The Baton Rouge Tea Party lost its president, vice president and secretary Wednesday after word spread of internal conflict.
A resignation letter was released Wednesday by then-President Mike Thibodeaux, Vice President Rebecca Favre Lipe and Secretary Karen Daniel.
“After much deliberation, the President, Vice President, and Secretary have concluded we are extremely uncomfortable working with Mark Holmes, Treasurer, and submit our resignations,” the letter stated.
Only a day earlier, Holmes shared an e-mail he sent to Lipe with BRTP members and the press. The e-mail addressed Holmes’ discovery of an alleged request Lipe made to restrict his access to multiple BRTP checking accounts at Chase Bank.
Holmes detailed his hours spent on the phone with Chase Bank determining why he had been blocked from the accounts. He then asked Lipe a series of questions about the blocking.
“Please join me in continuing to press for the truth and transparency so we can focus the BRTP on the subjects that we all are committed to,” Holmes said, addressing recipients of the forwarded message.
The resignation letter mentioned “accusations” that were made by a “small group of disaffected and disgruntled members.”
“Our roles consist of a great deal of work which has been complicated in recent months by a persistent and aggressive onslaught of unfounded accusations, inane and unreasonable demands and diversions, almost totally irrelevant to our work at hand,” the resignation letter said.
The letter cited a specific incident when a disruption at a December meeting kept members from focusing on relevant issues and the BRTP’s plans for 2012.
Many members expressed confusion and anguish over the conflict by commenting on the group’s Facebook page, suggesting the resignation had come as a shock.
Thibodeaux, Lipe and Daniel were not available for comment by press time.
Holmes told The Daily Reveille he could not provide comment as of Wednesday afternoon, but said he would speak at a later date after being cleared by the remaining BRTP members.
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]