Being one of the people who's name is getting trashed in this thread and others on RPF, I guess I should set the record straight.
1) Please go to my blog at http://nickegorofforlandopoliticalactivist.blogspot.com/ and read up on the background of this story.
2) 90% of the CFL people I've talked with, are upset about Mark Cross's actions and want him removed. I have asked repeatedly for CFL National HQ to allow an election on who they want to lead the CFL org in Florida. Debbie Hopper (VP Membership), Jesse Benton (Sr. VP), and John Tate (President) have all said absolutely no elections. They say that until more of the 6000 Florida members of CFL give National HQ $35 a piece, there will be no elections. Sounds like a hostage ransom payment to me!
3) Recently Florida CFL County and Congressional District Coordinators set up a pole amongst themselves to vote on Mr. Cross's continued leadership. Sixty-six percent voted for his removal. The rest voted to reprimand him, but to give him a second chance.
4) The CFL organizer that set up this pole was also removed by CFL HQ. I have been banned for life from CFL activities. No rules or bylaws were cited that we broke.
5) The idea that I and others in the Florida CFL should just go find some other organization to join is not logical. Remember that it was money that we contributed to the RP for president campaign that paid for this org. It's as if we had donated money, had it used for a purpose that we did not intend, and finally being told to get lost when we protest.
6) Tate, Benton, and Hopper talk about building a bottom-up grassroots organization, the opposite appears to be the case. They will be the sole deciders of who is fit to lead the various organizations. Again, this is being done with OUR money, and against our wishes.
7) National HQ has also taken exception to my strong criticism that they are squandering money on high salaried staff that have so far shown little results. Wow, I can only hope that they can take criticism at least as well as the US government. Imagine our surprise if after chastising Congress for wasteful spending we had our voting rights revoked.
8) It is widely held amongst Florida CFL members that Mr. Cross had done a terrible job in his leadership in RP 2008 campaign (as State Coordinator). He is repeating the same lack of action in the new CFL org (again as State Coordinator). In neither position was his selection put up for a vote or even input from folks on the ground considered.
What is happening in Florida is of importance to other states considering the CFL model. What started as a good idea has ended as a nightmare in Florida. We are held hostage by bureaucrats in Virginia that want to protect their own appointed State Coordinator who is disliked by the people he rules over.
Campaign for Liberty, if it wants to hold true to its principles, needs to amend its behavior.
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!" Barry Goldwater in his 1964 Presidential Acceptance Speech
1) Please go to my blog at http://nickegorofforlandopoliticalactivist.blogspot.com/ and read up on the background of this story.
2) 90% of the CFL people I've talked with, are upset about Mark Cross's actions and want him removed. I have asked repeatedly for CFL National HQ to allow an election on who they want to lead the CFL org in Florida. Debbie Hopper (VP Membership), Jesse Benton (Sr. VP), and John Tate (President) have all said absolutely no elections. They say that until more of the 6000 Florida members of CFL give National HQ $35 a piece, there will be no elections. Sounds like a hostage ransom payment to me!
3) Recently Florida CFL County and Congressional District Coordinators set up a pole amongst themselves to vote on Mr. Cross's continued leadership. Sixty-six percent voted for his removal. The rest voted to reprimand him, but to give him a second chance.
4) The CFL organizer that set up this pole was also removed by CFL HQ. I have been banned for life from CFL activities. No rules or bylaws were cited that we broke.
5) The idea that I and others in the Florida CFL should just go find some other organization to join is not logical. Remember that it was money that we contributed to the RP for president campaign that paid for this org. It's as if we had donated money, had it used for a purpose that we did not intend, and finally being told to get lost when we protest.
6) Tate, Benton, and Hopper talk about building a bottom-up grassroots organization, the opposite appears to be the case. They will be the sole deciders of who is fit to lead the various organizations. Again, this is being done with OUR money, and against our wishes.
7) National HQ has also taken exception to my strong criticism that they are squandering money on high salaried staff that have so far shown little results. Wow, I can only hope that they can take criticism at least as well as the US government. Imagine our surprise if after chastising Congress for wasteful spending we had our voting rights revoked.
8) It is widely held amongst Florida CFL members that Mr. Cross had done a terrible job in his leadership in RP 2008 campaign (as State Coordinator). He is repeating the same lack of action in the new CFL org (again as State Coordinator). In neither position was his selection put up for a vote or even input from folks on the ground considered.
What is happening in Florida is of importance to other states considering the CFL model. What started as a good idea has ended as a nightmare in Florida. We are held hostage by bureaucrats in Virginia that want to protect their own appointed State Coordinator who is disliked by the people he rules over.
Campaign for Liberty, if it wants to hold true to its principles, needs to amend its behavior.
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!" Barry Goldwater in his 1964 Presidential Acceptance Speech
