Minutes of January 12th, 2008 LPSF meeting

Dear All:
  Attached and copied below for those of you who don't have Word, are the Minutes of the last meeting. Please note, that as usual, the actual minutes do not look like the minutes copied below.
  Please let me have your corrections within the next week.
  Thank you.
  Francoise
   
    Minutes of the LPSF meeting of January 12th, 2008
   
  Members Present: Phil Berg presiding, Francoise Fielding recording, Kelly Simpson, Jeremy Linden, Bryce Bigwood, Tim Kuklinsky, Jawj Greenwald, Ron Getty, Marcy Berry. Rob Power, Michael Edelstein, Starchild, Chris Maden.
   
  Guests: Mel and Sybil Kleinfeld, George Phillies, Carolyn Marbry, Shawn Marbry, Harland Harrison, Jorichre Duracarl (?).
   
  Welcome and Introductions
   
  Mel Kleinfeld found out about the LPSF on the internet- he thinks.
   
  Officer Reports
   
   Treasurer’s Report: Justin Sampson was absent and did not send a report. Marcy Berry gave a report on what had happened to money the LPSF had received in November and December when Justin was absent. In November Marcy sent Justin the money that was collected. In December Marcy kept the money and will hand it over to the new Treasurer who will be elected today.
   
   Secretary’s Report: Francoise Fielding reported that mail received consisted of a check for $50 ($25 towards a new membership and $25 donation) from Annag Chandler and a fundraising appeal from the National Libertarian Party.
   
   Vice Chair’s Report: Starchild was absent
   
   Chair’s Report: Phil Berg said that Starchild posted a great letter on the board re the root causes of poverty/homelessness. Starchild attributes homelessness to the fact that some people don’t do well with regulation. Phil thinks that the LPSF should take the initiative at the local, state and federal level (perhaps joining with other cities which have a homeless problem) to see if we could get small initiative going to grant homeless people certain economic privileges so they can get back on their feet. In the “old days” when we had financial panics people could get back on their feet because they weren’t so regulated.
   
              We could start with homeless war veterans because people are more favorably inclined towards them. They could be granted the right to sell things without business licenses anywhere they wanted as long as they weren’t hurting another person. They could drive taxis or jitneys. Renting to homeless people would exempt landlords from rent control regulations.
   
              Because these ideas would meet with opposition on multiple fronts we should try to present this as a libertarian solution for homelessness to both the left and right and see if we could get compromises. (Ron Getty suggested that anyone getting minimum wage would get to keep anything they earned and that there should be a minimum floor on sale taxes of at least $100).
   
  Committee Reports
   
   Outreach: Starchild was absent
   
   Newsletter: Starchild was absent
   
   Webhosting: Bryce reported that Beau Cain should have the official membership list by the end of the month.
              We have the complete Amazon list of libertarian books on the website. Bryce says there is a slight technical issue he needs to talk about with Steve DeKorte (we need the back-links) and then we should be ready to go. Revenue to us is based on the volume per month. We get a percentage.
   
  Announcements
   
  Francoise Fielding reported on a change in how LPCA memberships work.
  In 2006 and 2007 annual memberships based upon dues lapsed at the end of the calendar year. Beginning this year, membership begins the date a member’s dues are received and ends the last day of that month a year later.
   
  New Business:
   
  Elections:
   
   Candidates’ statements
   
      Rob Power (candidate for Chair). Rob wants to run because he thinks we should do things that a regular party does, such as tonight’s fundraiser for George Phillies (Libertarian candidate for President). He has taken the leadership classes that the LP offers online for fundraising and campaign management. Rob was been in charge of the Pride Booth for San Francisco from 2002-2004. He is National Chair for the Outright Libertarians.

              In response to a question by Michael Edelstein, Rob indicated that because he thinks it is important to recruit new members, he is in favor, where possible, to track how we recruit members. He says that with Outright Libertarians he uses an analytic feature by Google that lets you see not just when they visit your website but when they give you money. Michael expressed concern that the LPSF voicemail currently does not give out correct information about the location of the monthly meeting. Rob is willing to re-record the announcement with the current location.
   
  Starchild asked some questions about Rob’s views on the inclusion of Ron Paul’s candidacy in LPSF activities. With respect to the newsletter, Rob thinks that letters to the editor on the subject are appropriate but articles on him are not. With respect to the LPSF-discuss list, Rob is of the opinion that it is a private list and that it is appropriate to have some censorship. On the other hand the censorship would not be by him. He is not interested in being a moderator.
      
      Phil Berg (candidate for Chair). Phil says he is running reluctantly. He would like to work on the homeless project (see above in Chair’s Report). He would also like to do outreach to recruit young members of the Ron Paul meet-ups to the LPSF. He lists his accomplishments as the fact that we’ve navigated controversies this year (including getting the poster out) and we are still here.
      Jeremy Linden (candidate for Vice-Chair). Jeremy says it is not enough to run members for public office. We are not doing enough fundraising or outreach to other groups such as small businesses. We should also do ballot initiatives.

              Starchild asked Jeremy if he didn’t think we should reach out more to people on the left since this is a left-leaning city. Jeremy’s response is that
                          locally we shouldn’t be moving more left than we are already. We already do a great job in reaching out. There are already so many places to go if you are socially liberal. The Green Party can effect more change in that area.
   
   Issues related to the voting
                          
  1. There was a discussion relating to voting by acclamation or by secret ballot. It was decided to vote by secret ballot.
  2. Francoise Fielding asked if those members of the LPSF who have switched their voter registration to Republican for the purpose of voting for Ron Paul in the February 5th primaries could vote in the elections for LPSF officers. A discussion ensued. Rob Power and Chris Maden said that even if the LPSF bylaws are unclear about the matter, the LPCA bylaws (which take precedence over county party bylaws) state that people who are registered in other parties cannot be members of Libertarian county committees and since only members of the county committees can vote, the answer is “no”.
              Proposals were floated with respect to provisional voting and withdrawn.
              Starchild made a motion to the effect that the LPSF would follow county rules for now and try to change the state policy. The motion was voted down.
   
   Election results:
   
                          Chair: Rob Power
                          Vice-Chair: Jeremy Linden
                          Secretary: Starchild
                          Treasurer: Marcy Berry
   
  Presentation by George Phillies (Candidate for the Libertarian Presidential Nomination)
   
  For the candidate’s biography and positions on the issues see http://phillies2008.org/
  The candidate was challenged by several members with respect to his stance that he would campaign on practical issues of interest to the American people and not emphasize philosophical issues.
   
Francoise Fielding
820 Stanyan Street,#5
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-386-8643

Minutes of January 12, 2008.doc (52 KB)