MINUTES of the GREENVILLE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY Business Meeting
Hilton Hotel Orchard Park, Greenville, SC, Monday, August 7, 2023
Call to Order: Yvonne Julian, Chairman (Southside) @ 7:04 PM
Opening Prayer: Ryan McAllen (Greenville 25)
Pledge of Allegiance: Peter Ferris (Timberlake)
Republican Creed: Cathy Voaden (Walnut Springs)
Welcome Elected Officials, Veterans/Families, Visitors: Yvonne Julian, Chairman (Southside)
Meeting Calendar: No change from list on the agenda
Guest Speakers: County Councilmen Benton Blount (Dist 19), Steve Shaw (Dist 20), and Stan Tzouvelekas (Dist 22) all spoke followed by taxpayer advocate, Michelle Shuman (Greenville 01).
Credentialling Committee Report: Joe McLaughlin, Chair – 108 represented precincts, 33 unrepresented, and 10 unorganized.
Resolution of Commendation and Appreciation was read by Joe Dill, GCRP 1st VC (Tigerville). Resolution attached. David Deuerling (Maridell) made a motion to vote by acclamation to pass the aforementioned resolution. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report: Mary Wheeler, Treasurer (Tigerville) –See HERE.
June Meeting Minutes: Yvonne Julian, Chairman (Southside) – (1) A previous request to update the minutes was made by Karen Eachus (Castle Rock) had been made and corrections had been made, but during the meeting, Karen read aloud her motion to amend the minutes to reflect “to request that ECs report regularly on a monthly basis on how many contacts they have made so we can keep track that we are meeting our goals on a regular basis to grow the party.” Additionally, the phrase “motion to commit to action,” which means to commit to a committee for further review is amended to read “motion passed.” Motion attached. (2) Anthony DiLorenzo (Darby Ridge) made a motion to update the June minutes with the insertion of the word “primary” to describe the Greenville Mayoral elections on June 13th to say “Greenville Mayoral primary election.” Diana Weir (Moore Creek) made a motion to accept the minutes. Steve Hudson (Piedmont) seconded the motion. Motion passed by acclamation.
Point of Information: Tiffany Mauk (Frohawk) – We want on record that we censured the Republican Caucus for rejecting the Freedom Caucus members, so she asked when we did this. The response was that it was done at the County Convention and passed by acclamation. She asked Ray Sheen, the Parliamentarian, if that would go on record so we can say for sure that we censured them. Ray said yes it does go on record that we did that, and it was the job of our state EC to present that censure. Then there was a Point of Inquiry by Evert Headley (Travelers Rest 1) that the motion was passed at the convention but that he understood it was never presented to the state. He asked if it was, and if so, who did it. And if not, why wasn’t it? Evert said the state said no one sent it but Anderson. The question was referred to Jeff Davis, (State EC) to respond. Jeff said he sent it to the state party, and he clarified that the state never responds to our letters or emails.
Chairman’s Report: Yvonne Julian, Chairman (Southside) – The Chairman presented her organizational report and discussed performance and goals using PowerPoint slides. She state the party rules say we are required to support our party candidates and to help grow the party. In order to grow, we need data so we put numbers to that to have goals to achieve. We’d like to double the 2024 primary turnout. She discussed how to arrive at making 500,458 touches. 7 touches per individual seems to be the magic scientific number. Our goal is to make 500,458 touches before the 2024 general election. She gave a shout out to everyone who turned in data. She showed a pie chart with our progress. She made note that process is important but some get fixated on the process without focusing on getting results, so it’s important to have results-oriented people helping. Why have we lost the City of Greenville? We have to focus on contacting voters to get the results. We are getting our website organized to include new info to do this. The interest survey for participation on a committee is still on there. Committees are doing really amazing work. She brought up Mike Voaden to discuss organization of the zones.
ReOrg Committee Report: Mike Voaden (3rd Vice, Walnut Springs) – Mike heads up the committee with Tommy Maraffa and Jo Jones. The idea behind creating the zones was to get away from all the processes and have a way for people who want to save the country to come together with their ideas to do business like creating resolutions so we can move forward with the next EC meetings. The idea is to get precincts to work together, communicate with one another, and build together. He stated when the letter went out, it was stated that if you felt any changes needed to be made, you could do it since this is pretty complex. They tried their best to put together the best structure they could but left it open to the ECs to determine how it will exactly look. They asked for feedback. There was no formal process because they wanted to get things up and running. Now the focus is getting the party to 10,000 voters who will follow the Constitution and the platform to fight for us and to control the county. That is the mission, and everything else is just considered noise. We have 12 zones with 12 solid zone leaders, but that could fluctuate. They are listed on www.greenvillegop.com/zones. He is working on the first zone leaders meeting. Some zones have already had some meetings and are already doing a lot of work. The zone meetings are a great way to share info on election integrity, medical freedom, a buyers exchange, a parallel economy, etc. Work is being done already in these areas, and we will be able to share that info with you through the zone meetings. Contact Mike or Tommy Maraffa if you have any questions.
Chairman’s Report Continued: Yvonne Julian, Chairman (Southside) – Yvonne continued with her calls to action. 1. Office support volunteers are needed. 2. Candidates are needed to run for open offices. 3. Election integrity Committee Chairman is needed. 4. Christmas party silent auction donations are needed. 5. Get active in your precinct zones. 6. Committee chairs should be prepared to give highlights about their committees for the new Chairman’s report via email. 7. Please submit any ideas/tips for the Chairman’s newsletter to Yvonne.
State Executive Committeeman’s Report: Jeff Davis (Timberlake) – Jeff mentioned we held the County Convention in April. He reiterated that the resolution for censure was sent to the state, and he reminded us that every letter and email sent to the state party has gone unanswered and that it’s interesting now that they are saying we aren’t sending them things. Since we just heard that Anderson send their censure down, he asked if anyone heard that brought forth at the state convention. He followed with the first meeting for the state ECs after our first county meeting and that he received notification from Hope Walker the day before that meeting that he would not be allowed in the meeting but that he could send a proxy. There’s been some confusion that Greenville wasn’t being represented, but we will be either with himself, Yvonne, or another proxy. He discussed all the excuses he was given by the state party as to why he was not allowed to previous state EC meetings, and now they have accelerated this to keeping him out of the meetings as an “elected” member of that body. Jeff believes that is a violation of state election law, and we are pursuing that. They are spreading confusion and misinformation about why he wasn’t allowed into the state EC meeting. All of this is part of the game, and we just hold the line while this exposes them more. Our cause across the county has increased because of this. We are all Republicans. We should be working together and promoting the platform. Jeff invited anyone who wants to discuss anything to contact him or come to the Headquarters. He said there should be no excuse to show up to a meeting and not know what’s going on.
Point of Information: Ron Tamaccio (Furman) – Ron asked the Chairman to confirm how the zone leaders were selected. Mike Voaden communicated his response by saying there is no formal process because it is not a formal structure. The idea is to get precincts to work together, to communicate together, and to build the party together. He said when the letter about zones went out, it stated if you felt changes were needed to the zone organization, they could do it because this is pretty complex. We tried to put together the best organization we could together, but we remain open to the ECs to determine how that will look. We asked for feedback. No formal process was done to pick zone leaders because we wanted to get this up and running. Leaders will always rise to the top anyway. Ron then stated that was the point he wanted to make…that it is not formal and it is not in stone. Also, he stated that he wants to address that he can ask in advance for a certain topic to be addressed at the next meeting for that topic to go on the next meeting’s agenda as new business. The Chairman said of course you have that right because she serves at the pleasure of the EC. We want, as a practice, like this time to get resolutions and anything else out to people as early as possible because it’s difficult to come to a meeting without people having read resolutions or don’t have all the background. Ron stated that he completely supports that concept because it’s an excellent idea and thanked her for doing it that way.
Point of Clarification: Evert Headley (Travelers Rest 1) requested clarification on putting things in as new business as a mandate or a suggestion. The Chairman (Southside) responded that it’s a suggestion.
1st Reading of the Resolution of Censure against Republican County Councilmen who supported the county tax increase: Harrison Musselwhite (Simpsonville 6) – Resolution to censure read aloud. Read Resolution HERE. Point of Clarification was made by Evert Headley (Travelers Rest 1) to clarify for a resolution to censure, we have to have a first reading, which we had tonight, followed by a final vote at the next meeting, where we then can submit it to the state. Motion to pass the first reading was made by Harrison Musselwhite and seconded by Diana Weir (Moore Creek). Motion passed by acclamation.
Motion to Adjourn: Dan Healy (Sulphur Springs) made a motion to adjourn. Motion was seconded by Harrison Musselwhite (Simpsonville 6). Motion passed at 8:47 PM
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