Posted on 05/23/2007 4:21:11 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
BISBEE — At least two state-level officers of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps have been expelled from the civilian border-watch group after raising questions about its executive leadership, particularly that of MCDC President Chris Simcox.
According to internal documents that surfaced on the Internet this week, 18 state MCDC leaders sent a memo on May 8 to Simcox, Vice President Carmen Mercer and Executive Director Al Garza asking them to attend a meeting in Phoenix to address perceived problems, including a lack of financial accountability and Simcox’s leadership style.
In a memo dated May 14, Simcox responded by denouncing the meeting as unauthorized and informing the 18 signers that their membership in the Minutemen organization would be terminated if they attended the meeting.
Simcox told the Herald/Review that he objected to the meeting not because of the issues it meant to address, but because of how it was organized.
“The way they about it was pretty underhanded,” he said. “The meeting was called the very day that I went on a three-week working vacation. It was basically set up so that it would be impossible for us to attend and so that it would create this kind of (conflictive) situation.”
An estimated 12 or 13 state leaders proceeded with their meeting last Saturday and issued a vote of no confidence against Simcox, one of the attendees told the Herald/Review under conditions of anonymity.
Simcox said that two of the leaders at the meeting — Greg Thompson, MCDC chapter head in Oklahoma, and Bob Wright, the group’s state director in New Mexico — had been dismissed, while two others were still under review.
Wright declined to comment, saying his dismissal was an internal matter that would be resolved within the MCDC.
The deposed leaders are now demanding to be reinstated and have given Simcox until Friday to schedule a meeting to resolve the crisis.
See Thursday’s Herald/Review for more details.
On the Net:
• LibertyPost.org is one of the places where the memos are posted: http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=188373
• The memos are also on the Yahoo! chat group MMP-chat, but you have to be a subscriber to read: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mmp-chat
If 18 state leaders were calling me on financial and leadership questions, I think I might find the time to squeeze in a meeting during a three week working vacation
You think ?
MCDC Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
I have yet to see or hear of any human enterprise that was free of personality cults and funds disappearing. I used to know a guy who worked for both the Red Cross and the Salvation Army at one point, and he said they are just as bad internally as any corrupt corporation or political organization. I’ve heard many first-hand stories of internal corruption and feuding within fundamentalist Christian churches, and have worked for many corrupt bosses in the past. I don’t think it’s possible for any group of humans to ever agree on simply doing the right thing, the job at hand, without personal aggrandizement and profit.
Sadly, you’re right.
I was involved with our local Boy Scout Troop. No problems with money but the personality conflicts and silly arguments drove me away.
It’s just the way people are.
This sucks no matter who is the 'most right'...
Yep, we have had a few in the California Republican Party this year. However, if I was blindsided by an organized faction, my first reaction would be to “go Roman” and crush the rebellion before it gathered any more members.
Of course the right move for Chris Simcox is to negotiate from a position of strength, while secretly turning the rebels against each other. Not hard to do when you consider the egos these jackasses must have.
The thing Simcox should not do is give in to their demands. If he does, next week they will demand something else.
“The thing Simcox should not do is give in to their demands. If he does, next week they will demand something else.”
You have to be kidding. The whole organization has been under a cloud because of reported financial irregularities and he doesn’t have to respond to its state directors? He couldn’t find time to meet with them? The second any questions arose about the organization’s finances, he himself should have insisted on an audit and reported its findings publicly to remove any cloud. They seek funds from the public, so they should account to the public as well as the directors. Sunshine is the best antiseptic.
I am well aware of the MCDC fund raising conspiracies; it’s a load of crap. Fund raising is hard and most fund raising companies are crooks. Simcox found the most reputable company at a good rate. If you remember, the original Minuteman Project had no money and couldn’t raise more than a few hundred in its first 3 months.
The donations have paid for several projects including the fence, border ops, rallies, political action and issue awareness. No one flies first class, everyone stays in crappy hotels and (as I said before), no one is getting rich from MCDC.
I happen to agree as I've come across this very situation numerous times over the past 30+ years working with volunteer organizations. It is almost inevitable when you operate an organization structured and staffed the way this one is. Egos will get bruised and then they become blowhard's bent of dissension and derision until they get their way. You get those that think they can do the job better and go out of their way to undermine the leadership and the trouble doesn't usually stop until you boot out the trouble makers. Too bad but Simcox is right in this case I believe. Stick to the rules set up and agreed to by all when they joined and wait until the next regular scheduled meeting to air your complaints.
Simcox is apparently assuming the Minutemen is his own little dictatorship. Time for a coup.
Guess the scriptures are right. The heart of man is wicked.
Then why is Simcox running? He should be ready to open the books to anyone who wants to see them, since the group depends on public donations for funding.
I for one will not be giving them one, thin dime until he opens the books for independent audit.
Chris has been swiping the money since the third day of the original Minuteman Project when he "redeployed" about 70 grand that was sent to Jim Gilchrist to support the project back in 2005. Chris has been playing this game of “firing” anyone that asks any questions at all since he formed MCDC right after the Minuteman Project. That includes donated funds that the State Chapters had sent in and were going to send in in the amounts of tens of thousands of dollars.
Basically, donated funds go in, nothing comes out despite endless promises of equipment and reimbursements. He has probably “disappeared” roughly $500,000.00 in donations that the folks that volunteered the money were told it’s all going to the border operations or his infamous “fence project.” He has been doing this for years and has had entire State Chapters quit MCDC because of it.
Leaving aside legal issues, it has become a public relations issue. This is an organization that solicits funds from the public. Its books should be open, period. Certainly state directors should have access to information on what funds have come in and what funds have gone out. It’s a very simple proposition.
I’m well aware of the costs of fundraising, administration, overhead, putting on rallies, etc. But that is not the issue. Most people would hesitate to donate to any organization that operates under a cloud, real or imaginary. It’s up to the organization’s leadership to remove that cloud. The way to do that is to operate in the sunshine.
This particular organization has been successful in its mission against hostile/adverse publicity when it began. It doesn’t need to complicate matters by refusing a request that shouldn’t have had to be made in the first place. The information should be made available, at the very least to state directors and donors, without anyone having to ask.
Anyone who has ever been to Scottsdale in AZ, (home of the Mayo Clinic) would know that you don’t just move a mobile home in and live in a trailer park in THAT city! Where did the money go? Well, I would check for holes in Mr. Simcox’s pockets, FIRST.
The hopeful rancher with the skeleton of the beginnings of a fence on his property should sell tickets, to see “The Folly of a Madman”.
How many of you sent Simcox money? I sure hope you are smart enough to know that his well should run dry now. Then again, what you do with YOUR money is YOUR business.
If you want to make the border more secure, you should turn your eyes towards the elected officials who are already PAID to TRY to work on behalf of the Security of America in Washington (and I don’t mean McCain either!)
I am all for secure borders, the ports and the Northern and Southern borders but I knew too much about and quit coming to Freepers as often because of the hero worship associated with Chris Simcox. I am glad that he has finally shown his hand, now if he will just show his followers the money, maybe he can keep his faithful followers loyal to him.
I am done, and I hope he is too soon. He's a con man and an opportunist (in my opinion) and now people are finding out the truth.
I for one will not be giving them one, thin dime until he opens the books for independent audit.”
Your situation is different; as a donor, you have the right to ask questions about how your money has been spent, but you still don’t have the right to examine corporate documents. If you don’t want to give, don’t.
As for the rebellious State Directors, they can start their own organization... I bet they will have the same thing happen to them a year from now.
Now let’s talk about the Congressional seat in District 8, vacated by Jim Kolbe,R after 11 terms in office. Because Chris Simcox gave so much of his and the Minuteman’s support to the Republican Randy Graf, Arizona filled that Congressional seat with a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT WOMAN, Gabrielle Giffords.
So the next time you have to listen to Nancy Pelosi and you grind your teeth, remember that Simcox holds at least partial responsibility for the Democrats’ gain of at least one seat in Congress. If he had stayed out of Politics in AZ’s election we may have had different results in the election, Kyl was only briefly mentioned in one of the AZ Minuteman’s TV spots, and he got less votes in this past election because the Republicans in Cochise County did not want to support any candidate that had anything to do with The Minutemen or Simcox. Can I prove what I am saying? Well I do know Republicans who claimed that they crossed Party lines so as not to support Simcox in any way.
What many of us have known for certain for a long time is that Simcox is an opportunist.
All of this is based on my observations, what other Cochise County Republicans have told me and of course my own opinions.
We have an Arizona Corporation Commission, if and when Simcox does open the “books”, I think you will find some very “creative bookkeeping” and you may also find that many of these dealings have been done in the name of someone other than Simcox himself. Many of us have branded him “foolish” but we also are aware that he is not a “fool” and he is going to try to avoid another criminal conviction in the State of Arizona.
For those who gave with good intentions, we are sincerely sorry that you may not like what you see when a “full account” is finally given.
Rebellious? So you are admitting that Simcox IS setting himself up as a dictator. Got it.
Time for a coup!
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