Contact: Mark Forton, 586-949-1576

May 14, 2002

REFORM PARTY OF MICHIGAN DISAFFILIATES FROM THE RPUSA

Michigan takes action in wake of national party breakup

On Saturday, May 11, 2002, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the State Central Committee, having a quorum present, the Reform Party of Michigan voted by a two-thirds majority to disaffiliate from the Reform Party USA. The meeting was conducted in Lansing Michigan.

The Reform Party of Michigan will retain its name and ballot position in the 2002 election in Michigan.

The breakup of the RPUSA began on March 13, 2002, when the Chairman of the RPUSA suspended the National Committee of the RPUSA in a dispute over two National Committee resolutions that he opposed.

Since that time, ten states have disaffiliated with the RPUSA. One state filed dissolution documents with their Secretary of State, and one state saw all its officers resign. In addition, six of the eleven RPUSA Executive Committee members resigned, including two of the four national officers. Numerous other National Committee members and other party officers have resigned.

"We regret the actions of the Chairman and the Executive Committee. They were clearly wrong and unprofessional. We are also saddened by the fact that so many key leaders in the national party have resigned and so many states have decided to disaffiliate. We disagree with their actions as well. However, the current dysfunctional situation within RPUSA clearly calls into question its ability to survive as a national organization with any measure of credibility. This is an unnecessary distraction that has a negative impact upon our state party and its ability to attract quality candidates in this important election year.

Our decision to disaffiliate was not made lightly as we were pushed into this action by all sides. We will move forward in our effort to provide Michigan voters with a solid conservative choice in this years elections." –M. Forton, Chairman Reform Party of Michigan

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RESOLUTION:

REFORM PARTY OF MICHIGAN DISAFFILIATION WITH RPUSA

Whereas, the Chairman of the Reform Party USA (RPUSA), on March 13, 2002, has suspended the National Committee of the RPUSA (NATCOM) thereby refusing to recognize any State Party Organization (SPO), and eliminating any participation by any (SPO) in any RPUSA decision making processes; and,

Whereas, the Chairman of the RPUSA has created a special credentialing committee to investigate the credentials of every NATCOM member nation wide by June 1, 2002; and,

Whereas, The Executive Committee of the RPUSA (EXCOM) has passed resolutions exempting itself from any future NATCOM resolutions and declared past resolutions of the NATCOM to be illegal; and,

Whereas, since April 15, 2002, these and other actions of the Chairman of the RPUSA has led to at least 10 states (Colorado, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Iowa, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi) to disaffiliate from the RPUSA, 2 more state parties filed dissolution statements with their Secretaries of State (Texas and Wyoming), and 1 state saw all it’s Officers resign in protest (California); and,

Whereas, since April 15, 2002, these and other actions of the Chairman of the RPUSA has led to the resignations of six of the eleven members of the EXCOM which includes two of the four National Officers, and four of the seven Regional Representatives, and the resignation of 36 additional members of the NATCOM (a total of 42 out of 126), resignations of three of the six Standing Committee Chairmen (Rules, Issues, and Finance), and resignation of the Convention Site Selection Committee Chairman; and,

Whereas, a number of other State Party Organizations are also taking up the subject of disaffiliation; and

Whereas, the current situation within the Executive Committee of the Reform Party USA and it’s actions, calls into question its ability to survive as a national organization with any credibility; and,

Whereas, the current situation is having a demonstrably negative impact upon our state party and its ability to grow and attract candidates in this important election year; and,

Whereas, our list of grievances as mentioned above have no ability to be resolved without Michigan’s ability to participate in any decision making process at the national level; and,

Now therefore be it resolved by the Reform Party of Michigan State Central Committee:

That, in accordance with Article IV, Section 2 of the By Laws of the Reform Party of Michigan, this resolution shall be passed only by a two-thirds supermajority of the State Central Committee of the Reform Party of Michigan; and,

That, the Reform Party of Michigan shall no longer affiliate itself with the Reform Party of the United States of America; and,

That, this disaffiliation shall become effective upon transmission of this resolution and a letter to the National Chairman and/or the National Secretary by the Chair of the Reform Party of Michigan, Mark Forton; and,

That, the Reform Party of Michigan (RPM) does hereby request that the RPUSA remove all references to the Reform Party of Michigan from its state contacts web pages and no longer list its national committee members or make other reference to the Reform Party of Michigan on the website of the RPUSA, except as may exist in minutes and other archival and historical documents.

Adopted by the State Central Committee of the Reform Party of Michigan on May 11, 2002 in Lansing Michigan, according to Article IV, Section 2, Reform Party of Michigan By-Laws as amended April 20, 2002.

Mark Forton, Chairman

Tracy DeNise, Secretary

Reform Party of Michigan


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