This is Part 1. It gets even better. We begin with the LNC ByLaws, which read in part
The Credentials Committee, composed of 10 members, shall be selected as follows. a. Five members chosen by the National Committee no later than six months before a regular convention…Ranked alternates may be named by the appointing bodies to fill any vacancies or absences in the convention committees.
The first gives a hard deadline. LNC appointments to the Credentials Committee must be made at least six months before the convention deadline. The second corresponds to a path for replacing absent credentials committee members.
Let us now start at the beginning. At 3:49 this morning, At-Large member Adiran Malagon moved to make changes to the Credentials Committee’s membership. His motions read:
1. Change Jessica Tewksbury from LNC Credentials Committee Representative to LNC Credentials Committee Third Alternate.
2. Appoint Adrian F Malagon as LNC Credentials Committee Representative.
3 . Remove Alison Graham as LNC First Alternate to honor her stated desire to always serve as Pennsylvania Credentials Committee Representative and appoint Caryn Ann Harlos as First LNC Credentials Committee Representative.
He asked for co-sponsors.
Caryn Ann Harlos wrote: I co-sponsor all three motions.
Adam Haman, Region 1 Rep, wrote I cosponsor all three of these motions.
Meredith Hays wrote Co-Sponsor.
Pat Ford, Region 8 Representive wrote I’ll Co Sponsor.
Caryn Ann Harlos wrote to Adrian Malagon and the LNC: Mr. Malagon to confirm, and I will confirm with the sponsors, that you meant to appoint me as first alternate.
Adrian Malagon answered Yes Madam Sec, my apologies. Thanks for catching that!
Readers will note that Jessica Tewksbury is not absent, so there was no basis for removing her from the committee. If there were accusations against her, they needed to be voiced so that she could defend herself.
LNC Bylaws give a hard deadline for LNC appointments to the Credentials Committee. That deadline passed more than five months ago. An LNC Motion appointing someone to the Credentials Committee, on this date, is transparently invalid.
The LNC appointed its alternates in order. The First Alternate was Alison Graham. At the moment Tewksbury was removed, which the LNC lacks the authority to do, Graham as First Alternate becomes the LNC Representative on the Credentials Committee, so there would not have been a vacancy for Malagon to fill.
