Executive Committee

Constitution Party of Ohio

1255 N. Hamilton Rd.

Columbus OH 43230

Mr. Jim Clymer Chairman

Constitution Party

23 North Lime   St.
Lancaster,  PA 17602

Dear Chairman Clymer,

The Ohio executive committee applauds your action as chair in taking the initiative to meet with the leadership of the Nevada party. We can only assume you initiated these talks in order to discover what has motivated the leadership of that party to willfully violate the clear provisions of the 100% pro-life plank of our platform and the San Antonio resolution.

As a state party in good standing with the Constitution Party with the full privileges of membership on the national committee we respectfully demand answers to the following questions based on the right of oversight and review guaranteed by Article III of the Constitution Party by-laws;

Have you refused to accept the resignation of Mr. William Shearer from the Executive Committee?

Ohio recognizes that the chair must work with the leadership of state parties that are in violation of our Constitution, by-laws and resolutions of the party to determine if these violations are purposeful or inadvertent.  That question has been answered both directly and indirectly by the actions and statements of the leadership of the Nevada affiliate. Their violations of these documents, including the San Antonio resolution, were willful and repeated.

It is given that the Nevada affiliate and their leadership, as a condition of their affiliation with the national Constitution Party and its predecessor namesake, the US Taxpayers Party, agreed to the Constitution, bylaws and resolutions of the Party of their own free will.  Therefore, we must assume that the purpose of your recent discussions with the leadership of the Nevada affiliate was to present the case that they must either become aligned with the Party’s governing documents by resigning from positions of leadership within the Party affiliate or withdraw their affiliation with the national Constitution Party.

Due to the manner in which the meeting with representatives from the Nevada leadership was conducted, and we must assume that the discussions with those individuals was entered into with notification of only a portion of the entire membership of the Constitution Party National Executive Committee, there is an indication that a deal may be cut to allow the current leadership of the Nevada affiliate to remain in current positions with some type of reprimand.  Are you aware that any such agreement would be in violation of Article III of the by-laws wherein the actions of the Executive Committee and Chair are subject and subordinate to the will of the National Committee, as stated in the resolution passed in Columbus by members of that body.  Under that provision, we request an explanation of the reason why some but not all of the members of the National Executive Committee were notified of this meeting with the Nevada affiliate.

Additionally, during the National Committee meeting in Columbus, Mr. William Shearer, former chairman of the party and then-member of the National Executive Committee, publicly resigned from his position on the National Executive Committee.  It is now our understanding that you, as elected Chairman of the party, have refused to accept the resignation tendered by Mr. Shearer.  Pursuant to Article II section 2.4 of the by-laws of the Constitution Party, we respectfully demand that Mr. William Shearer not be permitted to vote in the National Executive Committee meetings.  This resignation is final until and unless its refusal is reviewed and approved by the National Committee per Article III of the by-laws of the Party.  Otherwise, it would be considered a reappointment to the National Executive Committee, also subject to the approval of the National Committee of the Party.

We further respectfully demand the following pursuant to our right of review and approval guaranteed by Article III of the by-laws; Transcripts or descriptions of any negotiations or agreements made during discussions with the leadership of the Nevada party; All transcripts and minutes of the upcoming emergency executive committee meeting. All proposed solutions to the Nevada resolution made in said meeting; Transcripts, resolutions and minutes of the fall national committee meeting in Columbus.

Jim, we are making these requests for public records of the party as we have done in the past to no avail. We have all of the evidence of the willful ignoring of past requests on file. If we are, once again, forced to make a case in floor debate, despite promises that it would not be necessary, we will need these items for information.

As you know, our state provided the second highest vote total nationally for the Peroutka-Baldwin ticket. We know this is not due to our own efforts or even those of people like Cal  Zastrow, who was the key player in getting us on the ballot, but due to God who honored our faithfulness with His.

While Nevada, California and other states make artificially inflated membership claims, their vote getting performance is less than brilliant. Nevada claims 32,000 members and yet could only persuade about 1200 of them or less than 4% to come out to vote for our presidential candidate. California’s performance is only slightly better. They claim 330,000 members and got 26,600 votes from their members, about 8%. We in Ohio had 70 members and got 12,000 votes for Peroutka-Baldwin, a showing of over 17,000% of our members!

And how were we rewarded by the party for maintaining our principles and the resultant blessing of God? We were called names and otherwise publicly insulted by members of the executive committee during debate in Nashville. Also in Nashville, Cal Zastrow was congratulated for his work in helping several states including Ohio obtain ballot access and fired in nearly the same breath. The debate on the LeFemine resolution was allowed to turn into a logic and fact-free donnybrook. It came complete with false charges of religious bigotry and ad hominem attacks with use of insults like “American Taliban” by defenders of Nevada due to a lack of action from the chair.

In Salt Lake City, the executive committee voted to deprive us of our national committee hosting privileges. They then forced us to the expedient of parliamentary maneuver and debate to defend ourselves before the national committee where we were further insulted and harassed. Our delegation was present in the very hotel where the executive committee meeting was being held but no one bothered to seek us out to allow us the chance to defend ourselves in front of the committee.

You have repeatedly allowed debate, especially on the Nevada issue, to devolve from a spirited presentation of fact to emotional displays of fact-free rancor and bullying. We were called cannibals and Nazis by a member of the executive committee in public debate and falsely accused of religious bigotry while you did nothing to stop it from the chair. One of our members was told to sit down and shut up coupled with a blasphemy of God’s name by members of the Nevada delegation and still you did nothing from the chair. You improperly called a legitimate motion for censure by one of our delegation out of order. A bogus resolution of Nevada’s complete compliance with the platform was forced down the throats of the national committee only to discover 6 months later that it had been built on a foundation of patent falsehoods. A prominent member of the executive committee threatened one of our delegates that we had better not bring the Nevada problem to the floor in Ohio after we won the right to keep our meeting in Columbus.

Apparently, flash and inflated membership numbers are more important than integrity in the Constitution Party. Ohio has chosen to take the long approach in finding and training <em>qualified</em> candidates who are in for the long haul and know they will have to suffer the slings and arrows from our enemies who hate us for our maintenance of integrity and principle. If only they could rest assured that their party officials did not have to suffer the same treatment, not just from our enemies but from our purported friends who admonish us that we need to “get practical” in order to win. Eight per-cent turn out versus 17,000% tells the tale of the tape. We’ll stay with principle and integrity. It works.

We look forward to your prompt reply to these questions and requests.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Charles S. Michaelis

Secretary, Ohio Constitution Party

Signing on behalf of the following Executive Committee members of the Ohio Constitution Party;

James Burkhamer, Chairman

Dr. Patrick Johnston, Vice-Chair

Barry Sheets, At-Large

Bruce Purdy, At-Large

Other signatures will be added as the approval is received from Ohio Executive and National Committee members

CC: Constitution Party Executive Committee

Constitution Party National Committee