You Might Have Heard...

I have promised to chair the Republican Party of Texas honestly, openly, and accountably. That begins now. I want to address the individual concerns of delegates, and take up directly any challenges from other candidates—that’s what this page is for. If you have your own concerns, please send them to me here, and they will be addressed promptly and openly on this page. –Tom Mechler

“Tom is pro amnesty and pro illegal immigration.”

• Some people have been spreading the rumor that Tom’s chief fundraiser is pro-amnesty and easy on illegal immigration; and that this fundraiser supports Tom because Tom shares his views. In fact, neither of these have any truth to them at all. 
• Tom is consistently against amnesty, and supports efforts to secure our borders. Tom advocates a guest worker program, which is not a pathway to citizenship, and will not lead to amnesty; such a program would be used to pay for the social services workers use while in our country, and will be used to identify the workers we want to have in our country, while keeping out the criminals. This would reduce violence and drug trafficking, while at the same time strengthening our economy, and reducing the burden on taxpayers. 
• Tom’s position is the same as that of Senator John Cornyn and Committeeman Bill Crocker—it is the best position for Texas.

“The only difference I see between Tom and Steve is that Steve is retired, which allows him to be a full time chair.”

• Tom has been a full time Republican activist for many years now. He has trusted people in place to run his company—which further speaks to his leadership and organizational skills. His business hasn’t slowed him down one bit. He devoted himself tirelessly to Voter ID, and has been running full time for State Chair—if elected, Tom will continue to devote the time and energy required to make the Republican Party of Texas the strong, effective, organization it should be.

“Cathie only got elected in November. She’s new—give her a chance.”

• Our current problems are not new—and Cathie is not new to them. Before she was elected as interim Chair, Cathie Adams was on the officials committee when our debt problems began to explode. Tom and Melinda saw the problems coming even then, and regularly approached, Cathie, and Robin Armstrong (current Vice Chair) about the problems between February and June of 2009—there was no response. SREC member Russ Duerstine wrote a letter about the problems in July—no response. Russ followed up in August—no response. And again in September—no response.
• Cathie and Robin have long been aware of the problems, and has had ample opportunity to address them. She had oversight and responsibility then as Committeewoman, she has continued in some of the same practices until called out on it by the SREC and others including Tom Mechler.

“Cathie is the only candidate who has managed a statewide organization.”

• We all appreciate the work Cathie Adams did as president of Texas Eagle Forum, where she led and lobbied on many socially conservative issues—that is her expertise. Speaking and lobbying, however, isn’t enough to chair the RPT—you need real statewide leadership experience.
• Tom Mechler was appointed by Governor Rick Perry as Vice-Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice in 2005. The TBCJ has a budget of approximately $3 billion dollars, and touches the lives of roughly 700,000 people; 40,000 employees, 152,000 incarcerated felons, 77,000 parolees, and 450,000 probationers. Concurrently, Tom serves as the Vice-Chair of the Windham School Board, the school district for the prison system, which has 40,000 students and $58 million dollar annual budget.
• Melinda Fredricks has served on statewide organizations since 2003. She first served on the Texas Medical Board, which has a budget of $9 million and 125 employees, until 2008. Currently, she is one of three commissioners of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), where she helps oversee a $41 million dollar budget and approximately 700 employees.  The projected revenue for the TABC in 2009 was $265 million.
• Tom and Melinda have just the sort of experience that is needed to chair an organization as large and important as the RPT.