in the local Republican Party. He is resilient and has exacted his revenge. I’m sure all is well between those two now.
The rules governing removal of a county chariman weren’t written by the rank and file. They were written to add a veneer of fairness but were not designed to be implemented.
Just wait him out. He’s an old coal executive (Peabody & Black Beauty). If we wait long enough and the pressure increases appropriately, he could turn into a diamond and offer his services to Jared.
Wayne has the intelligence of a lump of coal.
Might take millions of years for him shine like a diamond.
May we also entertain the thought of getting rid of the deputy chairman and start over fresh?
Republicans in Evansville need a fresh start, and we need to make sure that our leaders not only SAY that they believe in the will of the people, but that they BELIEVE it. Strong arming the primaries was not the way to go, and we have put up with it even after the ham handed tactics kept Bucshon in office when we could have had Kristi Risk.
I personally would rather vote for a candidate because I believe in them, because I trust them, and not because of a letter beside their name.
Do it, fellow Evansville Republicans….just make sure to do it right. No half hearted attempts. Show the rest of Indiana that our party’s revolution starts here.
Out with Wayne! Out with Becky! Vive la Révolution!
I appreciate the cco and Mr Shelby for taking this on. There needs to be a change in leadership on John St just as it is at the old welborn building although it has gotten slightly better there.
One thing I know for sure is that the cco will find a way . I’d never bet against them.
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