Comments for Queen Garris and Free Speech | Eastern NC Now
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RO: The thing is these questions are all rooted in addressing abuses of power. The leadership should have addressed these things honestly to start with. The fact that they were not addressed up front demonstrates willful intent to undermine and disrespect the Executive Committee and the results of the 2025 Beaufort County Republican Convention. When the questions from the committee started coming, after a several months drought in even having a meeting, they were met with obscuration in the form of ruling speakers out of order, not recognizing committee speakers outright, unilaterally ruling members as non-members, calling the police, filing legal complaints for stalking against members refusing to leave meetings and adjourning meetings outright mid meeting. You seem to believe the questions have just not been asked. They have been attempted in meetings, and they have been asked outside of meetings. The truth is the leadership is contorting weirdly in shaping ways of not addressing any of the issues at hand.
It sounds like you are not sure there would be good answers to my questions either, but since it is Mr. Richardson involved changes everything. That's where I disagree with you. Using a personal hatred mania is a poor excuse for ignoring important issues and hiding deeds that need to see the light of day. In Mr. Richardson's defense, refusing to leave a meeting he has a right to attend is not poor conduct whatever you may think of the man otherwise. It is certainly not stalking. What is worth so much to go to these extremes in order to not have to deal with the questions? Convenient excuses do not make good excuses. Poor conduct is dreaming up far-fetched concocted reasons someone is no longer on a committee. That applies to Mr. Richardson as well as a growing list of other people deemed by one person using little real evidence and absolutely no due process. This is both poor conduct and awful leadership. The supporters of this one person using these tactics are responsible too. Of course, the Executive Committee as a whole is completely left out of everything. So much for advice and consent. Why are people so afraid of hearing Mr. Richardson's questions and concerns? For the record his concerns are my concerns. In fact, many people want answers to these questions. I believe leadership is afraid because they are legitimate concerns about abuses of power. These circumstances demand real accountability. People do not have to like each other to work together. Using and not abusing the rules paired with sound ethics and a level of professionalism is the only way to approach these matters. I can't see that happening with this group of people. They're not mature enough to do it. That's a shame because the times we live in need a good moral Republican Party.
Commented: Sunday, April 12th, 2026 @ 12:23 pm
By: Van Zant
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Valid questions. And if they're asked, i'm sure there will be an answer.I might not even agree with the answer.My point is that the way Mr Richardson conducts himself doesn't get to that answer.Because he turns everyone off, including people like me who might otherwise be natural allies.
Commented: Saturday, April 11th, 2026 @ 10:42 am
By: Rational Observer
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So, it took a year for the Executive Committee formed in the 2025 county convention to find out that the mysterious Victory Committee is composed of Paul Varcoe, Ashley Woolard, Keith Kidwell, Steve Rader, and Carolyn Garris with Greg Dority as a consultant.
Hum, three questions: 1) Why wasn't the Vice Chair brought in? That is an ex-officio member position for all committees. 2) What were those items authorized by the Victory Committee? Advice and consent is a function of the overall Executive Committee. 3) When, if ever, will the sub-committee report their activities to the elected Executive Committee? Yeah, this is about as transparent as mud.
Commented: Saturday, April 11th, 2026 @ 6:44 am
By: Van Zant
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Keith Kidwell specifically stated they were not there, and it was also said that Greg Dority sometimes adviced. So it was disclosed at the last meeting.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 10:07 pm
By: Rational Observer
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There were two not present. Paul Varcoe and Ashley Woolard. Steve Radar, Carolyn Garris, and Keith Kidwell. I know because I asked who the missing members were.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 10:06 pm
By: Rational Observer
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I've been asking people I know on the Executive Committee about that disclosure of Victory Committee members at the last meeting at a residence. They all said that when the sub-committee was brought up, the Chair did ask the Victory Committee members to stand. My sources said that in the crowded residence they could see some and could not identify others. When exec. committee members asked about clarification of some that were not there, no response followed. I'm told that Mr. Hickman complained about the lack of transparency and then there was a discussion that wandered away from anything pertinent.
To put this all in perspective, that meeting was in March 2026. This Executive Committee was formed from the Beaufort County Republican Convention of 2025. It has been a year, and this committee is still not sure about who is on the Victory Committee and what they have improperly authorized. I'm not even sure the Executive Committee before the 2025 convention knew. There is plenty of spinning going on, but it is clear to me that this is not a healthy Republican Party Executive Committee. People are going to great lengths to keep things hidden over extended time periods.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 8:43 pm
By: Van Zant
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If its not been given to ask your wife.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 5:19 pm
By: Rational Observer
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Here we go again. My name is out there. Those of you who are lying are doing it in secret. You will not be held accountable by the public for your deception.
The Conservative Club has never wanted to be associated with the Republican Party because of what is going on now. Several Chairmen of the Beaufort County Republican Party have tried to have the State Republican Party shut us down during the past 20 years. They cannot do it because we have deliberately not affiliated with the Republican party. We are free to speak the truth. You are lying about my being uncivil. Your definition of uncivil is any disagreement with you warped socialist thinking. The disruptions are caused by he you and Queen Garris when your world stops turning because I have anything to say. Another lie. A list of members of the secret Victory Committee has never been given tome or the Executive Committee. This Executive Committee never appointed the Victory Committee. This isa serious violation
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 4:39 pm
By: Hood Richardson
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The Conservative Club is not a recognized affiliate organization of the Republican National Committee or State Party; therefore, it does not have standing within the party structure. The State Plan of Organization and the Beaufort County GOP Plan of Organization grant the Chairman the discretion to call meetings.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 3:03 pm
By: Truth be Told
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And you would have been there too ... but you can't be civil so no business can be conducted due to the disruptions you repeatedly cause. You also endorsed non-Republican candidates in a race with other Republicans which unless you are totally oblivious (and you are quite astute so I don't believe this to be the case) violates the state rules and is grounds for automatic resignation from the Executive Committee. You continue to act like a woke Democrat that wants to play the victim. You are not a victim sir.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 2:49 pm
By: Rational Observer
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Well now Mr Richardson, you are just flat out lying. I was in attendance when the victory committee members were announced. And so was your wife by the way. So unless she isn't telling you who they were, you're playing a game right now which doesn't surprise me.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 2:31 pm
By: Rational Observer
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To both Katrina and Regional Observer, the rules of operation called the Plan of Organization are not followed. Only those who fit the warped thinking of those who are dictators are allowed to speak. This is unbelievable in its self. The Victory Committee is secret. To date Queen Garris has not identified the members and they make all political decisions for the Republican Party in Beaufort County. There is no debate or discussion of issues. The convention of 2025 say what was happening. That is why they allowed volunteers to serve on the Executive Committee rather than those hand picked by Varcoe and Kidwell.
Just because you say is is so does not mean it is true. The last 5 years of Republican politics in Beaufort County have been a disaster because of candidates supported by the Republican-Democrat Socialists. Practices such as recruiting Democrats to vote in primary lections and using party money to go after your conservative enemies are corrupt.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 1:52 pm
By: Hood Richardson
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Mr Richardson. Your response is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. I myself have some issues with the victory committee, but the fact that you label them as democratic Socialists is so insane that you lose all credibility and your natural allies ... proving how ineffective you are at furthering conservatism. You want someone like myself to believe that Steve Radar and Keith Kidwell (rated the MOST conservative Republican in the NC General Assembly) who are both on that Victory Committee are Democratic Socialists? You're stating things like that is what proves my point that you are simply in it for power and because you have a personality conflict with Keith Kidwell. You do your cause so much damage with your rhetoric and demeanor. I want conservative policies enacted. You are more concerned with feeling powerful and name calling.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 11:08 am
By: Rational Observer
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I am sorry Rational Observer; you make a good point here in you last comment; and at first blush, I thought you might be one of the RINOs within the structure of the Beaufort County GOP, who wakes up everyday bent on destroying Hood Richardson, and by association, "Your Truly." For myself and The Hood, there is no true Beaufort County GOP, and there has not been for more than a decade, but that is another long story that is not worth wasting anyone's time over ... Not yet.
Hood is a smart man and he is an honest man, and those two qualities are hard to find in politicians. Hood also often views issues in black and white, which is the intellectual construct of successful civil engineers. I know this from experience, as I was once a young surveyor, who has worked projects for CEs, and they were always very sure about what they wanted as an end result, but how they achieved their directive was often different; however, in the final analysis: They were Hell-bent to achieve a finite end, and I have always respected that about civil engineers. Maybe, this helps me understand The Hood, his value as a public servant, and how necessary he is to contrast Real Republicans from those that are fakes, which are in great abundance here in Beaufort County ... Mostly because the local GOP not only allows it, they support well the RINO amongst us.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 9:42 am
By: Stan Deatherage
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2/2 In fact, Robert’s Rules of Order is very clear on this point. Guests and nonmembers have no inherent right to attend, participate, or speak in a meeting. Their presence is permitted only by the courtesy of the assembly. That is standard parliamentary procedure, not suppression of speech.
You also misrepresent what occurred with your resolutions. They were not arbitrarily dismissed. They were ruled out of order by the parliamentarian because they were in direct conflict with the State Plan of Organization. Under Robert’s Rules, that is not only allowed, it is required. A body cannot consider motions that violate its governing documents. Before making broad accusations about corruption, secrecy, and violations of rights, you should take the time to actually read and understand the Plan of Organization and basic parliamentary authority. What you are presenting is not a defense of free speech. It is a collection of inaccuracies presented as fact.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 8:56 am
By: Katrina
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1/2 Hood, your entire argument rests on a fundamental misrepresentation of what the First Amendment actually does.
The First Amendment prevents Congress from creating laws that prohibit free speech. It does not apply to internal rules of private organizations, including political parties. There is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits an organization from setting reasonable limits on conduct during its meetings, especially when those limits are necessary to maintain order and prevent the spread of misinformation. Your claim that this was a “secret meeting” is simply false. The meeting in question was open to all Executive Committee members. That is exactly how Executive Committee meetings are structured. There is nothing in the State Plan of Organization that requires these meetings to be open to the general public, nor is there any requirement that nonmembers be given the floor to speak.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 8:55 am
By: Katrina
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Regional Observer, You obviously cannot identify a socialist, a Democrat, or a dictator. You are willing to sell out to anything that calls its self a Republican. Look at the candidates supported by the Beaufort County Republican Party and its secret Victory Committee. The Victory Committee are the Socialist Democrats. Secrecy is an issue. These people are using the conservative name of the Republican Party to go after conservatives.
I do not intend to live the same lie your are living.
Commented: Friday, April 10th, 2026 @ 6:43 am
By: Hood Richardson
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I watch the meetings. Here's an example of a difference between effective and i effective. For instance, you Stan took initiative to bring light to the DSS situation and proposed a resolution on it. When Tandy Dunn xcould not support it you had the foresight to compromise because you wanted to further the cause not seek self aggrandizement and not let the issue die to adhere to a purist mentality. You got his vote and unfkrtu ately it didnt pass but you got an additional vote. Mr. Richardson never does this. If someone disagrees with him suddenly they are a socialist, or stupid, or incompetent or any other list of assinine things he has to say. The result is he gets nothing done. And its not abput appeasing RINOs ... its about furthering the conservative cause. He is ineffective at it because of his behavior.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 11:08 pm
By: Rational Observer
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Rational Observer: Are you whining about The Hood because he was unsuccessful in winning over the RINOs? Winning over Beaufort County RINOs is an impossible task. This I know from tremendous experience, and I am not Hood, so don't throw Hood in your tiny box of 'Hood just does not kiss up enough to our favored RINOs on the Beaufort County Commission.'
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 10:30 pm
By: Stan Deatherage
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The theme of most his articles are about how oppressed he is and such a victim. Give me a break. If he talked about issues and why the conservative side of it is better than the Democrat side I'd have some respect. But that's not what he does. He plays the leftist can book of being a victim constantly. In fact he's part of the problem.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 9:14 pm
By: Rational Observer
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What percentage of the articles he's written have been directed towards Democrats? 1%? I followed him in the past year and a half on his articles. And the vast majority are spent attacking fellow Republicans. I'd also like somebody to point out to me how you win for conservative causes when you consistently alienate people.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 9:10 pm
By: Rational Observer
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Regional Observer: Mr. Richardson does attack Democratic Socialists. Have you not seen him do so? I have watched him attack Socialist Democrats on a regular basis, and he does a pretty good job of it.
Real Republicans have been in the minority on that board for decades, so The Hood does the best he can as a Real Republican.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 8:07 pm
By: Stan Deatherage
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If Mr. Richardson spent 1/10th of the energy attacking Socialist Democrats as he spends attacking fellow Republicans in his ugly quest for power we would not be in the trouble we are in now. The single greatest impediment to Republican unity, consrvative policy implementation and defeating all Democrats is the power-hungry insanity of Mr. Richardson. I'll never understand the appeal of this man who has accomolished almost nothing in 30 years in office for conservatism because of his toxic personality and quest for absokute power.
Commented: Thursday, April 9th, 2026 @ 6:25 pm
By: Rational Observer
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