AR Democrat Gazette: “Speaking in a half-lit auditorium in front of more than 100 Democratic Party of Arkansas committee members on Saturday, outgoing party Chairman Grant Tennille said he had to deliver some hard truths.
Like the truth that most of the party’s committee members do not donate or volunteer. Or why a party that once ruled Arkansas for the better part of 150 years now has to settle for holding its quarterly committee meetings at an aging union shop on the outskirts of Little Rock.
“If you can’t give and you won’t work — is the architecture of mid-70s Teamsters halls a thing for you? Why show up?” Tennille told party delegates at the meeting Saturday, which was held at the office of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 878 in Little Rock.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas, while no longer in debt, still has a long way to go, Tennille told members. It has only four staff members, who have to pay for most expenses out of their own pockets. Tennille, who wasn’t paid a salary during his short tenure as chairman, beseeched party members to do more to pitch in.
Speaking to the party’s committee, Tennille said he was stepping down because he was tired. He was tired of the complaints from members who don’t donate and he was tired of paying for his own expenses.
He directed his frustration at committee members who don’t contribute money, saying 67% of county party chairs and 73% of the committee do not contribute funds to the state party.”