Lake County Republican Party activists claimed last week they had needed signatures to force a meeting to install new members. But Lake County Republican Party Chair Taylor Yarkosky now says many names wrongly appeared on a petition, and no meeting will occur before April.
“Over the past week multiple LCREC (Lake County Republican Executive Committee) members reached out stating their names were fraudulently added to a petition calling for a special meeting in March without their consent,” Yarkosky wrote in an email blast. “Let me be absolutely clear — this is a serious violation of election integrity and it will not be tolerated.”
But Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini, a former Lake County Republican Party Chair, said that’s a mischaracterization.
“66 members asked to have their names listed; 2 later rescinded after they had travel plans,” Sabatini said. On social media, he said it did not matter if individuals later wanted their names taken off a petition after the fact.
“Although a member is at liberty to later remove their names, the decision to remove their names does not cancel a duly called REC meeting, according to RPOF rules or the county model constitution,” Sabatini posted on Facebook.
Yarkosky, though, said this wasn’t just a matter of people wanting names off a petition they signed, but of names appearing on the petition without permission in the first place. He told Florida Politics that at least 10 people whose names were listed on the petition have reached out to him and said they did not sign it.
“Some members reported not even being contacted before their signatures were added,” Yarkosky wrote. “Fraudulent misrepresentation of member signatures is a direct attack on the integrity of our organization, and we will pursue every available remedy to ensure accountability.”
He referred the issue to the party’s attorneys, and wants law enforcement to take further action. Yarkosky encouraged anyone who believes their name was fraudulently added to the petition to contact the party.
“We are not backing down on this,” he told Florida Politics. “He (Sabatini) is out of control and unhinged, bullying and hurting people at all costs.”
Yarkosky also encouraged party members to report any emails received by Sabatini or ally Tom Vail to the REC.
“Your voice matters and we will not stand by while deceptive tactics are used to undermine the LCREC,” he wrote in his email blast. “We will not allow fraudulent activity to go unchecked. Integrity, transparency, and accountability are not negotiable in our party.”
Sabatini, meanwhile, said the email blast from Yarkosky was a “false and defamatory email.”
Yarkosky said no meeting of the REC will take place until April 21, when the county party will host Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a former Republican Party of Florida Chair.
Importantly, Yarkosky serves in the House, and the Legislature is currently in Session. The Clermont Republican is a member of the House Student Academic Success Subcommittee, which is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon in Tallahassee.
Sabatini opposed Yarkosky’s election as county REC Chair, and argued the lawmaker’s victory only came because new members had recently been qualified for precinct committee spots ahead of the vote. Sabatini said on Facebook he expects a meeting to take place Wednesday regardless, with the purpose of admitting new members into vacancies.
“The current chairman, 3x arrestee Yarkosky, and several board members have been BLOCKING new members, and so a special meeting had to be called in order to accept the 35+ new applicants,” Sabatini wrote on Facebook.
Yarkosky said any new members will be sworn in at the April meeting, and that holding a meeting in March is neither required nor productive.
Sabatini has criticized Yarkosky over bounced checks allegedly written by his Advanced Plumbing Technology business. The business sent money to cover the checks after a recent Action 9 investigation. Yarkosky said the issue with the bounced checks involved the closing of a bank account for a business, and the matter was quickly resolved when it came to his attention.
“Over the last 20 years, I have serviced upwards of tens of thousands of residential customers whether in sinkhole stabilization, different contracting work done as well as a robust piping rehabilitation business we have built,” he said.
“This had to do with a company that no longer does residential work. The operating account was shut down. When I learned about this, I contacted someone on the administrative side and the customer was wired the money within a couple days.”
Yarkosky said the disparagement of his business and character at this point is typical from Sabatini, and said the party needs to drive the far-right figure from local politics.
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