Category: Chesco Inquisition

Barrar Backs Chesco Purge??? — Say it ain’t so, Steve.

Friends of Steve Barrar is among the organizations kicking in to a group created to crush a Chester County conservative good-government movement.

The group ironically named Oxford Good Government Committee (OGG) was registered March 19 after Chesco GOP Area 19 Chairman Mark Plaugher lost his title the year before to East Nottingham Committeewoman Jane Ladley.

Plaugher is the treasurer of OGG, which is chaired by Michelle McLeod.

Well, OGG ran several candidates, including Ms. McLeod in East Nottingham, in last spring’s primary for municipal offices against candidates of the Area 19 committee and was generally successful.

No problem. That’s the American way.

The problem is the question as to why Barrar’s political campaign fund would back them as did that of Jack London, the presumptive GOP nominee for the 19th District State Senate seat now held by Andy Dinniman.

The Area 19 committee is controlled by people who became involved in politics after Obama revealed himself as a wannabee tyrant shortly after his election. They are concerned about the loss of economic and political freedom — think speech codes — and the spiraling debt, federal and state, being placed on the next generation.

These people are not professional politicians. None of them seek to to get rich from politics — committeeperson is an unpaid job — and they aren’t interested in sounding the trumpet before them or pushing people around. Like Shrek — and George Washington for that matter — they just want to do their job and go home.

London and Barrar, as he does every election, are going to come before these people this year pounding on the stump declaring Consitutionalism and conservatism and how much they need them to fight them big-spending, gun-grabbing, pro-abortion gubmint liberals.

Friends of Jack London gave $250 to OGG while Barrar’s group chipped in $150.

Who else gave? Well funds affiliated with former State Sen. Dominic Pileggi contributed at total of $1,000 but there is no surprise there.

Delco Future Leadership Fund which is chaired by Delaware County Council woman Colleen Morrone — why is Delaware County involved? — gave $500.

Committee for Excellence in Public Education, for which we unable to find a listing on Pa Voter Services, gave $500.

Of the $10,426 raised by OGG last year, $3,115 went to the political consulting firm Red Maverick Media, which, like State Street Strategies, is run by Ray Zaborney and his wife, Jennifer.

A whole lot of effort seems to be being made by those who get nice livings from government to chase away those who actually believe the stuff they were taught in school regarding citizenship.

Hey Jack, you ever read “To Build a Fire“? Unlike the tale’s protagonist, the group to which you have donated  might have succeeded.

And Jack, regarding any support you expect from the party bosses? Just beware.

Barrar Backs Chesco Purge???

 

 

Chesco Inquisition Postponed — Donna Ellingsen, one of the four Chester County Area 19 Republican committee people being called before a party inquisition with the intent to remove her from office, has announced that the inquisition that had been scheduled for Jan. 11 has been postponed.

When the new date is named we will let you know.

Chesco Inquisition Postponed.

Chesco Empire Strikes Back — The Chester County GOP Empire is striking back.

Marian McGrath, the East Bradford committee woman who chairs the Party’s Area 12 has sent out an email blast expressing hurt and outrage over recent stories publicizing the employment (and candidate contributions) of Republican Party boss spouses.

“The tone of these email/blog posts against our Chairman and his wife has compelled me to respond,” she says.

“It saddens me,” she says.

Don’t be sad. Val DiGiorgio isn’t sad. He’s happy. His wife is making $105,000.

Now granted the guy that gave her the job is  Josh Shapiro, the Dem bigwig who runs Montgomery County but a job is a job and $105 Gs is $105 Gs.

And Marian, that case back in 2011 where you had to remove a “moderate-leaning” committee person who violated bylaws? Were there four of them, one being an area chair? If you have that many people violating bylaws the problem is with the bylaws — or  the people interpreting them.

And what’s with  party bosses supporting an organization that primarys committee people? You have to admit that kind of raises eyebrows.

Here is Marian’s complete “unite together” (cough) apologetic.

Dear Friends of the GOP:
You may have received an email or read a blog post indicating that the Chester County Republican Committee is “trying to purge Conservatives.”  The tone of these email/blog posts against our Chairman and his wife has compelled me to respond.
The individuals sending these messages are under review by the Republican Committee of Chester County for allegedly violating RCCC bylaws in the November election by working against the candidates the Republican voters chose in the Primary Election. Multiple witnesses have accused these committee people of working against our Republican candidates in the General Election.
After the Republican voters choose their candidates in the Primary Election, it is imperative and required under our bylaws that our committee people support those candidates.  Working against these candidates is working against the will of the Republican electorate, and we cannot stand by and allow any committee person to oppose the will of our Republican voters.
As the bylaws require, we are in the process of scheduling a hearing and three republicans will hear testimony and determine if in fact a violation did occur. The accused have been provided with copies of the complaint letters and the materials provided by the complainants. Each side has the opportunity to state their case and present evidence. At this time, no decision has been made as to anyone’s guilt in this matter and that decision will be made only after a hearing and in accordance with our bylaws and precedent.
In 2011, while I was acting Chair of RCCC, a similar incident occurred in which a committee person, who was moderate-leaning, also violated the bylaws and was removed from committee through the same procedure. The allegations that the RCCC is purging conservatives could not be further from the truth. The bylaws state that action needs to be taken and if found not guilty, the individuals will remain on the committee.
It saddens me that at a time when our nation is facing real threats abroad and economic threats at home, these individuals would disparage the wives of our party leaders and our Chairman versus having an open and honest discussion about their actions.
As we head into 2016, we need to unite together in order to be successful.
Best regards,
Marian McGrath

Chesco Empire Strikes Back

Bob Asher Behind Chesco Purge? The Chester County GOP big bosses called in the candyman  when they needed some cash to try to crush the grassroots activists encroaching on their turf.

The United Republicans of Chester County (URCC) which primaryed, mostly without success, several new committeepersons in 2014 received $5,000 — about half its income — from Pa Future Fund which is run by the  Bob Asher, owner of Asher’s Chocolates and convicted felon.

The other major donors were Bryan McElwee of Valley Forge and Richard Ireland of King of Prussia who gave $2,500 each.

The URCC was chaired by Alex Rahn and its treasurer was Bradley Vasoli. It was terminated on Jan. 15, 2015.

And where were these Chester County “Republicans” working from? According to the campaign finance report it was 241 S. 6th St., Apt. 405 Philadelphia.

Go figure.

And then go figure why the GOP’s state-wide big money guys are trying to chase away their most motivated activists.

Bob Asher Behind Chesco Purge?

Chesco GOP Hearts Dinniman? — It keeps coming in from Chester County.

The latest is that Democrat State Senator Andy Dinniman whose 19th District covers much of that county is a Republican Party play thing; that he literally ran like a puppy from across the room when former Chesco GOP boss “Skip” Brion whistled.

When Steve Kantrowitz ran against Dinniman in 2008 on the GOP ballot he says he did not get an iota of help from the party establishment. He even had to drive his own nominating petitions to Harrisburg. In a snowstorm.

He says the party actively discouraged him from running in the primary which ultimately he won uncontested.

The story is that Dinniman gives the county GOP what they want and they make it easy for him to keep his job.

And is this  why nothing ever gets done for the hard-working little guy and gal in the Pennsylvania Legislature but a whole lot gets done for the special interests.

Ask yourself, do teacher strikes really help children. Why are they legal?

Chesco GOP Hearts Dinniman?

Chesco Purge Orchestrated By Big Money?

By Dick Gould

I want to tell you a story.

Chester County GOP Purging Conservatives? — So what’s going on in Chester County?

Elected small-government, anti-corruption committeepeople have been sent letters calling them before a Jan.11 county Republican inquisition with the intent to remove them.

Donna Ellingsen, the committeewoman who represents Elk Township in Area 19 for the GOP party,  and her committeeman, are accused of violating party bylaws for supporting a candidate other than the nominated one.  Oh the horror. The violations, by the way, are not specified in the letter.

Donna did tell us that she supported a challenger against Estace Walters, an Oxford Good Government candidate who won the 2015 May primary for township supervisor.  Of course, Donna notes that Walters was seen actively colluding with the Democrats, and was featured as the Dem/Rep candidate on the November ballot.

She also noted that Walters was helped by Mark Plaugher who actively worked alongside the Democrats in the May 2015 primary polls to have Walters elected as the Democrat candidate.

“They used a very close facsimile of the official Republican sample ballot which employed a very close facsimile of the GOP elephant logo and made it seem that Walters was the GOP-endorsed candidate to the GOP voters,” she said.

Also receiving notices of violating bylaws in Area 19 were the two committeepeople in East Nottingham, Jane Ladley and her committeeman.

Ms. Ladley chairs the Chesco GOP’s Area 19 which includes Elk Township, and is also a strong conservative.

Contributing to the Byzantine brou-haha is Mark Plaugher who was previously the GOP chair for  Area 19 before being replaced by Ms. Ladley in 2014.

Plaugher started the Oxford Good Government in 2015 which specifically ran candidates against the legitimate Area 19 Committee-endorsed candidates in the May 2015 primaries, Donna says. He was assisted in his efforts by several well-known operatives with ties to the Chesco GOP.

The group raised a not-inconsiderable sum of money and was successful in taking down the conservative Area 19 endorsed candidates in several townships including Elk and East Nottingham in this past November election.

“The money trail ends in Harrisburg at 121 State St.,” Donna says.

The address belongs to State Street Strategies, a political consulting firm owned by Ray Zaborney and his wife, Jennifer.

Plaugher has a Delaware County connection.  At the turn of the Millennium, he was executive director of the Southwest Delaware County Municipality Authority which deals with sewage waste. You can read about Plaugher’s tenure and why he left  at this link.

You think maybe the problem isn’t with the committee people — all of whom are popularly elected — but with the candidates handpicked by the county party leadership?

This is sounding like more of a purge rather than an attempt to maintain necessary order.

Consider that GOP Chesco Treasurer Paul Andriole even signed the petition for a Democrat candidate to get on the Republican ballot for the 2015 Primary.

Meanwhile, the guy running Area 1 for Chesco and a reputedly close associate of the Chesco GOP Chairman Val DiGiorgio, has a long history of supporting big government causes. His name is Alex Rahn and he is reputed to be the brains behind a shadow group calling themselves the United Republicans of Chester County that has been trying unsuccessfully since 2012 to take out the county GOP  grassroots factions  such as the Elk and East Nottingham committeepeople.

Rahn  directed political activities for Republican/Democrat Senator Arlen Specter in 2003/2004 before becoming vice president of government affairs with Rajant Corp., founding AKR Government Solutions and becoming a senior associate with Wanner Associates, a government relations consulting firm.

His most recent venture is a Farmers Insurance agency in Thorndale with his wife Kara.

And this brings us to Kara.

Kara has been a Democrat active in liberal causes. In 2012 she gave $2,000 to Bob Casey For Senate Inc. — a pretty generous contribution considering her job at the time was Delaware County Transportation Manager. In 2010, she doled out $4,600: $2,000 to ActBlue, $2,000 to Sestak for Senate and $600 to Democrat Congressman Rob Andrews. 

Besides the insurance agency, Kara was hired recently as assistant director at Voter Services and even more recently became acting director of  Voter Services of Chesco, where the reliable Jim Forsythe is no more the director.  An abrupt change not previously foreseen by anyone on the outside.

This incestuous bipartisan nepotism appears to go all the way to the top.

Chairman DiGiorgio’s wife, Carolina,  landed a nice job in February as head of the Commerce Department of Democrat-controlled Montgomery County. Carolina’s salary is $105,000 not including benefits. We are sure she is putting in the full 40-hours per week doing the brutal, thankless work that Commerce Department heads do.

And we’re sure there’s no conflict of interest in wives of top operatives in the Republican party working hand-in-hand with Democrats.

Chester County GOP Purging Conservatives