Magic Valley RINO Recaps: Twin Falls & Jerome Counties Republican Central Committee January Meetings

Twin Falls County Republican Central Committee Meeting, January 8, 2025

By Leslie Wolff, MVLA Contributor, Precinct Committeeman TF#14

First, let me wish each of you a Happy New Year. While this new year brings hope of change with anticipation of the new Trump presidency, the Establishment still has a strangle hold on our local Central Committee and they started off the new year by taking the domination to a new level.
BUT, BUT, BUT…
Gretchen Clelland chaired the Twin Falls County Central Committee meeting, as Tom Wangeman was only able to attend the Executive Board meeting prior. After a motion and a second to accept the Agenda, I called a Point of Order to advise that the first item under New Business, Call for Nomination of Precinct TF4, could not proceed, as the PCs had not been notified at least 10 days in advance via email, text or post mail per our bylaws. The excuses started to fly…as did my rebuttals. “We gave notice at
the meeting last month”. Yes, but the bylaws state it must be done in writing; besides there were 18 members absent last month. “I learned in kindergarten that if I missed school, I was responsible for finding out what I missed”. Great, maybe we should be getting the minutes a few days after the meeting instead of a few days before the next one so we can see what transpired in a timely manner, but regardless, the bylaws state it must be done in writing. “The bylaws state it must be done at the next meeting after a vacancy occurs”. I’m glad you bring that up Madam Chair, if we were using that logic, we would have had this election last month, as the executive officers knew on November 18th that Taylor Clelland was no longer a PC because his name was crossed out on the attendance sheet from that meeting; and you knew it back in September when he moved out of his precinct. Despite all these excuses, we were not properly notified of this election according to the bylaws in article 9, section 2.
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, THEY LIE STRAIGHT TO OUR FACES
When Madam Chair saw she was getting nowhere and I was not going to back down, she called the vote on the Agenda. I reiterated, yet again, that we could not proceed with the nomination and election of a new TF4 PC. She said that we had the Agenda motion on the table, so we would vote on that and then further discuss the TF4 replacement. The Agenda passed and she went on to discuss the next item on the Agenda. I popped up and reminded her that she just said we would finish our discussion after the
Agenda motion was voted on. She said that the Agenda passed so there was nothing else to debate. I couldn’t believe my ears; I was at a loss for words in the face of such deception. All I could do was remind the Chair what happened in Bingham County when they did not follow the bylaws regarding nominations and elections.
DON’T LIKE THE BYLAWS, SET THEM ASIDE
At that point, Andrew Mix, TF24, made a motion to set aside the bylaws for this meeting to be able to move forward with the vote. Of course, it passed with all the usual suspects voting in favor.
A SHINING BEACON OF HOPE EMERGES
The meeting proceeded until it was time to hear from any TF4 nominees. That was when Kiel Willmore, TF5 and State Committee Youth, called a Point of Order. You see, while I was so irritated that the bylaws were set aside, I forgot to see if that was even possible. Kiel, who seems to be a by-the-book individual as well, investigated setting aside the bylaws and found that it is only possible if the vote is UNANIMOUS! Since it was not, the motion made earlier by Andrew Mix was nullified and the nomination and election of a new PC for TF4 did not happen.
MONEY FOR YOU, BUT NOT FOR YOU!
Ruth Pierce, Treasurer, asked the committee for $5,000 to pay for ancillary costs, above and beyond Canyon Crest. No questions asked, the motion was approved. Yet, a few months back, when I made a motion to give the Prop One sub-committee $5k to further their efforts to fight RCV, it was like trying to pull teeth. The discussion carried on and on, wanting a detailed budget before they passed it, even as the election loomed. The money was not approved, but through the hard work of many, Prop 1 failed.
VOLUNTEERING VS REQUIRED TO SPEND OUR TIME AND MONEY
Not wanting to set a precedent, or maybe not understanding how a precedent is set, Cherie Vollmer, our State Committeewoman, asked for reimbursement for those who attended the State IDGOP Winter
Meeting held in Boise earlier this month. Cherie asked for up to $552.22 for hotel and milage costs for each voting member required to attend, depending on receipts. Steve Kohtz made the motion to support the reimbursement, and Chance Requa seconded it. During discussion, I was surprised when several people apologized to Cherie, but stated they didn’t know if they could support the request.

Discussion went on for a bit but ultimately was tabled for a month to give the members time to think about it and get the total amount that was being requested. For me and other Liberty PCs, we knew the whole time we would be voting no on the motion. Cherie volunteered for State Committeewoman that first night when the Central Committee reorganized. That night, Liberty PCs and other Liberty-minded individuals ran for every position available, only to get knocked down by the Establishment majority for 51 different seats. That night, Kathy Thomsen, Buhl 1, ran for State Committeewoman against Cherie, but was defeated. I know Kathy would not have asked for reimbursement, nor would any of the others that ran for those seats that night. We will see what happens next month on the State Committeewoman’s quest to be reimbursed for volunteering.
THERE ARE ISSUES THAT THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE CAN AGREE UPON
The last two items on the agenda that night both ended in unanimous support from everyone on the Central Committee. First, Samantha Marshall, the Regional Director of the Idaho Young Republicans sent an email to the Chair requesting our support and a $100 donation to help their group. The TFCRCC voted unanimously to give their organization the $100 they requested. The final item was a resolution that I presented and read to the body. Last month, Josh Kohl, Kathy Thomsen and I decided we wanted to condemn the BLM for their recent approval to move forward with the Lava Ridge Wind Project, so we agreed to write a resolution. The TFCRCC gave unanimous consent, standing up against the wind project and BLM.

Call to Action

 Please attend the next meeting: The second Wednesday of every month. The next meeting will be Wednesday, February 12, 6:30 pm in the Planning & Zoning room at the Twin Falls County West building on 630 Addison Avenue West.
 If you are under 40 years old, please reach out to the Idaho Young Republicans and get involved.
 If you haven’t already, check out legislature.idaho.gov to watch what happens on the Senate and House floors, in different Committee meetings and see the submitted bills for the 2025 session.

Jerome County Republican Central Committee Meeting, January 16, 2025

By a Jerome County Resident

• Sam Beus, hired by Jerome County Commissioners for the County Prosecutor (the unfilled position due to votes being disqualified) magically showed up to a Jerome County Republican Central Committee meeting.  Makes one wonder why this attendance is important now.  There is no recollection of him in the audience during the 2024 campaign season.  Beus ran for the position while residing in Twin Falls City/Twin Falls County.
• There was a tenable tension in the air among many of the committee members. Chairman Rob Williams was not warm, pleasant or hospitable toward the Republican citizens gathered in the audience. Tolerant may be an accurate description of his actions in front of the citizens. He made a sarcastic remark that he didn’t know if they were Republicans. Williams is out of touch with who Republicans are in Jerome County.  Case in point, Rob, Maxine Bell and Hyrum Erickson, PLLC supported the destruction of the Republican Party with Jungle Primaries/Prop 1.
• Chair Williams asked elected officials to give report.  Ben Crouch, Jerome County Commissioner, gave a lengthy report.  The chair did not recognize Lyle Johnstone as the elected Legislative District 26 Chair, thus did not ask for report.
• Chair Williams then asked those who attended the GOP Winter meeting to report.  Sam Marshall, Terri Stokes and Ben Crouch were called on to report.  Note that LD Chair, Lyle Johnstone, who attended the GOP Winter meeting was not recognized or asked to give report.
• The Legislative District 26 Chair, Lyle Johnstone, brought a resolution condemning BLM approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project. There was a short discussion on the resolution. It was motioned by Nic Wittman to unanimously accept the resolution. A vote was called for and passed unanimously.  Williams did manage to grasp control of the resolution brought by LD Chair Johnstone.  He decided to be the sole signer and deliverer of the resolution.  Who gets the credit for running the resolution? Why, Williams of course.
• Lyle Johnstone requested to speak to the committee via email prior to the meeting.  Williams demanded to know the content of what Johnstone wanted to speak about.  When the agenda was published, there was no space given to Johnstone to speak.  
• Jerome County Committee has a very divided feel. Going forward, let’s see how their LD 26 Representatives and Senator do in the 2025 Legislative Session.  Will they represent the citizens of Idaho?  Or will they represent the Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry sponsors’ agenda?

How Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry is Turning Idaho Blue