NC's Newest Super Delegate: John Verdejo

John Verdejo

Congratulations to John Verdejo of Wake County on his election today as the North Carolina Democratic Party's newest Super Delegate.  Verdejo won the highly-coveted seat on the Democratic National Committee filling the vacancy left by David Parker after his election as NCDP State Chair  in January.

Thirteen candidates spoke to a crowd in Raleigh of nearly 500 State Executive Committee from across all 100 counties.  The diverse pool of four women (3 white, 1 black) and nine men (six white, three black) presented 2-minute speeches to the enthusiastic crowd.

The first round of voting narrowed the field from 13 to the 5 top vote-getters. The second round votes winnowed the list down to two finalists. Verdejo won easily after third-round vote results in Fourth District Chair T.E. Austin of Durham trailed with 199 votes to Verdejo's 296 votes.

Verdejo's victory is bittersweet. A relative newcomer by his own admission to both state and Democratic Party politics, Verdejo's party involvement only just began in 2008. Over those three short years, Verdejo appears to have collected officer titles like a trick-or-treater collects candy:

• 2008: Democratic National Convention - NC Delegate
• 2009: State Executive Committee member (2009-Present)
• 2009: NC Young Democrats - Finance Chair
• 2009: Young Democrats of America - Judicial Council Vice Chair and Budget Committee member and Finance Director-Southeast Region (2009-2011)
• 2010: Hispanic American Democrats of North Carolina - 2nd Vice Chair
• 2010: Wake County Young Democrats - Vice President (1 yr)
• 2011: Wake County Democratic Party - 3rd Vice Chair (elected in April)
• 2011: Wake County Young Democrats - President (elected in April)

Still, Verdejo's brief service to the party certainly didn't stop him from leapfrogging over more deserving candidates with decades of service working to electing Democrats. So how did Verdejo win? Three factors.

Home Turf Advantage
Holding the meeting in Wake County certainly guaranteed greater number of Wake SEC members would be on hand to vote for a Wake County DNC candidate. Those DNC candidates from counties on the opposite side of the state were greatly disadvantaged. The further away the meeting's location, the fewer SEC members will attend it.  Added expenses such as hotel accommodations, gasoline and meals also affect attendance for those who live the furthest away.

Big County Advantage
There's no denying four of the five finalists to make it to the second round of voting come from the two largest counties (Wake, Mecklenburg). Candidates from small counties rarely stand a chance of winning party elections since the larger the county's population, the larger the number of representatives such as SEC members. And SEC members equal SEC votes.

For example, Wake County has 75 SEC members or 75 votes; Mecklenburg has 65 SEC members/votes whereas small counties have little say or sway:  Avery (1 SEC vote), Ashe (2 SEC votes), Person (3 SEC votes), Brunswick and Iredell (8 SEC votes each), Pitt (15 SEC votes). Candidates from smaller counties are highly disadvantaged and simply can't compete effectively against candidates from big counties.

En-titled
How many positions or offices can one person hold simultaneously and still be effective? Verdejo's short tenure as an active democrat is jam-packed with multiple duties across multiple positions, many held simultaneously.  Consolidating power, influence and decision-making roles within a small coterie of ambitious individuals eager to grab and retain power for the long haul only undermines the party's strength and abilities.  The negative effects become glaringly apparent like congenital defects within inbred families.

Some may say this is the nature of politics but is this an adequate and acceptable answer? Our party's internal election process is flawed. As Democrats, we can do better. If we don't fix the process, we'll continue to see the same faces in the same positions year after year - a recipe for stagnation.

A list of all DNC candidates and their bios can be found here on the state party's website. The DNC candidates below are listed in order of their appearance onstage at today's SEC meeting and are identified by county, race*, gender** and voting round elimination:

• John Brooks, Wake (W, M, 1st round)
• Judy Gilbert, Lincoln (W, F, 1st round)
• Beth Ostgaard, McDowell (W, F, 1st round)
• Randy Voller, Chatham (W, M, 1st round)
• Brenda Pollard, Durham (W, F, 1st round)
• Jake Quinn, Buncombe (W, M, 1st round)
• Joel Ford, Mecklenburg (B, M, 2nd round)
• Mike Schaul, Wake (W, M, 1st round)
• Paul Lowe Jr., Forsythe (B, M, 2nd round)
• John Verdejo, Wake (B, M, 3rd round winner)
• Perry Parks, Richmond (W, M, 1st round)
• Carla Cunningham, Mecklenburg (B, F, 2nd round)
• T.E. Austin, Durham (W, M, 3rd round)

_____________________
* Race: White (W), Black (B)
**Gender: Female (F), Male (M)

NC Super Delegate Election Scheduled for April 30th SEC Meeting

The State Executive Committee will convene in Raleigh on Saturday, April 30th to fill the Super Delegate position vacated by David Parker after his election as Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party in January. The state party chair is an automatic NC Super Delegates.

Currently a dozen democrats have publicly announced interest in running for the Super Delegate seat and have contacted us to be included on the candidates' list here on our website. If you would like to run for the Super Delegate position, please notify us to be added to the candidates list.

SEC officers newly elected over the past two weeks of county conventions can expect to receive emailed candidate biographies prior to the meeting before being subjected to numerous impassioned candidate speeches and several rounds of voting. Breakout sessions will be held during the DNC Member vote counting process giving caucuses, the Association of County Chairs and other organizations time to meet. Other SEC meeting agenda items include approval of the proposed African-American Caucus Bylaws.

The SEC meeting convenes at 12:30 pm in the Raleigh Convention Center (500 S. Salisbury St.) in the lower level Exhibit Hall. Registration opens at 11 am. All meetings are open to the public.

Both the Jefferson Jackson reception and dinner are also scheduled in the Raleigh Convention Center later that day. The JJ Reception begins at 5:30 in Room 201. The JJ Dinner begins at 7 p.m. in the Lower Level Exhibit Hall "A."

Parmley Hired as NCDP Executive Director

Jay Parmley, new NCDP Executive Director

Jay Parmley has been hired as the new Executive Director of the North Carolina Democratic Party. According to news reports,  Parmley confirmed the rumor personally in an announcement on Facebook Saturday, April 16th:

"It's been great serving as the Executive Director of the South Carolina Democratic Party. I will be transitioning to the same position with the North Carolina Democratic Party in the near future to take on the 2012 cycle! To my SC friends, thanks for the all of the kind words today. You have made the last four years memorable, exciting and fun! Still have more work to do before the State Convention!"

Considered by political insiders as a Democratic Party "rock star," the 40-year-old Parmley has an impressive political resume.  In 1999, Parmley was elected national president of the Young Democrats of America.

In 2001, Parmley was elected to the first of two terms as chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party and, at the time, was the youngest chairman of a state party at age 30.

According to Mike McCarville's blog, Parmley's "politics skews to the liberal" and was among the first party chairmen to endorse Howard Dean for the Democratic National Committee's top leadership post. He later worked for DNC's Chairman Howard Dean as a top field representative and Dean appointed Parmley as an At-Large member of the DNC in 2005 and member of the DNC Budget and Finance committee.

In 2006, Parmley became the Coordinated Campaign Director of the Mississippi Democratic Party implementing Dean's 50-state strategy operation.

In 2007, Parmley joined the staff of the South Carolina Democratic Party before becoming Executive Director in 2008.

Originally from Wyandotte, Oklahoma, Parmley earned both his Bachelors of Arts and Master degrees in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.

NCDP Chair David Parker is expected to officially announce Parmley's hiring later this week.

Endorsed Wake SEC Candidates Who've Earned A Seat

Something interesting is percolating in preparation of the Wake County Convention taking place this afternoon. The big agenda item isn't the election of new county officers where six of the nine current officers are seeking re-election and all are running unopposed -- for now.

Politically Incorrect. The bigger story at today's convention is a bit more subversive. Forty-one members of an unofficial club have placed their names on the ballots for State Executive Committee seats in response to the North Carolina State Party's chair election upset in late January. In the past, SEC candidates barely numbered enough to fill the allotted seats for Wake County. But this year, it's a whole new ballgame with nearly twice as many candidates as there are seats on both the men's and women's ballots.

A group calling itself the "Progressive Democrats of Wake County" have 41 candidates vying for 73 SEC seats. If elected, they can effectively silence more moderate, centrist and even liberal democrats who don't subscribe to the group's more ardent uber-liberal point-of-view and public office wanna-bees.

This majority of this group's "faction" is based in just 9 of Wake County's 200 precincts. The two SEC ballots (split by gender) do not list any information other than a candidate's name. There's no mention of precinct number, precinct officer position or even municipality (believe it or not there are many more in Wake County than just Raleigh).

Lack of Key Information. There's no effort to insure the NCDP nor the WCDP have fair representation across all municipalities, precincts or even racial diversity. Without this information available to convention voters, it's just another blind situation bent on keeping a few in charge while weakening the party's ability to build the best message based on what voters are focused on across the entire county.

The Smell of Victory? For those Wake County Democrats tired of the smell of defeat, NCDPpolitics is providing a fact-based list to help convention voters know what's really going on. There's not much anyone can do to rejuvenate the incompetency of executive county board given most are running unopposed for re-election. Seriously.

However, we can inform you about who's running and who shouldn't be running for the State Executive Committee seats representing Wake County Democrats.  There are four sections to review:

1. Endorsed SEC candidates
2. Rejected SEC candidates
3. SEC candidates removed from office
4. Imbalance in precinct representation

NCDPpolitics urges you to print a copy of these items and take it with you to the convention. Know before you vote.  It's too important to ignore or Republicans will continue winning elections and turn North Carolina into a red state for good.

1. Endorsements


Recommended SEC Candidates (Wake)
These are the hardworking democrats who've earned an SEC seat and your vote because they have (1) personally organized their precinct, (2) serve as a precinct chair or vice chair, and (3) abide by the NCDP Plan of Organization's rules and regulations:

WOMENS BALLOT

- Antonia McFarland	01-49	Chair	Raleigh
- Barbara Ann Hughes	11-02	Chair	Raleigh
- Catherine Evangelista	20-05	Chair	Cary
- Christine Rothemich	08-04	Chair	Raleigh
- Deborah Swain	01-40	Chair	Raleigh
- Helen Bunch	13-07	Chair	Raleigh
- Jannet Barns	17-04	Chair	Knightdale
- Lindy Brown	16-09	Chair	Garner
- Mary Perry	09-01	Chair	Wewendell
- Matty LazoChaderton	04-04	Chair	Cary
- Monica Coleman	17-11	Chair	Raleigh
- Sheila Morris	04-08	Chair	Cary
- Sylvia Southerland	19-11	Chair	Wake Forest
- Virginia Tally	01-22	Vice Chair	Raleigh

MENS BALLOT

- Adam Terando	07-07	Chair	Raleigh
- Bill Clay	02-01	Chair	Raleigh
- Bob Hymen	18-02	Chair	Apex
- Doc Thorne	04-04	Chair	Cary
- Eugene Weeks	01-22	Chair	Raleigh
- Harrison Shell	01-50	Chair	Raleigh
- Jim Mettrey	07-09	Vice Chair	Raleigh
- Joe Parker	07-01	Chair	Raleigh
- Julius West	13-07	Chair	Raleigh
- Watt Jones	19-03	Chair	Wake Forest

2. Rejected SEC Candidates

Undeserving of your vote. The following democrats live in unorganized precincts but choose to overlook this fundamental requirement while seeking a seat on the State Executive Committee. Incapable or unwilling to get their "own house in order," these underserving democrats ignore grassroots organization in their own backyard! We all know people like them, those who seek a title without putting in the sweat equity to earn it.

These may be good democrats at heart but their lack of effort makes them undeserving at this time:

WOMENS BALLOT - candidates in unorganized precincts

- Barbara Whitman*	10-04	Raleigh
- Debra McHenry	15-01	Garner
- Greer Beatty	12-05	Raleigh
- Janet Schanzenbach	20-02	Cary
- Jeanette Mayo	07-04	Raleigh
- Manuela Seymour	07-06	Raleigh
- Nancy Looper	04-11	Cary
- Paulette Hill	12-05	Raleigh
- Rita Roberts	08-05	Raleigh
- Ruth Merkle	04-12	Cary
- Stephanie Elbialy	05-05	Raleigh
- Tristy Evely	04-06	Cary

*Currently listed as a registered Republican on the State Board of Elections Voter Registration

MENS BALLOT - candidates in unorganized precincts

- Bill Yoder	08-05	Raleigh
- Blaise Strenn	13-01	Raleigh
- CharlesMalone	01-36	Raleigh
- Chris Heagarty	08-02	Raleigh
- Chris Jaun	05-05	Raleigh
- Conen Morgan	05-05	Raleigh
- Keith Karlsson	07-06	Raleigh
- Kevin Seymour	07-06	Raleigh
- Marshal Harvey	01-16	Raleigh
- Matt Calabria	01-21	Raleigh
- Max Mattia	18-04	Cary
- Mike McKeown	19-13	Raleigh
- Ron Sanyal	08-02	Raleigh

3. Wake Candidates Kicked off SEC in 2010
In September 2010, several Wake SEC members were kicked out of office for failure to attend two or more quarterly meetings AND failed to send a proxy in his or her place during their term under Section 4.01 of the Plan of Organization. Incredibly, three of these individuals (asterisked below) want you to vote them back on the SEC today. Don't waste your vote on these no-shows when so many others would like the opportunity to serve

 - Greer Beatty **
 - Joanne Casey **
 - Max Mattia **
 - Laura Farkas
 - Sarah Winkler
 - Winnona Swayze- Anton Grantham
 - Edward Rubio

4. Imbalance in Precinct Representation

Nine precincts in Wake County have crowded the SEC ballot, stacking it with multiple candidates. Identified below are the few precincts attempting to consolidate control over the rest of Wake County's Democrats. These handful of precincts represent less than 5% of the county's 200 precincts. 

Use the list to vote for better representation across all precincts. Choose between candidates from the same precinct to help create balance across the county in building a stronger democratic party. Time to end the old-guard working to undermine our new State Party Chair David Parker's efforts.  Vote for democrats making a difference by working from the grassroots level on up.  

Precinct 13-07 = seeking 6 seats

Brenda Eaddy	13-07
Helen Bunch	13-07
Janet West	13-07
Janice Sears	13-07
Adriadn Ortega	13-07
Julius West	13-07

Precinct 17-05 = seeking 5 seats

Dora King Morgan	17-05
Eunice Jones	17-05
Nervahna Crew	17-05
Max Adams	17-05
Mary Starkey	17-05

Precinct 18-01 = seeking 4 seats

Kathi Lizak*	18-01
Linda Suggs	18-01
Will Cubbison*	18-01
Chris Lizak*	18-01

Precinct 01-02 = seeking 3 seats

Greg Flynn*	01-02
Mark Ezzell	01-02
Paul Collins*	01-02

Precinct 01-22 = seeking 3 seats

Rosa Gill*	01-22
Virginia Tally	01-22
Eugene Weeks	01-22

Precinct 01-50 = seeking 3 seats

Pat Hawkins	01-50
George Greene	01-50
Harrison Shell	01-50

Precinct 5-05 is UNORGANIZED yet seeking 3 seats

Stephanie Elbialy	05-05
Chris Jaun	05-05
Conen Morgan	05-05

Precinct 07-09 = seeking 3 seats

Stephanie Eriksen-Goslen*	07-09
Jesse Goslen	07-09
Jim Mettrey	07-09

Precinct 18-07 = seeking 3 seats

Doris Weaver*	18-07
Hazel Slocumb	18-07
Prabha Ramakrishnan	18-07

* SEC members who voted against NCDP Chair David Parker and who publicly endorsed his opponent Bill Faison.

What? 6 of 9 WCDP Incumbents Seek Re-election?

It takes a certain amount of self-delusion and narcissism to seek a second or third term after doing a lousy job leading a democratic party organization but that's parr for the course in Wake County.

The Wake County Democratic Party just published its list of announced candidates running for county party office. And by "just" we mean "this morning" and by "announced" we mean "unopposed."

This "announced" list of WCDP candidates was literally buried among the long list of attachments to the WCDP's county convention news posting on the wakedems.org website rather than being posted openly, front and center, as an actual news item designed to inform area democrats. 

This list of unopposed candidates seeking office to the state's largest county party are predominantly the same ineffective county party officers that led Wake County through a string of still-stinging election defeats. Sadly, the list of candidates features only three new faces among the nine seats. 

What happens if they run unopposed?

Unless other democrats intend to run against these candidates, we can expect more of the same horrendous election results that plagued Wake's County Commissioner race, County School Board race and state legislature races, just to name a few.

So far, the unopposed list of candidates include Lindy Brown and Watt Jones as welcomed fresh faces. Ditto John Verdejo who is also running for the NC Super Delegate  seat (vacated by now-NCDP Chair David Parker) to be decided later this month. Here's who's running unopposed, for now:

• Chair Candidate(s):  Mack Paul (seeks 2nd term)
• 1st Vice Chair Candidate(s):  Lindy Brown (former county commissioner)
• 2nd Vice Chair Candidate(s):  Steven Hill (seeks 2nd term)
• 3rd Vice Chair Candidate(s):  John Verdejo
• Raleigh Vice Chair Candidate(s): Dan Blue III (seeks 2nd term on board, previously County's 3rd Vice Chair)
• Cary Vice Chair Candidate(s): Ruth Merkle (seeks 3rd term)
• Wake Vice Chair Candidate(s): Watt Jones
• Secretary Candidate(s): Stephanie Goslen (seeks 2nd  term)
• Treasurer Candidate(s): Chris Lizak (seeks 3rd term) 

Progressive Dems Infiltration?

For those of you among the Gene Messick readership, we've researched and identified those announced WCDP officer candidates who are also members and officers of the Wake County Progressive Democrats group. 

As Mr. Messick has accurately pointed out numerous times in his own NCDP newsletters, the Wake County Progressive Democrats continue falsely posing as a bonafide party auxiliary club in violation of the state party's rules and regulations,* abusing party resources by hosting their own meetings at the state headquarters each month and presenting a Scratch-My-Back-&-I'll-Scratch-Yours endorsement list of progressive dems. club members cheerfully pitting democrats against each other at county and state conventions in order to increase the progressive dems' ranks within the party. These so-called "Progressives Dems" now want to lead the state's largest county party:  

• John Verdejo - member of county progressives group (scan group's members list at link's site)
• Ruth Merkle - longtime, active member of county progressives group
• Stephanie Goslen - two-term treasurer of false auxiliary club Wake Progressive Dems, husband Jesse Goslen was past president of this pretend-auxiliary club.
• Chris Lizak - Raleigh & Wake County Progressive Dems. Assoc. Chapter Vice Chair, 2nd Congressional District PDA Point Person, wife Kathi currently serves as group's secretary

The Quiet Man

On a different note, Mack Paul has yet to connect himself with Wake County democrats via Facebook, Twitter or other social media since he began serving as county chair. Paul was selected by his predecessor Jack Nichols, former WCDP chair and member of the Wake County Progressive Democrats club, who vacated his office to run again for Wake County commissioner only to lose again in a string of failed campaigns. 

Paul's own background is rather questionable for the possible leader of the state's largest county Democratic Party. Based on his legal clients, most notably Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina where he served as associate legal counsel, Paul worked for the insurance company's interests, not its customers. He also "did the lawyering" for FMZ Real Estate, a Charlotte partnership seeking to push high density rezoning in Raleigh to build 1,000 'sky-high' condos inside a single-home-zoned section. The Raleigh City Council has delayed action on this pending matter according to TheIndy reporter Bob Geary. 

You can tell a lot about an attorney by the clients he chooses to serve.

411 for Potential Candidates: Get Email Addresses

Unlike Mecklenberg County Democratic Party, WCDP seems intent upon sticking with the old ways of smoke-filled backroom deals that keep power among the few insiders intent on personal agendas and personal gain.

However, there's still time for other candidates to come forward and effectively challenge these all-but-one incompetent, incumbents of WCDP.

How? Start by contacting both WCDP Chair Mack Paul (chair@wakedems.org & mack.paul@klgates.com) and his administrative assistant Tammy Brunner (admin@wakedems.org) directly (A) by email to request a copy of the convention's voting delegates list and (B) specify it includes email addresses. 

Nevermind that the current board of WCDP officers passed a policy recently to withhold email addresses from precinct officers to "protect the privacy" of Wake County democrats who've voluntarily given their email address to the WCDP for the purposes of helping the party save money and receiving information more promptly and conveniently. Ask anyway and do it in writing.

We're still puzzled by WCDP chair Mack Paul refusal to provide precinct officers with Wake County democrats' email addresses while gladly providing their home addresses and phone numbers! Obviously, withholding convention delegates (read: precinct officers) email addresses gives incumbent county party officers like Mack Paul a distinct election advantage. Specifically, it allows incumbents to quietly communicate with all convention delegates electronically while other new candidates can only reach convention delegates by mail or phone - a slow, arduous and outdated process.

NCDPpolitics calls out Mack Paul and his fellow current board members for blocking democracy, lacking integrity and blatant unfairness in this ploy to exclude other Wake County democrats from effectively campaigning against incumbents to lead the state's largest county party. This shell game needs to end if Wake County is to recover its public election losses.

Again, unlike Mecklenburg County Democratic Party convention last weekend, WCDP's convention typically has its delegates scratching their heads at the so-called convention "election" of county officers when all those elected ran unopposed. Delegates rarely get the chance to vote for officers because all races are uncontested and winners are decided by acclamation, a groovy parliamentary word for "unopposed."  

It's time to change this tradition before it happens again. Wake County can't afford to continue operating like an elementary school PTA committee.

WCDP Candidate Endorsements

NCDPpolitics will post its Wake County DP candidate endorsements before the convention on Saturday, April 16th.  If you plan to run for a county party board officer seat in Wake County, let us know. We'll answer your questions on what's involved and point you to the right sources for detailed information.

We urge you to step up now! Throw your hat in the ring and let us know!

______________

* Sections 0.03 and 11.3 of NCDP's Plan of Organization.

Congratulations to MCDP's New Officers!

The Mecklenberg County Democratic Party held its county convention on April 9th and elected a new chair to lead one of North Carolina's largest county parties over the next two years. This board will be integral to the state party's efforts to assist in producing the Democratic National Committee's 2012 convention in Charlotte, NC.

According to the MCDP website, this convention was one of the longest MCDP conventions ever held as reflected by the voting volume between the first and the final officer votes. Some 492 ballots were cast by 112 precincts' delegates for the Chair's race which required three rounds of voting.  By the time the Secretary's election was held, just 75 precincts remained present, casting 234 ballots in a very tight race.

Congratulations to the new MCDP Executive Board (2011-2013)! The final results:

• Chair:     3 rounds with Aisha Dew winning by 2.14%
• 1st Vice-Chair:     Frank Deaton - winning by acclamation
• 2nd Vice-Chair:     2 rounds with Darrin Rankin winning by 14.73%
• 3rd Vice-Chair:     Ralph Belk - winning by acclamation
• Secretary:     Marc Friedland – winning by 0.78%
• Treasurer:    Gray Newman - winning by acclamation

The MCDP list of newly elected State Executive Committee members has yet to be published but is expected to be released in next few days

The above list of new officers immediately replaced the departing 2009-2011 executive board officers:

• Chair Joel Ford; 704-400-2845
• 1st Vice-Chair Pat Patton
• 2nd Vice-Chair Pamela Gordon; 704-281-3148
• 3rd Vice-Chair Aisha Dew; 704-441-9408
• Secretary  Ralph Belk; 704-619-7152
• Treasurer:   Gray Newman; 704-609-3160

Fox News Network Cancels Glenn Beck's TV Talkshow

Although this is not NCDP specific. We gladly share this welcomed news with you:

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press reports Fox News Channel today announced it has canceled Glenn Beck's afternoon talk show due to sinking ratings and suffering financially due to an advertiser boycott. Fox and Beck have reportedly stated the show will end later this year.

Beck's show debuted on the Fox News Channel in January 2009 finding a conservative populism fan base while providing fodder for Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert who frequently spotlighted what he described as Beck's "crank up the crazy and rip off the knob" moments.

Beck's statements often got him in trouble. Last summer, critics appealed to advertisers to boycott Beck's show after Beck stated President Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people." More than 400 Fox advertisers refused to have their commercials air on Beck's show.

Although Beck is wildly popular with ultraconservative Tea Party activists, his viewers began turning away in droves this year. Beck's 5 p.m. show averaged 2.7 million viewers in the first three months of 2010 but a year later, he'd lost nearly 800,000 viewers with the sharpest decline among younger viewers sought by advertisers. 

According to the Associated Press article, David Brock, one of Beck's most prominent critics and founder of the liberal watchdog Media Matters for America — said "the only surprise is that it took Fox News months to reach this decision."