On May 13, 2013, Bangor Daily News blogger Chris Dixon posted an item about the fact that the Maine GOP was in breach of its own bylaws, that the state party is in the red, and that no budget was on the horizon, despite the March 31 deadline per their bylaws.
Whether or not Dixon knew it, the budget had long been an issue for many State Committee members, none of them more than Vic Berardelli, Penobscot County at large member. Vic stood up at virtually ever meeting since he has been on the committee, asking first ex-Chair Webster for transparency and then Webster's successor Cebra for accountability.
So concerned was Vic that he ended up on the current budget committee. He continued to voice his concerns, and those concerns were heightened after the March 31 deadline for a budget came and went, and there was still absolutely no numbers from the treasurer from which to build a budget.
And the so-called treasurers report at monthly State Committee meetings consisted only of the bank balance. That bank balance, numerous committee members noted, continued to dwindle.
And even as they dwindled, Chairman Rich Cebra continued to draw his salary and hired an executive director and a "field representative," apparently without a thought to the fact that there were few contributions coming in.
Finally, last month, the State GOP was in the red. This alarmed many.
After getting no relevant answers and no indication of when he would, Berardelli resigned from the Budget Committee. Here is his letter of resignation:
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