Document:LNC Minutes 1 July 1998

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Minutes.
Libertarian National Committee.
Regular Meeting, Wednesday, July 1, 1998.
The Libertarian National Committee met on Wednesday, July 1, 1998, in Washington, D.C., before the national convention at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th Street N.W. The chair, Steve Dasbach, called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time.
Present for all or part of the meeting were the following:

chair, Stephen L. Dasbach;
vice chair, Karen A. Allard;
secretary, Gary E. Johnson;
treasurer, Hugh A. Butler;
at-large, Sharon A. Ayres;
at-large, John Buttrick;
at-large, Steven I. Givot;
at-large, Barbara Goushaw;
at-large, William W. Hall;
Region 1 representative, Joseph W. Dehn III;
Region 2 representative, Gene Cisewski;
Region 3 representative, Ken Bisson;
Region 4 representative, Candi Copas;
Region 5 representative, Tim Moir;
Region 6 representative, Mark Tuniewicz;
Region 7 representative, Robert H. Franke;
Region 8 representative, Geoffrey J. Neale; and
Region 1 alternate Scott Lieberman.
Minutes.
The minutes of the LNC meeting for March 7 and 8, 1998, were considered.
Gene Cisewski said he did not make the motion to delete from the Policy Manual "No employee shall serve as a delegate to any National or State Party convention." He said Steve Givot made the motion.

Karen Allard said the name of Credentials Committee member Dana Johansen was misspelled as "Dena."

Gene Cisewski moved to approve the minutes as amended. The motion passed.

Chair's Report.
Steve Dasbach presented a chair's report.
He noted that Massachusetts, Hawaii, Alaska, and New Hampshire were strong enough to conduct their petition drives for ballot access without financial assistance.

Membership exceeded 28,000. He said the average contribution from new members more than covered their average fulfillment costs.

He presented a written report on Project Archimedes. He estimated that the party would be able to send up to half a million pieces monthly, which would bring in 4,000 members a month.

Internet.
Steve Dasbach said a supporter in Nevada, Dan Fylstra, had offered to raise $25,000 -- conditional on getting matching contributions -- to pay for a company to upgrade the Web site. The Webmaster, Joe Dehn, said he had met with the CEO of the company.
Joe Dehn said the director of communications, Bill Winter, was sending articles and photographs from the newsletter to be posted on the Web site.

Joe Dehn said forms had been added to the Web site to allow state affiliates to update pages of information about their state officers and news releases.

He said some people had registered for the national convention through the credit card system on the Web site.

Gary Johnson said that, while the party was considering the design of the Web site, it should define an overall "identity" for its logo, colors, preferred typefaces, etc., to develop an consistent "look" for all of its publications, signage, advertising, etc.

Joe Dehn said the Web designer had said the site should have a uniform "high tech, future oriented" look and the current site looked "conservative" and "right wing."

He said the project would cost $50,000. The national director, Ron Crickenberger, said additional work would be donated.

Joe Dehn recalled that the question was raised at a previous LNC meeting as to whether new members could join on the Web when the Bylaws required members to certify "in writing" they opposed the initiation of force for political or social goals. He reported that the Bylaws Committee had decided the Bylaws did not need to be changed to allow new members to join by checking a box, for example, on the Web site as a certification.

Steve Dasbach said the Web site would be modified to allow new members to join online.

Treasurer's Report.
Hugh Butler presented a written treasurer's report.
He said the processes of installing a new computer network, management information system, and accounting system were slower than expected, partly due to the departure of the bookkeeper, Tiffany Rodney. He said the transition from the current accounting software to new software should have a cut off date later than previously planned.

Audit Committee.
The chair of the 1997 Audit Committee, Geoff Neale, said the independent auditor had completed its combined 1996 and 1997 audit on time. The party had no federal income tax liability.
Tim Moir suggested Ron Crickenberger put in writing his responses to the recommendations in the 1997 audit. Ron Crickenberger said he would.

Hugh Butler noted that the audit prepared for 1996 was a draft and the 1997 audit covered both 1996 and 1997.

Steve Givot and Mark Tuniewicz said it would be worth the expense to print copies of the 1997 audit for all the national convention delegates.

A written report by the internal auditor, William Redpath, was distributed.

Information System Audit.
Geoff Neale described his inventory of the equipment at the national headquarters.
He said Barbara Goushaw had arranged for the party to buy a security cabinet for the computer server for $600, well below a comparable cost of $1,500 to $2,000. Geoff Neale emphasized that he was disclosing this in case there was any concern about a conflict of interest.

He expressed concern that he did not find any lease document, shipping order, or invoice for computers purchased several years ago by John Famularo.

Geoff Neale recommended that an information system audit be conducted every year or two years.

Legal Counsel.
Karen Allard presided.
The legal counsel, Bill Hall, said the party was not a defendant in any lawsuit.

The directors and officers insurance was in place. The policy was for $1 million with a $20,000 deductible and an employment practices rider.

He said the trademark registration was proceeding.

He said much of his work had been to review the convention contracts.

Director's Report.
Ron Crickenberger presented a written report. He said over 700 candidates were running so far this year.
Steve Dasbach presided again.

Ron Crickenberger described fund raising efforts for large donors and for lapsed members.

Gary Johnson praised the work of office manager Nick Dunbar and computer programmer Dan Gallagher in preparing the delegate list for the national convention.

Candi Copas said states in her region were complaining about not receiving updates of the mailing list on a timely basis. Ron Crickenberger said Nick Dunbar was changing the system to make it more standardized. Steve Givot said Illinois was not getting the mailing information it needed.

Joe Dehn complained that, although he was the person who received the information for California, he had not received a notice that the process for sending data to the states had changed. He said this showed "insensitivity." He also expressed alarm that data was sent over the Internet without encryption.

Ron Crickenberger apologized that the headquarters had "jumped the gun" on this change. He promised that next time the headquarters would consult with the states first before making such a change.

Hugh Butler said Ron Crickenberger's written report should have said an average of $12,064, not $1,264, was raised per day in June.

Convention Report.
Steve Dasbach and Ron Crickenberger described last minute changes in the 1998 national convention.
Steve Dasbach said the LNC could decide at its meeting July 5 after the 1998 convention on whether to hold the 2000 national convention in Los Angeles at the Bonaventure Hotel.

Ron Crickenberger praised the work of the convention contractor, the Balcom Group. Steve Dasbach said having the party handle the convention and contracting specific functions had worked better than using party activists as an independent contractor.

Hugh Butler said having the convention in the same city as the headquarters had been advantageous.

Communications Department.
A written report by the director of communications, Bill Winter, was distributed.
Political Director.
Ron Crickenberger said a "Campaigns Watch" feature would appear in LP News. He said the party may help more nonpartisan candidates financially. He expressed the opinion that having the convention on July 4th was bad for candidates.
In answer to a question from Mark Tuniewicz, Ron Crickenberger said he would still have given $25,000 to the Carl Strang for State Representative campaign, if he had the same information he had at the time.

Ron Crickenberger said he expected there would be about 180 Congressional candidates in 1998, not the goal of 218.

Regional Reports.
Joe Dehn and Scott Lieberman presented an oral report on Region 1. Gene Cisewski presented a written report on Region 2. Ken Bisson presented an oral report on Region 3.
Bill Hall said some activists had complained that the mailings to registered Libertarians were unfair to states without voter registration by party. Ken Bisson and Steve Givot said they were glad to get new party members anywhere.

Candi Copas presented a written report on Region 4. Tim Moir presented an oral report on Region 5. Mark Tuniewicz presented a written report on Region 6. Bob Franke and Steve Givot presented an oral report on Region 7. Geoff Neale presented an oral report on Region 8.

Bob Franke suggested that the party organize in Puerto Rico.

Resolution.
Sharon Ayres moved:
"The LNC thanks former National Director Perry Willis for a tough job very well done and, as a token of its appreciation, makes him a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party."

Steve Dasbach noted that the LNC made Nick Dunbar a life member after his term as national director. The motion passed.

Convention Committees.
Geoff Neale moved to appoint to the Credentials Committee Bob Franke as first alternate, Hugh Butler as second alternate, Karen Allard as third alternate, Sharon Ayres as fourth alternate, and Mark Tuniewicz as fifth alternate. They were elected.
Karen Allard presided.

Tonie Nathan spoke about the campaign of Richard Burke for Governor of Oregon.

Gene Cisewski moved to adjourn. The motion passed. The meeting ended at 4:35 p.m. EDT.

Respectfully submitted, Gary E. Johnson, secretary.