CENTREVILLE -- The chair of the Republican Environmental Alliance PAC, Jay Falstad, filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections on Wednesday morning against the Queen Anne's County Republican Central Committee, arguing a robocall it sent out this month was in violation of its own bylaws.
The controversy began when Eric Wargotz, the only Republican on the Queen Anne's County Commission, found himself the target of a robocall paid for by the county's Republican Central Committee protesting the "Rural Preservation and Development Act" - a piece of legislation Wargotz introduced.
"Commissioner Wargotz has proposed County Ordinance 08-25 that will substantially reduce land values in Queen Anne's County. A hearing on the Ordinance will be held on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 2:30 p.m. at the Planning Commission offices in Centreville," the robocall says. "Make your voice heard by attending the hearing or contacting the Commissioners to express your views. Do not let our elected officials steal your personal property rights. Paid for by the Queen Anne's County Republican Central Committee."
Falstad announced he had filed a complaint Wednesday evening during a heated exchange with Republican Central Committee members at the Centreville Public Library. Committee members challenged Falstad's motives. Central Committee member Andrew Langer claimed Falstad is a paid lobbyist for Queen Anne's Conservation, where he makes $60,000 a year, but Falstad said he filed the complaint on behalf of his roughly 33-member environmental PAC.
"I think you are parsing words. I find it incredibly disingenuous," Langer said at the Wednesday meeting.
In an interview Thursday, Falstad said his reason for the complaint was three-fold. First, he argued Article 5, Section 4 of the Central Committee's bylaws says all communications must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Central Committee. With two members not in favor, he claimed, the robocall should have listed only the members in favor, not the entire committee.
Second, Falstad argued there is no language in the Central Committee's bylaws that allow it to take positions on policy issues. And third, he said the "authority disclosure" of the robocall didn't list the name of the Central Committee's treasurer as required by law.
But Central Committee member Andrew Langer said committee members Diana Waterman and Bob Foley didn't vote at all. In regard to the authority disclosure, Langer said: "If we made a mistake, sorry, but that mistake should not diminish the importance of the issues we were discussing."
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