The Delta County Republicans elected new officers at the February 7, 2023 meeting of the Delta County Republican Central Committee. Colorado Election Law, CRS 1-3-103(c), requires that, “Each county central committee shall meet on a date which falls between February 1 and February 15 of the odd-numbered years to organize by selecting a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and a secretary and any other officers provided for in the county rules and shall select a vacancy committee authorized to fill vacancies in the county central committee and the offices held by members of the county central committee and shall select a separate vacancy committee to fill vacancies in the office of county commissioner held by members of the political party.” The meeting was well attended with standing room only. Forty-one of the forty-eight current Central Committee members were in attendance. Many additional guests and visitors were also in attendance. I want to thank the members who agreed to serve in the roles required for the meeting – Roger Bentley as Chairman Pro Tem, Charles Stewart as Parliamentarian, Lon & Peggy Kugler as Time Keepers, John Owen as Chairman of the Rules Committee, Curt Grinnell as Chairman of the Teller Committee with Shirley Bauer, Gail & John Montelin as members, Donna Deleff as Chairwoman of the Credentials Committee with Louise Fierro and Shirley Bauer as members. These folks helped make the meeting run smoothly and the election conducted fairly. Thank you!
The officers that served from 2021 -2022 were:
Chairman – David Bradford
Vice-Chairman – Roger Bentley
Secretary – Brittany Deleff
Treasurer – Cathy Cheatham
All of the past officers opted to run again for the 2023-2024 term. The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer positions had only the past officers as candidates and as a result, they were elected by acclamation. Leslie Parker ran for the Vice-Chair position against Roger Bentley. Because there were two candidates, voting was by secret ballot. Ms. Parker was elected as Vice-Chair.
Because Ms. Parker is a new officer, I thought I would give you the information she provided to the DCRCC members at the Reorganization Meeting.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Leslie Parker & I’m running for the position of Vice-Chair. I’ve been involved with Delta County GOP since 2021. As I’ve watched our freedoms being stripped from us under the current administration, I knew it wasn’t enough to just vote Republican. I felt compelled to be a part of the solution. I knew I had to do more. I needed to roll up my sleeves & get involved. Since becoming involved with the GOP, I’ve attended the majority of rallies at the Headquarters, including all of the Get Out the Vote Rallies. I participated in our Caucus and our County Assembly. I helped with the Cherry Days float and organized two voter registration booths. I also attended many of the candidate Meet & Greets and this past fall I made over 5,000 calls for Lauren Boebert’s campaign.
My husband and I moved to Paonia in 2015, where we have a small horse ranch. And own Parker Dirtworks – our excavating business. I’m a second generation American – my grandparents immigrated from Sweden. My father and three uncles all served in the Armed Forces. My Uncle Clarence was a D-Day survivor but was taken out by a sniper one month before the War ended. As a little kid my dad told me stories about my uncle and instilled in me an undying patriotism, that I still carry with me.
I will always stand for our flag and what it represents. I stand behind our military and our men & women in blue. I believe in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. I believe we should do everything in our power to protect the freedoms they afford us. I support our Republican Delta County elected officials and our County Commissioners. I believe in protecting our borders. I believe in fixing our country’s broken election system. I’m for protecting our children and I’m strongly against CRT (Critical Race Theory)! I stand for medical freedom. I’m for protecting our precious water resources. I’m for working to get high quality Republican candidates, who will represent and make the changes that will get our country back on track.
I love Delta County and I’m proud to call it home. I love our great State of Colorado. And most of all I love our Country. I will fight hard to keep Delta County RED and I hope tonight you will give me the chance to prove myself as your next GOP Vice-Chair. Thank you.
Leslie’s presentation was well received at the Reorganization Meeting. I am excited to work with her. I believe the energy and new ideas she brings to the Executive Committee will be very helpful in the next two years. Along with our Secretary, Brittany Deleff, and our Treasurer, Cathy Cheatham, I believe we have a strong team to lead the Delta County Republican Party in 2023-2024.
I want to recognize Roger Bentley for his years of service to the Delta County Republican party. Roger has served as a PCP, Chairman for two terms and Vice-Chair for one term. That is a lot of volunteer time! Thank you, Roger! Your efforts are much appreciated! If you see Roger, be sure to tell him, “Thank you!”
At the end of the meeting, the four elected officers were sworn into office. The four officers took the following oath, which was administered by County Commissioner Wendell Koontz: “I, ________________________________ do swear to obey the Bylaws of the Colorado Republican Party and the Delta County Republican Central Committee and to uphold the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Colorado. So Help me God. “
The Vacancy Committee was also ratified at the February 7, 2023 meeting. As noted above, in CRS 1-3-103, the Vacancy Committee fills vacancies that come up in the county central committee. There have been six vacancies in PCPs that the last Vacancy Committee filled in 2021-2022. The newly ratified Vacancy Committee of the DCRCC is, as follows:
1. DCRCC Chairman - Dave Bradford.
2. Sue Whittlesey.
3. Jon Montelin.
4. Lon Kugler.
5. Curt Grinnell.
6. Doug Atchley.
7. Brad Davis.
There are still a number of vacant positions in the Delta County Republican Central Committee. The following three PCP positions are currently open – 1 position in Precinct 2 (NW area from City of Delta), 1 position in Precinct 4 (Center - City of Delta) and 1 position in Precinct 13 (North of Cedaredge. To serve as a PCP you need to be at least 18 years of age, a Registered Voter in Delta County and have lived within the Precinct you wish to serve for at least 22 days. Precinct Committee Persons are elected at the county caucuses or appointed by the Vacancy Committee. The following are the duties of Precinct Committee People - “Precinct Committee People shall represent their precinct at the monthly Delta County Republican Central Committee meetings with voting privileges. Precinct Committee People are to conduct neighborhood canvass, organize voter registration efforts, distribute candidate literature, coordinate “Get Out the Vote” efforts, help build and grow the Party, and help with events e.g., parades, fundraisers, Lincoln Day Dinner, headquarters office, etc.”. If you live in these Precincts and are interested in serving as a PCP, please contact me and we can get the process started to get you appointed.
Organizational Meetings also need to be completed for the following political organizations. The Chairs, Vice-Chairs and Secretary, from each County Central Committee, as well as any Bonus Members from each County are members for these meetings. Delta County only has the Chairman, Vice-Chairwoman and Secretary that may attend as we did not get any Bonus Members (Per State law, CRS 1-3-103 (2a), to get Bonus Members the County must have 10,000 votes for the party’s candidate for President or Governor in the General Election preceding the Organizational Meeting. Delta County had 9,753 votes for Heidi Ganahl in the 2022 General Election. So, we did not receive any Bonus Members):
The State Central Committee (SCC) Organizational Meeting will be held Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 9:00 A.M. John Q. Hammons Conference Center @ Embassy Suites by Hilton Loveland Hotel Conference Center | 4705 Clydesdale Pkwy, Loveland, CO 80538. Check‐in and registration for the State Central Committee meeting shall begin at 7:00 A.M. This will be an important meeting, as we will be electing a new State Party Chair. The current Chair, Kristi Burton Brown, is stepping down. Individuals who have declared a candidacy for the position are Aaron Wood, Casper Stockham, Eric Aadland, Tina Peters, Kevin Lundberg, Stephen Varela and possibly a number of others will compete for this paid position.
The Organizational Meeting for State Senate District 7 (SD7) was held on February 4, 2023 in conjunction with the Mesa County Organizational Meeting.
The Organizational Meeting for SD5, will be held on February 28, 2023 at 6:00 pm via Zoom Call. At this meeting the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary for SD5 will be elected.
The Organizational Meeting for State House District 54 (HD54) is scheduled to be held March 4, 2023 at Grand Valley Event’s Center/ Masonic Center in Grand Junction at 2400 Consistory Court beginning at 9:00 am.
The Organizational Meeting for Congressional District 3 (CD03), Judicial District 5 (JD5), and HD58 will be held in conjunction with the State Central Committee Organizational Meeting on March 11, 2023. Further details will be provided as we receive them.
This sounds like a lot of political activity – and it is. But that is how our representative republic is set up. We elect individuals to represent us, in the various areas of government – political party, municipal, county, state and federal government. The processes for electing these representatives are spelled out in the laws that we have passed to provide for an orderly and fair system.
We are also re-organizing our DCRCC committees. Right now, we have the following committees:
1) Executive - Required by State Statute and bylaws. Elected at the February 7, 2023 meeting. Members are listed above.
2) Vacancy - Required by State Statute and bylaws. Appointed by the Executive Committee and Ratified at the February 7, 2023 meeting. Members are also listed above.
3) Bylaws - Required by bylaws. Appointed by the Executive Committee and Ratified at the February 7, 2023 meeting. Members are: DCRCC Chairman David Bradford an ex-officio voting member, Chairwoman Sue Whittlesey, Tom Howe, Kent Cloward and Charles Stewart.
4) Finance - Required by bylaws. Chairwoman Sue Whittelsey. Members: Lisa Tafoya. Needs to be filled with three members; one member must have accounting experience.
5) Elections/Voter Integrity – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairman Curt Grinnell.
6) Lincoln Day Dinner – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairwoman Sue Whittlesey.
7) Outreach – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairwoman Donna Deleff.
8) Communications – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chair – DCRCC Chairman David Bradford.
9) Raffle Committee – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairwoman Cathy Cheatham.
10) Scholarship – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairwoman Cathy Cheatham.
11) Young Republicans – An Ad Hoc Committee. Chairwomen Brittany Deleff and Leslie Parker.
The DCRCC will be putting together a plan of action and a budget for the next two years. I will be writing about this in one of my next blogs. I’ll also be giving a report in a blog on what happens at the State Central Committee meeting in Loveland, CO on March 11 – who the new Republican Party State Chair is and any other significant action that happens there.
The newly elected Executive Committee looks forward to serving and representing you. I encourage you to contact any of us if you have a question or a matter you would like to discuss. Get involved. It will take all of us to make a significant difference in who represents us in government. I look forward to seeing you at our next monthly DCRCC meeting on Tuesday, March 7, 2023!
David Bradford
Chairman, Delta County Republican Central Committee
PS – Remember, you can donate to the Delta County Republican Central Committee, by going to our website. Or you can donate when you come to the monthly meeting. Since we won’t have the Headquarters open for most of this year. The donations are critical in helping build up our bank account so we have funding for supporting our candidates in the 2024 election. A suggestion made by Casper Stockham, who came to one of our meetings in the past, consider donating $17.76 per month. The funds will be very helpful and the symbolism is awesome. Thank you! db
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