A lot of people have asked why I didn’t share the recent Scranton Times article about my resignation from the Scranton City Democratic Committee.  The article spoke for itself, I felt, and I’m happy with my departure.

But a lot of questions have been coming my way, so I thought I’d clear a few things up.

I have a lot of disagreements with the way the local party works, which influenced my decision to depart.  Here’s a lovely list:

• Proxy Voting:  This means that people who don’t attend meetings can hand their votes to somebody else.  What ends up happening is that one or two people can cast 15 or 20 votes.  How can endorsements and decisions be made fairly (and democratically) when this is allowed?  Our compatriots in the local Republican Party require that people show up to vote.
• Lack of Party Building:  Nothing has happened to grow the Party in the three years I’ve served.  No new people were brought into the process.  The few events we have were attended by politicians and the Party’s inner circle.
• Lack of Consistency:  Bob Sheridan offered up a valid criticism of me.  He said I’d missed the last three meetings.  True.  But he called meeting anywhere from 1 to 3 days in advance.  The last meeting was on my wife’s birthday.  The meeting before that, I was at a wedding out of town.  We used to have regularly scheduled meetings.  But Bob often cancelled those.  I was the Party’s Secretary, so I have the meeting minutes backing this up.
• Lack of Policy Discussions:  My idea of a functioning party involves pushing ideals.  We never discussed local policies at all.  What does the Party feel about nepotism as an issue?  What can we do about it?  How can we oppose Commissioner Laureen Cummings and her anti-LGBT agenda?  Those are our responsibilities.  They never came up.

Perhaps the biggest reason I left was because the job was a handout I didn’t earn, and that was pointed out to me after I engaged in public criticism (despite my belief that it was constructive).  I’m not an elected committee person, like everybody else.  I was appointed by Mr. Sheridan.

I don’t ever want anybody saying I got something I didn’t earn.  Add that into the above equation, and you can see why I left.

I hope that clears the air for people!

Note: Forgive the header.  I couldn’t get the system to upload the logo I wanted!