Transparency and trust

COEUR d'ALENE - Kellie Palm said she just wants transparency and trust in the local Republican Party, and omitting information from the party's meeting minutes erodes those things.

"I am a fact person," Palm said Tuesday night after the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee meeting.

Palm, a precinct committeewoman, got in a heated disagreement last month with other precinct committee members over the omission of a report Chairman Neil Oliver gave at the Jan. 28 central committee meeting.

Last month, Palm made a motion to have Oliver's chairman's report included in the minutes because it contained comments about how the state GOP was dealing with the presidential caucus rules for 2016.

"On the agenda for that (January) meeting, under new business, 'chairman's report' was listed, but there were no chairman's remarks put into the minutes," Palm said during the February meeting. "I believe his remarks were pertinent to the caucus, and should have been put into the minutes. We should have a record of what his remarks are regarding the state meeting."

She eventually lost her motion for an amendment to add Oliver's written testimony, but she brought it up again at this month's meeting.

While she stopped short of making a motion to amend the minutes this time, she did point out to the central committee that Robert's Rules of Order states that any reports given to the committee should be included in the minutes.

Palm read from the latest edition of the rules, which said that any report that is larger than what the secretary can thoroughly capture in the minutes, should be submitted in written form and attached to the minutes of that meeting.

Outside of its bylaws, the KCRCC follows Robert's Rules of Order to resolve disputes and the committee even has a parliamentarian at the table to ensure the rules are followed properly.

After some discussion, Oliver explained that the only thing he had in his hands at the January meeting were documents outlining the resolutions and rules that were discussed at the state party level.

Palm maintains that he wasn't being entirely truthful about what the omission actually was because he refused to discuss what his comments were concerning the caucus.

"At the January meeting, he basically said that he feels the caucus process wasn't a good thing because it didn't turn out like he wanted it to," Palm said. "He told us the Ada County central committee only caucused for five minutes and got the candidate they wanted."

Oliver didn't come out and directly say it was because former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a Mormon, but Palm said it was insinuated because it caused another committeeman to stand up and tell Oliver that he shouldn't be judging people on their religious beliefs.

"Neil wouldn't let me say that at (Tuesday's) meeting because he doesn't want that out there," Palm said after the meeting.

Oliver said some committee members may have misinterpreted his remarks. He said he wasn't trying to convey an anti-Mormon message, he was trying to point out how the caucus process didn't go as smoothly in other parts of the state.

"My point was, demographic-wise, Ada County had it easy," Oliver said after the meeting on Tuesday. "And I said it might not be as easy for them the next time around."

By the end of Tuesday's meeting Oliver said, in the future, the committee will add written committee reports to the minutes in accordance to Robert's Rules of Order.

In other business, the central committee passed a resolution calling on the state party to eliminate the winner-takes-all caucus process for the 2016 presidential race and move to a system that would apportion delegates to each candidate according to the number of votes they garner.