LPSF Minutes of July 11 with Ballot Proposals

Activists List
1

HI All,

It was my turn to take the minutes, so here they are pasted below. Please advise me if you see any spelling boo boos or factual errors.

Aubrey led a discussion on the proposals likely to be on the November 2015 ballot. We will be submitting ballot arguments as usual, so please indicate if you would like to submit an argument reflecting the position of the LPSF on any of the proposals listed on the minutes.

I will post the minutes on the LPSF website by end of day Wednesday 15th.

Marcy

Minutes of the Libertarian Party of San Francisco for July
11, 2015

Members present:
Aubrey Freedman (Chair), Marcy Berry (Vice Chair), Les Mangus (Treasurer),
Jawj Greenwald, Phil Berg, Starchild.

Guest: Richard Fast

Activist Reports:

Jawj just returned from Bali, after attending a conference
sponsored by the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL). She reported that the conference had
outstanding speakers and a diverse attendance from several countries. Several students present were sponsored by
their countries’ libertarian organizations.
Richard attended an Independent Institute event. He continues to promote communication among
libertarian/Libertarian groups, not only in the U.S., but in neighboring
countries. Marcy worked on producing
supplies and staffing the libertarian Pride booth. Phil also staffed the Pride booth, and
succeeded in convincing a booth visitor particularly disgruntled with the
Libertarian Party to part in friendship.
Les wrote letters to the editor regarding Greece’s unraveling, but none
were published. He distributed copies of
an article portraying Greece as a cautionary tale. Aubrey organized and staffed the LPSF Pride
booth. Starchild continues working with
liberty-minded groups. He has drafted a
resolution to be issued by the Bay Area Civil Liberties Coalition, of which the
LPSF is a member, opposing the City of Freemont’s intention to place
surveillance cameras in the city’s perimeter.

Announcements:

Golden Gate Liberty Revolution monthly meeting July 20th. A guest speaker will share information on how
to obtain information from government agencies.

Free Exchange meeting August 1st. Jim Elwood has returned from leading the ISIL
Conference in Bali, and will resume hosting Free Exchange in August.

Hearing on Assembly Constitutional Amendment 4 (ACA 4), Jim
Frazier (D—Solano County): Monday, July
13. This amendment lowers, from
two-thirds to 55%, the voter approval threshold for a local government to
impose, extend, or increase a special tax to fund "local transportation
projects" under its jurisdiction. The
LPSF recommends calling or emailing, preferably before 12:00 noon Monday 13th,
your state representatives to oppose this change to Proposition 13.

Membership/Newsletter

Aubrey reported that total membership in the LPSF is currently
40, including 22 life members. We
compared number of registered Libertarians in various Bay Area counties vs.
number of current members in LP chapters.
The LPSF did not compare well, in spite of herculean efforts by the LPSF
Ex-Com to promote the LPSF. Aubrey
continues to send out monthly newsletters to close to 200 email recipients, apprising
them of the work LPSF does, which appears to have brought in a few
memberships. We will discuss our
membership situation further at the next LPSF business meeting.

Website and Social Media

Marcy reported that she continues her goal of posting a
website/Facebook article each week and providing comments on others’ posts as
time permits. She joined the LP
California Facebook Group to see what is going on in other California counties
and also try to promote communication between LPSF and other counties. Marcy reported that traffic on the LPSF
website and Facebook remains static.
Although a few more people are posting on the Facebook Group and liking
posts, the reach of the posts is not growing.
Richard suggested a Twitter account.
Marcy noted that the LPSF has a Twitter account but no volunteers with
time to use it. The same is true with
Facebook and the LPSF Discussion List.
Without volunteers willing to use social media, we will discuss
additional means of promotion at future LPSF meetings.

Treasurer’s Report

Les reported a bank balance at the end of June of
$3,941.23. Pending payments include
reimbursement to Aubrey for his Pride booth expenses of $381.50, and
reimbursement to Marcy for Facebook ad of $50.
Money might be needed for November 2015 paid ballot arguments since new
restrictions have made it more difficult to win free lottery arguments.

Libertarian Pride Booth

The libertarian Pride booth continues to be a worthwhile
investment, since it is a big opportunity to make the Libertarian presence in
San Francisco known to so many. The
booth received $18 in donations, and 10 requests from visitors to be included
in our social media.

LPSF Resolution on the proposed Mission Moratorium

Aubrey has received the OK of LPSF members to proceed with
sending out to the press the LPSF resolution he authored opposing the
moratorium on market-rate housing construction in the Mission District. The proposed moratorium will most likely
appear on the November 2015 ballot.

Ballot Measures – November 2015 Elections

We discussed the proposals that will most likely appear on
the November ballot, and made tentative decisions on the ones LPSF would
support or oppose. LPSF will, as usual,
submit ballot arguments. If any LPSF
volunteer would like to submit a draft ballot argument reflecting the LPSF’s
support or opposition to any proposal, please post the draft on the LPSF Activist
List.

A. Potential Ballot
Measures – Initiative Process

1. Prohibition of
Height Limit Increase and Zoning Changes to the San Francisco Wholesale Flower
Market. LPSF decision: General opposition to government-imposed
zoning. Draft argument requested.

2. Requirements for
Public Meetings of Local Policy Bodies.
LPSF decision: General agreement
with the greater transparency and public input proposed by this measure, but
questions on cost and necessity of providing taxpayer-funded language
interpreters. No plans for an argument
at this time.

3. Short-term Residential
Rentals. LPSF decision: Opposition to the increased restriction of
limiting rentals to 75 days per year and expanding the number of entities that
can be sued. Draft argument requested.

4. Mission Rock: This proposal is on the ballot per the
requirement that waterfront development exceeding current height limits need
voter approval. No plans for an argument
at this time.

5. Mission District
Housing Moratorium. LPSF decision: Opposition to interference with private
developers wanting to meet housing demand.
Marcy has volunteered to provide draft argument.

6. Disclosures
Regarding Renewable Energy. LPSF
decision: General agreement on the need to
inform utilities customers on what constitutes “renewable” in City-provided
utilities from “renewable sources,” but general opposition to a City-owned
utility company. No plans for an
argument at this time.

B. Potential Ballot
Measures – For Submission by the Mayor, Four or More Members of the Board of
Supervisors, or Other Eligible Agencies.

1. Establishing the
Legacy Business Historic Preservation Fund (Campos, Avalos, Kim, Mar). LPSF decision: Opposition to government intervention in the
private business market or protecting one type of business over another. Marcy has volunteered provide a draft
argument.

2. Surplus Public Lands
Ordinance (Kim, Avalos, Campos, Mar):
This proposal appears to be an effort by City officials to reserve land
owned by the City and its jurisdictions (School District, Community College,
Parks Department, etc.) for construction of subsidized housing for middle, low,
and no-income people. More study of this
proposal is needed, and Aubrey will follow up.

3. Expenditure
Lobbyists Ordinance: The Ethics
Commission made this proposal to include registration requirements of people
paid by lobbyists to influence government officials. No plans for an argument at this time.

Resolution in opposition to Surveillance cameras in the City
of Fremont Starchild explained the resolution he authored for
publication by the Bay Area Civil Liberties Coalition, of which LPSF is a
member. The city of Fremont, California,
proposes to install surveillance cameras on the city’s perimeter to capture
license plate numbers and potentially images of drivers of vehicles entering
and leaving the city. Starchild will
follow up regarding the final version of this resolution.

2

Marcy:

I do not recall that we voted on any resolution regarding the Fremont cameras.

I would have voted no as in my opinion this is a matter for the citizens of Fremont to decide.

It is up to them, not us, to weigh the costs (including loss of privacy) and possible benefits.

The license plate of every car crossing the Golden Gate Bridge is photographed.

I don't recall that the civil libertarians raised any issues about this.

3

Hi Les

As I was leaving the meeting, Starchild was speaking with you about this resolution. If your response was a "no" then indeed nothing was approved. Let us know what you responded.

Marcy

4

Marcy:

We did not discuss it.

Starchild merely gave me a copy of the letter to the Fremont Board.

He did not ask if I approved of it and I did not say anything about it.

However, If you and Aubrey vote yes, then it will pass whatever my feelings about it.

Les

5

Hi Les

Aubrey and I did vote yes but that would not be sufficient given your no vote. I believe the minutes do not imply approval from LPSF, though. Starchild is indeed working on the resolution that could be issued if other members of the Coalition approve. And I did say Starchild would follow up with the final version. Let me know if you feel the minutes do say LPSF approved.

Marcy

6

Marcy:

I was not aware that I had a veto in this matter.

The minutes do not say whether LPSF agreed to be listed on the letter.

Les

7

Hi Les, Marcy, and All. Thanks, Marcy, for the very timely and excellent minutes. The only things I noticed that I would correct are that regarding the Pride contacts, actually 22 folks left their contact information on our LPSF Information sheets, and the proposed ballot initiative on the Flower Market will not be on the November ballot. I did not make it clear at the meeting that the proponent did not submit the required signatures by the due date, so this one is out for sure.
Regarding the Fremont resolution, this is not the final version, and Starchild indicated at the meeting that he will post any revisions that the coalition folks at BACLC might make. The LPSF is a coalition member of BACLC, but we don't have to put our name on the resolution if it goes against our principles. I supported our signature on the resolution because we already have enough surveillance, and we don't need to give any branches of government more tools to spy on us. Yes, agreed that Fremont is a bit out of our jurisdiction, and technically we should allow the Alameda County LP handle this issue, but if we waited for them to do anything, then the Libertarians' voice would never be heard on this one. I don't think this issue is quite the same as the GG Bridge because those cameras are used to send bills (user fees, something we support) to those crossing into The City (or charge their FasTrak). This is actually cheaper than paying those toll keepers to hold out their hands, not to mention it cuts down on the lines, which saves gas and wear and tear on cars, and is better for the environment. Furthermore the cameras do not snap our pictures when we leave The City.
Regarding writing ballot measure arguments for submission on August 13, we've had a few bruised feeling over the years regarding the authoring of our arguments, so here is what I think is the best way to get as many of the free arguments in as possible without bruised feelings so folks continue to contribute their writing efforts each year. If someone picks a particular ballot measure to write an argument for or against, and no one else comes forth to work on that one, then the first person's argument will be the one we submit under the LPSF name. The only exception would be if the argument goes against Libertarian principles or has factual or grammatical errors (and the author would have the opportunity to correct the facts/grammar). Of course individual members can still submit a good Libertarian argument, but it will not be with the LPSF name. I would still encourage those of us who feel particularly motivated about a measure to still submit their argument to the Department of Elections since good Libertarian arguments against statist measures are always a good thing regardless of who wrote them. I'm not particularly territorial about my writing, and I don't mind someone taking my argument and turning it into a better one, but not everyone feels the same way about their time and effort, and I want to encourage as much LPSF involvement as possible. So, if you feel inspired by any of the ballot measures mentioned below, now would be the time to "claim" one (or more). I will claim at least one "leftover" within a few days.
This process is still evolving for the ballot measure arguments due on August 13. The final date for the Mayor and BOS to submit their goodies is July 31, and I still expect a few more statist measures to materialize in early August. The housing bond is a sure bet, and I don't understand why it's not listed yet on the DOE website under Local Ballot Measure Status. I will keep a close eye on the situation and advise as I have more information. I will also contact the DOE folks to find out about adding our LPSF name afterwards, if an individual member's argument gets chosen in the lottery and not ours.
Thanks!Aubrey

8

Hi Aubrey

Thanks for catching the boo boos. I will make the corrections.

Marcy