NEW YORK
BENJAMIN CHASTEEN/EPOCH TIMES
Allan Stevo outside the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan on Feb. 6. Steve says he and six others were removed from the respected club’s board because they supported Donald Trump.
By Stephen Gregory I Epoch Times Staff
NEW YORK—Allan Stevo, a board member of the Metropolitan Republican Club, got an unexpected phone call on the Friday evening before Christmas, informing him he was being removed from the club’s board. The call came from incoming club secretary Jeff Goolsby.
Stevo pressed Goolsby for reasons—board members are usually automatically reappointed each year—and asked how he could appeal. Goolsby told him a meeting could be set up after the holidays.
After New Year's, Stevo talked with club president Deborah Coughlin and chairman Ian Reilly. They sympathized, but said unfortunately club bylaws specified such a meeting had to be held within seven days after notification of removal. The time had passed. Nothing could be done.
Stevo consulted the bylaws and learned that such notices needed to be issued in writing one month prior to the removal and by the sitting club secretary, not by someone who had yet to take office.
He also learned that he was not the only board member being removed. Joining him were Alain and Georgia Palmieri, Sandra Chase, Michael Javelos, and the Brumberg brothers, Matthew and Ryan. What the group had in common is that they were all strong supporters of Donald Trump.
The seven had also been active in demanding that club leadership follow more transparent practices on a variety of fronts, including auditing the books, which has not been done for years. But Stevo strongly believes their ousting was due to their support for Trump.
The Metropolitan Republican Club, founded in 1902, is a storied New York institution. In its 115 years, the club has been a home for mayors, gov-ernors, and Congress members and a place for the city's Republicans to socialize and strategize.
Yet the candidacy of New Yorker Donald Trump plunged this esteemed institution inth crisis, one that became visible on Jan. 31 when the club kicked the “Trump seven” off its executive board.
Those removed aren’t deadbeats, nor are their connections with the club trivial. Alain Palmieri is the grandson of one of the club founders; he and his father have all been lifetime members. His wife, Georgia, a member since 1970, has served on the board since 1998 and has been a club secretary. She also ran the club’s very successful speaker series. Sandra Chase is a longtime Republican activist who served as a delegate for John McCain and put together Newt Gingrich’s entire New York delegate slate in 2012. Michael Javelos is a longtime Republican. Stevo has a real estate business and works as a political consultant. The Brumbergs have an investment management company.
The conflicts that led to the removal of the Trump seven likely began after presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz visited the club on March 22 last year.
Prior to his visit, a meeting was held in the Teddy Roosevelt Room, a ground floor office that looks out over 83rd Street.
The office’s double doors were open and the voices inside echoed out into the hallway. Standing there, a club member (who wishes to remain anonymous) listened as Republican Party officials and club officers decided to take sides in the primary fight.
A Republican leader from Brooklyn presented a plan for keeping Trump from winning 50 percent of New York state, according to the club member.
The Cruz gathering was attended by the Republican state chair, five county chairmen, and 78 district leaders, according to Chase.
After the visit, the Palmieris, Chase, Javelos, and Stevo told Coughlin the club should not play favorites. If it hosted Cruz, it needed to also host Trump and Gov. John Kasich, the two remaining candidates.
On April 12, Cruz’s wife, Heidi, appeared at the club with a group of young Republicans, and on April 18, Ted and Heidi Cruz came together for an event.
The Metropolitan Republican Club, founded in 1902, is a storied New York institution.
Javelos thinks the fissure within the club began with the Trump seven’s criticism of the exclusive support shown for Cruz.
In the April 19 New York primary, Trump won every county except Manhattan. According to Chase, the leadership of the club “pulled out all the stops to keep Trump from winning his home county.”
Tensions deepened when Georgia Palmieri brought political consultant Roger Stone to the club in May, after Trump was declared the presumptive nominee, to speak on why Trump was the best candidate.
In June, former gubernatorial candidate and Trump friend Carl Paladino spoke, and the tensions broke out into the open.
Paladino said the problem with Trump’s opponents is that they are a self-satisfied elite, and he called out by name Republican state committee chairman Ed Cox. Paladino’s message was that the people had spoken; the elite had lost and should go along with Trump.
Javelos said most club members agreed with Paladino’s remarks, but opposition toward the Trump seven from Coughlin, Reilly, and state and county Republican officials deepened.
The July board meeting agenda called for kicking Georgia Palmieri off the board and out of the club, because of her criticism of Coughlin. Palmieri was spared, but perhaps there was collateral damage.
Stevo defended her, saying those seeking to remove Palmieri were “acting like Democrats.” He believes that was the day he was singled out for removal from the board.
Stevo said there were now running conflicts at the board meetings and in between the meetings. In the run up to the general election, he heard board members complain about Trump and entertain the idea of voting for Hillary Clinton.
Prior to the Jan. 31 annual meeting, Stevo emailed individual members listing four violations of the club’s bylaws and possible violations of state law in the proposed removal of the Trump seven.
Frederic Umane was brought in to chair this meeting. With the support of the anti-Trump board members, Umane shut down the Trump seven and did not allow them to speak.
Umane is not a club officer. He is a lawyer and the Republican chair of the NYC Board of Elections. Prior to the annual meeting, he was unknown to the Trump-supporting board members.
Chase said for Umane to use his authority and credibility as a high-ranking party official to chair “an illegal and crooked meeting” was deeply inappropriate.
“This is a ‘hate Donald Trump’ movement,” she said.
Coughlin was reached by phone late Feb. 4; she promised to call Feb. 6 for an interview, but failed to do so; a voicemail message was not returned. Goolsby did not respond to two voicemail messages, and Umane refused to comment, except to confirm that he is a member of the club.