Cease and Desist
Massachusetts Morass Part 7: The Last Straw documented the multiple deceptive emails and actions by Clayton Sova, claiming to be the leader of the Gloucester Republican City Committee. We finally arrived at the most atrocious part of the story, where Clayton Sova used copied signatures without permission on official OCPF paperwork while attempting to solidify himself as the new chairman of the GRCC. This shocking move escalated the situation and would spur the issuance of an unequivocal statement by the MassGOP chair.
A Tale of Two Meetings
Recall that Chairwoman Ashley Sullivan had scheduled the official July 26th meeting virtually on Zoom, not in person. The agenda was to vote out the six core members of the opposition group: Clayton Sova, Irene Sova, Robin Hubbard, Cynthia Bjorlie, Nicole Coles, and Bud Hobbs. The meeting was held at 7 p.m., and after the full motion was read, the malcontents were unanimously voted out of the committee. Five people, whose addition to the committee had been hampered by the six former members, were voted into the GRCC.1
The full motion listed several of the previously mentioned bad actions by Clayton, Bjorlie, and the crew. One allegation not mentioned previously:
Read the full motion here:
At the same time, Clayton Sova and his cohorts held an in-person meeting at the Pilot House. Interestingly, according to the meeting minutes, the subject of a repeat vote to oust Chairwoman Sullivan was not discussed, as previously mentioned. However, Sova did claim that State Committeewoman Orlando and Chairwoman Sullivan had “improperly filed” an OCPF report on July 24th.
To wit, Sova claimed the change of leadership form he submitted, in which he forged the signatures of Linda Charpentier and Doug Parsons, was right and proper, and the paperwork submitted by the real and actual officers of the GRCC was incorrect.
Bjorlie suggested they refile Sova’s original—fraudulent—document again. And he did. 2
Ms. Orlando forwarded Sova’s email to OCPF legal counsel Maura Cronin, Executive Director of MassGOP John Milligan, and the GRCC leadership team, alerting them to the second offense.3
As a result, MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale issued a July 28th letter, again affirming Sullivan, Parsons, and Charpentier as the only official officers of the GRCC.
Don’t Go Away Mad, Just Go Away
On July 31, 2023, Carnevale’s letter accompanied the following letter as sent to the six people who were voted out of the GRCC at the official July 26 meeting:
As a final step to ensure that the GRCC would no longer have to deal with the shenanigans of Sova and Bjorlie’s fake committee, Ms. Orlando emailed4 the Secretary of State, OCPF, MassGOP, and the City of Gloucester with all the official paperwork designating, clarifying, solidifying, certifying…whatever word you’d like to use…that the malcontents were no longer to be associated with the official, legitimate, and recognized GRCC. Everyone now knew that the malicious cohort had been excised completely.
Dude, Seriously, Cease and Desist
At 6:17 p.m. on August 8th, about a week after receiving the letter from the GRCC leadership alerting him that he and his cohorts had been voted out of the committee, Clayton Sova emailed members, pretending to be the chairman and using the GRCC label for his personal email. 5 He announced a “Special Meeting” for August 19th with the agenda of removing Treasurer Linda Charpentier and Secretary Doug Parsons.
In the parallel universe where Sova’s committee exists, Charpentier and Parsons were on the officer paperwork he fraudulently filed with the OCPF and had to be voted out of their positions. None of this had any effect on the officially recognized GRCC, including the positions of the Secretary and Treasurer. Again, this was all playing pretend.
About an hour after Sova’s email went out, the Executive Director of MassGOP, John Milligan, called Sova to “discuss the situation in Gloucester before things ‘take a turn.’” Sova forwarded his reply to Milligan in an email to “all GRCC members” on August 16th.6
Sova had attempted to defend himself, but it seems his actions had finally required immediate response from the MassGOP. GRCC leadership no longer had to beg, plead, and wait for the State Party leadership to provide backup. Now, everyone was tired of dealing with the chaos caused by the malcontents.
Finally, on August 16th, Mass GOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale issued Clayton Sova a “Cease and Desist” letter.7
Chairwoman Sullivan emailed GRCC members to inform them about the cease-and-desist letter the next day, remind them that Sova’s August 19th “special meeting” was not legitimate, and to disregard all communications from him or his cohorts claiming to be official GRCC business. All the relevant government authorities were notified and would refuse to acknowledge him as chairman. 8 She added:
“…we can all go out and declare ourselves the mayor of Gloucester, or the president of the United States, but that doesn’t make it true.”
One might think this would be the end of the tale…
But Wait, There’s More
Sova maintained his commitment to beating a dead horse and insisted he was the rightful chairman and his committee was the rightful committee. In a September 5th letter to Carnevale, Sova said he was filing a formal complaint, while illegally using the GRCC letterhead logo.9
He then argued his case again, denying the jurisdiction of the State Chair, claiming all information provided by the real and actual GRCC leadership was “malicious, deceitful, and false,” asserting his legitimacy, and signing the letter as chairman of the committee.
Ten days later, Sova announced a scheduling change for the September meeting he had fraudulently announced earlier. No agenda items were included.10
Getting Back to “Normal”
On September 27th, the real and actual Gloucester Republican City Committee held its first monthly meeting without interference from Sova, Bjorlie and their cohorts. According to a follow-up email from Chairwoman Sullivan, the meeting was “very calm and productive,” they enjoyed a “peaceful discussion,” and the “meeting progressed in accordance with the agenda.”11
There was a discussion about Sova’s fraudulent email blasts, and concerned committee members wondered what could be done about them. Chairwoman Sullivan suggested that members voice their concerns directly to MassGOP, which has the rights to the logo and the ultimate authority regarding OCPF filings:
On September 29, a member of the GRCC emailed John Milligan with her concerns about the actions of Sova and the others, stating:12
Milligan’s reply:
So, the MassGOP has “taken every step possible” to end the mayhem Sova, Bjorlie, and their cohorts have waged on the GRCC. And yet, to this day, they continue to hold meetings and send fake emails. Unless the GRCC decides to take official legal action themselves, which would cost money and time, they will have to settle for ignoring the charlatans and hope they fade away.
Not the End of the Story
This ends the major plot points of the Massachusetts Morass saga. The next article will serve as a wrap-up with a little commentary and an update on what some of the main characters have been up to since last fall.
by Citizens for Truth Contributor
Sources
[1] Gloucester MA GOP. (2023a, August 2). Reminder: Follow up to GRCC 7.26.2023 Meeting.
[2] Sova, C. (2023, July 27). RE: (Form CPF-101-WTC) Change of Officers, for your review and filing for the City of Gloucester.
[3] Sova, C. (2023, July 27). RE: (Form CPF-101-WTC) Change of Officers, for your review and filing for the City of Gloucester.
[4] Orlando, A. (2023, August 2). Re: Gloucester Republican City Committee Membership Update 8.2.2023.
[5] Sauverc, G.R.C.C. (2023a, August 8). GRCC Meeting: AGENDA OF SPECIAL MEETING August 19, 2023.
[6] Sova, C. (2023b, August 16). Response to John Milligan phone contact August 8, 2023.
[7] Carnevale, A. (2023, August 16). Misuse of Republican Charter for Committee. Woburn, MA.
[8] Gloucester MA GOP. (2023b, August 17). Join us for our Annual Fundraiser In support of Jason Hakes and Rick Roberts.
[9] Sauverc, G.R.C.C. (2023b, September 15). Formal Complaint: MASSGOP State Committee, for the interference in the legal and rightful reorganization of the Gloucester City Republican City Committee.
[10] Sauverc, G.R.C.C. (2023b, September 15). NOTICE: Gloucester Republican City Committee Meeting Rescheduled.
[11] Gloucester MA GOP. (2023c, September 29). Follow Up to 9.27.2023 Meeting.
[12] Milligan, J. (2023, September 29). Re: Clayton Sova and Co.
cc: Amanda Orlando, Ashley Sullivan
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