Michael remains chairman

LEXINGTON — Kurt Michael withstood a fact-finding committee report that said Larry Roller was elected chairman of the Augusta County Republican Committee last month, and held onto his chairmanship Saturday by a 15-8 vote of the 6th District Republican Committee.
Despite retaining his post, Michael said he still planned to step down as Augusta County Republican chairman after the Virginia State Republican Convention on May 30-31.
“After the state convention, I will call for a new election for chairman for the good of the party,” he said.
Roller left Rockbridge County High School immediately after the 6th District Republican Committee vote, but said later by telephone he would appeal Saturday’s vote to the Virginia Republican Party.
“I was legitimately elected,” Roller said. He said he would file an appeal early this week.
The special meeting of the 6th District Republican Committee, which lasted little more than an hour, came at the end of an exhausting district convention Saturday at Rockbridge County High.
The fact-finding report was delivered by Vito Gentile of Shenandoah County.
Gentile said the April 10 Augusta County Mass Meeting was properly advertised and called.
He said his research showed the meeting was improperly adjourned, but did not appear to violate the Virginia Republican Party Plan or the advertised call. Gentile said the meeting had some procedural issues, but said none rose to the level of disqualifying the vote that elected Roller 141-103 over Michael.
A continuation of the meeting, also described as a second meeting, was initiated by Michael at about 10:30 p.m. April 10.
That meeting was not justified, Gentile said.
“You cannot call and justify a 10:30 start for a mass meeting that starts at 7 p.m.,” he said.
Gentile said the appropriate action would have been a motion to conduct additional business.
Michael has said the continued meeting was necessary to seat Augusta County delegates to both the 6th District and state GOP conventions, but Gentile noted committees were formed at the second meeting and another election was held for chairman, giving Michael a 57-2 vote.
“Another meeting was held and there were new officers elected,” Gentile said.
Michael spoke briefly during Saturday’s 6th District Committee meeting, saying the mass meeting had not been conducted properly and was not a legal meeting.
“They wanted to come in and railroad a chairman and laws,” Michael said of the opposition to his chairmanship.
Michael has said he was not given appropriate notice to meet with the fact-finding team, and said he could not do so on the appointed day because of family obligations.
While Roller did meet with the investigators, he was not allowed to speak during Saturday’s meeting.
“The only real disappointment was that they wouldn’t let me speak,” he said of the 6th District Committee’s decision.