Once upon a time, the Wyoming Republican Party Organization had integrity. These days, not so much.

For example, the Crook County Republican Party Organization donated the whopping sum of $25,000 dollars to the Wyoming Freedom PAC.

This donation was made despite the fact that Wyoming Statute §22-25-104 says “No political party funds shall be expended directly or indirectly in the aid of the nomination of any one person as against another person of the same political party running in the primary election.”

When a Crook County Republican Official was asked about the donation, Sherry Davis, a Crook County State Committeewoman said, “A PAC is not a candidate.” As a result, the donation was legal.

Everyone in the world knows what candidates the Wyoming Freedom PAC supports. If donations are made to the Wyoming Freedom PAC, they will go to support candidates in the primary who are running against other Republican Candidates. 

How this is not “indirect” support of one person against another person in a primary is hard to comprehend. Even if the strained interpretation of the statutory language made sense, a party organization with integrity would have followed the spirit of the law.

What was the reaction of the ultra-conservative Wyoming Freedom PAC, who argues on their website they want to uphold the “rule of law”? Of course, they took the money.

Why? One could assume that obtaining power by any means is more important than following the law. For the Wyoming Freedom PAC, it appears the rule of law is negotiable depending on who benefits.

What was the reaction of the Wyoming State Republican Party Central Committee – the organization responsible for governing the county parties to this donation? By all accounts – crickets. Why? One could argue the Wyoming Republican Party does not care about the spirit of the law. 

The State Republican Party has their own issues with complying with this law. Let’s examine just one example.

Kathy Russell is paid the Executive Director of the Wyoming Republican Party. She is in charge of the day-to-day administration of the Wyoming Republican Party.

She is running against Bob Nicholas, the Republican incumbent in House District 7. 

There was a time, when a party with integrity would have asked Ms. Russell to step down from her job to run for office. She still has her job.   

One wonders, hypothetically,  if Ms. Russell is using her knowledge, position of power and influence within the party to advance her campaign, while never missing a paycheck from the Wyoming Republican Party.

Doug Gerard, for example, was chair of the Campbell County Republican Party. He stepped down from that position to run for Wyoming House. Doug Gerard demonstrated integrity.

Was there any action taken regarding this conflict of interest in advancing the interests of all Republican candidates?  None to my knowledge.

What if a Republican wanted to complain to the party about any of the Party’s actions or non-actions in these matters? What recourse would they have?

The Wyoming Republican Party developed their own secret court system to manage disputes between Republican persons or entities.

Look it up. You can find the party bylaws on the Wyoming Republican Party website. It’s frightening. Article II Section 2 of the Wyoming Republican Party Bylaws creates their own private secret court system.

A committee of not less than 5 nor more than 9 members of the State Central Committee are appointed by the Chairman of the Party, Frank Eathorne.

These rules purport to bind every Republican. They meet in secret. They have no rules of evidence or procedure.

They get to hire an attorney. They get to choose who your attorney can be. They can render a money judgement and take your property.

I personally do not submit to this process. You should tell them the same thing.

What could possibly go wrong with this process?

When the top-secret arbitration panel is made up of party insiders, selected by the Chairman of the Party and allowed to meet in secret, the result is a fait accompli. Whatever the party insiders want, they get. 

Another avenue for complaints for these violations should be to the State’s Chief Election Officer, the Secretary of State, Chuck Gray, to enforce the integrity of the election. He has his problems, too.

Tons of black money are funneling into the state, with campaign mailers that say, “Representative So and So, voted with the Radical Left to remove President Trump from the ballot.”

What really happened was Representative So and So voted not authorize Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s slush fund to litigate matters in other states. So, apparently, opposing a slush fund for the Secretary of State is tantamount to opposing Donald Trump. 

Legislators are being punished for opposing Secretary of State Gray’s slush fund with deceptive mailers, and some have even filed a lawsuit against the publisher of the deceptive mailers. 

What has Secretary of State Gray’s response been to the black money mailers? Crickets.

It used to be the party, and party officials had integrity. Not so much anymore. All we see is the unbridled pursuit of power – power over our daily lives. And who is worse to wield power over our daily lives than those who lack integrity?

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2005 – 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House.

He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com

The aroma of coffee greets visitors of Motoring Coffee, but if it’s your first trek to 1525 Union Street, you’ll likely be too distracted to notice. Instead, your attention will be focused on the most unlikely component of an everyday coffee shop: a 1986 Porsche 911 in that iconic Guards Red color. Peek past the Porsche and you’ll find a six-person communal work table balanced on the bed of a 1998 Honda Acty K truck.

Welcome to San Francisco’s new cafe celebrating classic cars and excellent coffee.

The new 2,000-square-foot cafe is the second location of the Los Angeles-based Motoring Club, founded in 2019 by owner Michael Rapetti. It’s part coffee shop, part private club — more on that later — with a space made for working, hanging out, ogling cars, and snacks. “We started as a car storage business and a social club for car enthusiasts,” Rapetti says. “And then we’ve evolved over the years into still having those elements, but also adding coffee and retail and bringing in a more public aspect.”

For coffee, the team works with Coffee Manufactory out of Los Angeles, but more recently they’re going beyond the typical offerings. Rapetti says they’re finetuning where their beans come from and sourcing from new farms and contacts, creating blends that resonate with their customers in Los Angeles (and now San Francisco) but roasted by Manufactory. Beyond the typical offerings of drip, espressos, flat whites, and lattes, the cafe will also have some specialty coffee drinks on hand, such as the popular Burnt Rubber, a cold brew drink with black sesame syrup and activated charcoal with foam on top, plus a dash of black sesame seeds that look like the tread of a tire. Motoring will also have a matcha program through a partnership with Nekohama Matcha in Los Angeles. Beyond that, Motoring makes its syrups in-house and organic, and additionally, alt-milk fanatics will appreciate that there is no upcharge on swapping to, say, almond or oat milk.

On the food side, the cafe is partnering with Saltwater Bakeshop, bringing a slate of morning pastries to the shop. Expect butter croissants, ham and cheese croissants, cinnamon twists, muffins, scones, and more, from the pop-up, a nice preview to the upcoming bakery from Saltwater slated for later this year. A breakfast sandwich from Saltwater is also in the works, as is a fridge for grab-and-go options such as overnight oats, parfaits, salads, and sandwiches. Besides the coffee and food, there’s a retail section for Motoring Coffee cups and beans, but also branded clothing and a vintage jacket section sourced by Rapetti, such as a sleek Benihana Racing jacket. The plants around the cafe are also for sale, as is the car up front — if you’re determined enough, and have pockets deep enough — which will rotate throughout the year and include cars such as a Red Bull F1 racing car or classic Alfa Romeos. The price of the car is denoted by a cheeky line on the cafe menu, which currently reads “1986 Porsche 911 — MP” denoting a Market Price for the car.

But past the Porsche and Honda truck, at the back of the cafe visitors will see a glass wall and doors that serve as the entrance to the private membership component of Motoring Coffee. To be clear, membership is unnecessary for enjoying the massive cafe space up front with its fast chargers and Wi-Fi, but behind the doors is a larger lounge area to co-work in and more cars to geek out over, such as an out-of-commission vintage Rolls Royce limousine kitted out as a meeting room. It’s worth noting that potential members can’t just show up and demand a tour — someone does need to run the coffee counter, after all — but all of that can be worked out through an inquiry on the Motoring Club website.

The cafe and car components of Motoring Club bring together a community that Rapetti has long sought out. As an “aspiring car enthusiast” who doesn’t yet own a big collection of cars, he wanted to create an accessible space and club that doesn’t require, say, a Lamborghini or Ferrari to join. The club is for a younger demographic with an appreciation for classic cars, but also, in the grander scheme of things, the cafe creates a community space for car enthusiasts in San Francisco. In that vein of community, Rapetti says they also plan to hold quarterly markets with vendors and pop-ups where they open up the entire space to the public; they’ll also project F1 races and other car events in the cafe, to change things up for visitors.

As a resident of San Francisco from 2009 to 2015, Rapetti says he always wanted a community like this, but it didn’t exist. Now he’s creating that group himself. “We’re hoping to bring some new energy and new community to what I think is already such a great vibrant neighborhood, in the city that I’m excited to be back in,” Rapetti says.

Motoring Coffee (1525 Union Street) is now open daily, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with extended hours coming soon. For more details on Motoring Club and private membership can head to motoringclub.com/sanfrancisco.

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The Denver Broncos quarterback battle is one of the more interesting, and wide-open, competitions throughout the NFL at the moment.

Sean Payton has been tasked with choosing the franchise’s next signal caller, after moving on from Russell Wilson. Three options are available for the Broncos — first rounder Bo Nix, incumbent Jarrett Stidham and former New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson.

As part of his predictions for each quarterback battle in the NFL, ESPN’s Dan Graziano focused on the Broncos, and where Denver could look in 2024.

“Nix was the 12th overall pick in this year’s draft. A lot of people were surprised he went that early, but Broncos coach Sean Payton identified Nix early in the pre-draft process as the player he wanted for his system,” Graziano reported. “Stidham finished last season as the starter after the benching of Russell Wilson. And Zach Wilson is the 2021 No. 2 overall pick who never showed much with the Jets and got traded away for a sixth-round pick.

“You can place Zach Wilson as a clear No. 3 in this race right now, based on everything I’ve heard. He obviously has high-end talent and could theoretically show enough in camp to move up, but he never really did that in three years with the Jets and so far doesn’t seem to have impressed anyone very much in Denver.”

Evidently, Graziano believes it’s a two horse race between Nix and Stidham for the gig, as Wilson hasn’t exactly shown to be a threat since arriving with the AFC West franchise.

“That would put this between Stidham and Nix, and it seems like they’ll both get chances to show what they can do in camp,” Graziano reported. “Stidham knows the offense because of his experience in it last season, and there have been times this offseason when that experience and knowledge have shown through and he has looked smoother than Nix.

“But let’s be honest here: Nix is Payton’s guy. He will start eventually, and the Broncos hope for a very long time. This is not the kind of even competition we’re seeing in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, because we know how it will turn out eventually, even if not by Week 1. Nix — who threw 45 touchdown passes and three interceptions at Oregon last season — would have to look completely overwhelmed in camp and preseason games to lose out to Stidham in this competition.”

In the end, Graziano believes Nix will be the one starting Week 1: “I don’t expect Nix to look overwhelmed, and I expect Payton to run his hand-picked QB of the future out there right away.”

Alas, Bo Nix isn’t your typical rookie quarterback, as he enters the NFL with immense experience as a starting quarterback in college, with the Oregon Ducks and Auburn Tigers. Under Sean Payton’s tutelage, he could be ready to roll Day 1, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dan Graziano’s prediction come true.