Letter To The Editor: Â Parke Should be the One Resigning, not Musgrave
By Bryan Fox
It seems that Vanderburgh County Republican Chairman Wayne Parke has an obsession with Cheryl Musgrave.
Musgrave, a Republican, was recently elected county commissioner for a second (non-consecutive) term and has been asked by Parke to resign. This comes after Musgrave’s vote to fire Burdette Park Manager Jacob Murphy and replace him with Pat Tuley, former campaign manager of fellow commissioner, Democrat Ben Shoulders.
“I do not believe you are performing your County Commissioner responsibilities in the best interest of the Vanderburgh County citizens. Vanderburgh County needs people in office that unite — not a divider who has their own personal agenda, ” Parke says to Musgrave via email.
In the mist of this resignation request, maybe it’s time for Parke himself to step aside.
To be fair to Mr. Parke, the Republican party has seen significant gains in the county since he became chairman in 2010. Evansville Re,publican Mayor Lloyd Winnecke has been re-elected in a primarily democrat city, four of the five state representatives in the county are Republican, and the party has picked-up three seats on the city council. Also, Mrs. Musgrave should have to answer tough questions with regards to how she handled Murphy’s firing. She will definitely have to answer to the voters if she decide to run for re-election in 2020.
However, Parke, by calling Musgrave a divider, is essentially the one whose dividing. The feud between Parke and Musgrave is longstanding. Parke publicly endorsed Musgraves’s opponent, Alex Schmitt, in last year’s primary. This isn’t the first time Parke has done this. During the 2014 primary, Parke publicly endorsed county commissioner candidate Marsha Abell who was running against newcomer Bruce Ungetheim. This endorsement included donating to Abell’s campaign. Abell was ultimately defeated. As a county chairman, you have to let the chips fall after the primaries before having a dog in the race. Parke has failed to do that on multiple occasions and has created unnecessary political infighting.
At a county caucus in 2016, Parke was asked to respond to an Indiana delegate and Newburgh native Joshua Claybourn’s decision not to vote for candidate Donald Trump at the upcoming Republican National Convention. Parke basically said that the alternative to Trump is much worse. Since Musgrave is a fellow republican, maybe Parke should apply this same philosophy to the local races as well.
Perhaps Parke forgot about Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment which says, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Either way, Parke should resign.
FOOTNOTE: This letter was posted without opinion, bias or editing. Â
DISCLOSURE: Mr Fox is a part-time paid free lance writer for the CCO. Â Mr. Fox is responsible for the contents of the attached Letter To The Editor.