by Brian Walker
An interesting meeting took place outside the view of many Macon voters on Wednesday, May 10th, 2023, at 3:00 pm at the Macon County Board of Elections office - on the first floor of the Macon County courthouse. Board of Election members in attendance included Mr. Gary Dills (Vice-Chairman and Republican Member), Mr. Jeffrey Gillette (Secretary and Democratic Member), Ms. Lynn Garrison (Democratic Member), Mr. John VanHook (Republican Member), along with Ms. Melanie Thibault (Director), and Ms. Judy Fritts (Deputy Director). Ms. Kathy Tinsley (Chairwoman and Democratic Member) was not in attendance.
The meeting opened with regular cordial introductions. One notable observation was that former Macon GOP Chairwoman Ms. Carla Miller was in attendance - she had requested several weeks prior to being added to the meeting agenda and allowed to speak to the board about some allegations against a board member. Regarding appointees to a local county election board, the elected executive committee of each local political party, through their chairman, selects and appoints representatives for their party to serve on the Board of Elections after their county conventions on odd-numbered years. Mr. VanHook was re-appointed by the newly elected chairman of the Macon County GOP after their recent March Convention which elected new leadership across the board both at the precinct and county level. Mr. Dills, the current vice-chair of the Board of Elections made it explicit in some of his introductory remarks that the County Board of Elections is a non-partisan group and said specifically “We keep politics out of these sessions.”
Board member Mr. Gillette opened his remarks by reading North Carolina State General Statute §163-39, outlining what a member of a County Board of Elections can and cannot do. In fact, the statute states explicitly “Individual expressions of opinion, support, or opposition not intended for general public distribution shall not be deemed a violation of this Article. Nothing in this Article shall be deemed to prohibit participation in a political party convention as a delegate. Nothing in this Article shall be deemed to prohibit a board member or board employee from making a contribution to a candidate, political committee, or referendum committee.”
After a few more incidental comments by board members, former GOP Chairwoman Ms. Miller was given 5-10 minutes to speak. She spent an inordinate amount of time initially praising her relationships with many who served on the County Board of Elections for someone who had such a pressing matter to bring before them. After the laudatory remarks toward the Board members, she then stated that she had some questions for Mr. VanHook, the object of her ire, apparently. At this point, Mr. Dills interjected that questions and answers would not be allowed by the parties, assumedly because it could take up an excessive amount of time during the meeting when he said. “Let’s not do that”. Ms. Miller then introduced her comments, painting them in a fashion to suggest that somehow her assertions regarding Mr. VanHook were violations of ethical rules either within the North Carolina GOP or North Carolina General Statutes regarding local party elections. It is important to note that Ms. Miller appointed Mr. VanHook to be the representative for the Macon GOP to the Board of Elections in each of her two last terms of office, leaving it up to speculation as to her motives regarding her re-appointment of him to that office multiple times but now objecting to him holding that same seat. She said explicitly, Mr. VanHook, came to the Macon GOP Convention in March, “to disrupt, to incite, to manipulate, a County Party at their convention”. After leveling these accusations without providing any evidentiary proof they took place, she then asked the question “Can a board member do that?”
It is important to note that every political candidate, whether for a local political party convention or a local, State, or Federal public office engages in a campaign to win their desired seat. Candidates for public office frequently hire campaign managers and strategists to perform this very function, which are conducted in secret with the hopes that they will be successful in their campaign. Apparently, Ms. Miller didn’t approve of campaigns when the results did not favor her preferred candidates of choice in the recent Macon GOP Convention? This begs another question, since Ms. Miller chose not to run for another term as Macon County GOP Chairwoman, why is she upset? She didn’t lose any race. She didn’t run for any position in the Macon GOP at the 2023 Convention. Ms. Miller appears to be accusing Mr. VanHook of doing what every political campaign strategist has done for the history of our great nation, completely within the confines of the appropriate statutes and rules. It appears from her own words that free and fair elections, even within a local Party County Convention, are “just plain unacceptable” when the results are not to her liking.
Ms. Miller’s attitude smacks of the same haughty actions exhibited by the political establishment in both major political parties in Washington D.C. Does Ms. Miller believe she is a new version of the old European elite and now considers herself a member of the Macon County “Blue Bloods” who are born to rule and wield political power? The local Macon County GOP elections in March were, by every standard, free and fair. In fact, they returned the majority of the precincts - 14 out of the 15 precincts, to the control of the grassroots of the party - something which has been happening nationwide since President Trump’s 2016 win. Perhaps this is Ms. Miller’s problem? Does she think only certain people within her party’s establishment are entitled to govern the party? Are every day blue-collar, Republican voters not good enough, smart enough, or wise enough to govern the party to which they belong and show their allegiance? She states toward the end of her comments that “it is not in my nature to air the dirty laundry of the Republican Party”, yet that is exactly what she did by bringing this issue to the public forefront in this public meeting. She even suggested in what could be considered a veiled threat by some, to make this issue public by going to the local press, which can be argued represents a one-sided view of local politics to readers. No mention exists publicly of any writers in the Macon press outlets who hold a Green Party, Libertarian, or Conservative ideology and belong to those respective camps. This leads one to ask: Why would a former Macon County GOP Chairwoman go to a press source which has been historically hostile to the party she says she supports and served? Macon GOP voters deserve to know the answer to this question among others this incident has posed.
When asked for comment the newly elected Macon County GOP Chairman, Mr. Jimmy Goodman, responded:
“In the beginning of the meeting the Rules were accurately explained that the local board had no jurisdiction for removing a board member, I agree with the assessment in the meeting, and I believe no rules or state laws were broken.”
“She said the system was manipulated but I can’t tell how nor do I see any evidence of it. We ran a candidate, and we won by the rules. No election laws or GOP rules were broken.”
“Apparently Carla didn’t like that, so she wants the power to meddle in someone’s personal life by removing John VanHook from the Macon County Board of Elections who she supported in her tenure.”
“I believe in the integrity of Mr. VanHook and the Macon County GOP Supports Mr. VanHook 100%.”
It is also of note that not only does the entire local Macon GOP support Mr. VanHook’s re-appointment to his position on the Board of Elections by the Macon County GOP Executive Board, but he has the support of the GOP party leadership of 14 of the 15 voting precincts in Macon County (one precinct has no elected leadership at all). In addition, when she was asked by Board of Election member Mr. Jeffrey Gillette regarding the things which she alleged “do they involve advocating for or against a particular candidate for public office. . .?”, she responded by saying “not for a public office, but within the party, within the organization” admitting that her accusations appear to be completely baseless under the statutes. She further attempted to sway Mr. Gillette that her unfounded arguments proved that some ethical or State statute was violated to which no specifics could be articulated.
Perhaps the question Macon County GOP voters should ask of Ms. Miller is: Do the grass roots voters have the right to participate in the party to which they belong, or do the Macon GOP political elite get to control it all for their own benefit at the exclusion of the grass roots? Are Macon GOP voters serfs destined to follow the leadership of the political elite within the local party, or do they have a right to run and campaign for precinct and county level leadership positions? Ms. Miller seems to think that they do not.