Vote to oust chairman of GOP delayed to April 17

The state says it recognizes the party chairman's authority to cancel the meeting. A special meeting is called for April 17.

By ALISA ULFERTS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 9, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- Pasco County Republican Party Chairman Zoltan Mayer received an overwhelming vote of no confidence Saturday morning by the 80 executive committee members who ignored the chairman's call to cancel the meeting.

The members stopped short of ousting Mayer entirely -- but only because state committeeman John Renke Jr. warned them that the state party recognized Mayer's authority to cancel the meeting, even if they did not.

"My suggestion is you do not treat this as a formal meeting or you will have problems with the state," Renke said.

A special meeting has been called for April 17, with the only items on the agenda being the dismissal or retention of Mayer as chairman, and the nomination of new candidates to replace him, GOP secretary Ann Bunting said.

Mayer did not appear Saturday morning. He was out of town and could not be reached for comment. But if Saturday's meeting was any indication, his chairmanship only will last another week.

Mayer and Vice Chairman Bill Bunting had agreed almost two weeks ago to resign and seek each other's position -- after Bunting said he had enough votes to depose Mayer anyway. A few days later, Mayer reneged, saying he signed the contract with Bunting under duress. State party officials declared Mayer's resignation invalid, and he called off Saturday's meeting to allow people to calm down.

But his last-minute cancellation seems to have ticked off many of the those who gathered at Land O'Lakes High School on Saturday, including Renke.

"You don't take your marbles home and call off the meeting because you don't want a vote. That personally tells me which way I'm going to vote April 17," Renke said. The state committeeman added he was shocked to learn that Mayer said he planned to head up the local George W. Bush presidential campaign.

"I have no idea how you can claim that without being named. I officially had been named long ago to be chairman of the George W. Bush campaign (in Pasco)," Renke said.

State campaign officials could not be reached Saturday.

Although Renke attended Saturday's meeting, state committeewoman Joan Kelley did not. Kelley earlier told the Times she thought Mayer should be allowed to serve out his term and that he had the authority to cancel Saturday's meeting. Mayer's term expires in December.

Former Pasco County GOP chairman Roland Quinn also said he originally thought Mayer should be allowed to serve out his term. Although Quinn abstained from Mayer's informal vote of confidence, he did sign the petition to hold the special April 17 meeting, saying events were already well in motion.

"The numbers are there. Zoltan will be replaced as far as I can see," Quinn said.

For executive committee member Hugh Townsend, the root of his dissatisfaction with Mayer lies with Mayer's reported hesitancy to sign off on the charter for the Second Amendment Republican Club, which the Buntings and other members founded in late 1998. Townsend and others have said they didn't believe Mayer's position that the club was a "single issue club."

Bill Bunting, whose resignation was rejected by committee members, stressed Saturday that he wanted to squelch rumors that the local GOP executive committee was being taken over by members of the Second Amendment Club. Although the club has grown rapidly since its founding, only 20 of the new executive committee members elected since the club was founded are club members, Bunting said.

The extent of the club's influence on the local party may be up for debate, but Saturday's guest speaker, District 5 congressional Reform Party candidate Jim King, made gun rights the focus of his speech. He even admitted to breaking gun control laws in Washington, D.C., when he recently visited by carrying his weapon with him, King said.

"I'm not going into the murder capital of the world unarmed," King said. "I'd rather be judged by 12 people than shot by one idiot."

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