Chesco Empire Strikes Back

Chesco Empire Strikes BackChesco 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

22 thoughts on “Chesco Empire Strikes Back”

  1. Gosh when I first read Ms. McGrath’s missive I thought it was from the Democratic National Committee –all that War on Women-type gibberish. How has anyone’s wife been “disparaged”? Because it was pointed out that they work for the Government? Or that Mr. DiGiorgio’s wife gets paid 6-figure money by the Democratic bosses in Montgomery County? Or that Mr. Rahn’s wife donates big money to liberal Democrats but got hired by the Republican bosses in Chester County? I thought this was the American way –disclose things and let people make up their minds about what the information means.

  2. All of a sudden, Marian is looking for the high road. I have seen her send email blasts with the nastiest words ever about good people. Here she is shocked that someone doesn’t like the bosses!!!!! What up Marian?

    1. Care to back up your claim?… no probably not since your slander against Marian has no bearing or truth.

  3. The author of this letter sounds like the typical GOP hack–sorry, Marian but that’s the tone that comes across. And here’s what you don’t like. You don’t like that the fact it was put out to the public that a GOP’s Chairman’s wife was given a six figure job by a Democrat because that gives the appearance of impropriety. Even with your emotional defense, it looks shady to the common folk and you don’t want that. You also don’t want the fact that a GOP leader’s wife contributes heavily to a liberal Democrat because that, too, seems suspect. Both examples lead anybody with an ounce of common sense to think that there was possibly collusion and paybacks of some sort involved–be it support for a certain candidate or support for a certain issue. Whether there was or wasn’t isn’t the point. The point is that both show poor judgement and does the GOP really want leaders who exercise that type of disregard for the GOP brand? It’s tarnished enough without giving people the idea that the local Republicans are in bed with the local Democrats for personal gain. $105,000 is a lot of money and what would be very interesting to know is who were the other candidates for the position? What qualifications did they all, including the Chairman’s wife, have? Was she the best qualified or was she a favor? In these days of people finally waking up and trying to hold government accountable, these kinds of questions deserve answers. But instead of getting those answers that, by the way affect the taxpayers in Montgomery County, the GOP in its never ending arrogance and determination to hold onto local power, hauls committee people in to spank them for daring to want a better candidate for office. And rocket scientists that they are–they really don’t get why that’s upsetting to their constituency.

    1. Something else to consider why does a county even need a Commerce Department much less one headed by someone making six figures?

      The thing you’d expect a Commerce Department to do have been traditionally handled for free and very well by business associations and the Chamber of Commerce.

      And why would business even need a liaison with the elected commissioners?

  4. Perhaps of the committee people used their power and common sense when vetting these candidates, we would not be having this conversation. When was the last time our paid elected officials where held accountable for their votes in Harrisburg and Washington? Have they ever been called to an acquisition to challenge their poor judgement and votes when it comes to policies for the people they represent? If candidates for the republican party were chosen and held accountable to the values of the republican party, this would not be a problem. Perhaps the committee people, who are controlled by a few power/money hungry elitist, need a refresher course in their responsibility. Instead they try to banish the few who are diligent in their duties.
    And or those worried about the circular firing squad-start looking at the enemies and traitors within.

    1. And here we have Lisa Esler, the same women who thought it a victory to that she was able to defeat Paul Mullen. Don’t mind the fact that seat flipped to Democrat control. I’m sure Mullen was worth it though.

      1. So tell us, please, Sarah, with Harrisburg in the mess it’s in because of union control and power over the legislature–what value in turning that around would Paul Mullen have added exactly?

  5. Good point, Lisa. Why aren’t our elected representatives hauled before “inquisition” committees when they vote to give in to, say, Barack Obama? Why aren’t they forced to uphold Republican values and standards? We shell out an awful lot of money for representation that isn’t always forthcoming–when our reps vote for big government which often happens, where are the Republican Party leaders calling them out? They are nowhere to be found. If the party leaders spent as much time on holding those in elected office accountable who actually have a say in our lives as they do holding kangaroo court for committee people who “stray”, we’d all be a lot better off.

  6. The Republican Party is a scam. A lot of us not only left the committee but left the party because of the intimidation tactics they try to use. None of us were intimidated but why even deal with that for a non paying position. When Corbett pushed Steve Welsh, I had friends up there who reported that there were even job threats. I confronted an elected official about this and was told this is politics. So being nice to these people isn’t going to work. Play the game to win.

    1. McGrath isn’t the only patronage job placement with Shapiro. One of our state reps (the one who just got the boot as head of MCRC after party infighting and his laser focus on defeating a county commissioner candidate who was not his & Shapiro’s personal pick lost us all our row officer seats) has a spouse who has somehow miraculously retained her employment in the controller’s office despite the Democrats eliminating virtually all other Republican job holders there since taking control 4 years ago. Coincidence?

    2. Stop the Rinos-

      First of all that is a great name, especially considering that Marian is very conservative herself, if you knew who she was, your criticism might have some barring. I completely agree with your “play to win the game” mentality, the only problem is Jane Ladley and Donna Ellingsen both lost the game and now they have to pay the piper. Heck, Ladley lost so bad that following the election she resigned as East Nottingham supervisor herself. These ladies played with fire and they got burnt.

  7. Marian, Marian, Marian – When I read your letter, I had to say : is she blind or just lying! I don’t think you’re blind, Marian; you know all and everything that’s been going on with this GOP committee – surely Val has kept you well informed and I see you ran to his/the RCCC defense immediately. I lost my respect for the RCCC quite some time ago – you see, I like the truth and I didn’t find it there.

  8. Chester County is turning into the embarrassment that is Montgomery county. The scariest thing is that Jane and Donna believe they aren’t the cause!

      1. But Bill… $105 is really not that much money… and certainly she had to have been making more at the law firm… The issue is not the amount of money that Mr. DiGiorgio’s wife makes. Your attempt to muddy the real issues only shows me that you don’t want to talk about the facts. The voters chose, Jane and Donna lost, and now they have to pay the price. Come on now…

        1. $105,000 is a very nice salary, and it is bizarre that one should just shake off giving such a salary to a county department head unless one is of the opinion that taxes are never a burden and the tax cow will never run dry.

          Further, if she stepped down from a higher paying position — a claim about which one can be dubious — to take a well-paying political job, and yes it most certainly is well paying, that just raises other unpleasant questions such as why did someone with political connections get the job? Was there a search? Did anyone else apply? What does a county commerce department head do exactly?

  9. Everybody knows how it works–why do you think the apparently self-funded-and-therefore-beholden-to-nobody Donald Trump is probably going to run over every political fiefdom like Marian’s in Chester County and beyond?

    Otherwise, the only candidates that make it onto the primary ballot are the ones the Party hierarchy (read that, “money men”…or should I say “candyman”?) believes will win. How else could the party (R, D, whatever) hold onto whatever government treasure trove of jobs and/or favors that’s on the ballot?

    Come on, Marian, do you really think Republican voters believe you have their best interests at heart?

    Do they know your husband retired from a Chester County patronage job, not a unique situation among party hierarchy I’ll bet.

    Can you say “conflict of interest”? Or maybe, “The foxes are running the hen house” is more appropriate.

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