Do any of you want to discuss the possibility of putting together a slate of LPSF officers? I don't have much time but this latest experience has me motivated. Is there anyone missed in this distribution that should be included? Is everyone a LPC member?
Mike
I'm moving to NYC (already here in fact, though just for a holiday visit)
halfway through the year, so I can't be on a slate. But by my memory, Mike
Acree has served as Treasurer, and Francoise and Starchild both have served
as Secretary. Michael or Mike Denny, have either of you held LPSF office?
I know Mike Denny ran for Mayor and could have won any LPSF office sought
around that time but chose to stay in the fundraising committee role if I
recall correctly.
I still have a slim hope of the LP being successful in moving the country
toward liberty, but with each and every week, month, and year, I become more
pessimistic about that. The decision to have the next LPC convention
outside of California is the icing on the cake for me. I'm officially done
with the LPC. Even if I weren't moving, I would not renew my membership,
fully aware of the fact that it would keep me from being a voting member of
LPSF, much less an officer.
I think you all should seriously consider a separate organization. Very
publicly splitting off from the state and national parties would send a very
strong message about the rightward shift of both of those organizations.
Just my two cents...
Rob
BTW, if you do decide to split off from the LP and do your own "San
Francisco Advocates for Liberty" or some such organization (you could still
use the Advocates' quiz and Nolan's chart -- the LP owns neither), and you
need help with anything that you know I'm capable of, such as website
building, please don't hesitate to ask, even after I'm in NYC. Kai's
fellowship at the World Economic Forum is only 3 years, and I have every
intention of moving back to San Francisco before we're 40. I just can't
stand how cold it is here -- I can't imagine my tolerance for the weather
increasing with age. 
Rob
Mike,
Thank you for caring about the LPSF taking a strong stand in defense of WikiLeaks. I agree with you that it is a very important issue. I also agree it's very desirable that we try to keep the LPSF strongly libertarian, and appreciate your concern for this as well.
However I'm feeling cautious toward the idea of a "slate" of candidates. In general I think we've gotten along so well in this chapter for a number of years, in contrast to LP chapters in a lot of other places that are fraught with bitter ideological, methodological, and personal conflicts, that the thought of setting in motion anything too much like factionalism here at the local level gives me pause. At a certain point I do think factional politics becomes totally necessary and desirable (like on the national level of the party), but here, now, in this city, the major problem I see is not that our activists are doing bad things, or even that so many good things are being *prevented* from happening (although obviously some are), but rather that people simply are not doing *enough*. Not to blame anyone, just noting the obvious fact that SF has a crying need for much more Libertarian activism than we manage. Given this problem of a general paucity of activity, I would be sorry to see any of our currently active LP members get the impression that there was some organized effort to push them aside, not least because of the kind of climate it could produce among us.
That being said, I am all for encouraging and supporting anyone who is motivated to be an LPSF officer who I think will tend to take what I consider to be better stands on important issues, and would vote for such candidates, including yourself, for any officer position you may be interested in. If people want me to be an officer I am open to that as well (except treasurer, which I won't do since I don't even balance my own checkbook), though I'm loathe to do secretary either having done a poor job at it the last time I decided to take it on, and not really being very motivated toward the task of editing minutes -- probably part of why my last term as secretary was such a fail. But I suppose I would do it again if needed, and likewise am willing to be vice-chair or (though I would prefer not to) chair, if the support is there.
Regarding other people you might want in this distribution, two people who've been fairly active recently (by which, sad though this standard may be, I mean attending meetings pretty regularly) are Tim Kuklinsky and Aubrey Freeman. However I haven't talked with either of them enough (or perhaps just don't remember well enough what they've said) to have much of a feel for how strongly libertarian their views are. Amusingly (at least to me) Tim seems to have a weak spot for the nobility, royals, old families, prestigious groups, etc. -- not to the point of it influencing his ideology necessarily, but I just don't know.
There's also a student named Matt Jackson who expressed an interest in getting involved with the LP and whom I think could make a terrific activist. He lives in Vallejo however, so despite having an apparently flexible schedule I'm not sure whether he would want to be coming to SF enough to be an officer even if we wanted him, but he did seem willing to join the various LPSF lists, so I sent him invites. The way I met him is that he, along with a couple friends, had independently planned his own SFO protest for National Opt-Out Day on Nov. 24, and then found out about Sheila Dean and myself doing the same thing and so we ended up making plans and protesting together. He has no libertarian history that I know of, but struck me as quite radical and came up with a terrific brochure to hand out, which I believe he produced himself (attached below). He also came to Thursday's WikiLeaks rally at my invitation.
Then there is Sheila herself. I think Mike Acree in particular would appreciate her as an atypical libertarian personality type -- more of a "gut" and caring libertarian. Again I'm not sure how hardcore she is on ideology, but she is a motivated and passionate activist, and I think would be very good for us if we could get her involved. Like Matt however, she doesn't live in SF, but down in Redwood Shores. She was willing to come up here and help Phil on his campaign, but he was paying her at least a nominal amount.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
TSA Brochure.pdf (288 KB)
Thanks Rob...
Dear Starchild,
You are indeed a very sensitive, thoughtful Libertarian. What you are saying makes a lot of sense. And perhaps the frustration with this latest episode has gotten the best of me. My oldest son Max said I was raising my voice while working with my youngeston his math the other night...clearly getting too grumpy for my own good. Fortunately he took over and the job got done better than I could have.
This WikiLeaks exchange sure raises questions about the value of political parties as tool to further liberty or even to make a little liberty noise. Perhaps I owe the LPSF ex com an apology and should just chill. I really don't have much time for this (writing now from Mexico) with work and home duties. And if one cannot actually DO better than those who are doing a job overall, it seems inappropriate to complain or at least too loudly.
Mike
It's true that due to the campaign finance laws, there's little any party
can do other than run candidates, and perhaps the LP at all levels should
drop any other activities besides running candidates, leaving those
activities to 501c4s like Outright and Cato who cannot run candidates.
Mike,
Thanks for your kind words, and no worries, we all get frustrated sometimes. I don't think you committed any major faux pas. You won't hear me saying that people have no right to complain loudly unless they're willing to do the job themselves. Where would that philosophy leave public discourse and the democratic process if applied consistently?
Stepping up to the plate to fill officer positions is certainly something worth considering for those of us who would like to see the LPSF take stronger positions though -- the only aspect of your suggestion I was voicing reservations about was organizing a formal slate or elevating this to a factional dispute. Individually, I would tend to encourage and support anyone you've cc'd here for any of the LPSF offices he or she might be willing to seek.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Rob,
To respond to your question directed (I think) to me, the closest I've come
to holding an LPSF office involves my current timekeeper role and phoning
first-time attendees at our monthly meeting to remind them of the next one
and offer to answer their questions. In the past, I've been responsible for
our semi-annual dinners, retrieving voicemail messages, and I've run for
mayor as a write-in, paper candidate (thanks to Richard Winger).
IOW, no, I've never held an LPSF office.
Warm regards, Michael