The Libertarian Party of California Executive Committee Meeting Mailing Address: Meeting Location: 655 Lewelling Blvd. #362 San Jose, Calif. San Leandro, Calif. 94579 (800) 637-1776 The Executive Committee of The Libertarian Party of California met on Saturday November 20, 1993 in San Jose. The following are the minutes of that meeting. Chair Kim Goldsworthy opened the meeting by noting that there were sufficient members present to constitute a quorum. Robert Leet and Mark Sweany were not expected to attend. Brian Schar and Gail Lightfoot were not present at the opening, but appeared later. Marion McEwen attended in place of Wayne Nygren, representing Region 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ray said that the Ex-Com members had received three sets of minutes: Minutes of the September 19th meeting by Jon Petersen, Minutes of the September 19th meeting by Ray Acosta from the tapes, and shortened minutes of the June 13th meeting, as requested. Jon noted that the word "minutes" was consistently misspelled "minuets". Jon also noted that the proper phraseology is "that So- and so moved", rather than "So-and so motioned". The Ray Acosta minutes of June 13th, and the Jon Petersen minutes of September 19th were approved. There were no changes requested of Ray's notes of the September 19th meeting. CHAIR'S REPORT Kim noted that the written Chair's report had been distributed, but commented that the highlights of his term so far included: Officers Training, Candidate Training, Contact Lists, By-Laws, Standing Rules, Convention Minutes, and Media List. Marion moved that the database manager mail out in the monthly package to every county chair, a copy of the County Officer Training booklet. Kim will write a cover letter introducing the document, and asking that feedback be forwarded to Ed Moss. The motion passed with 11 aye votes, and no nay votes. NORTHERN VICE CHAIR'S REPORT George O'Brian reported on his efforts in support of Prop 174, and on some of the activities of the Northern California Counties. San Mateo County created the Crockett-Bunce award, which was awarded to the Mayor of Atherton. The Mayor publicly refused to allocate tax-payer money to a homeless center, and then went out and assisted in the raising of the money through voluntarily contributions. Randy Grindel in Lake County has been active in support of a Taxidermist who has been charged with possession of feathers from endangered birds, even though the feathers came from road-kills. George said that currently Marin County is without a Chair, and moved that Marin County be merged with San Francisco, effective December 1st. The vote was 6 ayes, 5 nays, 2 abstentions, so the motion failed. SOUTHERN VICE CHAIR'S REPORT Gail Lightfoot reported on her efforts and activities in Southern California. Candidates training has been conducted in Los Angeles. Gail has reviewed the By-Laws to see if we are doing things which cost money, that are not mandated by the By-Laws. She is also working on preparing a list of all the past officers of the California Libertarian Party. The list should be ready for publication in the January issue of Liberty Bell. Gail said that the Party owns an IBM 286 computer that it once used to keep track of the database. Several people who have used this computer have reported that the hard disk has crashed, and that they have had to re-formatted it. Gail said that she now has the computer, and the hard disk has crashed on her twice. June moved that the LPC computer and associated software and hardware, be sold to whichever Region wants to buy it; that the Chair notify the Regions that the computer is available via the monthly database package, and that if no Region offers to buy the computer, to let Gail Lightfoot have the computer. The vote was 11 ayes, 0 nays, and 2 abstentions, so the motion passed. Laura McFadden asked that if no Regions bid on the computer, and if Gail did not want the computer, Region 66, Long Beach would like the computer. SECRETARY'S REPORT Ray Acosta said that membership as of November 30th is the official date for determining the number of delegates each Region is entitled to during the February State Convention, and for determining the five largest Regions for representation on the 1994 Ex-Com. As soon as the figures are available, Ray will announce this information. Thea said that in addition to the end-of quarter listing of the entire membership, she will produce two additional copies of the complete membership, one copy for the State Secretary, and the second copy to be distributed to the Regions, based on November 30th. The cost for this fifth report is about four cents per name; we could save about one cent per name if only one copy of the complete membership was produced. Ray moved that a new standing rule be created that the fourth quarter membership mailing be based on November 30th, instead of December 1st. June moved to amend that the dates of all the quarterly membership reports be shifted to correspond with the November 30th report. Ray accepted the amendment as friendly. Gail said that there was nothing in the By-Laws that require quarterly membership listing to the Regions. After a length discussion, all previous motions were withdrawn, to be substituted by the motion: To change the current schedule of printing and distribution of the full membership roster from quarterly, plus two copies based on November 30th, to a single copy based on November 30th to be distributed to the Regions, and two copies based on data immediately proceeding the Convention, one for the Secretary's use, and the second for distribution to the Regions at Convention. The motion passed with a unanimous aye vote, and now becomes a Standing Rule. The elimination of the printing of just one full membership report saves the Party about $900. TREASURE'S REPORT Jon Petersen distributed his reports to the Ex-Com. On back dues, Jon said that in December he will distribute money owed for September 1992. Gail asked if there were sufficient moneys to mail fund raising letters to the most recently registered Libertarians, and to all the names in the Party's data base. Jon said yes there would be. Jon distributed a report showing by month, the number of memberships that will expire and, consequently need renewal notices. Jon said that currently, we have a surplus of $3,000 income over expenses, and are basically within our revised June budget. There was some discussion as to whether other arrangements could be made to avoid or defer payments to the Regions. Jon said that the February 1993 Convention mandated that our first priority be the repayment of the Regions. REPORT FROM TERRY SAVAGE Terry Savage reported on his candidacy for 20th State Assembly district, in the Fremount/Milpitas area. Terry is following the advise of other Libertarians who have won offices, and is planning on winning. Terry said that local races depend on name recognition, and that the easiest way to monitor recognition is with an automatic polling computer that calls up all the numbers in its data base, and asks for their opinion. Such a machine would first do a base line survey of recognition, then with each campaign effort, new surveys would be taken to determine the most effective efforts. This machine costs about $3,000. A CD-Rom disk of all the phone numbers in the county cost about $300. Terry asked for our endorsement of his candidacy, and our support in encouraging the National Party in contributing money to his campaign to purchase this polling computer. ORANGE COUNTY LIBERTY BELL Ray said that, before we break for lunch, Bill Rocker, who has submitted a proposal for publishing our newsletter, will be unable to be present for this Ex-Com meeting. However, Bill said that he would be available between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. by phone, if the Ex- Com had any questions concerning his paper or his proposal. June said that it would take more than the half hour available to discuss Rocker's proposal, and formulate questions. The consensus was to call Bill Rocker, and tell him that we would not be able to discuss his proposal until after lunch. Kim reported that per the Office of March Fong Eu, Report of Registration, there are 67,707 registered Libertarians in the State, as of September 1993, or 0.47% of all the registered voters. THE SAVAGE DEBATE Kim said that Terry Savage has proposed a resolution for consideration by the Ex-Com. The proposal asks for our endorsement of his candidacy, and asks that we solicit money from National for the automatic polling machine. Cullene moved that we adopt Terry's resolution with the exception of the last paragraph which reads in part: "The Libertarian Party of California recommends that the National Party contribute..." Ted suggested that the word "statewide" in the first paragraph be changed to "state"; State Assembly is not a statewide office. There was no objection to this change. Bob moved to amend to add the words that Cullene asked be removed. June moved to offer a substitute amendment, the resolution as written up to "the National Party" in the last paragraph, and then substitute the words "Libertarian National Committee support this potentially winning effort with as much financial assistance as possible." Bob accepted June's amendment as friendly, in lieu of his amendment. The vote on the Genis amendment was 11 aye votes, and no nay votes, it passed. Cullene moved to amend the resolution by striking the first phrase of the third paragraph: "Libertarians have been on the periphery of political action long enough, and". On a vote to strike, the vote was 10 ayes and 1 nay. Bob Weber asked that the minutes show that he cast a nay vote. On a vote on the main motion as amended, the vote was 11 ayes, and no nays, and 1 abstention; the motion passed. A copy of the resolution, as forwarded to the Libertarian National Committee and Terry Savage, is attached to these minutes. MEASURING EX-COM PERFORMANCE Ed Moss requested permission to address the Ex-Com concerning a methodology on improving Board performance. Ed provided copies of a self evaluation worksheet that can be use by a governing board to improve their performance. Ed suggested that each member of the Ex-Com fill out the work sheet and turn it in to Kim. OPERATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT Kim said that the Op-Com did not meet during the last quarter, and so there was nothing to report. CONTRACT SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT THE 800 NUMBER CONTRACT Wayne Nygren was not present to report, but June Genis reported on her actions on the Committee. On the request to modify the 800 Number contract, nothing has been done because there is no money to process the names from National, so those names are simply being collected and held by the contractor. Kim and Jon asked June to incorporate the changes in the 800 Number contract as moved and passed at the last Ex-Com meeting, which was: "to authorize a change in the 800 Number contract to allow the expenditure of up to twenty five cents per name for the entry or capture of National inquiry contract, for the distribution to the Regions with California 800 inquires and any other purpose designated by the Ex- Com." June said she would have the contract changed within 7 days. June also said it would take about $100 to key in the currently held names, and the 20 to 50 names that come in each month. Jon said there were sufficient funds to cover this. Cullene suggested that we not change the 800 Number contract, that instead, we give the names supplied by National to WithEase. WithEase will identify the Region with the name, and forwards those names to the proper Region. WithEase would do this for $9.00 per hour. They would not key in the names into the database. Jon said that whether WithEase forwards the names or not, the 800 Number contract need to be modified. George asked June to insure that the new contract wording would only provide us with the option to use Lysander's to key in the names, but that it not commit us to use Lysander's exclusively for this keying. Cullene moved that we rescind the changes to the 800 Number contract that were authorized at the last Ex-Com meeting. The vote was 1 aye, 8 nays, the motion failed. Marion moved that the labels with the names of inquirers obtained from National, be forwarded to WithEase. That WithEase identify the appropriate Region with each label, and forward these labels to the appropriate Regions with their normal monthly mailings. June asked that the motion be amended to add that hard copy be forwarded to the 800 Number contractor for potential database entry. [Secretary's note: It was not clear from the tape who was supposed to forward the hardcopy.] The motion passed with 12 aye votes and no nay votes. Jon announced that the 800 number carrier had been changed to Thrifty Tel, for a reduced cost. CONTRACT SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT DATABASE SERVICES Thea spoke on proposed changes in database operations. Currently all signature cards are filed alphabetically, and the time taken to file is charged back to the Party at an average of 4 hours per month, at $9 per hour. Gail and Ray asked why we keep the cards. Ray said he has signature cards that were passed on to him from Ed Moss, that he has never had to refer to. Thea proposed that it would save considerable time and effort if the signature cards were simply collected and stored chronologically. Bob said the reason for keeping the cards is in case a member of the Party goes crazy, and shoots up a Post Office. A case could be made that all Libertarians are crazy, or that we allow crazies into the Party. The signature on the card proves that we require a subscription to the non-initiation of force. Consensus was that Thea should stop filing, but continue to collect the cards. Thea reiterated the approved policy regarding the supplying of labels to individuals and organizations. Members and Regions can get labels at 4 cents per label. Approved outside organizations can get labels at 7 cents per label. The Ex-Com decides which are the approved organizations. Thea also spoke about the new members package. Up until the last Ex-Com meeting, new members received Libertarianism in One Lesson, a membership card, and a request to join Exuline. Thea suggested that since we are no longer going to mail out Libertarianism in One Lesson, that we instead mail out America's Libertarian Heritage. They are available at 40 cents a copy in lots of 500. Gail said that we don't have to buy any copies, as she has about 100 copies. Ted moved that we provide a copy of America's Libertarian Heritage to all new members who have not been a member before. Gail said that the new member package should also have a welcome letter from the Chair. Kim said that he would write such a letter in time for the next new member mailing. Jon moved to provide a copy of About the Libertarian Party instead. The vote was 7 to 4 in favor of About the Libertarian Party. On the main motion to provide a book with the new member's package, the vote was 8 ayes and 4 nays. Kim stated for the record that there will be a committee formed to deliberate on the contents of the new member package. Brian Schar and Bob Weber volunteered to serve on this committee. Cullene moved that WithEase send out the membership renewal notices quarterly. Kim moved as a substitute motion that members with expired membership be warned at least twice before expiration. Bob offered another substitute motion that all memberships be made yearly, and that all memberships expire on November 30th, and that new memberships be prorated on a quarterly basis. That motion failed with 3 aye votes and 9 nay votes. June moved to amend Kim's motion, that all membership expiration dates will be adjusted to coincide with the original join date where there is a difference between between the month of joining and the month of renewal. The motion failed with 2 aye votes, 7 nay votes. Ted moved to amend Kim's motion, that once an expiration month is assigned, that that month remains the expiration month, regardless of when the member renews. Thea said that currently, if members renew within 2 months of their expiration date, they will retain their old expiration month. If they renew after 2 month, they are treated as a new member, and assigned a new expiration month. Ted withdrew his motion. Cullene moved to amend Kim's motion, that renewal mailings be quarterly, but within each quarter, that there be two mailings, the first, early in the quarter, requesting that the member renew, and the second, perhaps six weeks later, only to those who did not respond to the first mailing. This motion failed with no aye votes and 10 nay votes. Gail moved to amend Kim's motion, that the database manager and the database oversight committee review the schedule of renewal mailings so that they can be mailed at bulk rates. Jon moved to amend Gail's amendment, to add the words "when feasible" at the end. The vote to add "when feasible" passed with a vote of 6 ayes and 4 nays. The vote on Gail's amended amendment passed with a vote of 10 ayes and 2 nays. Kim's substitute motion, as amended: That members be warned at least twice before the expiration of membership, and that the database manager and the database oversight committee review the schedule of renewals, and use bulk rates when feasible. The vote on this substitute motion was 8 aye votes and 1 nay vote, consequently, this became the main motion, replacing Gullene's motion to mail out renewal notices quarterly. The motion passed with 9 ayes votes, and no nay votes. The motions now becomes a standing rule. CONTRACT SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT NEWSLETTER June noted that we have a proposed for a newsletter contract from Bill Roker of Orange County. The contract proposes to give the Party the use of three out of twelve pages out of a currently running paper. Under Roker's proposal, he would be the publisher, but not the editor of our newsletter. For this proposal to work, the Party must have a responsible editor to gather all the news, and forward three pages to the publisher. June also said that the contract requires input from the Party to be electronic. This means that some of our smaller Regions may be incapable of submitting new articles directly to the publisher, and this would become the responsibility of the editor. Note also that there is a penalty clause for failure to submit the three pages, or late submission. Ray said that in his conservations with Bill, Bill said he was flexible enough that if the Party wished to publish at some schedule other that 12 issues a year, he could accommodate us, but what ever schedule we picked, he would expect us to continue on that schedule for the term of the contract. Ted asked for a suspension of the rules to hear from Dick Venable on the current situation with Liberty Bell. Dick said that he has developed an Editorial Policy for our review, and a Job Description. June noted that Mike has published an Editorial Policy that is different from Dick's. Dick explained that the published Policy was written before Dick's Policy, and was written for a specific incident. Dick said that our main problem with Liberty Bell is that the Ex-Com entered into an arrangement with an Editor/Publisher without providing written guidelines on what our expectations were. Mike Hodges entered into a contract with the Pat Wright Ex-Com, but that contract seems to have disappeared. Mike sent a contract to Kim in June, but that seems to have disappeared also. Per the last minutes, June was to prepare Mike's bid into a contract proposal. June said that she has not prepared the contract, but that if she had, we would have had two proposals for publication. The question is are we committed to Mike Hodges, or are we free to negotiate with two bidders. Dick said that the request for bid asked that all bids be presented by July 30th, and on that date, only Mike's bid was presented. Nothing was said about bids received after July 30th. June said that Mike has repeatedly been asked to prepare a contract, and has never submitted a contract. Dick said that he is prepared to develop a contract for Mike. June said that the Ex-Com needs to decide whether it wishes to accept Mike's bid, or whether it wishes to entertain all incoming bids. Kim said that the Ex-Com can, and is always open to accept bids for any and all contracted services. Kim said that this matter is too complex to just ask the Ex-Com to pick from the two bidders. There are still many questions that need to be asked from both bidders. Ted said that it is important to let Mike know now if he can continue to publish since December 1 is the cutoff for requests for national advertisers. Brian noted that Roker's proposal is not workable since we do not have anyone identified as an editor. George said that our problem is that we really need a good editor/reporter, who would feed either publisher. Dick said that part of the problem is that Mike's vision of libertarianism is not the same as the Ex-Com's, but that Dick was going to change that. Steve Alexander spoke against continuing with Liberty Bell as it now exists. The whole tone of the paper can be summarized as "lets lose our members." If the "address correction" request is hidden, how are we going to keep up with our members in this mobile society? Worst, is the content of the paper, the subconscious message is: the Party is loosing, the world is terrible, the government is screwing us, the end is near, lets be bitter. Where are the Party's accomplishments? Does this paper make our members feel they made a wise choice when they became members of the Party? Brian spoke against Bill Roker's paper. That paper has a strong tone of Populist State Citizenship that is not consistent with libertarianism. Even though the paper "looks" better, we would still need to have strong oversight on the content. Marion agreed, and said that both papers read like a patriot's newspaper. Marion moved that we continue with Mike Hodges at least for the next two newsletters, and that the Contract Services Committee work to develop contract proposals from both bidders, for presentation at the next Ex-Com meeting. Brian suggested that CSC prepare a generic contract with specific editorial policies and specific performance criteria. Ted said we may be focusing too much on the contract, and not enough on how we can control the content. The publisher needs to know that the Ex-Com, through Dick, will want specific articles published as Official Libertarian articles. Kim said that Marion's motion only continued the status quo, and consequently was not necessary. He directed the Contract Services Committee to develop contract proposals from both bidders before the next meeting. Bob moved that we send out a mailing to all dues paying members of the Party notifying all members that bids for publication of the newsletter has been reopened. There was no second. Jon challenged Kim's ruling on Marion's motion that the CSC provide contracts by the next meeting. This is a specific action item, and not status quo, and so a vote on the motion is appropriate. On a vote of Marion's motion passed 12 ayes and no nays. THE NEXT MEETING, TIMED AGENDA ITEMS Gail moved that the Ex-Com meet one more time before the February Convention. June moved to amend the motion that the meeting be in the North. The vote on the amendment was 6 ayes and 3 nays. Ted moved to amend that all agenda items at this next meeting have a time limit. The amendment carried with 13 ayes and no nays. Cullene moved to amend the motion that we have a two day meeting starting on a Saturday. That amendment failed on a vote of 1 aye and 9 nays. The vote on the amended main motion passed with 9 ayes and 2 nays. VOTE TO REMOVE MARK SWEANY Gail moved that Mark Sweany be replaced as representative at large since he has missed two meetings. June explained that Mark had a good excuse for missing this meeting. The motion failed with no aye votes. VOTE TO SET TIME LIMITS FOR THE REMAINING AGENDA ITEMS Ted moved to allow only 10 minutes per agenda item for the remainder of the agenda items, and at the end of the 10 minutes, that a two-thirds vote be required to extend time. The motion passed with 12 aye votes and no nay votes. CONTRACT SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT CONVENTION CONTRACT Cullene said that she has prepared a final version of her contract and forwarded it to Kim for signature. The Ex-Com voted to approve the Convention contract on a vote of 9 ayes and no nays. (Cullene Lang abstained) Kim signed two copies of the contract, one for Cullene, and on for the Secretary, with instructions that a copy be forwarded to the Treasurer. Gail moved that per the By-Laws, that the annual LPC Convention of Delegates be held in Los Angeles February 18 through February 21, 1994, with official business succession to be conducted between the hours of 9 a.m. and 12 noon, and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m. and 12 noon on Monday. Cullene moved to amend to strike all references to times. The motion to amend carried with a vote of 10 ayes to no nays (Cullene abstained). The main motion, as amended, passed with a vote of 10 ayes and no nays (Cullene abstained). MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE There was no report from Pat Wright. REPORT FROM THE FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE Gail's report was distributed to all members of the Ex-Com. Gail said that she is working with Jack Dean to start a permanent fund raising committee composed of major donors, such as Ed Clark, and Tom Tryon. Nathanial Branden will be speaking in Southern California, with the Party getting a portion of the proceeds. The committee asked for funding to mail a fund raising letter to the membership, not to exceed $1,000. Jon said that this money had already been budgeted, and so the mailing was funded. Kim asked the minutes to show that by general consent, the Ex-Com approved the expenditure. The committee also noted that the By-Laws require that we notify the general membership of the up coming Convention. This is usually done with an article in the newsletter, but this is no longer possible with the bi-monthly paper. Consequently, the committee proposes that the fund raising letter also contain an announcement of the Convention. PLATFORM Ted said that the Regions are entitled to send representatives to the Platform Committee at the Convention. He needs to know the names of the delegates who will serve on the Platform Committee. Bob moved to adopt a standard format for the Platform report, consisting of: numbering every line in the report, using strike- through font for deletions and boldface font for additions. It was agreed by general consent to table this motion until Bob could bring in a sample at the next meeting. BY-LAWS Kim said that he had a request from Neil Donner to make a change to the By-Laws. The Ex-Com objected that consideration was out of order, and that the By-Laws could only be changed by Convention. Hugh McLean explained that prior to the computer database, the By- Laws said that membership officially expired 60 days after they stopped paying their dues. The computer data base, however, is using the format that membership expires two months after they stop paying their dues, and so the database is in violation of the By- Laws. This could be a problem as we determine delegate counts, and determine the five largest Regions, based on November 30th memberships. Jon said that the By-Law states "within 60 days of the yearly renewal date", and the common yearly renewal date no longer exists either. Cullene suggested that the issue was not critical, and that we live with it until the Convention. LEGAL COMMITTEE Ted said he had spoken with Jack Dean regarding the John Carr lawsuit, and confirmed that Carr has fled to Australia. He has asked Jack to check on the Statute of Limitations. All of this assets have been placed in the names of his relatives. Cullene said that she had heard was that Carr had placed all his assets in his mother's name, and that his mother is an elderly woman. Therefore, we should, from time to time, follow this mother's health, and be prepared to contest any will. STYLE COMMITTEE Cullene reported that she has completed the update of both the Platform and the By-Laws, unfortunately, she neglected to bring copies to the meeting. Kim and Ray asked her to mail copies to all Ex-Com members. CAMPAIGN & CANDIDATES Ted reported that the recruitment of candidates for the 1994 elections is going very well. There will be 163 positions up for election in 1994, and so far we have candidates for 60 of those positions, with some Regions not reporting yet. Five of the seven statewide offices have candidates; we need candidates for Controller and Treasurer. Tom McClintock is the Republican candidate for State Controller, and Aaron Starr has asked us not to run a candidate against Tom. Cullene moved that we recruit candidates for all statewide office, regardless of the opposition. The motion passed with 9 aye votes, and 1 nay vote. Jon said he would run for Treasurer if no other candidate came forward. Dick Grider will be our candidate for Governor, and Dick Bodie will be our candidate for Senator. Gail asked for a suspension of the rules to allow Ed Moss to address the Ex-Com on a subscription legal service plan that would bring money to the Party. Ed said that there is now a trend in non-profit groups to raise money with affinity programs such has we've done with the long distance company. This plan is similar, except it offers legal services. Kim said that this would be an agenda item at the next meeting. LP NATIONAL COMMITTEE Kim asked Thea Mclean to report on Hawaii's agreement with our appointment of Eric Lund as delegate to the National Committee. Thea said there has been no answer to her letter to the Hawaiian LP. Marion commented on article in the National LP news, concerning the fact that both major parties are now priming their candidates on how to deal with Libertarian candidates. CREATION OF AUDIT COMMITTEE Kim suggested that it may not be necessary to create an audit committee this year, since most of the Ex-Com serves for two years. Cullene said the 1994 Ex-Com might have new at-large representatives, and possibly new representatives from the five largest Regions, so we should therefore create an audit committee to review the books of the 1993 Ex-Com. CALIFORNIA SPACE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL George asked for a suspension of the rules to introduce a motion. The California Space Development Council (CSDC), that will be holding a conference in January to consider private options in space. George offered two motions: first that the CSDC be given access to our members names and addresses in the Bay Area, at our normal charge, to publicize their January Conference. Second, that if the CSDC is agreeable, to offer them a lower charge in exchange for their members names and addresses. The first motion passed with 10 aye votes. The second motion failed with only 1 aye vote, and at least 6 nay votes. CREATION OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE Kim asked for nominations to the Audit Committee. Eric said he was not interest in serving on the committee this year. Cullene suggested that Kim approach Jerry Douglas, Aaron Starr, and any one else that he might think is available and qualified. Marion nominated Cullene, but she declined. Ted suggested Steve Alexander, but Cullene said that it was her belief that Steve was not interested. Kim said he would contact both Jerry Douglas and Aaron Starr. APPOINTMENT OF THE CONVENTION BY-LAWS COMMITTEE Kim asked for nominations for the Convention By-Laws Committee. Ted nominated Jon Petersen, Bob nominated himself and Neil Donner, Ray nominated John McCready, Cullene nominated herself, Eric nominated himself. From that list, the Ex-com selected the following: Jon Petersen, Bob Weber, Cullene Lang, Eric Lund, and Neal Donner. CREATION OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE Kim asked for nominations for the Budget Committee. Cullene nominated herself. Jon nominated himself. There were no further nominations. Kim said that he would not close nominations, and that if more names were submitted, he would consider adding to the committee. OLD BUSINESS PAC REPORT Jerry Douglas has not yet been able to find a replacement for himself as PAC Treasurer, and has therefore indicated that he will prepare the legal paper work require in December. SOLICIT BIDS FOR THE 1995 CONVENTION Chair is directed to include in the next monthly report, a notification that the Party is soliciting bids for the 1995 Convention. Cullene said that she is considering submitting a bid for the 95 Convention in Oakland, and she has heard that Pat Wright will be submitting a bid for the 95 Convention in San Diego. HETERODOXY MAGAZINE Per instructions to the Chair at the last meeting, Kim wrote a letter to Heterodoxy asking for more detail on their request to swap mailing labels. So far, there has been no reply. CALIFORNIA CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE Ted said that this initiative will be gathering signatures. The initiative would prohibit the State Government from granting preferential treatment in government hiring based, on sex, race, national origin, etc. Ted had recommended that he withhold our endorsement until we learned who was pushing the initiative. Ted's sources have told him that two professor initiated this proposal: Glen Kustrid, anthropology professor at Cal State Hayward, and Tom Wood, head of the California Association of Scholars, a group opposed to PC on college campuses. June moved to postpone our endorsement until Marion's Cal State Hayward contacts can give us more information. This item will be an agenda item at our next meeting. Motion passed by general consent. STANDING RULES Kim proposes that we rescind old or obsolete Standing Rules. Item postponed until next meeting. POLICY ESTABLISHMENT GROUP NAMES AS DELEGATES Kim explained a problem we have in identifying members. Sometimes groups will become members of the Party, but such groups have never in the past counted as members towards delegate counts. Similarly, households do not count towards delegates. We have a problem when we get signed membership card with an unusual name. Sometimes theses names are groups, such as "Liberty Gofourth", which is just Region 66's office. Kim asked what should the database manager do with signed membership cards with unusual names; should they be challenged? Consensus was that only individuals count towards delegate counts, and only individuals can sign the pledge. Organizations are only entitled to associate membership, and can not sign the pledge. The database manage shall take all signed membership submissions at face value and assume until proven otherwise, that the signed membership card represents a living individual, and that name shall count towards the delegate count. All challenges against unusual names may only be made to the credentials committee at the Convention, and only if a successful challenge would affect the delegate count. [The secretary would ask that this item be placed on the next agenda for clarification. May the credentials committee say that the burden of proof falls on the challenging party, and not on the defending Region?] THE NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be on Saturday January 8, 1994, as 10:00 a.m., at the offices of Region 43: 3249 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 207, in San Jose. RESOLUTION FOR JOHN VERNON Jon asked for a suspension of the rules to introduce a resolution concerning John Vernon. RESOLVED John Vernon was one of the strongest and ablest of California Libertarians. Past Chair of the State Party; Holder of numerous other positions; Active with coalitions; Challenger of onerous laws; And upholder of freedom in all its aspects. He will be sorely missed. The Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of California applauds his perseverance in maintaining his efforts to the last, and expresses its deepest sorrow for his untimely demise. June suggested that the resolution be placed in the next Liberty Bell as an "In Memoriam". It was agreed to by general consent. Ray Acosta