Members of the Independent American Party vowed Saturday to seek election of constitutionalists to at least 50 percent of the seats open for election in cities and towns throughout Utah this fall.
That effort will get help from a network of 28 patriotic organizations in the state, who've agreed to work together to support causes and candidates they believe in, said Will Christensen, party chairman.Christensen, who served last year as vice chairman, was elected chairman during the party's state organizing convention Saturday at the Orem City Center. He beat Lawrence Rey Topham, Salt Lake County party chairman, for the post.
In addition to Christensen, other new officers elected were Joye Wyatt, Salt Lake City, as vice chairwoman; Lee Crites, Spanish Fork, as secretary; and Jeff Ostler, Salt Lake City, as treasurer.
Keynote speaker was Santaquin mayor Lynn Crook. He described how his city got its finances back in order after he took office in 1988. "If the federal government took the same stand the Santaquin City Council took in '88, in two years you would have a budget surplus."
Conservative activist Joy Beech founded the Independent American Party in 1987; it gained formal recognition in 1992 when the lieutenant governor's office certified the party. Beech, who was better known for her moral crusades against pornography through Families Alert, died earlier this summer.
Though Christensen bested Topham, the latter's nomination for party chairman resulted in a public peace offering to delegates during a floor speech. Topham has been seen as a usurper within the party because of former battles with Beech.
He chided party leaders for denying Salt Lake County officers representation in the party's central committee. Then, Topham asked forgiveness from those he'd offended in the party, and pardoned those who'd offended him in the past. He also pledged to support Christensen if he received the party's vote.
It was a far cry from Topham's comments at last year's convention, when he said he'd "fight Joy Beech all the way to Washington" to uphold the Constitution of the United States and ensure the Independent American Party operated correctly. That prompted Beech's husband, Basil, to challenge Topham to a fistfight; when Topham ignored the invitation, Basil Beech called him a "chicken."
Topham, who is running for the Salt Lake City Council, later said his nomination was a "strategic move on my part to get this all before the members and resolved." He said he'd have no problem working with Christensen.
Christensen agreed that any previous disputes are "pretty much over." He said the party has lots of organizing to do for the upcoming election season.
Although the party successfully supported eight candidates in their bids for seats on the Provo and Orem councils two years ago, "some of those people didn't have a foundation in constitutional government. They were with us at the election but once in office we began to lose them."
The party has published an election guide to help potential candidates understand the consti-tu-tion-al principles it espouses. The Independent American Party also plans to work full force to get a recall bill, which would allow residents to remove politicians from office for malfeasance, passed by the legislature in 1994, Chris-ten-sen said.
On the national scene, "it looks like we'll be active eternally," Christensen said.