OCYR's Bizarre Endorsement Process

Many candidates for partisan offices were in attendance tonight at the monthly Orange County Young Republicans meeting (Neil Blais, Steven Choi, Larry Dick and Curt Hagman) in hope of securing this group's early endorsement or neutrality.

Similar to the OC GOP Central Committee, the OCYR general membership were presented with a slate of candidates whom the endorsement committee recommended.  However, opposite of the Republican Party in which it only takes one member to pull a candidate off the list for separate consideration, it takes a majority vote to pull anyone off the OCYR endorsement committee's recommended list.

Furthermore, none of the candidates were given the courtesy of addressing the full membership, instead these young Republicans were forced to either accept or reject the "wisdom" of a few without the opportunity to hear from all sides.  Candidates were also never given a chance to be personally interviewed by the endorsement committee.

So in reality, a handful of people control the OCYR endorsement process, an unfair system designed without consideration to the full membership.

For candidates, the OCYR's endorsement is valuable prize to get if the general membership is excited about you because they can provide your campaign with a small platoon of young precinct walkers.  Such is the case in the 35 SD Special Election where the YRs walked for Diane Harkey.  On the other hand, if the OCYR endorsed candidate cannot rally the membership to his/her cause and convert them into walkers, the endorsement could be meaningless because the organization usually doesn't donate or maxed-out.

Please note that I'm not questioning the validity of those endorsed by the OCYR, but simply the process that took place.

Comments

[Tainted]

You can question the process and I'll go ahead and question the validity of those endorsed.

[YR]

I've dealt with these "endorsement committees" before. Nothing but trouble.

The only YR chapters that carry any credibility with their endorsements are those that create a transparent and thoughtful process; doesn't sound like these YRs did either.

Sounds like Shawn Vago has been tainted by Janet Nguyen in his decison of the process in this "Endorseemnt Process". Im betting that Janet will now, if she hasnt already, stick her hands in the endorsed candidates pockets to collect her pieces of silver for this honor.

[Shawn Fago]

Anonymous,
Huh???
-Shawn Fago

[Shawn Fago]

Tomahawk,

Saying "an unfair system designed without consideration to the full membership" is absurd. The formation of the endorsements committee and the rules for the committee were adopted unanimously by the OCYR Board of Directors and then approved unanimously by the general membership.

How is this "system" unfair to a membership who unanimously adopted it?

-Shawn Fago

[A Real YR]

Dear YR posters,

It was actually transparent. Like they said during the meeting, representatives from the campaigns were there during the endorsement committee process to observe it.

This process has been in the making for over a year. If you're a real YR member, and didn't like it, they you should have spoken up during any one of those meetings when they brought the various bylaw amendments to the membership about the forming of the committee and its details.

Keep in mind, when they bring these things to the membership it needs to stand for either one or two meetings before the membership can vote. Meaning, if you wanted to review the document further, you could have. So if you’ve been coming to meetings regularly, then you voted on these procedures. These are all bylaw amendments that went through the appropriate channels. I like not having meetings that run till midnight.

But then I'm a real member who goes to meetings regularly, how about you? Can you name 4 speakers we had this year?

[Re: Shawn Fago]

When it takes less to make an endorsement than it does for general membership to delay for further consideration, something has gone awry.

I also don't think the "general membership" was aware that decisions on endorsements would be made behind closed doors with zero tranparency.

Face it Shawn; your process is fundamentally flawed. My sources tell me tonight's meeting was a joke.

[Re: A Real YR]

I'm a YR, not an OCYR. I've been to your meeting once, thought it sucked, and never went back.

This post just proves what I had already suspected. Use your imagination to what that is.

[Observer]

Dear Shawn,

I was there tonight, didn't nearly half of our membership wanted to separate the 71AD and 35SD from the list? I think the vote was 14-11. Nearly half of our membership wanted to consider two of those races separately yet because of the rigged endorsement process, we couldn't even consider them individually.

Of course Shawn, it's in your best interest to see that the OCYR stays neutral in 71AD, since after all you endorsed Jeff Miller right?

[Re: Observer]

Exactly.

[Another Real YR]

The vote might have been 14-11 to consider 71AD and 35SD separately, but when it came to passing the entire slate, I believe only 4 voted against it.

[Johnny Slash]

it was strange to se Saulo not make any move on behalf of his candidate, Curt Hagman.

Did they just give up in the middle of the meeting?

[Re: Another Real YR]

And yet you still passed the entire slate, including the 71AD and 35SD.

11 out of 25 and you ignored those 11 people. If they know what's best they'll rescind their membership.

Crybaby -

The process isn't fair...wa wawaaa wa

Grow a pair.

[Re: Crybaby]

Grow a pair? How does that apply to this?

I guess that's the kind of mature commentary you get on a post about the YRs.

Eleven people were not ignored; only 4 people voted against the slate as a whole.

[Was it fair]

The total membership should ask themselves if they felt the process was really fair. If most do not than Fago should go. He is not serving the group and only serving himself. Endorsing Miller is proof he is not serving Orange County and only serving himself.

[Good Luck Eric]

Why are you guys complaining about 11 people out of 25? According to the Parlimentarian, they needed 2/3rd and they didn't have it. They didn't even have a simple majority. If these people were so passionate about this issue, they should have whipped the vote. Besides, the main vote about the slate as a whole only had 4 people in opposition.

At the end of the day, the 35th and 71st CAN be visited again. They were just not considered for an early endorsement at this time (like Jubal had noted in the previous posting).

[Taxpayerconcerns]

A big THANKS to Tomahawk for starting this e-trail and telling it like it really is.

Shawn Fago can't deny the fact that the OCYR endorsement process is beyond tainted. IT IS A TOTAL JOKE.

How about some transparency, Shawn?

The OCYR endorsements have NO VALIDITY and you, as President, are playing with people's political careers by making the OCYR endorsements a FAMILY AFFAIR for your own self-serving motives.

Time to answer some questions, Shawn, don't you think? Oh, right, you don't believe in asking questions and seeking answers do you? You only believe in stacking the deck to serve your self-determined endorsement purposes.

Isn't your girlfriend Diane Harkey's daughter?

Don't all of the OCYR endorsed candidates support Diane Harkey or have a link to Diane Harkey, your girlfriend's mama?

Haven't you stacked the deck with having a hand-picked OCYR Board?

The OCYR endorsements were orchestrated by Shawn Fago and his pals. End of subject.

Isn't it time for the OCGOP and all TRUE YOUNG REPUBLICANS to take notice of the SHAWN SHENANIGANS at OCYR?

Let's just call the OCYR so-called endorsements what they really are:
THE SHAWN FAGO HARKEY PICKS OF THE DAY!

GET REAL - THE OCYR ENDORSEMENTS HAVE NO CREDIBILITY IN THE TRANSPARENT LIGHT OF DAY.

[Good Luck Erik]

Just double checked and realized I misspelled Erik. Erik, the Chairman of the endorsement committee, did a good job on explaining all the details, history, and procedures for these endorsements. Early endorsement processings in Republican races can get pretty heated. Good luck and good job to you guys for taking the heat. Also, good job to the Parliamentarian for being on top of the rules.

[No real interest of fairness]

If they really cared about fairness, the process would be similar to the OCGOP process. They have time to fix this. Unless, Fago does not want fairness.

In the end, the process is closed because it benefits a small few. That is why the endorsement is worthless.

[Like father like son]

Like "father" like "son."

The OCYR's are simply taking direction from the OCGOP and the way Scott Baugh/Mike Schroeder threw the bylaws out the window last year to manipulate an unprecedented re-vote for the ethically challenged, Mike Carona. If the OCGOP doesn't have to follow bylaws and allow lawyers to run and manipulate them, why can't any other GOP sacntioned group be allowed to do the same?

The executive committee for the County Party is a joke, filled with a bunch of "yes" men for the formally indicted Assemblyman Baugh. It appears the OCYR's have a similar problem execpt for the indicted part.

It's pretty embarrassing to be associated with Republican politics in Orange County.

[Jim Lacy]

Looks like Fago is self destructing. This is what happens when a leader turns into someone sniffing for a government job.

[Duke Wayne]

Looks like a bunch of sour grapes from those who did not get the endorsement.

Stand tall, OCYRs.

[Random GOPer]

Regardless of the legitimacy concerns over the endorsement process, it sounds as if the OCYR group has very little cohesiveness as a group. Without this, I don't see them pulling any kind of meaningful numbers to be able to actually help any campaign or cause they believed in in the first place. What needs to happen is a complete re-direction of objectives, and a renewed sense of cooperation. Otherwise, this group is nothing more than it has become: a meaningless 4 letter symbol to put on a mailer.