Constitution Party of Utah State Convention

May 20th, 2017
Salt Lake County Offices
Salt Lake City, Utah

Well, another State Convention is in the books, and while the attendance was a bit lighter than has historically been the case, it was still great to rub shoulders with good friends and fellow constitutionists who share the belief that our once great country can still be salvaged by a return to Constitutional principles.

With a handful of vendor tables populated, including DefendingUtah.org, and the Duchesne County constitutional library. Fellow newcomers Jordan and Valerie Fauver, along with the current State 2nd Vice-Chair Kirk Pearson, manned the registration desk and took online donations for anyone willing.

After a brief invocation by Davis County Chairman, Reed Miller, the small but patriotic group sang God Bless America (accompanied by Jeena Nilson and conducted by Reed Miller) and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. State Chairman, Bryce Hamilton, then welcomed the attendees and got down to business by ratifying last year’s minutes and discussed the Convention Rules.

Our National Chairman, and very own State Party Treasurer, Frank Fluckiger, then graced us with a financial report which included an optimistic outlook of our current financial situation and a summary of last year’s legal fight (and win) against the ‘Count Your Vote’ initiative by the party which was represented by party member Collin Simonsen and his firm.

Frank then retained the floor by providing an update on the National Party, which included information regarding the most recent National Party Convention in St. Louis earlier in the month.

Bryce recovered the floor and introduced the newest appointed members to the State Executive Committee (SEC): Valerie Fauver and Eric Wright. He also acknowledged the work and efforts of various people who have helped to progress the Party this past year.

Additional Party business was conducted in qualifying the credentials and then setting the Quorum for conducting voting business later in the day.
Gary Welch, our National Communications Director, was then invited to speak on the exciting ‘3 Pillars’ initiative. Essentially an exciting way to simplify our message and attract more attention to the Party. He gave an invigorating speech on how these 3 Pillars: Integrity, Liberty, and Prosperity are key to helping people understand why the Constitution Party is the only Party that can help turn around the United States and direct us towards a better future. More information about the 3 Pillars can be found on our National site (www.consitutionparty.com). An important question was asked by Gary Pearson at the end of Gary’s comments, the gist of which is ‘are we replacing our current message or what we stand for, such as ‘God, Family, and Country’? And the answer is no. The 3 Pillars help us to attract people to our Party where they can begin to learn more about the details of the Party.

Kirk Pearson then took the floor to discuss campaign strategies to help those of us interested in running for office in the near future. Social Media was one of the key components to helping people understand that you are a candidate. We also need to be finding candidates to run for future office, especially for the upcoming off-cycle elections.

Reed Miller had been tasked, along with a committee, to draft an updated State Platform, and was invited to present the results of that process. Some discussion was had regarding some of the changes and ideas for additional changes. An additional committee will be convened to pound out some of the additional changes recommended.
A short and enjoyable recess was called and the attendees were favored with a Subway lunch graciously provided by the Kirk Pearson family during which good conversation was had and the building of stronger Party bonds occurred.

With the finalization of the speeches and presentations, we moved onto the election of State Officers – which are held every odd year. Up for election were the following seats:
State Chairman (Bryce Hamilton)

  • State 1st Vice Chair (Sam Pew)
  • State 2nd Vice Chair (Kirk Pearson)
  • State Secretary (Jorgina Hancock)
  • State Treasurer (Frank Fluckiger)
  • State Regional Directors (up to 6)

Bryce retained his position as State Chairman over the nomination of Gary Welch. But the remaining officers all changed:

  • State 1st Vice Chair (Kirk Pearson)
  •  State 2nd Vice Chair (Reed Miller)
  • State Secretary (Valerie Fauver)
  • State Treasurer (Sherry Phipps)
  • State Regional Directors:
    • Glenn Miller
    • Eric Wright
    • Becky Maddox
    • Albert Grant
    • Danny Peatroson

It was a pleasant process, with very amicable and even self-deprecating speeches by many of the nominees. And a reminder of what a pleasure it is to belong to a Party where pride takes a backseat to principle. The meeting was then adjourned by benediction.