Star Publishes Anonymous GOP Dear Colleagues Letter: "We Need to Demand New Leadership to Retain Our Majority"
The Star has just published an anonymous Dear Colleagues letter -- "presumably a Republican state rep," reporter Steve Kraske writes -- demanding that the House GOP caucus find new leaders not named Rod Jetton or Steve Tilley. It begins:
To My Colleagues, (I am withholding my name today so you read what I say and not focus on who I am)
Our Missouri Republican House is full of hard-working, industrious legislators who are doing their best for Missouri.
But our attempts to build a better and stronger party are being held back by the waste and greed of select individuals who have directed the party's resources to advance their own agendas. It began with Rod Jetton, and continues today with Steve Tilley.
Speaker Jetton's exploits are well known to many of us. By "sharing" resources between his campaign committee and the HRCC, and later between his campaign committee and consulting practice, he has abused the trust of the party by directing funds from their intended purposes.
Seven out of ten dollars that Speaker Jetton's leadership committee raised in 2007-2008 went to non-fundraising overhead: to paying for things such as his consulting firm's staff, meals and lodging. Such a number is impossibly high if the real purpose of the committee is to get Republicans elected, but it's much more believable if your objective is self-enrichment.
Speaker Jetton has blurred the lines between lobbying and consulting, deservedly attracting negative attention that unfortunately has fallen on our party as a whole. We owe each other loyalty but we should not allow our trust to be abused. It is our responsibility to disavow these actions, as well as the manner in which they continue today through the HRCC.
It seems that in the past unless you raised a certain amount of money or hired a particular consultant that you could not advance in our body. I completely support ethical efforts to raise money to elect ethical, conservative Republicans to fill our ranks to keep a pro-business, anti-tax majority. But it seems more and more that the money we are raising is not to elect ethical conservatives--- but to support lavish lifestyles and to pay for appointments, committee assignments and leadership positions.
As we work hard to raise money in this economic climate, we must question how that money is spent.
Through their multiple political connections, Tilley and Jetton are inexorably connected. After Jetton left the HRCC, his leadership committee was given a jump-start of $15,922.00 by a PAC connected to Tilley. Tilley has directly employed Jetton's consulting services, and their indirect relationships are too numerous to count here. Through them, Tilley has been linked to many of the same controversies that have embroiled Jetton.
I am unable to sympathize with them. They took an institution designed to help Republican candidates and used it to promote themselves. The Missouri Republican Party does not need and cannot afford the type of leadership that hides from the public view and operates in the shadows.
We need new leadership in the House.
For a member of the Missouri House to stand up and demand this change is unusual, but given the circumstances I see no other choice. I certainly never imagined myself doing this, but now I find myself disappointed for not doing it sooner.
We need to demand new leadership to retain our majority. Speaker Jetton was obviously corrupted by power. We are entrusted by the people to do what is right. As painful as it may be for some, we need to disavow Speaker Jetton and his associates. We are the party of values, not this disgusting behavior. We need to clean up our House before the Democrats attack us and take the majority.
Signed,
Anonymous
