All posts by Tim J. Clark

Clark Responds to Ruling by Region 9 Republican Committee

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Last updated: 02/09/2025

A slightly shorter version – without the references, of the post below was submitted to the Brown County Democrat for the Feb 4, 2025  edition. The Democrat limits submissions to 800 words.   Clark Response to Region 9 Decision.

This post shared at Brown County Matters.

Clark Responds to Ruling by Region 9 Republican Committee
The more extended version with references

After years of attending county government meetings and documenting issues, concerns, and challenges, I chose to run for Commissioner to contribute to improving the quality of services provided to Brown County citizens. I outlined my motivation and strategy on my campaign website, TimJClarkforCommissioner.com.

One of the challenges that I saw was the current leadership of the Brown County Republican Party, which is headed by Party Chair Mark Bowman. The one-party monopoly on power in Brown County leads to a centralization of power. This power can be abused and used to dictate policy by influencing (1) who will be supported as a candidate, (2) who can be selected to boards and commissions, (3) who can keep and get county government jobs, and (4) who should be appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected office.

My candidacy was challenged by Bowman, claiming “Incomplete & untrue candidate forms submitted. Not affiliated with the Republican Party.”  The Brown County Election Board refused to consider Bowman’s argument that I was not in good standing and confirmed that I met the criteria to run as a Republican.

Bowman’s contention was that I was an Independent as opposed to a Republican who has an independent mind. An Independent voter would include someone who votes for the best candidate despite political affiliation. In my case, I have consistently primarily voted for Republicans but have also very occasionally voted for a non-Republican who may have had a more conservative position on issues than the Republican candidate.

It is interesting that Mark Bowman shares this philosophy. In an interview after the 2018 county election, where Republicans swept the elections, he was interviewed and confirmed his support for independent voters:

    • “Even as a party chairman, Bowman said he doesn’t like to see so many voters choosing the straight-party option. To him, that shows voters lack knowledge about the candidates. The choice listed from one’s own party isn’t always automatically the best choice for the job, he said.”  “GOP SWEEP Nov 14, 2018, Brown County Democrat.

After I won the May primary, Bowman publicly supported an Independent Candidate – Greg Taggart, to challenge my candidacy in violation of Rule 1-25. Taggart has stated that he was a Republican running as an Independent. Taggart also identified that he was an independent voter:  In his closing comments at  the  League of Women Voters Candidate Forum, on Sept 21, 2024, he stated, 

    • “I am not a Republican, I am not a Democrat, do not put me in a category. … if you want to say I am a Republican, I am not that…” 

In December, I filed a complaint with the 9th District Republican Committee against Bowman for violating Rule 1-25. I was supported in the complaint by Rich Stanley, Charles Shaw, and Ben Phillips. Rule 1-25 states: “The term ‘Republican in Good-Standing’ shall be defined as a Republican who supports Republican nominees and who does not actively or openly support another candidate against a Republican nominee.” Many voters commonly choose to vote for the candidate that they believe would best serve the community. However, if you are in a party leadership position or an elected official, you should respect the documented rules of the State Party.  

On January 23, 2025, the 9th District Republican Committee held a hearing on my complaint. However, at the hearing, the District Officers ignored the arguments that I raised in my complaint. Instead, the District Officers put me on trial along with Rich Stanley without telling us that we were now the ones on trial instead of Bowman. We did not really even try to defend ourselves at the hearing because we had no idea that we were actually the ones being tried. We only realized what was happening after the hearing was complete and the District Officers issued their decision. In the decision, the District Officers dismissed my complaint against Bowman (which they never seriously considered). But they went even further than that by punishing me and Rich Stanley with bans preventing either of us from running as a Republican for a period of five years. Although the District Officers have no power to remove me from my current position as Commissioner of Brown County, if I had the desire to run for reelection in four years, I would not be able to run as a Republican if the Brown County Election Board supports this judgment.  (Reference: “Clark’s complaint against GOP county chair Bowman rejected”, by Dave Stafford, Brown County Democrat, Jan 27, 2025.)

The Region 9 Committee’s decision will be appealed. It will be interesting to see if the State Republican Party follows this illogical and deeply flawed decision.

At the hearing, Amanda Lowry, Chair of the Region committee, explained the unwritten rules that governed the committee’s decision:

  1. “The Republican Party is a Private Club with Rules.”
  2. You are NOT a Republican in good standing if you criticize the party or its members, vote, or donate money to a non-republican candidate—at any time in a person’s life.
  3. The rules can be selectively applied – as they were in this case.

Given this Region 9 criteria, President Trump could be considered a Republican “not” in Good Standing.

While we wait for a decision on our appeal, please remember that the election of new officers for the Brown County Republican Party is on March 1, 2024. The election is for the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. If you want to see a positive change in leadership, contact your precinct and vice precinct committee members.

Tim Clark, Richard Stanley, Charles Shaw, Ben Phillips

County Council Meeting Notes, Jan 21, 2022.

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AGENDA 2025_01_21 Council Meeting

AUDIO of the Meeting

Salary Ordinance Approval – tabled.  The salary ordinance is the payroll budget. Needed updates will likely identify additional obligations that will increase our projected budget deficit.

Election of Officers. Gary Huett was quickly and unanimously elected as President. – No tough love for this group.

NEW Finance Committee. Jim Kemp agreed to lead the Finance Committee, which also includes  Councilman Gary Huett, Scott Rudd, Commissioner Tim Clark, and Reedy Financial Group.

Appointments to Boards and and Commissions.  Mike Leggins was re-appointed to the BCRSD, and Duane Parsons to the Alcohol Beverage Commission (ABC).  The council will be re-announcing the other vacancies.

    • Alcoholic Beverage Board (one-year term)
    • Property Tax Board of Appeals (one-year term)
    • Brown County Redevelopment Commission (two positions, one-year term)
    • Brown County Regional Sewer District (four-year term)

Commissioner Meeting Notes, Jan 22, 2025

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Agenda: 2025_01_22 Agenda Commissioner Meeting 

Agenda item – Feb 5, 2025 Meeting.  Discussion Only- Unmaintained County Roads.

    • Disposition of Combs Road. Discussion to include abandonment and permanent closure. 
    • Habitat for Humanity – request concerning another unmaintained county road.
    • Other – general discussion – unmaintained county roads.

Vacancies – Boards and Commissioner. Will be advertised in the Democrat, social media, and in the lobby of the county office building.

Background information – Voting Centers

Voting Centers

We are transitioning from Zoom to Microsoft Teams:  https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/16f3b77b-c4c0-4996-aed9-7ca29a9589fd@04fee575-6886-4640-9bb0-390a11d729e7

County Council Special Meeting Notes, Jan 9, 2025. New financial advisor, Election for Council President.

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rock em sock em robots

County Council Special Meeting Notes, Jan 9, 2025. New financial advisor, Election for Council President.  

Note: Commissioners are the executives of the county and are responsible for vision and policy. The Council is in charge of the money.

“And in this corner:”  Do we need a Patton (Kemp) or an Eisenhower (Huett), the Marines (Kemp) or the local community organizer (Huett)?

An interesting meeting with a few fireworks and a smart bomb or two that may be boiled down to the campaign for the election of the next Council President and the financial viability of the county. 

The next Council Meeting is Jan 21, 2025 at 5:30.  Should be pretty interesting. Tickets are still available (satire).

The play-by-play 
This post at Brown County Matters

New Financial Advisor.

The council contracted with Reedy Financial Group, which can provide additional support to help identify the systemic improvements needed for the county to better manage our finances and budget.  Kemp led this initiative.  I participated in the interviews and am confident the commissioners can get the help we need to include managing capital improvements and better management reports. 

The county is going through a major financial transformation. Over at least the past 10-15 years, the budget was developed with a one-year perspective. It is pretty easy to submit a balanced budget with the state: Overestimate revenues, underestimate expenses, and jump through hoops over the next year to cover needed and unplanned expenses. These could average anywhere from 400-600K per year. Over the last few years, the Rainy Day fund was reduced from around 2.5 million to as low as 70K, and money was drawn from other funds as well. This situation contributed to reducing the county’s credit rating, 

As a result of COVID-19, the county received an influx of federal dollars that masked, if not exacerbated, our financial challenges.

Kemp led the charge to develop and get agreement on the following goals:

  1. Maintain 15% cash reserve balances 
  2. Annual expenses not to exceed 90% of revenues
  3. Highway and Health Departments are required to operate within their own budgets 
  4. Rainy day fund balance of $2.5 million 
  5. Health fund 4700 with a reserve balance of $1 million 

Capital Improvement.  County elected leadership (council and commissioners) have refused in the past to develop a capital improvement plan for needed repairs and replacements.  Commissioner Sanders started work on developing this plan, starting with identifying the property that we are insuring.

PLAN, WHAT PLAN? A five-year comprehensive “financial plan” was developed a few years ago  (by the commissioner’s office) at the cost of 30K that sat on a shelf and, after one or two annual updates, was abandoned. I never heard it discussed at a council or commissioner meeting.

CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?  The county routinely borrows money (3 million last time, 4 million last year) to cover capital improvement expenses. The debt is funded through higher property taxes, and since the tax rate remains relatively the same (referred to as tax neutral), taxpayers do not notice any changes.

POWER Corrupts. We have a one-party monopoly on political power, and the lack of competition contributed to the election of a few candidates who did not have the passion, interest, time, or insight to understand what was going on. The centralized power in the hands of the few influences who can run for office, get selected for boards and commissions, and even get a county government job. Those who go along to get along can have jobs for life and avoid being shunned or blackballed.   

ELECTION – COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Jim Kemp started his term on council in 2022 and has a financial background. He may be one of the few elected officials who understand the concept of modified accruals.  The county government operates on a cash (fund) accounting vs. accrual basis. Accrual basis accounting is the common method in the private sector. Modified accruals support identifying the expected expenses in the following years.

For instance, assume you have a 5-year, 500,000 contract that is payable at 100,00 a year. The budget will only show the one-year liability – not that you still have another 400K to go.

GOALS. Kemp actually identified specific financial goals in his campaign strategy. I am not aware that another councilman has ever identified a “DOCUMENTED strategy but some can talk it to death.  Anecdotes and hyperbole are the strategies chosen by a few. If you are a preferred candidate of the local GOP, you get elected without breaking a sweat or being held accountable for results.

The exception to this situation would include Commissioner Ron Sanders and myself. We are definitely not on the preferred candidates list.

Kemp also developed a financial strategy for the county; No one questions his commitment, competence, and passion for getting us on solid financial ground. But we all have our downsides, and sometimes his passion can come across as anger to some. And he does tend to use more words than may be needed to make a point.  If his comments were recorded and transcribed, we would have a few pretty good books on the strengths and weaknesses of our culture and our financial system and challenges.

Kemp and Huett pointed out each other’s respective strengths and weaknesses.  Huett considers himself as a ‘facilitator.”  He likes working quietly behind the scenes. Huett provided support (the 4th commissioner) to the commissioner’s office which did not include the participation of Commissioner Sanders. Huett was involved in the staffing changes in the commissioner’s office, highway department personnel changes, recruiting and contracting for a construction manager (owners rep), the initiation of the county comprehensive plan, and liaising with the various interest groups in the county, such as the Brown County Community Foundation. The BCCF has opted to get more involved in local politics. Kemp reinforced that these are more liaison functions and not the primary responsibility of the Council President.

These liaison activities by Huett contributed to a situation where a 2025 budget was submitted to the state before the county council voted to approve it. The lack of attention to the job also led to non-compliance with previous policies regarding the process for reviewing the timely review of the budget.

Even more concerning, end-of-year appropriations were not passed by the end of the year, which leads to the reporting of account deficits that will be an audit finding that will reflect badly on the auditor. The auditor, repeatedly called out the council for not making timely decisions that caused chaos with the financial reporting and took time away from addressing more critical needs within the office.

The Council will have a choice to make on the direction of the county in 2025. It should be a good meeting – Jan 21, 2024, 5:30-7:30.

“Vibe Shift”

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“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” – George Washington.
 
 
“The vibe shift is, in essence, escalation versus de-escalation. Trump made that perfectly clear when he recently posted:”

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East,” [Trump wrote]  on December 2. “But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
 
The U.S. military plans a ‘Hellscape’ to deter China from attacking Taiwan
But a top U.S. military commander for Asia says time is running out to put the plan in place.

‘In God We Trust’ Returns to US Classrooms; Bible in Curriculum

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Billy Graham: America at the Crossroads, by Billy Graham | September 21, 2020 | Billy Graham

    • As in the last days of Rome, Christianity to many people today has faded into mere form, lost its relevance to life and holds no central allegiance in our lives. When a nation loses its faith, it loses its character. When it loses its character, it loses its purpose for living. And when it loses its purpose for living, it loses its will to survive.
    • I am convinced that America stands at the crossroads of her national destiny. One road leads to destruction, and the other leads to prosperity and security. Most are going down the broad road that leads to destruction. We are going the way of Rome rather than the way of the cross.
    • Many will blame the Republicans or the Democrats. But it is the American people as individuals that should take the blame. We backslide as individuals before we begin to decay as a nation.

Dec 31, 2024, CBN.  ‘In God We Trust’ Returns to US Classrooms, Here’s How It Became Our Official Motto, Benjamin Gill

    • Over the past few years, a movement has sprung up to remind Americans of our national motto in a variety of settings from public school buildings to law enforcement vehicles.

    • One of the latest examples this year was in West Virginia where the legislature voted to require state schools to display “In God We Trust.” 

    • When asked if the move was constitutional, state Del. Tom Fast told West Virginia Watch, “This is our national motto, ‘In God We Trust,’ and it has been litigated, and it has been upheld. We can display our national motto in public schools and in our higher education institutions.

    • The move in West Virginia came after Louisiana passed a law last year that requires the U.S. national motto to be displayed in every public school classroom. Other states that have adopted similar policies in recent years include Texas and South Dakota.

June 27, 2024. “Oklahoma state superintendent announces all schools must incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in curriculums, By Alaa Elassar, CNN

    • All Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in their curriculums, effective immediately, the state’s chief education officer announced in a memorandum Thursday.

    • At a State Board of Education meeting, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said the Bible is “one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”

    • “It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” Walters said.

    • Every classroom in the state from grades 5 through 12 must have a Bible and all teachers must teach from the Bible in the classroom, Walters said.

County Council Special Meeting Notes, Dec 30, 2024, A Way Ahead

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This post at Brown County Matters.

    • Agenda: Digital billing system, pay grade changes, additional appropriations (briefed two times previously), Salaray ordinance, and contract with a new financial advisor.
    • Audio – link below). I encourage you to listen to the Audio of the meeting and just take a few notes to capture your questions and concerns. This will be a good meeting to review in a year to assess our progress in making the needed systemic changes within the council and commissioner’s office relative to finance and budgeting.
    • Council Leadership. Councilman Kemp has a financial background and began his service with the council in 2023. He has spent the time needed digging into the numbers, working to understand the system, and sharing what he has been learning. A way ahead includes focusing on goals that involve maintaining $2.5 million in the rain day fund and $1 million in the health insurance reserve fund, keeping expenses at least 15% under projected revenues, and providing quarterly and annual budget updates.
    • Commissioners Office. The commissioner’s office can develop the needed management reports and internal controls to increase the visibility of risks associated with contracts, leases, and capital improvements. The status can be included on meeting agendas. The goal would be to improve financial sustainability and prevent financial surprises. Consultants have identified it may take us 10 years to work our way out of the financial mess. We should have a better idea of the depth of the challenge within a year to 18 months.
    • As a new commissioner, I plan on continuing to share what I am learning on social media to include “Matters” that may be incorporated into E-books. In a self-governing Constitutional Republic, “We the People” can hold our elected officials accountable, but we retain the responsibility for results. Better outcomes are achieved through improvement in processes, systems, and citizen participation. The improvement concepts and methods included within the Brown County Leader Network can be re-introduced to encourage more citizens to help improve quality within our government and community.
    • Challenges. I am not underestimating the challenges. Making the needed improvements to the status quo is typically resisted by those with a personal or political interest in maintaining that status quo. Transparency and communication can help address this challenge. It is a proven fact that successfully improving quality results in outcomes where everyone benefits or at least, is not any worse off in the long term. Everyone wins with optimization.

AUDIO of the Meeting

County Council special meeting set Monday 

Budget Guidance Salary Changes – Salary changes must be submitted prior to June 15

Agenda Items

Meeting Clarification – Three Types: (Requires 48 hours (business days) public notification

    • Regular Meeting  – provides the most flexibility for decision-making
    • Special Meeting (working session). Any actions resulting in a decision must be advertised in advance
    • Executive Session. Agenda items dictated by statute

2025 Budget.  The County Council failed to vote to review and approve.  Estimated budget deficit is around 600K.

The Council failed to approve salary ordinance changes in 2024. Council to approve  The 2025 Salary Ordinance will be approved in Jan. 

Salary, pay scales, staffing.  Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele (WIS) & Associates were contracted to re-structure and standardize salary schedules.  In the interim, Departments (Health Department, Prosecutor, Clerk, Treasurer) are/have been receiving approval for salaries and staffing changes. 

Financial Advisor. Council has the responsibility to contract for a financial advisor and plan on contracting with Reedy Financial Services – Government Finance Specialists at $175.00 per billable hour.

Digital Billing System. Was rejected – does not interface with the current accounting system.

Deficits. In 2024, the county was projecting about a 1.4 million deficit. Fortunately, about 2.3 million were found. County ended up 10K in the black.   

Deficits. In 2025, estimated at around 600K.

End of year Transfers.  Commissioner’s office identified the need to transfer approximately 700k to pay the required bills. This was briefed to the council on two prior occasions.  Without a transfer, the county will show account deficits in 2025. Council voted to approve with one member voting No. A second reading (vote to approve) will be on Jan 9.

council special mtg agenda items 2024 12 30