High Desert Democrats dissolve

Group's breakup stems from Dems supporting GOP candidates

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Sunday, March 4, 2007.

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - An ongoing internal feud over whether local Democrats should help Republicans get elected to office has led to the temporary dissolution of the Democratic Club of the High Desert.

Democrats who are determined to revive the organization voted last week to fill its five elective offices with new people and to submit the money and paperwork needed to re-establish the club under the auspices of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.

"It is time to move on, and I think that, with this (new) executive board, we can do that," said Bob Forshay, the newly elected president. "We have to get ready for 2008. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves."

Elected with Forshay, who is a founding member of the Antelope Valley Human Relation Task Force, were Randy Monette as first vice president, Juan Blanco as second vice president, Marie McClintock as treasurer and Patricia Correia as secretary.

The election filled posts left vacant by those who ostensibly resigned because of Los Angeles County Democratic Party officials' refusal to reprimand high-profile club members ­- particularly Palmdale School District trustee Sandy Corrales and Antelope Valley Human Relations Task Force chairman Darren Parker - who supported Republicans in the 2006 Lancaster election. The resignations left no one in authority to pay the dues needed to renew its charter, which expired Dec. 31.

Despite the lapse, the club will be allowed to reapply for a new charter, county party Chairman Eric Bauman said.

"The executive board of the county Democratic Party took a unanimous action that said upon the conclusion of a duly noticed meeting of the members of the Democratic Club of the High Desert, a properly conducted election of officers, and the completion and submission of a charter application form, we would grant them expedited chartering, assuming they meet all of the requirements," Bauman said.

The first step toward obtaining the club's new charter was to fill its vacant offices. If everything falls into place, the club could be re-chartered within a month, Parker said.

Leadership struggles in political organizations are common, Bauman said, terming the flap in the Antelope Valley "an advanced case of growing pains."

Most of the club's members will stay, and many of those who leave might return, Bauman said.

"It is entirely possible that if there are in fact two distinct groups of people who are strong-willed and strongly committed, you could end up with two Democratic clubs in the area," he said.

As long as both groups work for the advancement of Democrats, the arrangement would not be detrimental to the party, Bauman said.

The club's last remaining officer, President Greg Morgan, resigned Feb. 16, saying he was stepping down in protest of the manipulation of the club "to advance goals of the Republican Party."

Naming Parker and Corrales in particular, Morgan said, "It is no secret that Mr. Parker hitched his horse to the Republican wagon," as evidenced by Parker's willingness to resign as Region 11 director for the California Democratic Party to help Republican Henry Hearns win election as mayor of Lancaster in April 2006.

After participating in Hearns' campaign, Parker picked up his Democratic cloak and was named the county Democratic Party's vice chairman for Region 1, which includes the 36th, 37th, 38th and 39th Assembly districts.

Corrales, a former club president and former county party official, endorsed the election of Republican Ed Sileo to the Lancaster City Council in the April 2006 election, Morgan's letter said.

As a body, the Democratic Club of the High Desert formally endorsed the election of Dave Gomez, Desmond Kester, Mark Walters and Kathleen Morgan - spouse of Greg Morgan - in the November 2005 Palmdale and Palmdale Water District elections, and endorsed Gene Gaynor for mayor in the April 2006 Lancaster election.

In the Lancaster race, Gaynor was a Democrat opposing Republican Hearns, and Gaynor's campaign manager was Greg Morgan.

When the Lancaster election was over and Hearns had won, Democratic Club leaders attempted but failed to have Corrales but not Parker formally censured for endorsing across political lines.

Following that failure, Democratic club President Calvin Robinson, Second Vice President Ruben Zepeda, Secretary Linda Camacho and Treasurer Bo Bynum stepped down, one by one.

No officer except Morgan "attributed stepping down from the club because of any actions of the body," Parker said. Instead, all cited personal reasons for giving up their posts.

Bynum in particular stepped down to compete with incumbent Republican Sharon Runner for the 36th District Assembly seat, Parker said. Bynum, a Palmdale School District trustee, was defeated in the November 2006 election.

After the resignations of the club's officers, Robinson was replaced as president by Greg Morgan, who moved up from the post of first vice president. Morgan was replaced by Shank, leaving the office of second vice president vacant. Camacho was replaced by Correia, and Bynum was replaced by McClintock.

In the end, the only person holding office who had been elected at some point by club members was Morgan. Because there are no rules that allow for such movement between offices, Parker said.

"I don't think resignations are necessarily a bad or negative thing," Corrales said. "I think they symbolize change and, in some cases, progress."

"I think a lot of people would agree that our club needs new leadership," she said.

"I echo Sandy's sentiments," said Robert Alvarado, who replaced Parker as Region 11 director during the Hearns campaign and also opposed the censure of Corrales.

What the club needs is Democrats who support Democrats, Morgan said in his letter of resignation.

"Associating with Republicans (or) having close friends who are Republicans is one thing, (but) working to advance goals of the Republican Party is another," Morgan wrote.

"Unconscionable, however, is providing material support to the Republican Party" while identifying oneself as a Democrat, he said.

"I … and many others find this result dishonorable," Morgan said.

While acknowledging it is important for Democrats to win local offices, Parker said the lines between the parties are "grayer" in the Antelope Valley than anywhere else in L.A. County.

"There are some people who still have some hard feelings" about the lack of action against Corrales, but the attempt to censure her should never have happened, Parker said.

"The party has never said, 'You can't vote for your dad because he's a Republican,'" he said.

While state and county Democratic Party officers cannot endorse candidates from other parties, there is no such rule for the members of the Democratic Club of the High Desert, Parker said, recalling that he resigned as a state officer when he worked with Hearns.

"There are good Democrats and there are bad Democrats, just like there are good Republicans and bad Republicans, and we try to support the people whose values are in line with the community's," Parker said.

Bauman added that the Antelope Valley club as a whole is prohibited from endorsing a non-Democratic candidate for office, but he noted that individual members are allowed under the First Amendment to express support for anyone.

"When you are in areas … that are Republican dominated, … the only way you can get things done is to work with non-Democrats if they dominate the city councils, the school boards and the water boards," Bauman said.

Nevertheless, such cooperation sometimes incurs the wrath of those who are strictly partisan, he said.

In this case, the problem was magnified "because some of the people involved had direct, personal things at stake," he continued.

Without identifying Greg Morgan by name, Bauman said, "If your wife is running for the city council, and somebody who you view as part of the Democratic Party infrastructure doesn't support your wife, then not only does it make you angry as an activist, it makes you angry personally."

In response, Morgan said, "To rise in defense of one's family, friends and community is no vice. These are good old American values as basic as mom, baseball and apple pie."

"It is a sad commentary of our times where a leader asserts right is wrong and wrong is right. I doubt that the head of the Republican Central Committee would condone this (type of behavior) for very long. It's unfortunate that Mr. Bauman apparently does," Morgan said.

On the local level, where offices are supposed to be nonpartisan, some moderate Republicans have appointed Democrats to public boards, which later helped them win election to public office, Alvarado said, noting that cross-party support sometimes goes both ways.

Despite complaints from some, club efforts have led to the successful election of Democrats to a number of local governmental bodies, Corrales said.

"We've been through this before," with the club splitting and later getting back together, Parker said.

About 90 people remain as club supporters, of whom about 50 are actively involved, he said. "We have a solid core group of 25 or 30 members who are constantly out there working," Parker said.

On Wednesday, 27 club members turned out to cast ballots for new officers.

The club has a mailing list of nearly 700 local Democrats who are not paid members of the club, Parker said.

Before resigning, Morgan closed the Democratic Club's bank account and advised Bauman that the money in that account and other club documents would be sent to him, with postage due at delivery.

Before closing their meeting, the members of the Democratic Club approved opening a new account at a different bank and assigning control of its Web site to a different member.