Document:LNC Minutes 11-12 August 1990
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Minutes of the Meeting of the Libertarian National Committee
11-12 August 1990
San Francisco, California
Members Present:
- Chair Dave Walter
- Vice-Chair Mary T. Gingell
- Secretary Joseph W. Dehn III
- At Large I. Dean Ahmad, Steven Alexander, Toni L. Black, William Redpath
- Region 1 Karen Allard
- Region 2 Geoffrey J. Neale, George O'Brien
- Region 3 Stephen L. Dasbach
- Region 4 Ron Crickenberger
- Region 5 Clifford F. Thies
- Region 7 Steven I. Givot
- Region 8 Gary Johnson
Absent:
- Treasurer Stephen R. Fielder
- At-Large Norma D. Segal
- Region 6 Vicki Kirkland
1. CALL TO ORDER:
The regular meeting of the Libertarian National Committee was called to order by Chair Dave Walter at 9:02am on Saturday, 11 August 1990, at the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn in San Francisco, California.
2. CREDENTIALS:
In reply to a question from Dehn about whether there had been any change in the representation for Region 2 as a result of this year's California convention, O'Brien reported that the convention only selects representatives and alternates in a year when there is a national convention.
3. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES:
Gingell said that it was her recollection that during the discussion of an employee bonus plan (item 28) a motion had been approved calling for a mail ballot to be conducted on the question, and moved to amend the minutes accordingly. The motion failed on a voice vote. The minutes were approved with no other objections.
4. REPORT ON MAIL BALLOT:
Dehn reported [Attachment A] that a mail ballot had been conducted on the subject of amending the employee bonus plan, but that the motion had failed for lack of a quorum. In response to a question from Thies, Redpath said he didn't know if it we should pursue this plan further at this meeting, given the budget situation.
5. SETTING OF THE AGENDA:
Gingell, noting that Resolution 216 requires items for which written reports have been distributed to be given priority on the agenda, moved to move items 16 (Affiliate Parties), 18 (Affiliate Campaigns), 20 (Outreach), and 30 (Auditor) to be items 13A through 13D. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Ahmad moved to add consideration of a resolution against the dispatching of troops to Saudi Arabia as item 37. After some grumbling about the lack of a previously distributed text and a quick survey of various members' planned Sunday departure times, the motion was approved without objection.
Gingell moved to add 10 minutes to item 13A (Affiliate Parties); there was no objection.
6. CHECK OF PAPERWORK:
Walter reviewed the paperwork that had been distributed up to that point. In response to a question from Givot about item 34 (Malaysia Boycott), there was a discussion of inclusion on the proposed agenda of items not sponsored by an LNC member. O'Brien suggested that the check of paperwork be scheduled before setting the agenda so everyone would have a better idea of what each item is about. Neale said he could be considered the sponsor of the item in question. Dehn said that from now on he would only accept agenda items from LNC members.
7. CHAIR'S REPORT:
Walter presented an overview of the Party's status and reviewed the achievement of goals over the year so far [charts and graphs, Attachment H]. He said that we had achieved our membership growth goal, and that although the Membership Committee had put in a good effort in this area there were not enough prospects coming from the affiliate parties. He characterized the budget as on track with the original plan for the year but not meeting the expectations we set in April. He said that improvements had been made at the office, that there will be about 300 candidates in this year's election, that planning is being done for ballot access, and cited the Field Coordinator and TV ads as some of the new things that had been done this year.
He reviewed and commented on the activities of the various committees, and said that we had experienced the greatest expansion of Party activity in years. He said that people outside the Party are saying that we are doing well, and asked the Committee to consider how we have been doing in terms of our various goals, where we want to go, and how to build on the foundation that we have built so far.
Other members of the Committee then made a few comments, among which were: the growth has been a result of teamwork, not of any one committee; there has been little "factional" fighting in the last year; Committee members have been taking their jobs seriously and have shown a willingness to change their minds based on the arguments of others; we need to press ahead with what we are doing rather than restructuring in an attempt to achieve perfection.
8. VICE-CHAIR'S REPORT:
Gingell reported that she will be temporarily living in the DC area and will be spending some time in the office. She reported that Segal was interested in being replaced as chair of the Internal Education Committee.
9. TREASURER'S REPORT:
Fielder was not present. Walter read from a memo from Fielder. Results from recent months [Attachment I] have not been up to the expectations we set in April.
It was reported that we no longer need to report to the FEC on LNC activity, and will therefore no longer need to ask for employment information on our contribution forms. We will be filing reports for the BAC separately.
Black commented that the allocation of expenses to some committee budget lines needs to be clarified. Walter commented that a lot of what looks like "bureaucracy" is really a functional part of our membership or outreach activities, and pointed out that every organization has a certain amount of overhead that it is impractical to allocate to specific functions.
Thies moved that the Legal Action Committee look at whether we should incorporate now that we are not obligated to report to the FEC. He said he thought that now we might be considered a "partnership", and that this would be a way of putting our bylaws on file. Redpath said we are an "association". Negative comments were that we are currently missing a Legal Action Committee and that incorporation would mean more work for the Secretary. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dunbar said he had the general ledger with him in case anyone wanted to look at expenses. Thies and Walter commented on the improvement in financial reporting since the beginning of the year.
Dehn objected to the characterization that we are on budget not counting the April changes, saying that revenue was not up to even the original plan. There was a discussion of the feasibility of doing seasonal projections, of the difficulty of predicting the response to fundraising efforts, and of uncertainty about which expense activities, many of which are now under budget, might catch up toward the end of the year. Thies pointed out our position is not quite as bad as it looks because we currently have very low accounts payable.
10. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT:
Walter said the Executive Committee is trying to cut down on the length of its meetings to reduce expenses, but that he thinks it is important for the officers to be able to discuss things every two weeks. In response to a question from Givot about whether the Executive Committee has enough authority to deal with things that need to be done, Walter said lack of authority has not been a problem.
11. HEADQUARTERS REPORT:
Dunbar reported that he considers office procedures to be working well [Attachment J].
He proposed the database be reduced in size by removing people who have not contributed in three years, and people who have never contributed after one year. These names would be saved on diskette.
Objections were raised that this would mean we are not treating "instant" members as real members, that there is a resolution requiring that we keep a count of such people, and that these names may be useful for prospecting. It was pointed out that the names could be retrieved if necessary, and that we could keep track of how many names were archived if we wanted to include them in a membership count. O'Brien said that the issue of exactly where the names are stored should be left to the Management Committee. In response to a question from Alexander, Dunbar said that transaction records for removed people are archived.
Alexander moved that we adopt the procedure specified by Dunbar in his Director's Report. In response to a question from Ahmad, Dunbar said that some "instant" members had been removed from the database. Walter suggested that we should keep names for a longer period because of the presidential election cycle. There was some discussion of the difficulty of maintaining a meaningful total that would include people who have been removed if they later reappear with a new address.
After various friendly amendments, the wording under consideration became: "Member names are archived offline after 5 years of inactivity, except life members. Statistics regarding types and numbers of members archived will be kept but not included in membership totals." Ahmad moved to divide the question. The first and second parts both passed on voice votes.
Dunbar suggested changing the name of the lowest dues category from "contributing" to "subscribing". He praised the interns who worked in the office during the summer. In response to a question from Black, he said that the mailing list for the LP News is produced by the office each month.
Dunbar and Thies reviewed our options when the office lease expires at the end of the year [Attachment K]. Dunbar said he was not satisfied with the layout of the current office, which was intended as a residence, and said we would be better off with either standard office space or a house to which we would be permitted to make modifications. Discussion of the possibilities followed, with points including the cost of moving, the expected rent on the current space, uncertainty of our future needs, the cost of renovation vs. getting something suitable in the first place, and safety problems in the current location.
Thies moved "The Executive Committee is authorized to relocate the National Office within Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the expiration of our current lease, if such a relocation would in its opinion constitute a significant improvement at a cost not significantly greater than a renewed lease would cost." The motion passed on a voice vote.
Thies moved "The Executive Committee is authorized to enter into a transaction on behalf of the Party to purchase a building or space within a building within Washington, DC, for the purpose of relocating our National Office thereto, and to enter into a mortgage in conjunction with this purchase, if such a relocation would in its opinion be at least comparable to our present location, and if at least one-half of the cash required for the downpayment is raised by a special fundraising effort in contributions of $1,000 or more and the balance of the cash required for the downpayment is raised by unsecured loans from individuals making said contributions at an annual interest rate of no more than 12 percent."
Givot moved to remove the limit of $1000 and to delete the words "from individuals making said contributions". Thies explained that his intent was to tie the hands of the fundraisers to prevent interference with normal fundraising, and that more money might even be raised that way.
Ahmad moved to substitute for Givot's amendment that the text between "our present location" and "and the balance" be replaced with "and if at least 10% of the purchase price is raised through a special fundraising effort". There was a discussion of how much of this should be left to the discretion of the Executive Committee and of whether it might be better to just wait another year.
Ahmad's motion to substitute passed on a voice vote. The substitute amendment passed on a voice vote, with Allard abstaining. The main motion passed on a voice vote, with O'Brien, Allard, Johnson, and Ahmad abstaining.
12. 1989 CONVENTION REPORT:
Dehn moved that three appendixes [Attachment L], consisting of registration statistics, a list of delegates and alternates, and the state-by-state votes for officers and committee members, be added to the previously approved convention report. There was no objection.
13. RESOLUTION CLEANUP:
Dasbach moved to repeal Resolutions 331 and 321 concerning Liberty Services. After some discussion of the history of this, the motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 53 on the grounds that it is covered by Resolution 243. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 163, concerning payment of debt, on the grounds that it no longer applies. Ahmad objected that we should keep it as a statement of policy. The motion passed by a vote of 9 to 3, with Ahmad voting no.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 222 concerning disclaimers in the LP News, on the grounds that we haven't been doing it. The motion failed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete the third paragraph of Resolution 271, concerning party support in situations when there appears to be only one candidate for the presidential nomination, saying that the 1983 situation cited as an example therein is actually a good example of why this is a bad policy. Ahmad said that in any case the statement that there was only one candidate in that year was false, and that we shouldn't have lies in the resolutions. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 173 on the grounds that it was already covered by Resolution 275. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 57, concerning purpose and strategy, on the grounds that it is just too old and no longer relevant. Walter asked if this was like saying that the Declaration of Independence is no longer relevant. After some discussion, Gingell moved to amend the motion to just delete the second, "strategy", section. Gingell's motion passed on a voice vote. The main motion passed on a voice vote with Gingell and Ahmad voting no.
Dasbach presented a list of additional proposals to consolidate various sets of resolutions on certain topics into single resolutions. Dehn objected that this was simply moving text around, and that such consolidation served no purpose unless someone was going to do the work to integrate the material into something more coherent.
Gingell moved that further consideration of this topic be postponed to the end of the meeting as item 38. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Committee members, in response to an informal poll by Dasbach, indicated that they were interested in considering integration of the resolutions in question.
[The meeting recessed for lunch at 12:33pm, and was called back to order by Walter at 1:37pm.]
13A. AFFILIATE PARTIES COMMITTEE REPORT:
Gingell provided a written report on committee activities and plans [Attachment M] and a Field Coordinator report [Attachment B]. She discussed plans for the APC News, mixed results on the "ladder of development" and the difficulty in figuring out what kind of assistance we can provide to get states beyond "level 3", and the need for administrative help and good messages for the telephone tree. She said that the Expert Talent Bank information may be made part of the activist directory and/or field organizing manual, and that how-to bibliographies would be added to the manual.
She reported that she had received a request from someone who wants to use the activist directory as a mailing list for a business purpose, and asked for comments from the Committee. She said that she currently gives out labels free for libertarian networking purposes. There was no enthusiasm for setting up a formal list rental policy, comments including that there would not be enough revenue involved to be worth the trouble and that it would be seen as endorsing use of the names for non-LP purposes. Various people commented on the difficulty or inadvisability of attempting to restrict the information, comments including: this is like the list we publish in LP News, we want to encourage people to use it for networking purposes, a copy is available on BBSs from which anyone could make their own labels. There was some disagreement about the expectations of the activists whose names are listed. It was decided that the information should remain available to anyone, but that we will not provide labels except for LP networking.
Field Coordinator Marla Bottemiller reported on her activities. She said the job has turned out to include being an "ombudsman" with respect to helping states deal with the national office, that she plans to arrange for state parties to act as mentors for their weaker neighbors, and that the field organizing packet had been updated. She said that in the Council of State Chairs meeting a major concern was ballot access. Gingell said that Field Coordinator expenses for the year will be below budget because of reduced travel and because no supplementary field coordinator staff had been hired. Ahmad suggested that the field organizing packet include pages on candidate recruitment and on ballot access.
13B. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT:
Allard provided a written report [Attachment C] and an update [Attachment N]. She reviewed the activities of the committee. She reported that a letter had been sent to vendors explaining the membership packet insert program. She asked that the minutes include a list of who received the membership contest prizes (page 2 of Attachment C).
Allard moved that Resolution 89 be made part II of Resolution 65, the existing text being part I with heading "National Dues Reduction", with the membership category "contributing" renamed "subscribing", the dollar amount for sustaining increased to $30, for sponsor to $50, for patron to $125, and for life to $500. Ahmad moved to divide the question, with the consolidation of the resolutions separate from the substantive changes. There was no objection, and the consolidation passed on a voice vote.
There was a discussion of various issues relating to membership levels, including the roundness of the numbers, the current associate life amount not being really sufficient to fund continuing service, when a change would go into effect, the fact that pledgers who give more than enough to qualify for a premium category are still listed as just contributing members, and the lack of a program to encourage people to renew at the same or higher level. The main motion to change the dues categories passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make Resolution 194 be part III of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to replace the words "joined as a member" with "signed the oath" in part III of Resolution 65. The motion passed by a vote of 8 to 4.
Allard moved to delete Resolution 260 and add as part IV of Resolution 65: "Membership Committee: A membership committee shall be created under the 'General Guidelines for Action Committees' to contact past contributing members to contribute membership dues, contact 'members' and LP News subscribers to become contributing members, provide national LP staff with contents for the membership packets, update LP News editor of membership activities and membership status, and organize any 'special' project which will encourage growth in national LP membership." The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make Resolution 333 be part V of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make Resolution 338 be part VI of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make Resolution 349 be part VII of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make Resolution 350 be part VIII of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Allard moved to make the resolution passed earlier in this meeting regarding archiving of old membership records be part IX of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.
13C. OUTREACH COMMITTEE REPORT:
Black provided a written report [Attachment D] and an update [Attachment O]. She said that the mailing to gun owners had been ineffective because of inappropriate material and a poorly-maintained list. She is working on additional literature but doesn't plan for it to be printed unless we have enough money.
Bottemiller suggested the development of radio ads. Ernsberger said that it is unlikely that the profit from the census project will be needed for legal defense since the house to house operation was over and nobody had yet been prosecuted.
Ernsberger provided a written report on Campus Outreach [Attachment P] and said the budget could be reduced by $2000.
There was a discussion of the drug issue, and the lack of implementation of the Coalition to End Drug Violence, with comments including: this is a "deadly" issue that legislators are not yet ready to support, that we needed to get more supporters lined up before announcing it, that people are moving our way, that what is "deadly" for the other parties can still be of value for us even if only a small fraction of the population agrees, that this may not be an appropriate project for the national LP because of its size, and that the fact that the Executive Committee was given authorization to spend money on something and then decided not to should not be viewed as evidence that the authorization was a mistake. Tonie Nathan reported that she is still getting calls from people interested in the project and recommended that we continue working on it.
Johnson said there are requests for outreach material in Spanish. Ahmad reported on a talk he gave at a meeting of the Islamic Society of North America.
13D. AUDITOR'S REPORT:
Thies provided a written report [Attachment E] and offered to answer questions. He said he had done only a kind of spot check this time and had not found any big problems, but that it was human nature to magnify whatever problems exist. There was a small fuss about the office allowing the Lord campaign to use the office address and not offering this service to other campaigns; Dunbar pointed out that the only cost was a box in the office and that it wouldn't really be practical for anyone more distant.
14. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT:
Alexander provided a written report [Attachment Q]. He reviewed the direct mail activity and commented on problems with telemarketing. He said he will be pursuing ways to work the pledger list without violating our promise not to bother them, and will be working with Neale on plans for fundraising at the national convention. He noted that his written report included two policy guidelines, one concerning use of names of individuals and the other about promises regarding use of the money.
In response to questions from Walter, he said that candidates could not be used as a basis for the telemarketing pitch because we spend little of the money we are raising on that, and that all the people there are to call are being called. In response to a question from Gingell, he said he endorsed Fielder's revenue projections. In response to a question from Gingell, Dunbar said we don't have thank you notes for contributors. Black volunteered to review a proposed mailing to Secular Humanists.
There was a discussion of whether to send fundraising letters to pledgers. Dasbach said that he thought people were mostly annoyed by the phone calls, that we haven't even been sending pledgers a letter asking them to raise their amount, that sending some mailings to pledgers would not be a problem, and suggested that as an alternative we could include them with the Liberty Pledge News. Black said that some pledges had been solicited with the pitch "imagine never getting a fundraising letter from the LP again". Givot said there are few enough existing pledgers that we could send them personal letters explaining the situation.
15. BALLOT ACCESS COMMITTEE REPORT:
Givot reported that he had been away a lot and had turned things over to Redpath. He said the Kansas ballot drive was going well, mentioned some other states, and said the BAC now has about $6-7000 and filed its FEC report on time. He said fundraising had not been as successful as he hoped, and in particular that people were not willing to pledge the amount he asked.
He proposed to switch positions with Redpath. He, as BAC Treasurer, would handle deposits, financial statements, and thank you notes. Redpath would handle fundraising, strategy, and everything else.
Black moved to approve the appointment of Redpath as BAC Chair. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Redpath reported that the list currently being used for telemarketing (non-member BAC contributors) is not very useful, that there will be a fundraising letter written by Paul Jacob, and that $1500 has been sent to New York to help with their ballot drive. He said 22 or 23 states will probably need help getting on the ballot for 1992, and that we should start working on the ones we can as soon as possible so 1992 can be for campaigning instead of petitioning. He estimated the total cost at about $400,000, down from more than $500,000 for 1988 because there are several expensive states that we expect to retain status this year. He said we need to identify petitioners that we can rely on to work once we have the money, citing a particular problem with college students who don't show up. He said BAC plans to contribute $1000 to the ballot access initiative effort in Massachusetts.
In reply to a question from Walter about an article in a North Carolina newsletter saying that the BAC had given 51-'92 a monopoly on helping with ballot access in that state, Givot said that it was North Carolina people that asked us to stay out, that 51-'92 still says that they are going to do it, and that there are other states that we can afford to work on now.
16. AFFILIATE PARTIES COMMITTEE REPORT (see item 13A)
17. REGIONAL REPORTS:
Written reports were submitted by Allard (Region 1) [Attachment F], Neale (Region 2) [Attachment R], Dasbach (Region 3) [Attachment S], Crickenberger (Region 4) [Attachment T], Thies (Region 5) [Attachment U], Kirkland (Region 6) [Attachment V], and Johnson (Region 8) [Attachment W].
Walter suggested that Regional Representative send copies of their reports to the LP News.
In oral reports, Allard said she had circulated her report to the state chairs asking for corrections. She noted that the number of signatures collected for the Oregon educational choice initiative was the highest of any initiative this year, not in history. The Oregon candidate for governor was arrested again this week on a drug possession charge. Jeff Jared, running for Washington state legislature, wants to be considered for national money. Jeniece LaCross has been attending LPWS events.
Neale reported on activities in California including a clean needle initiative, an NRA resolution allowing support for minor party candidates, rearrangement of local regions, other campaign activities, and a public access TV show.
Dasbach reported on a court case in Indiana concerning write-ins, lack of success of a proportional voting system in the Michigan party, a variety of activities in Ohio and lack of activity in West Virginia, and [[[Robert Murphy]]'s campaign for Congress in Virginia.
Crickenberger said the states in his region are complaining less about national; the main things they care about are that they get things on time and that membership keeps growing. In response to his report of a potential takeover of the inactive Mississippi party by the New Alliance Party, Thies and Bottemiller said they would be willing to work with him to try to reactivate it.
Crickenberger moved to hold the spring LNC meeting on the weekend of 28-29 April. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Thies described a situation in Maryland where several members are running as Republicans, and also reported on activities in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Johnson reported that the Arizona party is not in good shape, that Nevada and Texas are running lots of candidates, and that New Mexico has some also.
Givot (Region 7) reported that Kansas is doing well, Wisconsin is getting better, and there is good communication with Missouri. He described the situation in Illinois as mixed, with failure to achieve ballot status for any statewide candidate but a sign of progress in the form of a tax initiative. He said he has had no communication with Minnesota or Iowa.
18. AFFILIATE CAMPAIGNS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:
[Gingell assumed the chair.]
Dasbach provided a written report [Attachment X]. He said lists of candidates had been sent to organizations such as NTU at their request.
He reviewed the legislative races that are considered prospects for national help, listing Greg Johnson in Idaho as number 1. Toby Nixon, running in Georgia, and Bob Waldrop, running in Utah, each made some comments to the Committee about their campaign activities. Dan Becan, state chair of Nevada, said that our of their previously announced legislative candidates had been disqualified for various reasons.
Dasbach also discussed the fundraising letter for the legislative candidate project, other support of candidates, and his recommendation that we change the schedule for presidential nominations.
Dasbach moved to delete the words "for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate" from Resolution 46. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dehn moved to add an item to the end of the agenda to consider the presidential nominating schedule question; the motion passed on a voice vote.
19. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT (see item 13B)
20. OUTREACH COMMITTEE REPORT (see item 13C)
[The meeting recessed for the day at 5:51pm, and reconvened at 9:16am on Sunday, with Walter in the chair.]
21. MEDIA RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT:
In response to a question from Walter, Johnson said that Tonie Nathan's expenses are not approved ahead of time. Walter moved to defer further discussion of Media Relations until Nathan was available to participate in the discussion; there was no objection.
22. INTERNAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT:
There was a discussion of how to get the Program distributed to members. Black suggested including it in the membership packet; objections were raised that there may not be enough room in the envelope, and that there were only 10,000 copies printed and the plan was to cover the cost of printing by selling them. Others suggested printing it in the LP News, whole or one plank per issue. Walter said some version will be put in the LP News with instructions for ordering the flyer version.
23. ADVERTISING DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT:
Nolan sent a written report [Attachment Y], in which he said he had no plans for further activity this year and indicated he was interested in resigning as chair. There was a brief discussion of a possible replacement.
Givot moved to dissolve the Advertising Development Committee, deleting Resolutions 308 and 341. He said there was no point in having a separate committee since there is no money to do anything, that the only reason we produced any ads at all this year was to use the money previous raised for that purpose, and suggested the subject be handled as part of the Outreach Committee for now. This said that the ADC's status as an SFAC was a sham since it has never provided financial statements and never raised money. Several people cited the continuing enthusiasm for TV ads among the membership as a reason to continue the activity in some form. In response to a question from Walter, Dunbar said the office had masters of the TV and print ads. Ahmad commented on the continuing problem of the failure of SFACs to produce financial reports and suggested that we may not be recognizing the true cost of maintaining this arrangement.
The motion to dissolve the ADC passed on a voice vote.
Givot moved to send a thank you note to Nolan for his work. The motion passed on a voice vote. Allard volunteered to write the note.
24. ADVERTISING/PUBLICATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE REPORT:
Ahmad reported that nothing had been submitted for their approval.
25. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT:
Givot reported on the printing of the Program, and there was a discussion of whether we should go ahead with printing the individual planks as separate brochures. He said he would make them up with artwork and blank panels for candidates to use.
There was a discussion of distributing the Program and membership information to campaign workers and getting the names of campaign prospects. Dasbach said some candidates may fear this would scare people away. Dunbar said the office can provide rapid followup if candidates provide names, and that he would send the normal packet which does not contain the Program. In response to a comment from Bottemiller that some state activists feel that national "runs prospects dry" when they use the 800 number before the state gets a chance to do anything, Dunbar said that prospects just get an info packet and that no other solicitation is done by national until after the name is provided to the state party.
Givot reported that work is being done on preparing an abortion plank and a gun plank, which he hopes to have available for the December meeting, and that he has a new "Environment" plank to be approved now. He moved to discuss that immediately and add a five-minute item to the end of the agenda for final approval; there was no objection.
Neale suggested that the plank point out that government is the biggest polluter and exempt from controls that apply to the private sector, and that in the present system fines are not correlated with the actual cost of damages.
Dehn said the Program was not serving its purpose because we don't update it quickly enough to provide candidates with something that mentions issues that are of current interest during their campaigns, citing gun rights as a currently hot topic that isn't included. Dasbach suggested that it should be updated in the April of each election year.
25A. ADVERTISING DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, continued:
Allard read the thank you note to be sent to Nolan [Attachment EE].
25B. MEDIA RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT, continued:
Nathan provided a written report [Attachment Z]. She described a general mailing to the over 3000 people on her list, which she said cost over $1000. She said that it is important to do such a mailing occasionally to let everyone know we are active and to clean the list, and that she wants to do at least one more mailing before the election.
She mentioned various past and potential media appearances that she has been involved in arranging, said she has been putting a lot of her time into organizing the list, clippings, and information about "luminaries", and said she wants suggestions on how to quantify her results. She said she looked into a broadcast monitoring service but it is very expensive and said she would be asking the state parties to help gather clippings.
In response to a comment from Nathan about the office sometimes not being able to provide accurate state contact information that she can give to the media, Gingell said that the office gets several copies of the updates so should have no problem with that but so does everyone else so we shouldn't even need to be bothering the office about it.
In reply to a question from Gingell, Johnson said that there is no preapproval of Nathan's travel and expenses, that she does what she needs to do and provides a monthly report. Nathan said she had not made any trips other than this one during the quarter, and that she would not be submitting any additional expenses other than ones associated with this trip, and that she does discuss any major expenses with Johnson. Gingell suggested that Nathan needs to keep Walter better informed of what press releases she is sending out, and that expenses should be approved by Johnson before being paid.
In reply to questions from Walter about involving the state parties, Nathan said she has contacts in 15 states, that she is planning to put tips in the APC newsletter because there isn't room in LP News, that she is interested in working with Bob Waldrop on helping the states get more organized, that she has a "Tips for VIPs" document that people have found useful, and that there is more information that could be a manual but it needs to be reworked. Gingell suggested that Nathan work more closely with Bottemiller and turn the information into something that Bottemiller can use in her work with the states.
Dasbach said that Nathan's mailings and phone work was very valuable, but questioned the cost-effectiveness of her trips. Nathan and Ernsberger had a discussion about how many trips she had put in expenses for and why she felt it necessary to go to certain LNC meetings. Allard said that Nathan's work was helpful in Washington state both in dealing with the Jeniece LaCross situation and with campaigns. Bottemiller said that the media contacts that Nathan has provided have been useful when she visits states.
26. CONVENTION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT:
Neale provided a written report [Attachment AA] and LEI provided additional material [Attachment G]. Neale said that all parties now have a copy of the contract as modified. He said that Sue Walton of LEI wants the changes recorded in the minutes, but he doesn't think that is necessary. Dehn said that it would be better to have the whole thing with all the changes on file in case there is any dispute later. Neale said he would send Dehn a copy.
Neale reported that LEI has asked for an auditor to be appointed jointly. After a brief discussion, the consensus appeared to be that we don't need this at this time.
In response to suggestions from various people, Neale said that he would ask LEI to (1) make sure that "Libertarian Party" appears in all convention publicity, (2) schedule the Bylaws Committee for just Wednesday and Thursday, and (3) give consideration to the need for a media room. In response to a question from Givot about computers that could be used by convention committees and in vote tallying, Neale said he was talking to people about it.
Neale reported that Alan Lindsay was asking for a copy of the contract and that the office had been instructed to refer all such requests to Neale.
In response to LEI's request for information about the schedule for business meetings, Thies moved that "We want our convention hall available from ___ in the morning until ___ in the afternoon". Points in the discussion included: the purpose of the convention is to conduct LP business, the contract as it stands effectively says we have the hall 24 hours a day, the business meeting suffers if there are attractive speakers scheduled at the same time, people felt that not enough time was allowed for the business meeting in Philadelphia, we need to make it practical for C-SPAN to cover both speakers and business, in Philadelphia people who wanted to attend the business meeting had to skip the breakfast speakers they had paid for.
Ahmad moved to amend the motion to read "we advise LEI that we intend to use the hall from 10 to 6 to conduct business". The amendment passed on a voice vote.
[Gingell assumed the chair.]
Additional comments were made about the amount of time allocated for business: people can only take so much business, discussion of the Platform alone should not take that much more time than last year, delegates only have a chance to conduct business once every two years so we should allow plenty of time, and the platform discussion made for more interesting programming on C-SPAN than the big speakers.
Givot moved to amend the motion to say from noon to 6. The motion to amend failed on a voice vote. The main motion passed on a voice vote.
Neale moved to authorize Neale and Alexander to take advantage of the option for a second fundraising event. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Neale noted that LEI wants clarification that they can select speakers. In reply to a question from Alexander, he said the contract specifies that we can veto their choice up to 90 days before the convention.
Gingell moved to add additional discussion of Internal Education to the end of the agenda; there was no objection.
[Walter resumed the chair.]
27. 1993 CONVENTION PROPOSALS:
Neale reported interest from two parties: Pat Wright representing San Diego and Bob Waldrop representing Utah. Neither being present at the moment, Ahmad moved to postpone the discussion to the end of the meeting; there was no objection.
28. LP NEWS REPORT:
In reply to a request from Black that the product catalog items be listed in the LP News, Dunbar said the whole thing was too big, and that he had arranged with Randy Langhenry to highlight one item in each issue, but he agreed to have the ad inform people that the catalog is available.
In response to a request from Lynn House of Alaska that the state chairs list be included in every issue, someone said there was not enough room.
29. LEGAL ACTION COMMITTEE REPORT:
It was noted that although we currently have no active committee, David Bergland has done work on some things for us. Walter welcomed suggestions for a new committee chair.
In reply to a question from Redpath about the person whoad been repeatedly dialing our 800 number, Dunbar reported that we had gotten a refund for the phone charges, that Bill Hall had written a letter to the person, that the area code was no longer blocked, and thatt wasn't happening anymore.
Gingell mentioned that the Alaska LP may have a problem with another group identifying itself as the Libertarian Party, and Nathan mentioned that the Justice Department is reviewing the anti-trust exemption of NES.
30. AUDITOR'S REPORT (see item 13D)
31. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT:
Redpath reported that he has started working with Thies and Dunbar on an operational audit [Attachment BB], and that the insurance plan for employees is now set up.
In response to a statement by Redpath that the existing employee bonus plan, Resolution 339, was not suitable for this year and needed to be updated or deleted, Thies moved to delete the resolution. Ahmad objected that the existing plan was intended to work for future years and could simply be adjusted. Redpath outlined a specific new set of numbers for computing the bonus pool, one feature of which was separate calculations based on the number of renewals and the number of new members. Dasbach objected that the sum of the base numbers for these two categories was less than the current membership, and that it would be hard to calculate these two numbers separately. Redpath conducted a straw poll to determine whether the Committee preferred having some kind of quantitative plan, a qualitative plan, or no plan; the first alternative was most popular. Thies withdrew his motion.
Redpath moved to amend Resolution 339 by replacing the pool computation formula with: "(1) $1 for every membership renewal over 5000, plus (2) $10 for every successful Liberty Pledge renewal, plus (3) $2 for each new member over 2000, plus (4) 10% of the gross of Liberty Pledge over $8000/month for September-December 1990, plus (5) 5% of gross revenues over $500,000".
Thies moved to amend Redpath's proposal to delete all but the last point. There was a discussion of the effect of the two variants on revenue, and of the appropriateness of including in the calculation various items that are not directly under the control of the office. Allard suggested including a bonus for good ideas. Dunbar said that basing the bonus on specific items such as Liberty Pledge was an interesting way of communicating to the office staff what the Committee considers important.
Gingell moved to further amend the proposal to base the calculation on net revenue over $300,000 rather than gross over $300,000. Argument in favor of net was that it would encourage employees to raise funds in the least expensive ways, rather than by doing something that might bring in a large gross but cost a lot. Argument opposed was that net is not so clearly defined because some things could be considered either expense or a cost of raising revenue. Gingell's amendment passed on a voice vote.
Ahmad moved to substitute for the pending proposal that the existing plan be modified by replacing the existing third and fourth points relating to revenue by "5% of the gross revenue over the budget adopted at the beginning of the year", by eliminating the specific numbers from the first and second points, and by eliminating all references to 1989. After some further discussion of what areas are really subject to influence by the office employees, Ahmad's motion to substitute passed on a voice vote.
The main motion passed on a voice vote, with Givot voting no. Dunbar thanked the Committee for resolving the question.
[The meeting was recessed, and reconvened at 1:40pm.]
32. BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT:
Fielder sent a written report [Attachment CC]. Ernsberger summarized the committee's recommendations.
Gingell reported on a revised recommendation that had been put together by herself, Ernsberger, and Dehn. On the expense side, the recommendation was the same as in Fielder's memo for headquarters-related expenses and would make the following changes in other items:
Budget Item Proposed Change Change
Budget Subtotal
APRC 0 -200
Audit/Management Committee 250 -250
Budget Committee 400 +400
Executive Committee 3900 +900
National Committee 2000 -1000
-150
Aff. Parties Committee 5000 0
APC Field Coordinators 34650 -3850
APC Special Projects 50 -950
Campaign 90 5500 -6500
-11300
Internal Ed. Committee 0 -3000
Membership Committee 6000 +3000
LP News 62000 +1000
+1000
Campus Outreach 8000 -2000
CEDV 0 -5000
Conferences & Seminars 0 -2000
Media Relations 20600 -2000
Outreach Committee 1500 -4500
Outreach Literature 3500 +1000
800 line 6000 0
TV Advertising 8800 +3800
-10700
The revenue side would be the same as in Fielder's memo except for an additional $3000 for the Torch Club, which she said Alexander thinks he can achieve. She said the result of the whole recommendation was $850 out of balance, on a cash basis (following Fielder's recommendation for dealing with depreciation and capital expenses).
Gingell moved that we adopt the revenue side of the revised recommendation. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Gingell moved that we adopt the expense side of the revised recommendation. The motion passed on a voice vote.
33. PANAMA/LEAR LETTER:
Allard reviewed the involvement by Jeniece LaCross in activities of the LP of Washington State, and said that while we had dealt with the situation properly, we should adopt a resolution clarifying our policies.
Allard moved:
--- The policy for use of an individual's name in a solicitation letter will be as follows: (a) The names of individuals who have been elected or appointed into positions in the federal, state, and local government and anyone who has direct influence over government policy may be used in the letter campaigns; (b) The names of individuals who have become "public figures" because of their actions may be used in the letter campaign; (c) The names of those individuals identified in (a) and (b) may be used to emphasize the LP positions on issues and the injustice of the government policy; (d) The content of letters will not state the feelings or thoughts of any individual in the absence of evidence to support the statement; and (e) All other names of individuals not identified in (a) and (b) will be used only with the written permission of the individual or his/her family. ---
Ahmad said that this served the purpose of the proposed motion he had distributed prior to the meeting, and that since we all agree with this policy there is no reason not to adopt it.
Alexander objected; he said that passing this resolution would not satisfy the people who are complaining and might encourage them to ask for more, that this goes against our effort to clean up the resolutions, that the policy he has already announced is stricter than this, and that it is inconsistent to have a resolution just for this particular case when there are no resolutions prohibiting saying exactly the same thing in anything other than a fundraising letter nor prohibiting saying other kinds of unfavorable things about people in a fundraising letter.
Neale moved to amend by changing "elected or appointed" to "elected, appointed, volunteered, enlisted, or otherwise hired"; there was no objection.
Additional points in the discussion included: this policy would not have prohibited a fundraising letter about Lear, we need to be able to rely on people's good judgment rather than depend on a list of prohibitions, even if this will not satisfy LaCross there are other people who will wonder why we don't take a position, this proposal would do nothing about telephone fundraising or items in the LP News, it would be better to have a broader policy developed by the Finance Committee, and if we pass this it will be clear that it is just a response to the incident and not something that we really expect to be useful as a guide for the future.
The motion failed on a vote of 6 to 8, with Allard, Thies, and Ahmad voting yes.
Ahmad moved "Be it resolved that it is against Libertarian Party policy to publish fundraising letters that invoke the presumed values of people we do not know." After some discussion of the exact meaning of several of the words in the proposed resolution, the motion failed on a vote of 5 to 7.
34. MALAYSIA BOYCOTT:
Pat Wright was present but indicated that he was not prepared to make a presentation. Neale moved to discuss Wright's convention proposal; there was no objection.
34A. 1993 CONVENTION, continued:
Pat Wright provided a written proposal [Attachment DD] and reviewed some of the points therein.
Walter noted that a decision will be made at the December meeting and advised those interested in doing the convention to provide additional details by that time.
35. COUNCIL OF STATE CHAIRS:
It was reported that Alicia Clark did not recall that she had been invited to talk to us.
36. LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE (see item 47)
37. RESOLUTION CONCERNING SAUDI ARABIA:
Ahmad moved:
--- Saddam Hussein's intervention into the internal affairs of Kuwait by rolling tanks across its border has outraged the world as an act of naked aggression. Any such military incursion not required for the defense of a nation's territorial integrity must be soundly condemned by all who believe in justice. Accordingly, and in line with our Party platform's strong and consistent opposition to foreign interventionism, including the affairs of the Middle East, the National Committee of the Libertarian Party condemns the Bush Administration decision to send American troops to Saudi Arabia and calls for their immediate recall.
A military blockade is an act of war. American youth should not be sacrificed to defend monarchies, nor artificial national boundaries drawn by a previous generation of British politicians. Iraq's marauding despot is no direct threat to America's security. His pernicious cause is only advanced by the insertion of American troops into the present turmoil. The residents of the region are the best defenders of their own interests against Saddam Hussein's aggression. The Baath movement, Hussein's so-called Arab Socialism, will fall the same way that the Socialist movements of Europe are falling -- from the moral and economic bankruptcy of Socialism.
The Republican and Democratic politicians supported Iraq after its unprovoked invasion of Iran, subsidizing Iraqi grain purchases with American taxpayers' money. They continue to fund aid to countries guilty of occupation and annexation comparable to that perpetrated by Iraq. The hypocrisy of their alleged concern over the most recent Iraqi aggression is an embarrassment to the founding principles of the United States.
The Libertarian Party stands ready and eager to lead America back to a commitment to those principles of free trade and friendship with all nations and entangling alliances with none. ---
Thies explained that he had an alternative text that was organized around platform planks.
Neale moved to change "a previous generation of British politicians" to "previous generations of foreign politicians"; there was no objection.
Discussion included the following points: the linkage at the beginning between opposition to Iraq's action and to US action may be confusing, we need to address this issue as it may turn out be a major war, there are other aspects of our Platform that apply to this situation and we should try to address all of them. Nathan suggested passing this as an official resolution and using Thies' text as a "policy statement" with which we could approach talk shows.
Givot, arguing that there were little things in the text that could embarrass us and that a simpler resolution would be better, moved to delete the two paragraphs beginning "A military blockade..." and "The Republican and Democratic politicians...", and to change, in the first paragraph, "Accordingly, and in line with" to "Notwithstanding this act of war, we reaffirm". Ahmad objected that removal of the two paragraphs would eliminate the guts of the resolution.
Dasbach moved to divide Givot's motion; there was no objection, and the change to the first paragraph was considered first. Thies moved to change "reaffirm" to "support", and to rearrange the sentence so that "Libertarian National Committee" appeared in place of the first "we", making appropriate adjustments for grammar; there was no objection to these changes. The motion to amend the first paragraph passed on a voice vote.
The motion to delete the two paragraphs failed on a voice vote. The main motion to adopt the resolution [Attachment FF] passed on a voice vote.
[Gingell assumed the chair.]
Thies moved:
--- Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait outrages us, the members of the Libertarian National Committee. It is an act of naked aggression. It outrages us just as Hussein's invasion of Iran, his use of chemical weapons, and his threat of using weapons of mass destruction against the people of Israel and the people of its occupied territories outrage us.
The question we address is what should be our response. We remind ourselves of the first brave response to this invasion: the refusal by hundreds of Iraqi military officers to participate. Their courageous act cost them their lives but gained for them a place of honor in history and in our hearts.
We know that many other brave men and women will resist Iraqi aggression. Our concern is to be successful, minimizing the loss of innocent lives, and establishing the basis for a just and lasting peace.
As we meet, the United States is deploying military forces in and around Saudi Arabia, joined by the military forces of other nations including NATO allies, the Soviet Union and various Arab countries. All of this is for the stated purpose of deterring an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia.
Our platform clearly states that, while we condemn violations of the rights of Americans traveling abroad by foreign governments, we oppose any protection of Americans abroad as an unjust tax-supported subsidy involving potential military intervention. While we also condemn violations of human rights throughout the world, we oppose foreign intervention by the United States. Our platform only supports the use of military force to protect the lives, liberty and property of the American people in the United States.
We, therefore, oppose the deployment of U.S. military forces to Saudi Arabia.
Our platform opposes the President's power to initiate military action. There must be no unilateral acts of military intervention by the Executive Branch. We note that this deployment is not being conducted under any Senate-approved treaty, binding the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to mutual defense. It is being conducted as a unilateral act of the President.
We, therefore, oppose the action of the President to deploy military forces to Saudi Arabia and demand that, if he does not order a redeployment to the United States, the President ask the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war so this deployment would at least be conducted in a constitutional manner.
Our platform opposes foreign aid, including guarantees of export-related loans. We note that U.S. aid to Iraq, consisting of diplomatic and intelligence support during its recent war against Iran, and loan guarantees financing food exports to Iraq, did not serve to placate Hussein, but only emboldened him to continue his aggressive ways, and propped up his economically-bankrupt regime.
We, therefore, call upon the United States to end foreign aid programs. When will the U.S. stop propping up dictators that oppress their own people and terrorize the people in neighboring countries? When will the U.S. stop the policies that drag us into one after another war in distant places all around the world?
Specifically, concerning the Middle East, our platform calls upon the U.S. government to cease all interventions and opposes incorporation of the Persian Gulf into the U.S. defense perimeter. Wars and insurrections have marked this tragic area of the world ever since European powers first intervened during the Crusades. It's unrealistic to think continued Western or even global intervention is going to resolve the underlying problems. An end to interventionism is the best policy.
Our platform opposes U.S. export policies that hold American farmers hostage to politics. We note that the U.S. used grain embargoes against Iran in support of Iraq during the recent Gulf War, and to no advantage.
On the other hand, our platform supports voluntary cooperation with economic boycotts. While boycotts have had mixed success when world Even though we support a boycott against Iraq, we oppose a Naval blockade to enforce the boycott since a blockade is an act of war.
Our platform also clearly supports the rights of all people to defend themselves against tyranny, including their right to revolt against oppressive governments.
We, therefore, support Arab resistance against Iraqi aggression and encourage voluntary support by freedom-loving people around the world.
We believe that Saddam Hussein's so-called Ba'ath movement of Arab socialism will fail, and that it would have already failed if it hadn't been propped up by aid from the United States, Soviet Union and, ironically, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
We must remind ourselves of the devastating cost of war. The state loves war. War plays right into the hands of dictators such as Hussein. Libertarians support the right of self-defense, but making war shouldn't be an emotional first response.
Freedom works, and socialism doesn't. We can be patient and, in the long run, we will not only surely win, but we will also win at the least cost in terms of lives as well as property. ---
[Redpath assumed the chair.]
Neale moved to replace the first paragraph concerning boycotts, beginning with "On the other hand", by "Our platform supports voluntary cooperation with economic boycotts. Therefore, while we reject the U.N. resolution calling for a mandatory boycott against Iraq, we support a boycott against Iraq on a voluntary basis."
Ahmad expressed uncertainty as to the need for this resolution.
Neale moved to table; the motion to table passed on a voice vote.
[Walter resumed the chair.]
Givot moved to suspend the rules to take up the question of presidential convention scheduling, followed by approval of the new Program plank. The motion passed on a 2/3 voice vote.
38. RESOLUTION CLEANUP, Part 2 (see item 40A)
39. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING SCHEDULE:
Givot pointed out that the Bylaws allow the LNC to set the date as late as June of the election year, said we've all heard the arguments, said the process of getting laws changed in various states will take time, and called on the Committee to take action now rather than leave it to the next LNC.
Givot moved to set the nominating convention for 1996 as late as possible in 1996 and to authorize the Executive Committee to pursue negotiations or legal action in various states.
Discussion included the following points: Labor Day has been a problem for students and maybe earlier in the summer will be better, having the convention in an odd year gets the party infighting over with well before the election, it may be difficult to make progress in the courts before 1996 because we won't have an actual case, there will be costs associated with the court cases, it may only be necessary to fight one court battle and then have the decision to apply elsewhere, there is a risk we could not have our candidate on the ballot in all states if we try this, we could switch back if it doesn't look like it has a good chance of working, an alternative would be to hold an extra convention during the election year, having our nomination process going on during the election year makes our candidates more interesting to the media, and an election year convention gives candidates more of an opportunity to demonstrate their campaigning and the option of using matching funds before we select them.
Ahmad moved to postpone this topic until the next meeting to give Givot and Richard Winger a chance to prepare a detailed proposal. The motion to postpone passed on a voice vote.
40. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT, Part 2:
Givot moved the adoption of the following plank on "The Environment" in place of the existing one on "Pollution":
--- Every one of us is dependent on the environment to support our lives. When a person, a company, or a government dumps waste from its property onto the property of others without their Consent, it has trespassed against them. The victims of pollution should be able to sue the polluter, require it to stop, and collect damages.
The best way to understand why we have a high level of air and water pollution we have today is to recognize that responsibility for protection of the environment has been turned over to a government bureaucracy. Today's failures are a result of the ineffectiveness of the government to deal with such important issues. Corporate officials are often protected from liability. Various levels of government -- often the worst polluters -- impose ever-greater regulations on private parties, while hiding behind legal exemptions which permit them to violate their own standards.
Current laws relating to the environment are not based on the concept of trespass. These laws define acceptable levels of pollution and attempt to prevent anyone from exceeding those levels. They fall short of what is needed for several reasons.
By setting acceptable levels of pollution, the government is actually approving those levels of pollution. Libertarians do not believe that government bureaucrats in Washington should determine how much poison we are forced to eat, drink, and breathe!
Government sanctions environmental destruction; polluters feel safe as they poison our environment up to government accepted levels. It is an uphill battle for an injured private citizen to sue a polluter who has met all government guidelines. Even if the individual has been unquestionably harmed, the polluter's claim that all applicable government standards were met provides a strong defense.
When polluters exceed government standards, the penalties they pay typically go to the government, not to the people who were harmed. Why should the government be paid for poisoning private citizens? Why shouldn't polluters compensate their victims?
Faceless bureaucrats can never be as effective in fighting pollution as individual citizens; provided that we give citizens the tools they need to do so. The following are some initial steps to protect our environment.
1. Clearly establish the legal right of individuals or groups to claim that harmful pollution of their body, property, air or water is a trespass, allowing them to successfully sue individuals, companies, or governments for damages.
2. End all regulatory attempts to define acceptable levels of pollution. Setting such standards has the effect of legally sanctioning that amount of pollution, even when it might be reduced below that level. It also deprives citizens the right to successfully claim damages from levels of pollution which are lower than government standards. ---
The motion passed on a voice vote.
40A. RESOLUTION CLEANUP, Part 2:
Dasbach moved that a new resolution titled "Position Description of National Treasurer" be approved, consisting of and replacing the existing Resolutions 55, 2, 253, and 26. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved that Resolutions 1, 14, 19, 43, 62, 149, 313, and 348 be deleted and a new resolution titled "Position Description of National Secretary" be added as follows:
--- The Secretary shall take minutes of all LNC meetings. Minutes shall be mailed to all LNC members not more than 30 days after each meeting.
The Secretary shall prepare a synopsis of convention business, including committee reports and the records of voting for offices, for approval by the National Committee.
The Secretary shall keep a tally of mail ballots between meetings, and shall destroy the ballots after each meeting. Mail ballots shall not include argument (the term argument shall include whereas clauses). An LNC member may change his or her vote on a mail ballot. The change must be signed and dated and received by the Secretary by the deadline for return of ballots.
The Secretary shall maintain a concise and complete accounting of the LNC's resolutions in manual form. Such form shall be conducive to ease of identification and replacement of former or amended resolutions.
LNC members, alternates, and state chairs shall receive copies of the Bylaws and Platform after each convention.
LNC agendas, minutes, mail ballots, resolution updates, and other supporting material shall be sent without charge to all LNC members, alternates, and committee chairs, as well as to any state chair that requests them. Any Party member may obtain these materials at his or her own cost. A list of such material shall be available from National Headquarters on request and may be periodically sent to state chairs and/or advertised in LP News. ---
The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved that a new section 20 be added to Resolution 243: "The Chair writes a monthly 'Chair's Report' and ensures its timely distribution to all LNC members", renumbering the existing section 20 to 21 and deleting Resolution 311. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved that "in writing monthly" be added to the end of section 14 of Resolution 244, and that Resolution 312 be deleted. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved that "Minutes shall be kept of Executive Committee meetings" be inserted before the last sentence of Resolution 335 and that Resolution 343 be deleted. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolutions 292 and 325. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to amend Resolution 240 by replacing "Resolved" by "Legal Action Committee", to add a new paragraph:
--- All contracts entered into or modified by the LNC shall be reviewed by the Legal Action Committee prior to signing by the National Chair or approval by the LNC, for contracts of more than one year in duration or more than $5000. Further, that all contracts or modifications thereto be reduced to writing. ---
and to delete Resolution 294. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to amend Resolution 244 by inserting a new section 24: "The Director maintains control over the Party's computer database and develops distribution and pricing policies for mailing and telephone lists, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee", renumbering existing section 24 as 25. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolutions 241, 69, 336, 301, and 219, and to adopt the following new resolution:
--- The National Director shall require a 50% deposit on all mailing label or list orders, except for commercial mailing list houses or organizations that have a perfect track record of paying within 30 days for the previous year.
Rentals, exchanges, or sales of the Party mailing list shall not include the names of anyone who has cumulatively given over $5000 to the national Party.
Any member of the Libertarian Party who so requests may have his or her name removed from lists made available to outside organizations.
Neither the mailing list, nor any other Party asset, shall be given, rented, sold, or otherwise made available to any other political party or its candidates.
Telephone numbers shall only be provided to state affiliate parties, LNC members and committee chairs, and Libertarian Party candidates. ---
The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolutions 96 and 274, and add to Resolution 44: "No news release emanating from the National Headquarters or National Convention shall misrepresent the position of the Party as reflected in the Platform. Vote totals are not to be described as membership in any Party communication." Thies moved to substitute that Resolutions 44, 96, and 274 be deleted. The motion to substitute passed by a vote of 4 to 2, with Ahmad voting no. The main motion passed on a voice vote, with Ahmad voting no.
Dasbach moved that Resolution 324 be amended by deleting "Resolved, that", deleting the second paragraph, and adding a new paragraph "The Libertarian Party shall maintain membership in the Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE)", and that resolution 93 be deleted. The motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved that Resolution 307 and Resolution 270C, starting with "Travel by", be appended to Resolution 316. The motion passed on a voice vote.
41. INTERNAL EDUCATION, Part 2:
O'Brien asked to get a sense of the LNC as to the purpose of the Internal Education Committee, suggesting several possible areas: how to deal with the media, communications skills, organizational techniques, and issues and ideology.
Gingell referred to Resolution 186, which says the committee deals with both organizational and political education. Thies said the committee should be involved in educating members directly, not just through the affiliate parties. Alexander said the committee will have a lot of work to do if his committee is successful with its mailings to special interest groups.
Ahmad moved to delete the last sentence of Resolution 186 and to insert "for use by the Affiliate Party Committee" into the previous sentence after "programs". The motion was divided and the first part adopted without objection. Thies moved to substitute for the remaining portion of the motion that the sentence in question be deleted. Dehn objected that the resulting motion would leave no room for directly helping members. The motion to substitute passed on a voice vote. The main motion failed on a voice vote.
Walter appointed O'Brien to be chair of the Internal Education Committee.
42. RESOLUTION CLEANUP, part 3:
Dasbach moved to suspend the rules to consider another change; there was no objection.
Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 330, giving specifications for the office location. Ahmad and Dunbar said they preferred that it remain since it will help provide guidelines for the possible upcoming move. The motion failed on a voice vote.
43. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, part 2:
Redpath moved to suspend the rules to announce his resignation as chair of the Management Committee, saying he would be busy with the BAC and with state activities, and recommended Thies as his replacement.
Thies said he would be willing to do it, but others objected to having the Auditor and the Management Chair be the same person, especially since the Management Chair is on the Executive Committee. Thies said he would plan on resigning one or the other position in December and would look for a new auditor in the meantime. Ahmad volunteered to be Management Chair.
Walter moved to appoint Ahmad as a member of the Management Committee; the motion passed on a voice vote. A vote by paper ballot was held to select a chair for the committee from among its members; Ahmad was elected with 7 votes, 2 votes being cast for Thies.
44. PANAMA/LEAR LETTER, part 2:
Allard moved to suspend the rules to consider the 14 July resolution of the LPWS Executive Committee (in Attachment F); there was no objection.
Alexander moved to adopt the LPWS resolution as written, but said he opposed it. After some discussion of the inappropriateness of the form of that text to be a resolution of the LNC, Alexander withdrew his motion.
Ahmad moved to respond to point 3 of the LPWS's request by advising LPWS that our policy is the motion he offered earlier in this meeting (see item 33) and to say that points 1 and 2 of the request are without merit. Ahmad then moved to divide the question taking the part about point 3 first. The motion to divide passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to substitute that our response to point 3 is to send a copy of Alexander's report which contains his current policy. The motion to substitute and the main motion to respond to point 3 passed on voice votes.
Dasbach moved to divide points 1 and 2; the motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to substitute as a response to point 1 a statement that since there have been no requests for the return of the money there is no basis for complying with their request. Ahmad offered specific wording: "Since in our judgment people who donated did so because of their support of our policies and given that there have been no requests for a refund by any contributor, we see no basis for granting this request." The motion to substitute and the main motion to respond to point 1 passed on voice votes.
[Gingell assumed the chair.]
There was a discussion of whether there was anything specific we could say in response to point 2 and of whether the letter had promised that the money would be used to fund something specific.
Thies moved to substitute that the Treasurer be appointed to respond to this point.
Ahmad moved to substitute that we respond that the money was put in the general fund and in the following months a major focus of our outreach effort was the drug issue.
After further discussion of the lack of any way to meaningfully account for how the money from this particular letter was spent, the all pending motions passed on voice votes.
[Walter resumed the chair.]
45. MINUTES CORRECTION:
Dehn moved to suspend the rules to correct the minutes of the previous meeting to show that the funds from the census letter were allocated until June 1991, not June 1990 (item 21A of 28-29 April 1990 minutes). The motion to suspend the rules and the correction passed on voice votes.
46. CONVENTION OVERSIGHT (1991), part 2:
Dehn moved to suspend the rules to consider further LEI's request concerning scheduling of the business meeting. The motion to suspend the rules passed by a vote of 7 to 3.
Dehn said that what we had done would not allow LEI to do what they wanted, and suggested that if we gave up one more hour there would be time for a speaker before the business. Neale said 10 am is a good time to start the business because of the breakfast schedule. Dasbach said that a switch to 11 am with a speaker just before would encourage a clean start to the meeting without dead time for C-SPAN. Various other members objected to the use of the hall for non-business sessions. Walter said LEI should be asked to come up with another plan.
47. LONG-RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE:
Walter said somebody needs to be taking a longer-range view of our activities, and said he was thinking about setting up a planning committee consisting of the chairs of the action committees. He suggested as goals for next year: increasing membership to 11,000 by the convention, a $550,000 budget, achieving ballot access in those states where it is possible, and increasing the number of candidates to 500. Johnson suggested doing some market research, such as conducting a poll.
48. CONCLUDING BUSINESS
Thies moved to adjourn; the motion passed on a voice vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:43 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph W, Dehn III
Secretary
Attachments:
[Attachments distributed with the agenda packet]
A. Report on Mail Ballot
B. Field Coordinator Report
C. Membership Committee Report
D. Outreach Committee Report
E. Auditor's Report
F. Region 1 Report
G. LEI Material
[Attachments distributed at the meeting]
H. Chair's Report Material
I. Financial Statements
J. Director's Report
K. Memo Concerning National Office
L. 1989 Convention Report Appendixes
M. Affiliate Parties Committee Report
N. Membership Committee Report Update
O. Outreach Committee Report Update
P. Campus Outreach Report
Q. Finance Committee Report
R. Region 2 Report
S. Region 3 Report
T. Region 4 Report
U. Region 5 Report
V. Region 6 Report
W. Region 8 Report
X. Affiliate Campaign Committee Report
Y. Advertising Development Committee Report
Z. Media Relations Committee Report
AA. Convention Oversight Committee Report
BB. Memo Concerning Operations Audit
CC. Budget Committee Report
DD. San Diego Convention Proposal
[Attachments not previously distributed]
EE. Note to Nolan
FF. Resolution Against Deployment of Troops