Dear RPV State Delegate,
This is the second letter I am sending to address the fact that, at this late date, there is still no date or location set for our RPV State Convention. I hear rumors of a June 27 State Central meeting to discuss a Convention, but no Call has been issued, so who knows? Moreover, I am really alarmed that Chairman Wilson’s sole-source contractor, John Whitbeck, publicly stated that RPV does not have the money for a state Convention, despite the well over $100,000 RPV collected from candidates and you, the delegates, specifically for it. I fervently hope these things are not true and I welcome any concrete proof that my information is incorrect.
The RPV has been collecting Convention fees since January 2020. Approximately 3200 delegates have registered (not counting about 20 units that have not sent their delegate information out). About 2500 of those delegates have paid the $35 fee to be a fully voting delegate. That is $87,500 in delegate fees to RPV. Three RPV Chairman candidates paid $5000 each, and three Committeewoman/Committeeman candidates paid $2500 each. Three candidates for federal office paid $10,000 each to RPV to be allowed to speak and have other privileges at our Convention. That adds up to almost $140,000, not including filing fees for delegates and electors or monies paid by other candidates wanting to speak.
So, where has all this money gone?
Speaking apparently on behalf of the RPV, John Whitbeck stated in a June 1, 2020 Zoom meeting that RPV has no money for a Convention and therefore the Convention must be delayed allowing more months to raise the money. No one asked him where the money went. Why has the State Central Committee (SCC) not asked for a full accounting of the budget and expenditures for our Convention? I asked Jack Wilson several times for a summary of funds received and allocated for the Convention, but he refused to provide it. What is being hidden? Why has our SSC not demanded an accounting?
In fact, why is there such an overall lack of transparency regarding our Convention? Why have the RPV Chair and Committeewoman candidates been banned from even silently listening to meetings of the “ad hoc” Convention Committee handpicked, not by the SCC, but by candidate Jack Wilson? Why does the committee refuse to even allow the candidates involved to listen to recordings of these meetings afterward? Why is non-SCC member John Whitbeck a central player in these meetings? To exactly what has Chairman Wilson unilaterally committed RPV funds in his contract with Whitbeck’s Stratpoli consulting firm and why hasn’t that contract been disclosed, at least to the SCC?
I can assure you that if I am elected Chair of RPV, I will ensure that our mission is executed in a transparent fashion. The RPV is your organization and the SCC and the Unit Chairs, at a minimum, have a right to know how it is being run.
Your vote at the Convention will determine the direction RPV takes in the future – do we start winning again or continue in this “managed decline” under Jack Wilson?
Sincerely
Mike Schoelwer
Candidate for Chair, RPV
