The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) has ruled there is no “legal meeting” of the Broward Republican Executive Committee (BREC) tonight in Plantation. At the August BREC meeting, Vice-Chair Celeste Ellich announced there would be no September meeting due to the Reagan Day Dinner. Over 200 guests attended the dinner this past Saturday in Oakland Park.
Just days after the August meeting, BREC secretary Rupert Tarsey and his “ally” Richard DeNapoli plotted to remove Chairman Bob Sutton. Tarsey, DeNapoli and treasurer Kevin Moot used a vote of no confidence and a motion filed by Joe Kaufman as a pretext to call for a meeting in September. Tarsey and his allies repeatedly claimed Sutton and Ellich had no authority to stop a September vote on Sutton’s removal. Multiple sources tell REDBROWARD that Tarsey and his allies hoped to remove Sutton and replace him with Tarsey during an October election.
Plans changed over the Labor Day weekend when Rupert Tarsey’s criminal past made international headlines. In May 2007, Tarsey, then known as Rupert Ditsworth, attacked a female classmate at the exclusive Harvard-Westlake school in Beverly Hills, California. According to the victim, Tarsey struck her forty times with a claw hammer. When the hammer broke, Tarsey choked her. The seventeen year-old Tarsey was charged, as an adult, with attempted first degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to publshed reports, a plea deal was struck. Tarsey received six years probabtion as well as a prolonged stay in a mental health facility.
After news of the attack broke in the Sunshine State News and the London Daily Mail, Rupert Tarsey claimed he acted in self-defense. In an email, “Tarsey also wrote, using capital letters, that ‘EVEN THOUGH I WAS ACTING IN SELF DEFENSE I STILL REGRET WHAT HAPPENED AND FEEL THAT MY ACTIONS WERE UNCALLED FOR.’” Tarsey made the shocking claim his victim was bigger than him.
In the Sun-Sentinel, Richard DeNapoli defended Tarsey. DeNapoli said, “There is a concept I see at work here of ‘Hey, you’re guilty until you’re proven innocent,’ which is contrary to American jurisprudence.”
RPOF RULES AGAINST THE TARSEY/DENAPOLI MEETING
In a Sunday email, the RPOF Parliamentarian ruled, “The so-called meeting of the BREC announced for Monday 9/25/17 is not a legal meeting and no Republican business can be transacted. The Secretary acted outside the authority of his office in issuing a Call.” Since the Vice Chair announced there would be no meeting in September during the August meeting, the Parliamentarian states any meeting in September would have to be a “special meeting.”
According to the RPOF ruling, a special meeting “may be called by the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman or by a petition of 20% of the membership.” The RPOF states, Tarsey “has no authority, unless the offices of Chairman and Vice Chairman are vacant as defined in the Constitution, to call a meeting.”
Late Sunday night, Joe Kaufman withdrew his motion to remove Chairman Sutton. Despite the illegality of the meeting and the lack of a motion, REDBROWARD has learned Tarsey and DeNapoli still plan to gather at Deicke Auditorium on Monday evening. BREC sources tell REDBROWARD that the City of Plantation, which owns Deicke Auditorium, has been told there is no BREC meeting Monday night. Additionally, BREC told the City it would not be held liable for any costs, fees or losses caused by an illegal gathering.
On Monday, City of Plantation officials confirmed there is no meeting scheduled for Monday night at Deicke Auditorium.
Since Sutton and Ellich will not be in Plantation, Rupert Tarsey would preside over the illegal meeting.
A source claims Tarsey hopes to circulate a petition at the illegal meeting calling for a mid-October meeting to remove Sutton.
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