Fake or Compromised? Stonewall Democrats of El Paso

The local chapter of the Stonewall Democrats held its first official meeting on Wednesday May 25. They had been struggling to get their chapter off the ground due to bad communication, questionable leadership and lack of people skills. Now most people are probably asking how a Republican, that's me, could be writing about a Democratic club and expect people to believe it is just not another attack piece on the Democratic Party. I asked myself the same question. But then I told myself (don't judge, we all talk to ourselves every once in a while) this isn't about parties, this is about doing what is right. Believe it or not it would probably be better that I didn't write this piece so the charades could continue within this new group and let them run themselves into the dirt. Politically that would be best for me and the Republican Party. But I'm not just going to sit back and watch. I'm going to throw in my two cents.

Here is some of the back story. A couple members of the Democratic Party were trying to revive a chapter of the Stonewall Democrats here in El Paso. From the outside looking in that sound like perfectly normally thing to do. According to the groups website http://www.texasstonewalldemocrats.org/, the group is a general-purpose political committee. Once again, even though they are on the opposite side of where I stand politically and  they are completely wrong on issues, they are not doing anything wrong or illegal. Lets take a look at what the group at the state level is all about. Take a look below at what the group is supposed to do.

• Maximize Democratic voter turnout in our Community;
• Educate our Community and people who are supportive of it about the vast differences that exist between the two major parties on the issues of concern to our Community;
• Encourage our Community to participate in the campaigns of Democratic candidates and at all levels of the Democratic Party;
• Sensitize Democratic candidates and officeholders to the needs of our Community;
• Educate voters about legislative issues that affect our Community; and
• Work with local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Democratic clubs and individuals to encourage and foster the creation of new clubs.

It all looks pretty simple if you ask me. But is that what the local El Paso Chapter is doing? Like I mentioned before, the local chapter had a hard time taking off the ground. Several potential members of the Stonewall Democrats quit the group before it was even officially chartered. Not because they did not agree with the purpose of the group, but because of the leadership, or lack of really. Danny Rollings is the Chairman of the group. For several weeks, he and other board members were advertising themselves as the Stonewall Democrats before even being chartered. Meetings were scheduled. People who were interested showed up and even payed their dues, even though the group had not been chartered. But then things started to fall apart. Meetings were announced put then changed without notifying all the members. Complaints were made and refunds were requested. Danny Rollings played dumb and gave people the run around. He would not refund the money and had his Vice Chair, Jaime Abeytia, tell these people that they (the unofficial Stonewall Democrats) had to hold their first official meeting and take a vote before they could refund any money.

"I looked in to it and you will be getting a refund. We will be voting on it in the next meeting. That's just a formality though. As soon as that gets done, we will refund your money" -Jaime Abeytia

People were asking for their refunds since early April but nothing was being done. Letters were then sent to Daniel Graney, President of Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus. Take a look at his e-mail response below. 

"First, let me state emphatically that Stonewall Democrats of El Paso has not yet been officially recognized as a chapter by the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus and is therefore not "under our umbrella".  The last time I spoke with Mr. Rollings in late March or early April, he informed me that the group had its first meeting and that they were proceeding to meet the threshold requirements to become a recognized chapter.  Those threshold requirements include the following:

(1) Adoption of a set of bylaws to be submitted to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus (TSDC) for approval

(2) Open election of officers including President and Vice President (or Co-Chairs in the alternative), a Secretary and a Treasurer with names of such provided to the TSDC

(3) Minimum of 10 dues-paying members

(4) Remittance of $5 per dues-paying member to the TSDC along with names and contact information for each such member (TSDC dues are $5 from your individual chapter dues and $2.50 per member for Stonewall Young Democrats groups)

(5) Evidence that an Appointment of Campaign Treasurer has been filed with the Texas Ethics Commission (to form a general purpose political committee or PAC).

To date, I have received none of the above from Mr. Rollings or anyone else associated with this group.  Unless and until the El Paso group complies with the threshold requirements of being a chapter or affiliate, it cannot continue to use the term "Stonewall Democrats" in its name as that term is a trademark of National Stonewall Democrats.

I will be happy to contact Mr. Rollings to inquire about this matter and to urge him and/or the treasurer to promptly refund your money.  Other than that, there is nothing I or the TSDC can do to intervene in this matter.  If you do not receive a refund of your money within a reasonable time, I would recommend you take this matter to small claims court or to a local attorney.

I am troubled by what you shared in your e-mail and I do hope this matter gets resolved quickly.

Sincerely yours,

Daniel Graney

President

Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus"

Not really a good start for a new club. But now lets talk about the lack of leadership. Many of you have seen the humorous posts that I have put upon my blog about Danny Rollings and know of his character. He wants to be in charge of every LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transexual) club in El Paso and will do what ever, and I mean WHAT EVER, it takes to get to the top. But is he even eligible to be in charge of the Stonewall Democrats? Relax! I'm not questioning his sexuality, the pictures I posted prove he is more than qualified, even though being gay is not a qualification to be a member of the Stonewall Democrats of Texas. He obviously is over 18, so that's a another qualification met. Id he a Democrat? Well the State of Texas does not require people to register for a party. Even if Rollings was a Republican at one point, he theoretically could have "seen the light" and changed party affiliations. Now a days people switch party affiliation all the time so this could just be another one of those situations. So I guess there is no problem with Danny Rollings being the Chairman of the Stonewall Democrats of El Paso then, right? Well lets not get all giddy yet. 


It was brought to Daniel Graney's attention that Danny Rollings had run for office in New Mexico and had actually won the Republican party's nomination for State Representative.

Official 2002 Primary Election Results for

STATE REPRESENTATIVE - DISTRICT 34

MARY HELEN GARCIA	DEMOCRAT	723	100%
JANICE K. BROOKS	REPUBLICAN	125	43%
DANIEL L. ROLLINGS	REPUBLICAN	168	57%

But once again Daniel Graney stressed that Danny Rollings may have at one point received the Republican Party nomination but now had converted to the Democratic Party. OK, he has a point. It could have happened.But now the final question. Is he a registered voter. Records show that Daniel Lynn Rollings is a registered voter.........in the state of New Mexico.


In a report pulled on May 29, 2011 I found that Daniel L Rollings is still an active registered voter in Otero county.

Registrant Detail

Name DANIEL ROLLINGS Status ACTIVE Reason ACTIVE REGISTRANT Address 80 RED ROCK ROAD HIGH ROLLS MTN PARK, NM 88325 Party REPUBLICAN Polling Place HIGH ROLLS FIRE STATION PO BOX 493 39 OLD RAILROAD DRIVE HIGH ROLLS MTN PARK, NM 88325 This is not the first time I have posted this information. Plenty of people came to Rollings defense and said that Rollings IS a registered voter in Texas. Lets analyse this. If Rollings IS a registered voter in the state of Texas then he is breaking the law by being registered in two different states. But I don't think that is the case here. After some research, I have found that there is a person by the name of Daniel Rollings registered to vote in Texas. What?! Yeah, unfortunately it is a Daniel J. Rollings with a date of birth of July 9, 1959. The Daniel Rollings in question is about 20 years younger, or he takes care of his skin very well using plenty of moisturizers and anti-wrinkle creams that make him look a whole lot younger.  With this new information we now know that Daniel J. Rollings, the 51 year old from Fort Bed County, is qualified to be the Chairman of the Stonewall Democrats in El Paso. We can't say the same about Daniel Lynn Rollings who lives in El Paso. Sorry to rain on your parade Danny. Now lets talk about the timing behind the group. The race for City Council District 1 is heading for a run off. Lyda "What A Mess" Ness-Garcia is doing everything she can to get the upper hand, even though she owes the IRS about $200,000 and allegedly has judgments against her for not paying court reporters, and win this election. Danny Rollings is her henchman in her campaign and figures he can round up support for "The Mess" using this club. Let's not forget that Jaime Abeytia is the Vice Chair of this club and a known mouth piece for her as well. Even though Abeytia claims that this club was not started just to help "The Mess", the timing brings up many suspicions. "The Mess" was a speaker at the clubs first official meeting. You make of it what you will. At the end of the day I think that the Stonewall Democrats is a legitimate club with illegitimate leadership. I think the LGBT community should throw Danny Rollings on his fanny for not being qualified and for just being a jerk and get some one who truly has the LGBT's best interest in mind and not someone who is pushing their own agenda. This infighting at such an early stage will only get worse and tear the club apart forcing it to disappear once again as soon as the election is over. But like I said before, that really wouldn't hurt me one bit. But it would hurt those who are looking to be apart of something that better represents them and their concerns. Danny Rollings' attitude and elitist ways will not allow him to accomplish the goals set by the Stonewall Democrats of Texas. How is he supposed to maximize Democratic voter turn out when he is not very supportive, encouraging, sensitive to members' concerns and can't work very well with others. But like I said before, leave him in office and it will make my job easier.