Park County MAGA Party Central Committee
The Park County MAGA Party’s Central Committee, certainly at the direction of its chair, Dave Wissel, does not engage in the intellectually stimulating ideological back-and-forth that is one of the hallmarks of democracy, certainly anticipated by the Bill of Rights—you know, that part about freedom of speech, and the press… Indeed, Americans have always respected robust argumentation, primarily the incisiveness of politically motivated discussions to get to the essential meat of any particular issue.
It was under Amy Mitchell’s stint as Chair of the Park County Maga Central Committee that the party’s bylaws were modified in such a manner that no Central Committee member, voting or non-voting, is allowed to utter a wee squeak in opposition to any MAGA candidate, party functionary, or platform principle. Even exercising Constitutionally protected free speech is denied to MAGA Central Committee members.
I can only posit that Chair Wissel’s insistence on lockstep loyalty to the Park County MAGA organization and, of course, to him personally—he is the chair, after all—also demands that no one ascribing to the MAGA loyalty oath shall engage anyone publicly in written or spoken debate about anything related to MAGA ideology, public policy, county commission activities, or anything else that might result in a transparent public discussion of issues. I’ll bet Wissel has preached repeatedly, “Don’t engage with the commies! They’ll twist your words!”
I also bet Wissel has told his flock that if the vermin speak and write about them, that only means they’re doing something right!
The Park County MAGA Central Committee will elect or reelect executive committee members shortly. Historically, there is no line between this political organization (once called the Republican Party) and the Park County government. The party is the government, and the government is the party.
What conflicts of interest can arise when there is no distinction between a political party and a county government? Especially if the party is MAGA-centric and the county government, while purporting to represent all citizens of the county, blatantly ignores citizens who are not MAGA-centric? We, the People, are marginalized. Indeed, as Jason Gemmer said on January 14, 2025, during his installation as District 2 Commissioner, “So you know, I wanna tell you guys right now that first off, I really appreciate the citizens of Park County, the ones that have, have voted and elected and put me in this position.”
Does he appreciate the rest of us?
Have I put words in Gemmer’s mouth? Or do we already know what floats Gemmer’s boat? “The reason I’m running,” he said when he entered the District 2 commissioner race, “is, ah, is because I believe that this county is going to be pushed very hard toward the Democrat Party by the Democrat elites. My opinion is I want to keep this county red. I want this county to be free as possible. And I want the freedom for the people.”
Can we then conclude Gemmer believes so-called Democrat elites are anti-freedom? Does keeping the county red mean suppressing them? Does he perceive Democrat elites to be something less than citizens?
(Kudos when Kudos are deserved. At the January 14, 2025, BOCC Special Meeting, Gemmer apparently saw through county manager candidate Lucas Meyer’s blarney and identified Clarice Navarro as the candidate whose hiring would be in the best interest of Park County. However, when the writing on the wall became clear with Mitchell’s and Wissel’s long-standing embracement of Meyer evident, Gemmer backpedaled and said either would work for him. He did vote to hire Lucas Meyer.)
I suspect Wissel put his hat in the ring to be reelected Central Committee Chair of the MAGA Party. He has already nominated himself as Chair of the Board of County Commissioners. With ayes from Mitchell and Gemmer, he now holds that august position. Undoubtedly, he will be reelected to Chair of the Park County MAGA Party.
The party is the government, and the government is the party.
Will Mitchell put her cowgirl hat in the ring for Vice-Chair of the Maga Party?
Will Kimberly Gregory, Head Accountable of the South Park Outsiders and current PR Chair for the Park County MAGA Party, seek to upgrade her position in the Central Committee hierarchy? Will Wissel allow that to happen? Gregory is, to be honest, outspoken, independent, and probably gets in Wissel’s hair occasionally.
The lockstep regimentation of the Park County MAGA Party cannot deny Wissel and Mitchell whatever they want. To do so would be an unforgivable violation of party and Wissel loyalty, which all MAGA Central Committee members have sworn to uphold.
Will Kimberly Gregory’s upgrade in the party structure necessarily depend on Wissel’s nod? Will she attempt a coup?
When does loyalty become sycophancy? And when does blind loyalty to a person rather than all citizens of the county become the harbinger of the kind of opaqueness that stifles We, the People, in our passion for knowing what the hell is going on? Indeed, what concern should we have that our next county manager, Lucas Meyer—who we suspect was promised the position months ago regardless of the charade of accepting applications, interviews, and evaluations—will be significantly beholding to his sponsors, Wissel and Mitchell, who embraced him as their guy from the very beginning of the process many months ago? Will Meyer overlook or even hide matters that might compromise his loyalty to Mitchell and Wissel as he undertakes his new duties? Or will his Knight Templar Code preclude even giving Wissel or Mitchell a pass on something not attendant to Holy Scripture—the Book where he finds all his answers?
We’ll all have to keep tabs on these guys and gals diligently. More importantly, though, we must set our sights on 2026. Wissel’s District 3 will be in play in 2026, as well as the Clerk and Recorder, the Treasurer, the Assessor, the Sheriff, the Surveyor, and the Corner. That’s almost 80% of the elected positions in the county. Imagine that.
I imagine Wissel and his MAGA sycophants are already buzzing like busy bees planning for 2026.
What are we doing? I don’t know. I hope somebody does…
May I just say, this blog is giving me hope that not everyone in this county is blind to what is happening.