Document:LNC Minutes 28 August 1991
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Minutes of the Meeting of the
Libertarian National Committee
28 August 1991
Chicago, Illinois
Members Present:
Vice-Chair Mary T. Gingell
Secretary Joseph W. Dehn III
Treasurer William Redpath
At Large I. Dean Ahmad
Toni L. Black
Don Ernsberger
Region 1 Karen Allard
Region 2 Geoffrey J. Neale
George O'Brien
Region 3 Steve Dasbach
Region 4 Ron Crickenberger
Region 5 Clifford F. Thies
Region 6 Vicki Kirkland
Region 8 Gary Johnson
Absent:
Chair Dave Walter
At Large Steven Alexander
Norma D. Segal
Region 7 Steven I. Givot
Also present:
Director Nick Dunbar
1. CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Libertarian National
Committee was called to order by Vice Chair Mary Gingell at 1:13 pm on
Wednesday, 28 August 1991, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Hotel in
Chicago, Illinois.
2. WELCOME: Sue Walton of LEI welcomed the LNC to Chicago, and gave a
brief report on the convention. She reported that a total of 415
packages had been sold: 97 deluxe, 128 delegate, 69 activist, and 121
attendee. She said that LEI had filed with the FEC after receiving an
advisory opinion saying that this was required. She said that LEI will
be presenting a formal report at the December meeting, including an
evaluation of this convention, a financial report, and recommendations
for future conventions and convention contracts.
3. CREDENTIALS: It was noted that a number of members were not present
due to their participation in the Platform Committee meeting.
4. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES: The minutes of the April 1991 meeting
were approved without objection.
5. SETTING OF THE AGENDA: O'Brien moved to add time at the end of the
meeting for discussion of a resolution concerning involvement of
government agencies in disputes; there was no objection.
6. CHECK OF PAPERWORK: Gingell reviewed the paperwork that had been
distributed up to that point.
7. CHAIR'S REPORT: Ernsberger noted that Walter would be speaking on
Sunday.
8. VICE-CHAIR'S REPORT: Gingell offered to answer questions; there
weren't any.
9. TREASURER'S REPORT: Redpath reported that the last balance shown on
a report was $17,723.23, but that a number of checks had been written
since then. He said that since his appointment in April he had worked
on transferring material from the previous Treasurer. He noted that he
had been preparing the financial statements by hand, but said that a
new system was being installed which would make the process automatic
as well as producing better reports.
He reported that on 22 July a response was filed with the FEC to their
questions regarding the 1987 convention. He said that he had talked
more recently with someone from the FEC but that they did not say when
the FEC might deal with this case or what our exposure might be.
Allard noted that Michael Dunn had obtained a copy of our response and
had circulated it to others in Washington state. In response to her
question about who had been given copies, Redpath said that it had
been distributed only to the Executive Committee. Dehn said the final
version had not even been distributed to the Executive Committee; he
had received only an earlier draft.
Redpath reported that our 1120POL for 1990 had been filed late and we
had to pay a fine, but that the BAC reports to the FEC were filed on
time.
There was some discussion of how various items have been accounted for
in the budget; Gingell suggested that people prepare proposals for
budget changes for consideration by the new LNC.
In response to a question from Dehn, Redpath said that the balance as
of 26 August was $3360, plus $2200 owed by the BAC that was borrowed
to fund the convention banquet subsidy.
10. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Dehn offered to answer questions about the
minutes; there were none.
11. HEADQUARTERS REPORT: Dunbar reported that all office staff had
come to Chicago; Marc Montoni is to serve as registrar, and the
interns will be staffing the exhibit/sales table.
He reported that the idea of bringing the 800 line to Chicago was
dropped because he didn't think he could find enough volunteers to
staff it. Instead, the line was transferred to a service bureau that
has a 25-line automatic answering system. The service bureau will
provide the name and address data weekly on disk. In reply to
questions from Gingell, he said the first disk would probably be
available on the Wednesday following the convention, and that he would
be sending the disks to Dehn for distribution of the data to the
affiliate parties as well as sending out packets from the office.
In response to a question from Johnson, Dunbar said he was
investigating the possibility of getting a better phone number for the
headquarters.
12. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT: Allard provided a written report
[Attachment A] and commented on various of the activities of the
committee. She noted that contributing membership as of 23 August was
9330. In reply to a question from Allard, Ernsberger said that the
recent "Good as Gold" mailing had gone to 496 LP News subscribers and
had converted 16% of them to members. Various people commented on the
process of following up on "instant members" and on getting the oath
for people who have joined through affiliates that do not have it on
their form. Allard reported that the winners of the Lehman Awards were
Maine and Ohio.
13. OUTREACH COMMITTEE REPORT: Black provided a written report
[Attachment B].
Ernsberger reported that he attended the YAF convention, and that Bill
of Rights activities have been undertaken in various places. In
response to a question from Black about whether the Bill of Rights
activities had produced significant publicity, Ernsberger said the
main purpose is to get literature out to people.
In response to a question from O'Brien about whether the problems with
Tax Cut Action! had been taken care of, Gingell said there was more
work to be done and that it should be referred to the new LNC.
O'Brien said he had reviewed the information provided by the
"Libertarian Border Issues Committee" and it was unclear what if
anything they wanted us to do. Gingell asked O'Brien and Neale to
contact them.
14. PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORT: Dasbach commented on the items included
in Givot's written report [Attachment C].
Dasbach moved to adopt the revised "Health Care and Health Costs"
plank; the motion passed on a voice vote.
Dasbach moved to adopt the revised "Savings and Loan Fiasco" plank;
after various people pointed out errors in the text, he withdrew the
motion.
There was a brief discussion of what should be in a revised Education
plank.
Dasbach moved the amendments to various planks listed on page 6 of the
report, with the exception of the last one; the motion passed on a
voice vote.
Dasbach moved the last amendment on page 6, to change "a land of
opportunity" to "the land of opportunity" in the Immigration plank.
After a brief discussion, the motion passed on a voice vote.
15. AFFILIATE PARTY COMMITTEE REPORT: Dasbach moved to suspend the
rules to take up the APC report at this point; there was no objection.
Dasbach reported that the APC News has been going out, and that work
was underway on a new edition of the LP Directory which will include a
reorganized Expert Talent Bank. He said the APC was also considering
maintaining a list of speakers, in a form similar to the ETB.
He said that field organizing was under budget because none was done
in the first half of the year, but that a new field organizer, Joe
Knight, was now being used, his first assignment being in Maine where
party organization is a factor in ballot status. He also reported on
plans to do field organizing work in Vermont and other states.
16. CONVENTION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT: Neale provided a written
report [Attachment E] and reviewed the main points.
17. AFFILIATE CAMPAIGNS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT: Crickenberger reported
that he had attended a Campaigns and Elections seminar, and suggested
that everyone on the LNC subscribe to Campaigns and Elections
magazine.
He noted promising races in Louisiana and California. O'Brien and
Neale commented on the prospects in the latter race, a special
election for state assembly.
Crickenberger said he planned that the committee would continue to do
fundraising, so that money would be available when something promising
comes up.
18. REGIONAL REPORTS:
Allard (Region 1) provided a written report [Attachment D] and
reviewed the main points, adding that Lynn House is running for a city
council position in Alaska, that activities are picking up in Hawaii,
and that KIRO had interviewed the presidential candidates in Seattle.
Neale (Region 2) provided a written report [Attachment F] and reviewed
the main points. Thea McLean noted that California state membership
was now up to 2604.
Dasbach (Region 3) commented on the various states in his region. He
said that the Michigan party seems to have recovered from the letter
bomb incident, and that Kentucky just had a successful convention. In
reply to a question from Gingell about a problem in Ohio relating to a
local group's collection of dues, Dasbach said that he had not heard
about it.
Crickenberger (Region 4) provided a written report [Attachment G] and
reviewed some highlights: completion of the North Carolina petition
drive, the loss of activists in D.C. due to moves to other locations,
and the apparent revival of the Mississippi party.
Thies (Region 5) provided a written report [Attachment H]. In response
to a question from Black, he reviewed the ballot drive prospects in
Pennsylvania and concluded that outside help would be needed.
Kirkland (Region 6) commented on some activities in the states in her
region, including conventions in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Johnson (Region 8) commented on the states in his region, noting the
activities of Libertarian elected officials in Nevada and Texas, and
an upcoming election for Mayor of Tucson. He also said that the fact
that Arizona decided not to have a state chair should not be taken as
a sign of inactivity there.
19. BALLOT ACCESS COMMITTEE REPORT: Redpath reported that no more
states had officially achieved ballot status since the April meeting,
but that petitioning had been finished in several states and is
ongoing in others.
He reviewed the ballot status situation in various states, and plans
for dealing with them. He noted that the states that are being
reported as "on the ballot" are the ones where no more petitioning
needs to be done; in some cases there is still other paperwork that
needs to be done.
He commented that the money raised so far for BAC by the telemarketing
contractor was not really enough given our needs, and outlined plans
for three kinds of fundraising at the convention: through a flyer in
the packet, in person during the convention, and at the presidential
banquet.
20. RESOLUTION CONCERNING D.C. STATEHOOD: Redpath moved to suspend the
rules to allow Nancy Lord to propose a resolution; there was no
objection.
Lord moved the following:
WHEREAS the Libertarian Party believes that people are entitled
to keep the fruits of their labor and taxation represents an
infringement on the liberty of the individual; and
WHEREAS taxation is even more unjust when people are taxed while
being denied the right to participate in governing themselves;
and
WHEREAS "no taxation without representation" was one of the
rallying cries of the American Revolution; and
WHEREAS the Statehood Legal Action Committee has filed suit in
federal court challenging the right of the federal government to
levy taxes on the District;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party opposes
federal taxation of District residents; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Libertarian Party endorses the
lawsuit filed by the Statehood Legal Action Committee.
After some discussion during which various people commented on the
merits of statehood for D.C., whether this would exempt officials from
taxation, the notion of "taxation without representation", and
uncertainty about exactly what the lawsuit says, Neale moved to refer
the matter to the new LNC; the motion passed.
21. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT: Ernsberger provided a written report
[Attachment I] and reviewed the highlights, emphasizing the Liberty
Pledge program as the most cost-effective source of funds. In response
to questions from Allard about what he was counting in the cost of
Liberty Pledge revenue and membership revenue, Ernsberger said that he
had stopped using MKR for calling pledgers to renew and was doing that
job himself, and that the cost of LP News was counted as a cost of
membership revenue.
22. AUDITOR'S REPORT: Thies said he didn't really have anything to
report.
23. MEDIA RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT: Johnson commented on the status
of media lists: the additional contact information requested from
Tonie Nathan was never provided, so he is giving up on that; he is
keeping a copy of the list we bought more recently as a backup to the
copy in the possession of MKR.
He reported that there were three news releases since the last meeting
and that MKR has been sending copies to him. He also reported that
Bill Evers had requested money from the Media Relations budget for the
Tax Cut Action! project. In reply to a question from Dehn, Dunbar
said that the TCA! request was for $1000, and that it had been sent to
James Tobin.
Johnson reviewed expected coverage of the convention, including the
presence of representatives of CNN, McNeil/Lehrer, the Washington
Post, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He reported that he held a
pre-convention news conference in Washington, D.C. and it was covered
by C-SPAN.
In reply to questions from O'Brien and Dehn about the ability of the
affiliate parties to use the media list we bought, Johnson said that
was one of the reasons for getting it in disk form, but that he was
not certain what limitations might be imposed by the contract.
He also reported that purchase of a fax board for use by MKR was under
consideration.
24. MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT: Ahmad reported that it had
been decided to purchase a new computer. He reported that there had
been a number of complaints about telemarketing, especially relating
to the calling of pledgers. He said he had a generally favorable
impression of the operation of the office, and that Dunbar was aware
of the things that needed to be improved.
There was a general discussion of telemarketing and the pledge
program, including: how to handle pledgers with various preferences
about being called, whether the flags we maintain in the database are
adequate, general annoyance about telemarketing calls, the need for
telemarketing callers to know the product they are selling, and
whether the Liberty Pledge News should be optional.
25. MEDIA RELATIONS COMMITTEE, part 2: Johnson reported that MKR was
sending a media kit to talkshow hosts.
26. INTERNAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT: O'Brien said that the only
committee activity had been the articles in the LP News, and that he
had gotten some good feedback about them. He said he was looking for
suggestions of topics to address in the future. Redpath suggested
using summations of things put out by libertarian think-tanks. Allard
suggested a topic relating to children.
27. ADVERTISING/PUBLICATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE REPORT: Gingell noted
that no member of that committee was present, and said that the only
thing they had reviewed was an ad recently submitted to LP News.
Randy Langhenry commented on the "hemp noose" ad that some people
complained about, and said he had been directed by the Executive
Committee not to run it again. Dehn said the Executive Committee had
made no such decision. Langhenry said he wasn't sure what would be
done about the more recent ad; Gingell noted that there was some
concern about libel.
28. POLICY CONCERNING REGULATORY AGENCIES: O'Brien moved the following
resolution:
Involving Government Regulatory Agencies in Disputes
In accordance with the Platform of the Libertarian Party which
calls for the abolition of all government regulatory agencies
engaged in initiation of coercive force, (including but not
limited to the Federal Election Commission, the Internal Revenue
Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, among
many others), it shall be the policy of the Libertarian Party to
consider any attempts to involve such agencies in disputes
between individuals or organizations to constitute force as is
used in the Pledge given by members of this Party.
He explained that this was intended to address actions like those of
Michael Dunn and Alan Lindsay, that it had come up previously with
Robert Murphy, and that such things were likely to come up again.
Thies moved to amend the proposal by replacing the parentheses and the
text contained within them with "including the Federal Election
Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration", and
to add to the end of the proposal a new sentence: "This policy
resolution does not pertain to use of government police and judicial
agencies in defense against force or fraud."
O'Brien moved to divide Thies' motion to amend; there was no
objection.
The first part, rewording the listing of agencies, passed on a voice
vote.
O'Brien moved to change "judicial agencies" to "courts"; there was no
objection. After some further discussion, about the merits of
arbitration vs. courts, the second part of Thies' amendment passed on
a voice vote.
Neale moved to postpone consideration of this matter until the Sunday
meeting; the motion to postpone failed on a voice vote.
The main motion passed on a voice vote.
29. CONCLUDING BUSINESS: The meeting was adjourned at 5:09 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph W. Dehn III
Secretary
Attachments:
[Attachments distributed prior to the meeting]
A. Membership Committee Report
B. Outreach Committee Report
C. Program Committee Report
D. Region 1 Report
[Attachments distributed at the meeting]
E. Convention Oversight Committee Report
F. Region 2 Report
G. Region 4 Report
H. Region 5 Report
I. Finance Committee Report