LOS ANGELES REPUBLICAN PARTY
REPLACES OLD-LINE LEADERSHIP
(We urged them to re-capture power centers, and that's exactly what they did.)

LOS ANGELES -- On Saturday, December 6, 2008, the Republican Party of Los Angeles County (RPLAC) met at the Ronald Reagan State Office Building in Los Angeles to choose its leadership for the next two years. After an intensive battle between the entrenched leadership, which supported the national Party line for war and collectivism, control was wrested away by a newly formed coalition of Freedom Force members and Ron Paul supporters who were determined to break the grip of the old guard. Ron Paul and Ed Griffin of Freedom Force International have urged their supporters to become active in politics and re-capture control of the nation's power centers, the most important one being political parties. That's exactly what happened in Los Angeles, dramatically demonstrating that it can be done.

Linda Boyd had been the Chairman of RPLAC for six years, and many felt it was time for her to leave and for the Republican Party to get back to its roots of: limited constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, sound monetary policy, Second Amendment rights, strong national defense, a non-interventionist foreign policy, personal freedom, and opposition to illegal immigration.

Several Freedom Force members formed a coalition between followers of  Ron Paul and formed a plan of action. Some, who had supported other alternative candidates for President, also joined the coalition. About 43 Angelenos took out papers to run for offices on the Central Committee. A majority (29) of these were elected in the June 3rd Primary. Fourteen more were write-in candidates. This unprecedented grass-roots action was the result of freedom-minded people deciding to quit complaining and quit following political leaders they did not like and, instead, offering themselves as leaders instead. That is the mission of Freedom Force.

At the RPLAC meeting on Dec. 6, (which is an election of County and District Officers who decide how the party is run), a Temporary Chairman was chosen to conduct the business of the Organizational Meeting that day. Linda Boyd's choice for Temporary Chairman was defeated 39 - 54. The new Temporary Chairman asked who wanted to be Chairmen of the Credentials, Nominating, Resolutions and By-Laws Committees. As Freedom Force members were unknown to him, he selected Chairmen he had known; however, when he asked who wanted to be members of those two most important committees, he picked two volunteers who were Freedom Force members.

The Chairman and seven members made up the Credentials Committee. When the Chairman of the Credentials Cte. tried to have 8 of the write-in candidates disqualified for one reason or another and was unsuccessful arguing against their logic, he put the question to members of the Credentials Cte: Should the write-in candidates be seated in order to vote? On a 4-3 vote (with the newly-appointed Freedom Force member casting the deciding vote), the write-in members were seated. What a difference a single person can make.

After the write-in candidates were seated, and opposition to her slate of candidates became known, Linda Boyd and several of her slate withdrew from their own nominations. Her strategy was for her and her followers to walk out of the meeting, leaving less than a quorum, which would have disqualified the meeting and make it possible to re-schedule the event all over again with tighter controls against new candidates. However, after the walkout, there were exactly the needed number for a quorum (!), so the meeting and the elections continued. The day was saved by that small number of freedom fighters in the coalition. The slate of seven candidates that the coalition picked was elected in its entirety to the Executive Board. One of those, because of his fairness, knowledge, and integrity, was a carry-over from the previous Board. All the others were new.

The new Executive Board has resolved to move quickly to re-build the Republican Party based on the principles mentioned previously; and, through candidate research and development, to find good men and women to run for many offices who will carry the message of freedom, prosperity, and peace. All candidates will be given support instead of favoring only "incumbent" candidates who, in some instances, are members of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Many district offices will be opened, and the Republican Party will have a presence in these areas, attracting volunteers and candidates. Voters of different persuasion will now look to Party members for answers. The goal of the new Executive Board is to network with other county Republican organizations in California; and, from there, the rest of the country. This is the mechanism by which Freedom Force Members and others with the same commitment to freedom can provide political leadership.

Members of the new RPLAC Executive Board are:
Glen Forsch, Chairman
Lydia Gutierrez, First Vice Chairman
Robert W. Vaughn, Second Vice Chairman
Gary Aminoff, Treasurer
Roger Eshleman, Secretary
Gwen Patrick, Assistant Treasurer
Connie Ruffley, Assistant Secretary