Hi Starchild,
Thanks for the report. But I am confused on the matter of the $99.
Is the $99 a minimum registration fee, or the minimum a contractor
can charge? What if members are willing to pay $300 or $500 for a
convention at a grandiose setting; they cannot? And, by the way, I
do not see anything in the Standing Resolution that would prevent
another cruise in the future, as long as the boat was near an
airport, and the *Registration Fee* was $99. The whole thing boggles
the mind.
Regards,
Marcy
Most organizations seek to save money for their members, such
as by
limiting the amount that they can be charged by independent
contractors
with whom they do business. Not the LPC!
Rather than seeking to minimize costs to its members, the
ExCom
majority has apparently adopted the novel approach of requiring
that
any convention contractor wishing to do business with the party
promise
to charge all attendees at least $99 (see below). By these
criteria, a
contractor who kept costs low and only wanted to charge $50 a head
would have his or her convention bid rejected.
This step was presumably taken to mollify those who were
hoping to
have another convention cruise, where attendees would have to pay
on
the order of $300, thereby avoiding having to rub shoulders with
any
Libertarians of more limited financial means. Never one to back
down
from causing dissension in the party, LPC Chair Aaron Starr had
pushed
hard for a cruise. But in a surprise turn of events, a repeat of
that
elitist approach to our annual gatherings proved too much for even
his
allies on the ExCom to stomach.
Next meeting, look for the ExCom to take up the matter of how
to avoid
activists "subsidizing" with their labor those members who do not
spend
time making phone calls, working outreach booths, distributing
fliers
-- oh, wait, never mind, the subsidy issue is only designed to keep
"povertarians" from voting at state conventions!
Love & liberty,
<<< starchild >>>
> Here's a summary highlighting the reports and actions taken at
the
> August 5, 2006 Executive Committee meeting held in Los Angeles.
The
> detailed minutes of the meeting will be posted on the LPC website
as
> soon as they are completed and approved.
>
> The Convention Committee recommended holding the 2007 state
convention
> at the Granlibakken Conference Center in Tahoe City, in
preference to
> the alternative of another cruise to Ensenada. However, the
Executive
> Committee did not approve either choice at this time, and instead
> passed a Standing Resolution on State Conventions which contained
the
> following criteria for convention proposals:
>
> 1. Accessibility to an airport with scheduled service, and an
airport
> shuttle provided by the hotel or convention contractor.
> 2. A convention hall capable of accommodating at least 200 people
in
> classroom style.
> 3. At least two committee meeting rooms for the Platform and
Bylaws
> committees, and a room for the Executive Committee meeting
following
> the convention.
> 4. A registration fee of $99 for all convention attendees.
> 5. A minimum of 70 rooms per night blocked out for the
convention,
> available up until 30 days before the convention.
> 6. Three meals per day available as part of some convention
packages.
> 7. Any convention proposal must included the complete final cost
to
> attendees.
>
> The period for accepting convention proposals which meet the
above
> criteria has been re-opened for the next fourteen days(until
August
> 19th). Within another fourteen days (by September 2nd) the
Executive
> Committee will vote by mail ballot to select a site. The
registration
> fee was decided upon as a means of distributing the burden of the
> convention facilities and overhead costs, so that some attendees
do
> not end up subsidizing other attendees. The convention
contractor can
> choose to use a portion of the registration fee to discount
convention
> packages or hotel room rates, since a certain minimum number of
> room-nights are normally required to pay for a hotel's meeting
space.
>
> M Carling reported that Operation Breakthrough is now entering
its
> final week. Over five hundred Libertarians (out of 15,795
registered
> Libertarian voters who were mailed to and telephoned) have
expressed
> interest in running for local non-partisan offices. The major
> remaining task is to maximize the number of people who actually
do
> so. Nomination papers must be filed by this Friday (August 11th)
> except for a few cases in which the incumbent has declined to run
and
> the filing deadline is extended by five days.
>
> The Executive Committee voted to have the Libertarian Party of
> California take a position in SUPPORT of the following November
ballot
> propositions:
>
> Prop. 1A Transportation Funding Protection: Places some
additional
> limitations on the use of gasoline sales tax revenues, to prevent
> their diversion to other purposes.
>
> Prop. 90 Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property
> (Anderson Initiative): Prohibits local agencies from seizing
homes
> and businesses to transfer them to other private parties, and
requires
> property owners to be compensated for new laws or rules which
result
> in substantial economic losses to their property.
>
> The Executive Committee voted to have the Libertarian Party of
> California take a position in OPPOSITION to the following
November
> ballot propositions:
>
> Prop. 1B Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port
> Security $20 Billion Bond.
> Prop. 1C Housing and Emergency Shelter $2.85 Billion Bond.
> Prop. 1D Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities
$10.4
> Billion Bond.
> Prop. 1E Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention $4.1 Billion
Bond.
> Prop. 83 Sex Offenders. Sexually Violent Predators. Punishment,
> Residence Restrictions and Monitoring (Jessica's Law): Increases
> penalties and broadens definition of sex offenders, expands
> restrictions on where they can live, and imposes GPS tracking
devices
> on registered sex offenders for the remainder of their lives.
> Prop. 84 Water Quality, Safety and Supply. Flood Control. Natural
> Resource Protection. Park Improvements. $5.4 Billion Bond.
> Prop. 86 Cigarette Tax: Increases excise tax on each pack of
> cigarettes by $2.60 (in addition to the existing tax of $0.86)
and
> allocates the revenue to a list of spending programs.
> Prop. 87 Alternate Energy. Research, Production, Incentives. Tax
on
> California Oil: Would impose a total of $4 billion in taxes on
> California oil production over approximately a ten year period,
while
> forbidding oil companies from passing on the additional costs.
> Allocates the revenue to a special fund for reducing oil
dependency,
> and authorizes the issuance of bonds to be backed by the expected
> revenue stream.
> Prop. 88 Education Funding, Real Property Parcel Tax: Adds a
> $50-per-parcel annual property tax, to be allocated to a list of
> spending programs including K-12 class size reduction,
instruction
> materials, school safety, facility grants, and a data system.
> Prop. 89 Political Campaigns. Public Financing. Corporate Tax
> Increase. Contribution & Expenditure Limits: Increases the
corporate
> tax rate from 8.84% to 9.04% to raise $200 million each year to
fund
> political campaigns for state offices (executive and legislative)
who
> meet minimum contribution requirements (starting at 750 $5-donors
and
> $10,000 minimum in contributions in order to receive $250,000 for
> Assembly races).
>
> The Libertarian Party of California has NOT TAKEN A POSITION on
the
> following November ballot proposition:
>
> Prop. 85 Waiting Period & Parental Notification Before
Termination of
> Minor's Pregnancy: Reguires 48 hour notification to parents
(although
> not their consent) before an abortion on a minor can be
performed.
> Notification exceptions include medical emergencies or court
approval
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