MUTINY AT THE GOP?

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San Diego Republican Party Chair Tony Krvaric is alleged to have rigged endorsements including a mayoral race, violated state election law and party rules.  A complaint filed by a Central Committee member calls for Krvaric’s ouster.  Will the GOP Central Committee make its chairman, who has previously been implicated in piracy, walk the plank?

By Miriam Raftery

November 1, 2008 (San Diego) - San Diego County Republican Central Committee member Laura Sumrall has sent fellow members an extensively documented complaint asserting “evidence of Chairman Krvaric’s failure to follow due process and violate bylaws and California election codes.”  The complaint accuses the GOP Executive Committee of “culpability” for failing to take corrective actions. In a letter attached to the complaint, Cliff and Laura Sumrall assert an “erosion of fairness” and warn, “If allowed to run unchecked, this erosion will destroy the very essence of our organization.”  The Sumralls urge the Executive Committee to remove Krvaric from power at its next meeting.

Allegations include endorsement rigging by the Chair for central committee member elections and the San Diego mayoral race.   On June 4, the complaint alleges, “Chairman Krvaric violated due process by suggesting that since only one Republican candidate was running for mayor, an early endorsement could take place at the next general meeting.” 

When Laura Sumrall asked about Steve Francis, who had previously been endorsed by the party in an earlier race, Krvaric replied, “He is not going to run.  The only candidate running for Mayor of San Diego City is Mayor Jerry Sanders,” the complaint states.

But in an e-mail from Francis to Sumrall confirms that Krvaric knew Francis was considering running.  “He knew I was very very serious and did not discuss with me before the Sanders quickie endorsement,” Francis said in the e-mail, attached to the complaint.

The complaint also accuses Krvaric of unilaterally removing nominations made by 74th District Caucus Chair Dr. Maryrose Consiglio to fill three vacancies on the Central Committee.  Krvaric pushed through hand-picked nominations of his own and ignored advice of legal counsel that the move could violate California Election Code, the complaint alleged. 

The Sumralls further assert that Krvaric “authorized slate mailers for Central Committee Candidates hand picked by select Executive Committee Members in an unauthorized secret meeting.”  Consiglio’s name was intentionally left off, the complaint alleges, adding, “When a Chairman handpicks his membership, checks and balances fall by the wayside.”

Chairman Krvaric is also the party’s Finance Chair, with no Finance subcommittee, the complaint observed, calling the arrangement a “clear conflict of interest in that decisions are made unilaterally without oversight, consultation or authorization.”

Krvaric is also accused of unilaterally soliciting an attorney to file legal action against City Attorney Mike Aguirre, exceeding by several thousand dollars the Chair’s $1,000 limit for incurring expenses without authorization by the board and of buying a $4,000 computer without prior authorization. Party bylaws, section 2.1.05(B) state:  “Any member who…commits the Committee to a course of action and/or financial expenditure without authorization to do so, or engages in inappropriate conduct, may be censured or removed.”

According to the complaint, Krvaric changed the party’s candidate questionnaire to add a question about bankruptcies without knowledge or approval of the Executive Committee.  “This question was then used to publicly slander one couple, both candidates,” said the complaint (referring to Larry and Rose Urdahl, two conservative Christian school board candidates not endorsed by the party, yet not questioning other candidates who said yes to this question.” 

Larry Urdahl, a member of the Grossmont Union High School Board (GUHSD), declined to comment. But fellow board member Priscilla Schreiber, also denied endorsement for reelection, has called the Party’s abandonment of herself and Urdahl “payback” because the two spoke out against corruption within their party and endorsed Democrat Ken Sobel in the 2006 GUHSD race.

This is not the first time that Krvaric has been implicated in illicit activities.  RawStory.com, an internet news publication, revealed in April that “Krvaric is the co-founder of Fairlight, a band of software crackers which later evolved into an international video and software piracy group that law enforcement authorities say is among the world’s largest such crime rings. After co-founding Fairlight in Sweden, Krvaric established U.S. operations for the organization, including an arm headquartered in Southern California—a major center for the computer and video game industry. www.rawstory.com/news/2008/San_Diego_GOP_chairman_cofounded_international_0425.html

The RawStory article, authored by East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery, received an investigative reporting award in the 2008 San Diego Press Club’s “Excellence in Journalism” competition in October.

Krvaric was appointed to his post by former local party chair Ron Nehring, who now chairs the California Republican Party and has appointed Kravric Finance Chair of the state party as well.

Reactions by local Republicans to news of Krvaric’s piracy past were published in a subsequent RawStory article.  “I’m not surprised,” Schreiber told RawStory upon learning that Nehring appointed the alleged founder of a piracy ring to handle the California GOP’s finances. Schreiber, who served with Nehring on the GUHSD board, complained that she "saw no real concern with what was happening with dollars and cents" by him back then.  She added, "It’s sad for all of us strong Republican candidates who hold to the party platform and care about integrity and honesty." www.rawstory.com/news/2008/San_Diego_GOP_chairman_Part_2_0430.html

The Sumralls’ complaint also complains of inadequate notice of agendas, minutes, and names of candidates seeking endorsement prior to meetings, as well as failing to remove members with unexcused absences.

Laura Sumrall did not respond to an e-mail requesting comments for this story.

Kravric did not respond to e-mailed messages from East County Magazine requesting comment for this article.  He declined comment to The San Diego Reader for a recent story it ran on the slate mailer controversy titled “Troublemakers Unlisted.”  www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/jul/09/city-light-2 Kravric has also consistently failed to respond to interview requests regarding past allegations of piracy, including requests from the San Diego Union-Tribune and other local newspapers.

But other Republicans are willing to speak out.

George Barnett, a life-long Republican and elected member of the Alpine Planning Group, says he has seen abuses of power committed by chairs of multiple boards “by self-professed conservative Republicans espousing a fundamentalist religious persuasion.” 

He condemned party members for using smear tactics behind the scenes and urging “good religious folks so as to influence their vote.” He finds the party’s attacks on Schreiber and Urdahl “outrageous” and added, “It’s another example of whispering untruths in people’s ears to gain a political objective by stirring up fear.”

“What’s really wrong here,” Barnett said in a post at an online land-use forum, “is that the Republican movement, and its direction under the recent County party chairs, has become a `corruption’ with repugnant activity (that I personally view as immoral) as the norm.” 

He faults party elders for failing to fix the problem and predicts voters will turn away from the GOP in record numbers in the November 4 election.  “Unless Republican `top dogs’ get into this, it isn’t going to be fixed, he said.  “There’s been not one `peep’ from any so-called Republican `leader’ on the demise of the Party in this county—and its incessant infighting—since Nehring came and went, and Krvaric (with his strange past associations) showed up.  It’s no doggoned surprise that the Republican Party in San Diego County is becoming a spent laughing stock. It’s antics and tactics are breaking the back of belief in conservative principle across San Diego County.”

Doug Deane, education chair of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce, normally refrains from speaking out on politics.  Now a registered independent, he describes himself as a “reformed Republican.”

At a GUHSD governing board meeting, Krvaric took the mike to chastise Schreiber for supporting Proposition U, a school bond measure.  “His comments were rude and inappropriate, and he sounded much like a parent scolding their naughty child.”

Barnett shared his concern.  “How is repairing, modernizing our high schools, and expanding and improving educational programs not a conservative goal?” he asked.

Deane has tired of national and local politics dominated by people who “demonize each other when they disagree. If you’re skeptical about the war in Iraq, you’re “unpatriotic” or you “don’t support the troops,” he noted.  “If you balk at additional spending for inner city programs because you’re concerned about the budget, you’re branded as a “racist.”  It appears to me that Tony Krvaric popped directly out of that mold, and in my opinion, our nation would be much better served by people who can work collaboratively together to solve our important problems, not by people who are divisive and dedicated only to protecting their own power base.”


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I would like to see what kind

I would like to see what kind of award Miriam will win for making things up. What a joke Miriam and her penning is. As far as the bitter Sumrall's and Consiglio's, they are both mad at the party over being removed from committee. Thanks for sharing.