Kootenai GOP kicks out grieving widow. Is this really who we are? | Opinion

“You know, there are really two Republican parties in Kootenai County,” a gentleman told me recently. It made me pause, then I realized the truth of his observation. We do have two Republican factions, and they each have differing goals.

One group has been in power over the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee for some time and are desperate to maintain their dominance and control. The ancient Chinese tome “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu is one of the KCRCC chairman’s favored references, along with Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.” Both books focus on keeping one’s existing power while taking power away from others.

The second group, in which I am included, are the new precinct committee officers (PCOs) elected by the Republican voters of our precincts, along with a smaller number of the legacy PCOs. Our goal is to serve the people of our precincts. So, as you can imagine, the two Republican Party factions are quite different in our efforts.

Last week’s April meeting of the KCRCC was chaotic. Time after time, well-informed committee members stood to challenge the leadership’s often unfounded rulings. And time after time, the chairman’s loyal minions would vote to approve his pronouncements.

But the worst display of unfair leadership came when PCO Kathleen Tillman’s recent involuntary removal was brought up to the committee. Tillman’s husband died of cancer last December. She was his constant caretaker and didn’t leave his side for several months prior to his passing. But she was careful to call the chair of her legislative district, each month, to explain her absence and arrange a proxy for voting on the committee. Tillman was doing the right thing for her husband and her family, while also acting responsibly for her PC position.

Doing the right thing and acting responsibly is not what the leadership of the KCRCC offered Tillman. Let me show you an example of decent leadership and compare it to what actually happened at last week’s meeting:

Boise’s ADA County Republican Central Committee bylaws contain detailed instructions for their chairman, if a member misses three consecutive meetings: 1. Contact the PCO via email, offer a warning that they can be removed for missing four meetings, and follow with a phone call, leaving a message if needed. 2. If no response, the chairman shall send a certified letter to the address on file with the county clerk.

Our KCRCC bylaws are very different. They contain only a short half sentence about being removed for missing meetings: (PCO may be removed if ) … ”without excuse acceptable to the KCRCC, fails to attend four consecutive regular meetings of the KCRCC.”

That’s it. No responsible actions required by the chairman. No notice to the PC, no warning, no letter. So when Tillman gave her proxy to Dan Gookin for voting at what was then her 4th absence, she thought she was doing the right thing. But when the first vote at that meeting came around, and Dan held up the proxy card for Tillman, the secretary coldly announced that Tillman’s proxy vote did not count because she was no longer a PCO. We were shocked.

The committee knew Tillman’s husband had died of cancer. It had been announced to all. The KCRCC bylaws, above, state the absences’ excuse must by “acceptable to the KCRCC.”

But our committee was never asked to vote on whether the severe illness and death of a spouse was an acceptable excuse. (What could be a more acceptable excuse?) The chairman decided against it on his own and pronounced it so. Our complaints fell on deaf ears.

Tillman had been elected by 63% of the voters in her precinct. She is a smart and thoughtful person who makes decisions based on her precinct. Declaring her seat vacant allowed the chairman to fill the vacancy with someone who would do as they are told. Sun and Alinsky would be proud. Grab the power away from others and add it to our own. No compassion, this is war.

This attitude and behavior do not reflect the wonderful community we are blessed to call home. President Abraham Lincoln offered a healing statement that should be our guiding light as we try to work together as one Republican Party in Kootenai County:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”