October 2, 2024

North Carolina Republican Party
Plan of Organization Committee
October 2, 2024

Chairman Dan Barry called the meeting to order.
Chairman Barry reminded the committee that the committee has been bogged down with
difficult topics such as the size and structure and the Executive and Central Committees,
as well as what authority those bodies have.
There have been some questions as to how many people comprise the size of said
committees, and who should be on those committees. The additional questions of who
has what authority to do what also comes up in these discussions. One statement is that
the Executive Committee should have the greatest authority and that the Central
Committee has wrestled away some of that authority.
Vice Chairman Mike Phillips mentioned that there is no clear sense of the leadership
structure. Mr. Phillips compared the structure of the leadership apparatus to a wedding
cake, referring to it as layered. He did go on to state that the Executive Committee should
essentially run the state GOP.
Bill Scholtes mentioned that he believed that the focus needs to be on the Executive
Committee. The Executive Committee has no governing tools. By that it is simply a body
individuals who gather together who don’t have their own separate leadership the power
to form committees, make opinions to effectively govern. He stated that he does believe
the EC needs to be smaller in order to be able to effectively make decisions.
Chairman Barry went around the horn to get commentary from the District
Representatives.
Bob Castona: His thought was that the Central Committee might need to play a greater
role.
Tommy Fuller: Are we looking at the structure before the task? The role of the party is to

develop a platform, recruit and train candidates and volunteers, and to give our elected
officials support. Reducing the EC does not necessarily weaken it. We need to clearly
define what the roles and tasks are.
Mike Owens: The Executive Committee, as it stands now, does not do a whole lot. He’s
not necessarily opposed to the Central Committee doing more, but the question is how
much more is needed before the need of the Executive Committee is eliminated.
Bob Pruett: The management of both committees have gone down over the last several
years. The biggest problem is the difference between urban and rural districts.
Mike Phillips: The problem is the makeup of the Central Committee. The auxiliary clubs
have more power on the Central Committee than they deserve since they have not done
much for the party lately. The Executive Committee is a check on the overuse and abuse
of power. The EC does have the power to remove the chairman if one does not serve in
an efficient and appropriate manner.
Jerol Kivett: The problem is that the EC membership is not as dedicated as the Central
Committee. He does support removing the vote from the Auxilliaries.
Bernie Parnell would have no problem with dropping the quorum or reducing the size of
the Central Committee.
Trey Martin: The Central Committee appears to be more knowledgeable on the issues
facing the state party as opposed to the Executive Committee. His opinion is that we
don’t want them competing with each other. The roles need to be better defined.
Marshall Conrad: The affiliate groups need to be removed from the Central Committee.
The Executive Committee needs to be smaller and no effected by quorum. The EC is a
slower moving, deliberative body, where the Central Committee needs to move at a
quicker pace. How are duties set up to assure that we have that?
Ed Stiles: The auxiliaries probably need to be removed from the Central Committee. The
size of the Executive Committee needs to be addressed based on two December meetings
called that did not have a quorum. Who do we eliminate in order to satisfy a quorum.
Robert Watkins: Maybe the District Officers and State officers only need to comprise the
Central Committee. Elected officials need to be removed since they work for a much
broader range of people than just Republican activists.
There was considerable agreement over the need to find the redundancies in the
Executive and Central Committees and removing them.

Chairman Barry described the current structure in corporate terms where the Executive
Committee are the stockholders, the Central Committee are the Board of Directors, and
the officers are the executives.
Ideas On How to Reduce the Executive Committee
Should the quorum be reduced to as low as 10% of the membership? Should there be a
separate requirement for county chairs be included in the quorum (30 county chairs have
to be part of that)? Should there be a requirement to meet quarterly? Should the
committees become entities of the Executive Committee? Reduce the ratio from 1:8000
to 1:1600? Should we remove the vice chairs and all affiliate groups?
There being no further business to come before the committee, Ed Stiles moved to
adjourn with Mike Phillips seconding. The motion passed and the committee adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,
Ed Stiles
First District Representative
Committee Secretary