Some brief unofficial minutes of our monthly meeting yesterday...
Meeting out in the avenues at a different location from our usual room at the library, and with the rainy weather and coronavirus fears possibly deterring some folks, we had a small turnout.
But thanks to those who came out to Cafe Europa – Michael Edelstein, Sorinne Ardeleanu, Mike Denny, and (arriving later) Alex Mills, along with our guest speaker Barklee Sanders, his guest Sarah, and myself.
The only official action we took at the meeting was to unanimously elect Richard Fast as our new secretary. Richard has been involved with the LP in the east bay, as well as where he has been going to school in Louisiana, and is also an alternate on the state executive committee, whose meeting in San Jose he was at yesterday and so was not present himself to take minutes.
Barklee discussed his efforts to get the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA), which manages the rental properties on the island, to solve the problem of power outages, of which he said there have been 19 in the past year, affecting the island's residents. He told us about being stymied even in his efforts to pay out-of-pocket for a backup battery solution that he has been developing for his own energy needs, reporting that the authorities' response was that if they allowed him to do this, it would become a precedent and they'd have to allow everyone to do the same – which, he said, was kind of the point!
Yet he is also interested in pursuing green energy grants and assistance from other government agencies to help the island's residents secure a reliable source of energy for their homes. There was some discussion of whether this would be in synch with libertarianism, and what solutions would be desirable, with general agreement that it would be desirable for people to control their own homes and make their own individual energy decisions. Barklee was unsure how much authority the head of TIDA has to enable solutions, and has been running into various other bureaucratic roadblocks, for instance being told that he would be appointed to a citizens advisory commission, but then finding this delayed with the excuse that they have to appoint three people at once. He expressed interest in my suggestion to look into the situation with the Midtown Apartments (a housing complex owned by the city government at Geary and Divisadero), whose residents have been fighting rent hikes and broken promises by city officials, in the possibility of both groups working together.
We also briefly discussed local election results, and some possibilities for LPSF activism and how to best use our resources to advance freedom locally, including a possible annual gala event I proposed around incentivizing people to file Freedom Of Information Act requests and ferret out important information from local government with cash prizes dispensed at an awards ceremony ("the FOIAlies"?), and how we might potentially help property owners avoid punitive taxes over vacant storefront spaces as the result of Proposition D passing, by renting such spaces from them for nominal amounts.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Chair, Libertarian Party of San Francisco
www.LPSF.org
@SanFranciscoLP
(415) 625-FREE