If Parker digs in
Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, five other Democrats who were elected statewide, and Democratic legislative leaders are calling for NCDP Chairman David Parker to resign over his handling of sexual harassment allegations involving former Executive Director Jay Parmley. Parker has, thus far, refused.
"I have no plans to resign and I am moving forward with the work of the Democratic Party," Parker said in an e-mail today.
If Parker digs in and Democrats want him force him out of the job, there is a process to remove him as state party chair.
That process, outlined in the N.C. Democratic Party Plan of Organization, can begin with a single complaint from any Democrat in the state. That complaint would go to the party's first vice chair, Gwen Wilkins.
The three party vice chairmen and secretary would then vote as to whether there is probable cause to remove Parker as chairman. If that group votes to remove, the case then goes to a "Council of Review." From the state plan:
"The Council of Review shall consist of one (1) member from each congressional district who shall be elected at the congressional district conventions held in even-numbered years, and four (4) members at-large to be appointed by the state chair.
"No person may be a member of the Council of Review who also serves as a chair of a county or district executive committee or as an elected or appointed officer of the state executive committee."
Jim Slaughter, a Greensboro lawyer and an expert on parliamentary matters, is chairman of the Council of Review. The council is made up of Democratic leaders from across the state.
That council has procedures by which to gather evidence and hold a hearing. It is empowered to remove an officer, but there is an appeal to the State Executive Council. Again, from the bylaws:
"The members of the state executive council shall be: the state chair, each of the three state vice chairs, the secretary, the treasurer, the chair or co-chairs of the Sustaining Fund, the chair for minority affairs, the advisor to the Teen Dems, the state presidents of all state auxiliary organizations with by-laws approved by the state executive committee, the congressional district chairs, the members of the Democratic National Committee from North Carolina, the national committeeman and the national committeewoman of the Young Democrats of North Carolina, and three at-large members appointed by the state chair. These three members appointed by the state chair shall reasonably reflect the geographic, racial, ethnic, and gender makeup of registered Democrats in North Carolina. The state chair shall serve as chair of the state executive council."
