CHAIRMAN LOOMIS - HYPOCRISY CLASS 101

This morning, Wednesday, June 4th, Haywood County Republican Party Chairman Michael Loomis sent out the Agenda for tomorrow’s Executive Committee business meeting.

Although I am a member of the Haywood County Republican Party Executive Committee, I did not receive the agenda from the county party; instead, it was forwarded to me by other members of the Executive Committee who had received it. I am not on good terms with Chairman Michael Loomis, his First Vice Chair, Vickie Reece, or their puppeteers, Pat and Ted Carr, so it may have just conveniently slipped their minds.

In the opening statement of that agenda, Chairman Loomis exposes his hypocrisy for the rule of order as he writes:

“Remember, we will be using Robert’s Rules of Order. We won’t be perfect this time, but let’s try to follow these Robert’s Rules during the meeting.

1. To speak on a subject, you have to be recognized by the Chair.

   
   

2. Raise your hand to be recognized by the Chair.

   
   

3. You stand to speak except for the Chair when officiating the meeting.

   
   

4. Confine remarks to the merits of the question.

   
   

5. Address all remarks through the chair; members do not address one another directly.

   
   

6. Avoid use of members’ names.

   
   

   1. Presiding officer should not be referred to by name

      
      

   2. Presiding officer speaks of himself/herself in the third person

      
      

   3. Avoid mentioning another’s name when the person can be described in another way.”

Very well put, Ms. Carr, I mean Chairman Loomis. However, if either of you were the expert on Robert’s Rules of Order that you try to project yourself as being, you would know that conducting a meeting under these strict rules of Robert’s Rules of Order is intended for large-scale meetings such as conferences and conventions.

Robert’s Rules of Order clearly state that when conducting small-scale meetings, such as our Executive Committee, it is neither necessary nor appropriate to require strict adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order; instead, a more informal approach is recommended. Unless, of course, you intend to reign over the meeting in a dictatorial manner, which your stated requirements would imply.

Speaking of hypocrisy, Chairman Loomis, your demand that we strictly adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order tomorrow evening brings to mind our April 17th special Executive Committee meeting, which was held to rank nominees for the Haywood County Board of Elections.

If you recall, I presided over that meeting as the Acting Chair of the Haywood County Republican Party. I had, out of courtesy, invited all four Board of Election applicants to attend that meeting and had intended to allow each applicant an opportunity to address the Committee before we began our ranking process.

Following my bringing the meeting to order, I proceeded to provide instructions regarding the procedures we would follow, which included requiring the applicants to leave the room while a fellow applicant was addressing the Committee.

It was at this point that one of the applicants, Trudy Schmidt, became enraged over being excluded from the meeting while a fellow applicant addressed the Committee. She was ranting on about her “imagined” right to be present, when in fact I had no obligation to have her present for the proceedings and no obligation to allow her to speak.

It was while I was attempting to impose "Robert's Rules of Order" to silence her that you, Michael Loomis, literally jumped out of your chair and demanded that she be allowed to speak. You were quickly joined by Vickie Reece, Susan Kavanaugh, Pat Carr, and Tim Phelan, which resulted in the disruption of that meeting and the total disregard for Robert’s Rules of Order.

So, Michael Loomis, what happened to Robert’s Rules of Order when you decided, on that day, to ignore those Rules because it was convenient for you and one of your handlers?