CHAIRMAN LOOMIS' GREATEST PROBLEM!

The following email message was sent to the members of the Haywood County Republican Party Executive Committee by Chairman Michael Loomis:

*(Each of Michael’s statements is broken down by paragraph, and following each section, I include what was actually said, discussed, or transpired.)

Michael Loomis	Fri, May 6, 1:40 PM
to me, Patricia, Vickie, sherrylewis@bellsouth.net, Kim, Josh, Lisa, burnettekendal8@gmail.com, Susan, Charlie, Timothy, barbro11@aol.com, Sharon, Steve, Constance, Sheila

“I have no interest in back and forth argument with Mr. Cossette. I talked to him on Sunday and realized that there is no possibility of compromise with him.”

*(During our conversation, there was no arguing between the two of us regarding any issue we discussed. I called you and acknowledged that you had won the election, and as such, I was prepared to work with you going forward. I did raise my grave concern over your decision to remove Sherry Lewis and Janet Presson as the co-coordinators and facilitators of the Town Hall meetings.

I pointed out to you that these two individuals: Had gained a greater level of respect and trustworthiness from Haywood County Republican residents than every current active member of the Haywood County Republican Party combined; Had more direct access to Haywood County Registered Republicans than did the Haywood County Republican Party; Had, over the past several years, accumulated more access and connections with those individuals who were political influencers within Haywood County than any other individual(s) currently active with the county party, combined; Had more experience in understanding what issues were of the most significant concern to county Republican voters and with that knowledge exceedingly more prepared to identify which speakers would be of greatest interest and able to attract the greatest number of attendees than any other current active member of the Haywood County Republican Party; and, that removing these two individuals would be detrimental to our ability to reach out and speak to the Republican voters in Haywood County.

That call ended with your expressing your appreciation for my acknowledgment of your role as Chair and my willingness to work with you. You indicated that you would seriously consider my concerns, and our discussion ended.)

“As elected Chair of the Haywood GOP, the Haywood GOP communication strategy is my responsibility. He demanded that I give the entire Haywood GOP communication strategy to an outside group.”

*(During our conversation, I made no demands of you, but instead expressed my strong, experienced belief that not allowing Sherry and Janet to continue in their Town Hall meeting roles would, in my opinion, be detrimental to our ability to grow our volunteer base and attendance at the Town Hall meetings. I did express my concerns regarding your ability to withstand the intimidation you would certainly face from Vickie Reece and a few others, knowing that they were totally opposed to allowing Sherry and Janet to have any role in the monthly Town Hall meetings.)

“Mr Cossette claims that There was no misunderstanding, as the Chair was very clear and enthusiastic when he granted permission to that group.”

*(This statement I will leave to Sherry Lewis to address, as it was she and not I who spoke to you regarding her and Janet’s role with the Town Hall meetings, and it was to her that you expressed your enthusiasm with their willingness to take this role on.)

“Not true. I thought Concerned Citizens was a disbanded group. My understanding was that we were going to use their old email list, and I was enthusiastic about that, as I enjoyed Concerned Citizens meetings. But I never even conceptualized that the idea that the Haywood GOP Townhalls would not be Haywood GOP events, but instead Concerned Citizens events.” 

*(The only two individuals that I know of who spoke to you about Sherry and Janet’s role with the Town Hall meetings were Sherry and I.

I cannot speak for Sherry, but I never once mentioned to you the idea that our Town Hall meetings should go under the control of the “Concerned Citizens” group. As you stated, that group has long since disbanded and is no longer active.

You state that your enthusiasm was about gaining access to the disbanded “Concerned Citizens” email address list. That list contains approximately 200-plus email addresses. I most likely already have those same email addresses in my database of over 3,000 registered Haywood County Republican voters. Most likely, those email addresses already exist in the Haywood County Republican Party’s database, as I provided my email address database to Rick Stello a few months ago, which was subsequently loaded into the Haywood County Republican Party's email address database.)

“I also assumed that as Chair, I would help direct the choice of Townhalls. It turned out that assumption was wrong in the view of Mr. Cossette. He said that my input into the choice of Townhalls would be me "micromanaging" them. (I quite agree with Mr. Cossette that micromanaging is a bad thing. In fact, I decided to run in part due the micromanagement tendencies of one of the candidates I ran against.”

*(I would tend to agree with you that you may not be an advocate of micromanaging, but, unfortunately, in my opinion, you are being heavily influenced by your First Vice Chair, Vickie Reece, who, in my opinion, is a control freak seeking attention and unearned recognition through controlling others' hard work.

In our discussion, I did not state or imply that you should have no role in the conducting of our Town Hall meetings. After you expressed concerns regarding how they would implement and conduct those meetings, I stated that you had to learn to place trust in those you appoint to positions of responsibility until they have shown that they cannot be trusted to act in the best interest of the Haywood County Republican Party. Then would be the appropriate time to either remove them from those roles or impose close oversight until they fall in line with your vision.”)

“As it was, the first Townhall was a failure from the viewpoint of my communication strategy. The speaker advocated a position unpopular in the general population and divisive in Republican circles on a health issue. I of course recognize that most of the people who came were interested in the topic, but I know for a fact that at least 10% of those who came were uncomfortable with the topic choice at a Republican event.”  

*(Given that you have not yet presented a communication strategy, your statement that “the first townhall was a failure from the viewpoint of my communication strategy” is nothing more than gaslighting, as the truthfulness of that statement cannot be validated.

The speaker, Janet Presson, presented a talk regarding the rights of every citizen to be fully informed before being subjected to any medical intervention, including vaccinations. Her presentation, which was fully supported by factual sources, and are the same rights that are being advocated for and being implemented by the current Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

I cannot even contemplate in what world you live in, if you believe that the positions the speaker advocates for, informed consent, rigorous testing of vaccines before they are injected into our babies and children, and a health care system that is actually health for the citizens of our country, is unpopular and divisive in Republican circles.

Then you finish this outlandish paragraph with the statement “I know for a fact that at least 10% of those who came were uncomfortable with the topic…” It certainly puts me to mind of a now-famous response made by J.D. Vance to a mainstream media news anchor: And I paraphrase ‘Do you hear yourself, do you hear what you're saying?’ in response to her comment that only a few apartment complexes had been taken over by Venezuela gang members.

What you should be pointing out here is the other side of that coin: 90% of those in attendance appreciated and enjoyed her presentation. A 90% approval rating is a percentage that anyone would greatly appreciate and gladly accept.

“My communications strategy is that we follow the example of Trump. The Haywood GOP Townhalls should be on issues favorable to Conservatives that don't divide the GOP and on political issues.”

*(The only response I can come up with to that statement is “What are you talking about?” To date, nothing regarding what you are attempting to pass off as your communications strategy follows the example of Trump.

To date, no issue has been presented at any Haywood GOP Town Halls that has been unfavorable to conservatives, and indeed, none have had the effect of dividing the GOP.)

“So the plan going forward is to alternate by month official Haywood GOP Townhalls with Concerned Citizens Open Forums.”

*(The ink hadn’t even had time to dry on your email before you once again reneged on your commitment, leaving any participation by Sherry Lewis and Janet Presson highly unlikely.)

So, Michael, if you're going to issue written statements, at least have the wisdom to ensure those statements are accurate, honest, and truthful.