I don’t think anyone could argue with a straight face that the Republican Party hasn’t made itself a major player in San Diego over the past maybe six years. The change started under current CRP Chairman Ron Nehring, and continued under current San Diego GOP Chairman Tony Krvaric. In my mind, the local GOP and the Lincoln Club and a few of the local business associations filled the vacuum left by a Chamber of Commerce that is in fact useless.
With an elected membership the local GOP cannot be the easiest organization to run. Under Krvaric’s term there has been some level of discontent about what I guess I would call increased centralization of power. There would be a pretty good argument that a large elected body couldn’t be run as a direct democracy. And there is the tension: with the need for decisiveness and privacy in political matters, how much power should the Chairman or the executive committee have?
Over the last couple years this question has been debated with some venom, largely from the “less power” side (I think anyone who reads this blog regularly would agree I’m not on a side, just an observer), and with some degree of retaliation from the “more power” side. It’s been quiet for a while but what did I get over the internet a few days ago? A link to a website critical of Krvaric, linking in one place most the the criticisms that have been levied against him over the years (www.retiretonykrvaric.com).
I’ve addressed some of these criticisms in the past. Largely they are misleading. But it is news that an otherwise quiet half a year or so is over.