MARK WAITE / PVT Dave Reeves, at left, pauses after reading the bylaws and a petition to the state Democratic party Central Committee, while newly-elected grassroots committee chairman Margery Kay Behrens fields questions at K-7 Pizza. Advertisement

"I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat."

-- American humorist Will Rogers

PAHRUMP -- Fresh off the victory in the November presidential race, dissension has arisen in the ranks of the Nye County Democratic Party.

An offshoot group of 15 people called the Nye County Democratic Grassroots Committee held an organizing meeting at K-7 Pizza here Monday night, ratifying tentative bylaws and appointing committee members.

They also considered a petition for the Nevada State Democratic Central Committee meeting next month, calling for the disbanding of the Nye County Democratic Central Committee and recognizing their group as the governing body.

A few audience members were hesitant to endorse the scathing attacks on Nye County Democratic Party Chairman Loyal Watkins. The petition asked that he be reprimanded. Watkins, who wasn't present at the gathering, called the accusations "bull crap."

Margery Kay Behrens, a fiery candidate for the Pahrump Town Board who stood up and shouted during one candidate's forum at the Artesia Community Center last summer, was elected chairman of the group.

Behrens said when members of the group attempted to present motions and arguments at a recent meeting of the state central committee, they were shouted down by Watkins.

"We have absolutely no success whatsoever in being recognized. Any motions that were brought to the floor were shot down and denied, which is against Roberts Rules of Order," Behrens said.

Watkins countered later, saying Behrens "just comes in and tries to take over. She comes in and just starts yelling."

While Behrens claimed she attended six party meetings last year -- candidates for the central committee have to attend at least four -- her name was erased from attendance records. Watkins said she only attended two meetings and committee member Kelly Almond one, while both think they can run for the board.

"When responsibility fails, uncivil behavior can lead to immoral action, self-interest can lead to corruption, and the few charged with representing the interests of the many ignore the democratic process," reads the petition, which was read in its entirety along with the bylaws by committee member Dave Reeves. "This is exactly what has happened within the Democratic Party of Nye County, Nevada."

The committee's petition states the Democratic Party Central Committee violated the national and state charters of the Democratic Party and did not act in good faith. They cited specific complaints about the Nye County Democratic Party board: ignoring grievances presented at meetings, shouting down and denying motions; publishing false notices of meetings; refusing to provide copies of committee documents; adopting bylaws without ratification by the general membership; failing to provide timely notices of county caucuses and attempting to replace delegates without cause.

"The Nye County Central Committee will only recognize 12 of the 9,000 registered Democrats in Nye County as voting members. In short, the executive board of the Nye County Democratic Central Committee has behaved in a manner consistent with the worst sterotypes of shady and underhanded politics," the petition states.

The grassroots petition states the central committee hasn't carried out the most basic task of the local governing body: assisting in the election of Democratic candidates.

Brian Nelson, who said he formerly worked for the mayor of Gary, Ind., said, "I understand the compassion, I understand the wants. But I learned to work from within, not from outside. That doesn't mean I disagree with this group. But I'd like to see you work within the system, not from outside."

Behrens said it isn't right to have only 12 eligible members of the party to vote and run for the central committee out of 9,000 registered Democrats countywide. She said Watkins' board members amended the bylaws without a quorum.

"We are doing everything up and above board. Everything is open and transparent. We are doing things correctly. We're not doing anything underhandedly, not behind anyone's back," Behrens said.

She added, "Obama stood for change and transparency. I was working three shifts a day for three months straight to get Obama elected. In the meantime, at the Democratic Central Committee headquarters there's no Obama literature, there's no Obama promotions, there's no Obama nothing."

Marilyn Maddox, who was elected as a delegate at the county level, said nobody ever informed her when and where to vote. At a Jan. 26 meeting of the central committee, Maddox said, "I never felt so unwelcome at a meeting in my life."

But Larry Fisher said he intended to fulfill the requirements of the central committee to attend at least four meetings per year. Grassroots committee members approved his motion to allow members to be in attendance if they participate in meetings by video conference.

Robert Hanson said Watkins denied motions that party members be allowed to vote by teleconference, over the Internet or by other means. He complained about moving a committee meetings to Tonopah.

"The whole purpose of moving the thing to Tonopah was to include those people in the outlying communities. Well, guess what? None of those people attended four meetings. So the whole premise of moving the election to Tonopah was not to include those, it was to exclude us," Hanson said.

Watkins said the grassroots Democrats won't be a legal organization without the approval of the Nye County Central Committee. He said none of the members had asked him for copies of the bylaws or anything.

"They lied in the paper, saying bylaws were lost and this and that," Watkins said.

"I'm glad they're involved in the Democratic Party. We need all the 9,000 Democrats that we got. But there's 10 or 12 of them that think they're just going to come in, they haven't been to a meeting. They have their bylaws and everything else, they don't even realize they have to be chartered to be a committee," he said. "They want to set their own rules is what they want to do, and it won't work with the state party."

When it comes to allegations the central committee didn't support Obama, Watkins said, "that's bull crap. That's bull." Watkins said they didn't get signs and promotional literature for Obama until the start of early voting.

"They've blown everything out of proportion," Watkins said. "We finally do have a Democratic president and we're making gains in the state, and we don't need to be fighting in the newspaper."

When criticized for moving the convention to Tonopah, Watkins admitted most of the county Democrats live in Pahrump. But he added, "They think that Pahrump is the only town in Nye County and we represent Duckwater, Ione, Manhattan, Gabbs. We go all the way to the county line."

When it comes to supporting Democratic candidates, he said, "Everybody on the central committee has worked their tails off. We probably covered 12,000 miles this past year, and that's something these people are not even aware of. We went to all these other communities and put up signs to get these Democrats out."

Laurayne Murray, a prominent county Democrat who was chairman of the Pahrump Town Board and ran for state Assembly in 2006, said after the meeting at K-7, "Most of the information presented here was not based on fact."

But she conceded, "Everybody should have an opportunity to speak up and participate, and that's what they're trying to do."

"Of the five members of the current executive board of the Nye County Democratic Central Committee, four of them have announced they are retiring. Let's allow them to leave with grace," Murray said.