Friday, April 13, 2012

From Randy Kubosh - On HCRP Leadership



This just came across my desk.  I offer it without any editorializing.  Just read it.

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"Good is the enemy of great", a paper about the current state of the Harris County Republican Party


Many attribute this quote to Jim Collins the business writer.  In actuality it is an updated quote by Voltaire, which was “perfect is the enemy of good”.  Whichever version you prefer the point is clear, when we settle for mediocrity we are doomed.

Such is the case with the current state of the Harris County Republican Party.  While we have had some recent success, the truth is we have seen a steady decline. Most specifically in the last 4 years.  In 2008 we saw a near Democratic sweep of countywide race, while losing many good conservative judges in the process. While 2010 was a bounce back year, the results were more of a referendum on President Obama than a Conservative resurgence. Two years ago in the 2010 election the Democratic candidate for Governor won the majority of ballots cast in Harris County.  The very real and damaging result is that the Democrats will control the election judge position in all early voting locations in Harris County in 2012. This could mean loses in a close election. This slow slide into the abyss has not occurred without warning. But the entrenched leadership won’t allow dissent within the party structure, and those that sound a warning are called disloyal and their motives are questioned, meanwhile the questions themselves go unanswered.

The problems at the County Party are many and they are not new. Offices have been closed; calls go unreturned, longtime conservative activists are marginalized because they are not part of Mr. Woodfill’s team. This is not leadership; nor is it a way to grow a party.   You cannot make something better by staying the same. We have problems but we also have solutions.
Here is a partial lists of a few of the glaring problems.

 *The Party’s website is outdated, cluttered and ineffective.
Please don’t take my word for it, just go look for yourself at the Harris County Democrat party website, http://www.hcdp.org/ and then compare it to the Republican website. Communication has changed, Face book, smart phones, Twitter are instantaneous and cheap. The democrats have capitalized on this change. But the technology is not exclusive to them. There are many local Republican candidates who are doing a better job of using social media than the party itself.  We should look to them and use what works and improve where we can. The party has had many opportunities to do this; Mr. Woodfill has not acted upon these opportunities.

 *The full list of Precinct chairs is on the HCDP website and in a downloadable format, it's easy to navigate and for anyone wanting to get the information it is there. Unlike our own party’s website which you must click on one precinct at a time.  And even then, half the time the information seems to be outdated.

*Fundraising is anemic, party leadership recently failed to convince the Executive Committee to support their plan to pay for the convention.  Now they make panicked and desperate pleas for funding.  This is not leadership; it's panhandling.   The need for a county convention was not a surprise.  While it is true the exact date was not known until the Federal court issued its ruling; it was always a statutory requirement that the convention itself be held. Where was the planning, the foresight?

Additionally there are many unanswered question about how the party has spent its money. If there has been no wrongdoing then open the books, do an audit, if you have nothing to hide, then why are you hiding?

*The HCDP also has monthly brown bag lunches where Democratic Party leaders will meet with anyone that desires to attend. We can’t seem to get our own party chairman to show up at any club meetings.  Only now when the chairman has a primary opponent is the party is holding Senate District meetings where Mr. Woodfill does nothing more than reprocess outdated information and techniques on communicating to local voters.

*Where is the facebook, twitter, email suggestions? Why not mention the importance of communicating this info to members of non-political organizations one might be a part of? The party chair should be in constant and open communication with the clubs. It would not be difficult for the chair to meet once a year with Club Presidents. In fact this practice should be routine.

These are only a few of the problems; a complete listing of the problems would be too depressing.  We can do better, we have an option. There are many talented and dedicated conservatives who want to be a part of the solution. The fixes are there, why they may not all be easy, but most are quite simple.

 The change begins with a change in leadership. It’s time that we have a new party Chairman.   Let’s fix this before it’s too late and the democrats control all of Harris County.

Randy Kubosh
Randall D. “Randy” Kubosh
Life Long Republican and Pro-Life
Pct. 2 Chair; 2010, 2011, 2012
Ambassador Level RLC Member; 2010, 2011, 2012
Former Secretary of the HCRP Finance Committee; 2011

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