Hello Everyone, My name is Justin Bordas, And I want to clear the air by talking about myself and speaking up at the Lincoln Dinner. I was not Speaking aggressively. I was speaking with passion. That is who I am, the military taught me to speak LOUD AND PROUD, I also have hearing issues from all the explosives from war. Yes, I get excited, but everyone who knows me personally will tell you, that I am just a loudmouth, and when I tell you I will not be silenced, I will speak up for the people, that is living proof, that I am not kidding. I did not interrupt the program, I spoke when we were all in a brief intermission (on break) I waited until then to speak, so I would not be rude and interrupt the program. Why did I speak up? Let me tell you why!
Many Candidates have come to me through the night, saying how this was supposed to be a calm former dinner but only the selected got to speak, this was supposed to be the time when our speakers were supposed to speak to us, but instead they took it upon themselves to campaign, I didn’t know this was a campaign rally! We had so many other wonderful candidates that was silenced that night who are running for office that didn’t get to get their side of their campaign out, this may not seem big to some, but the ones that got to speak were getting a lead away, while the rest of us was being silenced. I said I would speak up for you all, I spoke up for the people, for the veterans who felt silenced, and for the candidates who felt silenced. I will not be silenced; I will speak at the appropriate time. Have you ever heard Robert’s Rule of Order? I live by that! If you have not heard of that it is to ensure that meetings are fair, democratic, and orderly, it provides common rules and procedures for deliberation and debate in order to place the whole membership on the same footing and speaking. This is for all meetings. So, when I spoke, I followed Robert’s Rules. Robert’s rules were not followed in this event because there was no equality for members of the campaign committee and there was no equal footing to speak.
I will not apologize for standing up for what is right, and for speaking up for those who felt left out! There is no uniform dress code in politics like in the military, you are telling me to play fair, but that was not playing fair at that meeting. When I deliver my message, I speak the truth, and I speak positively, so if I speak up, I have a reason, for the people, it is not my responsibility how you receive it. I was being positive, but you always have these negative Nancy that will turn it around in a split second. On another note, when did we start coming up to veterans and silencing them when they fought and bled for this country, I understand I have a powerful voice, I fought in the war for all, and I would never do no harm to anyone because I believe in Peace unless you harm my family. Then I protect my family. We need to stop putting labels on veterans, thinking we are aggressive because of what we have done, because trust me, I have not met a veteran who is for war, we all want peace because we have seen things overseas that we hope to never see again!
Another talk that has been brought to my attention, is that I need to start dressing formally, absolutely not, my wife and I and our friends who we met up with made a pack to not dress formally that night because God told us to “come as we are” because we are REAL and do not have to pretend that we are someone we are not! Sure, we have very nice dress clothes, but we wanted to set a precedence that we are your typical Joes from West Virginia like you are, and you get us in black and white. There are so many people in West Virginia who have been suppressed thinking they can’t speak, but it’s time for all of you to stand up and speak what is right!
No one said anything about me booing one of the Candidates running for sheriff and uplifting our wonderful Grahm Knight, which then I was being disorderly, but everyone laughed at that. My point is, just because you didn’t agree with what I had to say and it upset those corrupt people, trust me the real people against corruption thanked me for standing up. It is not my responsibility that I upset those for the corruption. I have a traumatic brain injury and brain damage from war, and my brain does not let me rest until I speak up about what I see wrong, so I spout out when God tells me to stand up. God told me to speak, and I listened to my Father in Heaven. The devil might try to silence me and God’s people, but I am here to shake the cages of hell, If I don’t win, I will not be mad, because there is nothing fair being played about this campaign everywhere I go, but that is okay, I am doing what God spoke to me of doing, and that is speaking up for HIM and getting his word out and standing up for what is right! I will not speak badly about my opponent, that is for you to choose, we all have freedom of choice, but I will say this, there are people who read about it, and then there are people who have gone out and lived what they read about, I am the one who has went out and lived it, with going to the army, war, and around the world. I know the ins and outs of the dark side of the government, and I am saying now if we do not push these people out who have already been in office, who have done nothing for us in the last 4 years, then we are heading down a rabbit hole, if this campaign does not go our way, things are going to get bad, I speak upon my experience with being in the army. I have seen this so many times.
I swore an oath that I would defend and uphold the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and when we start to see this in our country, I feel we need to stand up because that is the promise I intend to Keep. When I see this in our own country, I start to stand up! I am not a political man, but God kept waking me up in the middle of the night to the point I could not ignore his calling. So here is my question, God is calling, are you going to ignore his phone call, or are you going to pick it up and say “Here I am God, I am here to follow” I am not a sheep, I can not be bought by money, I am a Shepard!
All brothers and sisters in Arms will tell you that Leadership is not inherited, and the Army taught me how to be a strong leader, I was a non-commissioned officer, and I was 82nd Airborne. I am an AMERICAN 100% SERVICE-CONNECTED COMBAT VETERAN! When you are on the front line, making a quick decision it is burned into your brain to react quickly.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has been so kind to me and thank Crystal Mersh for leading this event. She did an awesome job, and I want to thank everyone who came up to me and spoke to me with passion. I want to thank Shari Johnson and Melissa West for never turning me away to hear me when I need to speak or want to speak! Thank you to The Calhoun Chronicle for always putting the Veterans on the front page and thank you to Ridgeview News for always letting people clear their names. This is a small town, so word gets around quickly.
I want to thank my Veteran brother Kevin Christian and his wife for always having a listening ear, and standing with me for what is right! I want to thank Grahm Night for being an awesome sheriff and taking the time out of his days to speak to me when I need someone to speak to and want to give a big shout-out to Craig Author for always standing up for what is right and always listening to God. I also want to give a shout-out to Jacob McCumbers for being so kindhearted and listening to my wife and me as well. I want to thank my wife for standing by me and supporting me and standing with me for what is right. If you want to know me more, follow me at Justin Bordas for West Virginia Delegate 62 on Facebook! Where your voices will be heard!
“Have you ever heard Robert’s Rule of Order? I live by that! If you have not heard of that it is to ensure that meetings are fair, democratic, and orderly, it provides common rules and procedures for deliberation and debate in order to place the whole membership on the same footing and speaking. This is for all meetings.”
In my experience with local governments over the last 20 years, I have noticed an overall relaxed approach to Robert’s Rules of Order – basic parliamentary procedure that ensures democratic representation and action. If government bodies and organizations would simply follow the Sunshine Laws and proper parliamentary procedure, there would be minimal complaints about transparency, corruption, etc. because these procedures, if followed properly, eliminate many of those problems.
Robert’s Rules may seem complicated and rigid sometimes, but Justin is correct — they exist as the foundation of a true democracy. It is essential that all elected officials know and adhere to them.
Lisa, please do your research before you comment on someone’s opinion. A “Lincoln Day Dinner” is not a called meeting of the Calhoun Republican Executive Committee, but it is rather a fund-raising event for the local Republican Party. The Democrat Party has the same type of event that used to be called the “Jefferson-Jackson Dinner”. The Executive Committee plans, organizes, and conducts the event. A keynote speaker is invited to speak to the attendees. It is never intended to be an event that everyone gets to speak. If you are not the keynote speaker, you use the time to network and meet as many folks as possible , pass out you campaign materials, etc. No one was denied the right to speak to the group as a whole; candidate forums are held to do that. The Republican Committee follows Roberts Rules of Order in its scheduled meetings. No one called the dinner to order, no one made any motions or voted on them. This was an evening to socialize with like-minded folks of the Republican Party, not a meeting.
Roger, my comment was related to Robert’s Rules of Order specifically and regional organizations in general, not the dinner, any specific meeting, political party, organization, event, or candidate. I included the direct quote from the letter at the beginning of my comment to even show my focus on THAT PORTION of the letter — Robert’s Rules. I’m sorry the comment put on you the defense. You are absolutely right — fundraisers do not have to comply with Robert’s Rules.
I might remind ya’ll though, if you want to attract outside businesses to invest in your county and support your endeavors, (even if they can’t vote there) you might not want to tell them they have to research the history of Calhoun’s political fundraisers before they can have a voice at the table.
Following two years of observation and research, I visited two non-profits in your county just last week to offer my time, support, and efforts, and to quietly further investigate possible future financial investments. The current political atmosphere in Grantsville is enough to curdle any interest, much less that of a registered independent with family members and investments willing to relocate.
Being told to “do my research before I comment” by a county commissioner does not exactly reflect a welcoming attitude towards me as a businesswoman or as a representative for possible future family investments now does it?
Check yourself, sir. If you feel the need to educate me, please so without the snark. Thanks.
Lisa, I really don’t think there was any snark intended. There had been a fair bit of confusion about this event….and this article indicates that there still may be ie the reference of the event as a public meeting by association with the applicability of Robert’s Rules. Your point about the atmosphere related to gov is absolutely the truth. I can attest to your concern for bringing business when there is constant push back, increase in expenses, gaslighting, and flat out corruption. The only remedy is exposure of facts, dealing with the fall out and moving forward. The county gov has made huge progress and the town will as well in time…..my guess would be after some turnover of the key players. Hope you will consider our community and also part of the engagement to improvement gov oversight. Sunshine purifies. Hope to see u around soon.