Libertarian Party of New York Transition Committee
| Libertarian Party of New York State Committee | |||
| Chair: | Michael Dowden (acting) | ||
| Parent: | Libertarian Party of New York | ||
| |||
The Transition Committee of the Libertarian Party of New York was a short-lived committee created by the LPNY rules, with the task of transitioning the Libertarian Party of New York from the private membership organization or corporation, to full political party as recognized by the New York State Board of Elections. This was achieved when Larry Sharpe received over 50,000 votes for governor in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
The Transition Committee was a committee outlined in the December 24, 2019 version of the Rules of the Libertarian Party of New York, which allowed for the officers and Members-At-Large of the current State Committee to be a member, along with one from each Judicial District determined by the County Affiliates.
Election
Members-At-Large
Larry Sharpe gathered the names of the volunteers and reported them on January 5, 2019, which consisted of all officers and Members-At-Large who had expressed interest, except Blay Tarnoff. Kari Bittner, Member-At-Large, declined to join the Transition Committee.
District 2 Election
At the Brooklyn Libertarian Party's annual convention on January 15, 2019, Gary Popkin was elected representative.
District 7 Election
Steve Becker was unanimously elected the representative for Judicial District 7 by the Monroe and Steuben County chapters.
District 8 Election
Judicial District 8 Election was controversial, in that a process was never determined for selecting a representative. All county affiliates met separately. Erie County recommended Alyce Auman for the position before December 23. Genesee County discussed their options and Colin McAllister declined to be considered and so Genesee County chose Auman at their January 8 meeting. Chautauqua County met on January 14 and selected Andrew Kolstee, but Genesee County Chair Mark Potwora was insistent that Auman be the representative, despite Kolstee's requests for a formal discussion between all three counties. Kolstee's requests were ignored and there was no judicial proceeding of any kind to resolve the dispute except for a decision by Larry Sharpe to consider Auman the representative.
District 10 Election
Nassau and Suffolk Counties both selected Michael McDermott as their representative by January 19, 2019. Chris Garvey and Jim Harris also ran for the position.
District 12 Election
District 12 election, Bronx, did not have any interested individual to run for hte position. Bronx was governed by the Manhattan Libertarian Party chapter, and so Manhattan selected Andrew Kolstee as the representative, since there was no residency requirment. Larry Sharpe had Andrew Kolstee on his list of committee members on January 20, 2019. There were objections to this appointment, with Jim Rosenbeck and Tucker Coburn citing that Manhattan does not have the authority to make such an appointment. Transition Committee member Brian Waddell of Manhattan supported Kolstee's appointment. Anthony D'Orazio noted that there wasn't a residency requirement and stated the appointment is valid if Bronx is under the jurisdiction of the Manhattan chapter. Mark Potwora and Mark Glogowski opposed the idea of Kolstee serving for District 12 while Kolstee gained support from Shawn Hannon, Michael Dowden, Jeff Motta, and Gary Popkin.
Larry Sharpe put forth a vote on whether or not to include Kolstee as District 12's representative.
History
Meeting
A meeting was set for January 27, 2019, but it was cancelled, and then an informal meeting was held due to a lack of quorum. This meeting was cancelled by Sharpe on January 25, 2019, but it was held regardless.
Aftermath
On February 10, 2019, a newly updated set of rules was endorsed and supported by the State Committee, which did not provide provisions for a Transition Committee. This committee was succeeded by the Libertarian Party of New York Interim State Committee.
Members
Members of the Transition Committee consist of the officers and At Large members of the Libertarian Party of New York who volunteered, and one representative from each Judicial District.
| Member | Position | Term start | Term end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Rosenbeck | LPNY Chair | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Brian Waddell | LPNY Vice Chair | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Shawn Hannon | LPNY Vice Chair | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Blay Tarnoff | LPNY Secretary | ||
| Michael Dowden | LPNY Treasurer | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Mark Potwora | LPNY At Large Committee Member | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Tony D'Orazio | LPNY At Large Committee Member | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Tucker Coburn | LPNY At Large Committee Member | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Steve Minogue | LPNY At Large Committee Member | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Mark Glogowski | Immediate Past Chair | before January 5, 2019 | |
| Ilya Schwartzburg | Judicial District 1 Representative | bef. January 20, 2020 | |
| Gary Popkin | Judicial District 2 Representative | January 15, 2019 | |
| Todd Haggarty | Judicial District 3 Representative | January 20, 2019 | |
| Fred Cole | Judicial District 4 Representative | January 20, 2019 | |
| Millie Dordal | Judicial District 5 Representative | ||
| Jason Loveland | Judicial District 6 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Steve Becker | Judicial District 7 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Alyce Auman | Judicial District 8 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Jeff Motta | Judicial District 9 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Mike McDermott | Judicial District 10 Representative | January 19, 2019 | |
| Michael Arcati | Judicial District 11 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Andrew Martin Kolstee | Judicial District 12 Representative | bef. January 20, 2019 | |
| Richard Bell | Judicial District 13 Representative |
Meetings
- January 27, 2019