From Derek J. Howell, Chairman, Republican Central Committee of Harford County:
Starting the Year Off RIGHT
Since I was given the honor to serve as chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Harford County in late November 2012, I have been actively meeting with Republican elected officials from the county. I am grateful that during the month of December, with the busy Christmas season, so many Republican officials took time out of their schedules to meet with me. I also had the pleasure of attending County Executive Craig’s “Red Sweater” holiday party as well as successful events for Senator J.B. Jennings, Delegate Donna Stifler and Central Committee vice-chairman, Teresa Reilley.
Last weekend, vice-chairman, Teresa Reilley, and I had a very successful “roundtable” meeting with the presidents and vice-presidents from the Harford County Republican Club, Rt. 40 Republican Club, Harford County Republican Women and the North Harford Republican Club. This “roundtable” meeting allowed us to unite the Republican Central Committee and Republican clubs across the county and come together to discuss how we can build a stronger Republican Party in Harford County. I am very grateful to the leadership of these clubs for taking time out of their weekend to meet and put forth new ideas for a stronger Republican Party.
This year will no doubt be a busy year as we are gearing up for next year’s 2014 gubernatorial election. I have proposed an event to recognize and thank Century Club Members for their support of the Republican Party. Central Committee member Kim Wagner graciously stepped forward to help plan this upcoming event. More information will be put forth in the near future about this and other upcoming events. Needless to say there is more to be seen in 2013.
Finally, I set a new vision for the Republican Central Committee of Harford County, which is “R. U. F.I.T. to be a Republican.” “R. U. F.I.T.” stands for: Recruiting; Uniting; Fundraising; Informing; and Training. We need to “RECRUIT” new Republican voters and Republican candidates for office; “UNITE” the Republican Party across Harford County; “FUNDRAISE” to ensure financial assistance is available for Republican candidates who run for office; “INFORM” Republicans and residents of Harford County about the important work elected Republican officials are doing in the County and in Annapolis; and offer various “TRAINING” sessions for Republicans, Republican candidates and citizens of Harford County.
Let me personally invite you to attend our next Republican Central Committee meeting on February 20, 2013, which will be held at 220 S. Main Street (second floor conference room), Bel Air, Maryland. We begin at 6:30 PM. If you would like to join the Republican Party and/or help the Republican Party become even stronger in Harford County, please contact me at: HarfordRepublican@gmail.com.
Derek J. Howell
Chairman
Republican Central Committee of Harford County
Howell has demonstrated, to my chagrin, that he is the worst kind of politician– one who puts party over principle.
He has bent over to support the currently-elected officials and has cast aside any semblance of conservative beliefs in the process.
Unfortunately, this is what you get when you take scumbags at their word.
This fella was supposed to be a “conservative” and he is kissing the ring of David Craig, Barry Glassman, and Teresa (He can’t even spell her last name correctly) Reilly.
Sad, sad, sad.
Fortunately, as he tries to fool some members of the Party, there are conservatives working against him.
Sounds like someone from the Delong/McGrady side of the party.
Sad, sad, sad that the writer stoops to name calling but remains anonymous…also, apparently would choose not to include current GOP leaders in the dialog?…and also “conservatives working against him” outside the process won’t get it done…sorry, but the writr has zero credibility.
I’m not a huge fan of Derek Howell, but if the writer has zero credibility as you say, then the score is Derek 0 and Jim 0.
If you really believe “Fortunately, as he tries to fool some members of the Party, there are conservatives working against him.” is a good thing, then YOU are a big part of the reason this State solidly Lib/Dem. And will remain so.
Derek, I would never refer to you as a scumbag. Name calling is an ugly sport and it says more about the person making the charge. But I have to say that I am a little skeptical. To date you have seemed more comfortable supporting the status quo than standing for real conservative values. Please show us that you are not content to join the club and continue the game. Be a real game changer and show us that you know how to return the Republican Party in Harford County to a kind of conservatism that it is no longer familiar with.
Isn’t the job of a Republican Central Committe to support the party and it’s elected officials? It’s to win elections for the people that win the primary. If a vacancy occurs, sure, you then get to fill that position with someone that you feel would best represent the party, but the rest of the time, it should be in supporting those that were chosen by the Republican voters to represent the party in each area of decision making. i.e. it’s the Delegate’s jobs, as chosen by the Republican Primary voters and then the general election voters to decide how to vote on something that affects the state, and the County Council’s job as chose by the Republican primary voters to decide how something would affect the County. This is not a function of the Central Committee. They should be focusing on registering voters, raising money, and criticizing Democrats.
If they wanted to have policy making authority, they should have convinced the Republican Primary Voters to elect them to something with actual policy making authority.
Name calling begins when someone can’t form a coherent argument.
Just wondering why these meetings can’t be videotaped like the County Council meetings and posted on the website for Individuals to view and come to their own decisions about how this elected body is running.
From name calling. It only hurts your reputation.
Rumor has it that the Campaign for Liberty folks plan to run a candidate in every county race during the Republican primary of the next election. If so we will finally get a chance to see just how much weight they really carry with the public in Harford County. Anyone care to predict the results?
I’m not interested in that fight…how is the GOP ever going to compete against the Dems in this state by splitting our resources. We all need to work with the GOP to formulate a platform and put forth candidates which which best represent the majority, including the Campaign for Liberty….we’ll go nowhere divided!
That fight is coming whether we want it or not. If compromise within the party is what you are looking for I don’t think you will find it coming from the Campaign for Liberty side. They are too rigid in their thinking and I don’t believe that faction represents the majority of the Republican Party.
You are absolutely right. You have been divided and you have gone absolutely nowhere. If you can’t get your act together then you will continue to go absolutely nowhere.
Her I am laughing out loud at you poor little boys squabbling in the sandbox. Meanwhile the Dems, who can’t even run a candidate properly vetted (Wendy Rosen), have no fear of guys.
And don’t start in on me. I can count on 2 fingers the number of Democratic candidates I have ever voted for in any election, anywhere.
This is an excellent debate, other than the name calling. Fact Check succinctly stated what the purpose of the Central Committees is and I think we all have a tendency to forget that it is the VOTERS who are ultimately in charge of the elected officials and the parties. It is a shame that the “unaffiliated” group is growing at such a fast pace. We should focus on voter registration and promoting our party’s candidates and platform. I applaude Derek Howell for reaching out to the REPUBLICAN clubs and community since he was appointed Chair. He is a hard worker and a class act.
Unfortunately he is trying to herd cats, and near-sighted ones at that.