ITEMS RELATING TO
Conventions
LP 2002 Convention
- Convention 2002 page at www.lp.org
- Elections
- Candidates for Libertarian National Committee
- Election results details:
- Platform
Convention Activity Summaries
TUESDAY - 2 July 2002
The Platform Committee met all day.The Bylaws Committee met during the afternoon.
"Libertarian Victory School" was held with presentations by Don Gorman and Ron Crickenberger.
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| Platform Committee discusses proposals. |
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| Bylaws Committee members review notes. |
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| Convention officials check out main meeting hall. |
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| Attendees at Libertarian Victory School take a break. |
WEDNESDAY - 3 July 2002
The Bylaws Committee completed its work. Among the proposals to be presented to the delegates are:- motions for disaffiliation of an affiliate must include the reason
- eliminate announcement of the voting for some officers
- increase the limit above which payments must be by check
- increase the borrowing allowed without LNC approval
- recommendations from the bylaws and platform committees to be voted up/down by the convention without modification before modifications can be considered
- election of Judicial Committee members by region
- LNC decisions would be reversed if there is an appeal to the Judicial Committee and the Judicial Committee fails to respond
- eliminate delegate allocations based on presidential vote
- simultaneous voting for vice chair, secretary, and treasurer
- a modified version of instant runoff voting for officers and for presidential/vice-presidential nomination
- allow endorsement of candidates of other parties
The Platform Committee completed its work. In addition to proposing a set of amendments to existing planks, the Platform Committee is proposing the creation of a new "executive summary" consisting of one sentence per plank. The committee is also proposing that they continue working between now and the next convention to reformat all the planks into a more consistent style, without changing the content; the result would be turned over to the next convention for consideration.
The Credentials Committee met to consider the list of delegates.
The "Libertarian Victory School" concluded with presentations by various speakers.
The outgoing LNC met for the last scheduled meeting of their term. Notable items of business included:
- reports from the Treasurer about recent revenue shortfalls and about his ideas concerning project accounting
- a report from the new Marketing Director
- a report from the new Development Director
- a report from staff about selection of a new database system
- a decision that staff should report to the LNC, on a monthly basis, past due accounts receivable
- a decision that, due to concerns about the way the nominating process had been handled, certain awards should not be given this year
- the establishment of a new "management team" to make recommendations concerning party management
- a survey of LNC members concerning the performance of the Executive Director
- modifications to the Policy Manual to require LNC approval for special membership arrangements with affiliate parties, to increase certain dollar limits in existing financial control policies, to correct a number of minor language problems, and to authorize the Secretary to make additional corrections
- brief reports on several strategies from the Strategic Plan
- a decision to recommend the Policy Governance (Carver) model to the next LNC
Convention festivities began with the Opening Night Party.
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| Delegates began registering. |
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| LNC members listen to Treasurer's report. |
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| Phillies hospitality suite. |
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| Dancing at the opening night party. |
THURSDAY - 4 July 2002
The official convention business opened with motions relating to credentials and adoption of the agenda. An amendment was made to the bylaws to explicitly allow the seating of delegates whose names had not been submitted prior to the opening of the convention, but only if approved by a 7/8 vote of the convention. (Traditionally, seating new delegates under such circumstances had been allowed by unanimous consent, but it was discovered that the bylaws did not seem to allow for that.) Later, operating under this new rule, the convention approved the seating of several additional delegates but denied approval in those cases where the person was not a resident of the state whose delegation was proposing the addition.The initially reported registration count was 307; a figure of 373 was reported in the late afternoon.
The platform retention vote was conducted; results had not been announced as of the end of the day's business.
The Treasurer presented his report, giving his perspective on the Party's current financial difficulties, their causes, and prospects for improvement.
The main business of the afternoon was consideration of the Bylaws Committee report. The following changes were approved by the convention:
- require statement of reason for disaffiliation of an affiliate
- deletion of an obsolete reference to ex officio delegates
- elimination of the state-by-state roll calls during elections of officers, except for the first vote for Chair
- replacement of requirement that disbursements over $20 be by check with requirement that only disbursements up to $100 may be in cash
- a new procedure for approval of proposals from the Bylaws Committee: eight minutes of debate without amendment followed by an up/down vote, if not approved as proposed then 10 additional minutes of debate allowed for amendments
Several other proposals -- to adjust language relating to eligibility for nomination to the LNC, to increase the amount of borrowing allowed without LNC approval, to change the method of election of Judicial Committee members, and to change the procedure for approval of proposals from the Platform Committee -- were discussed but not approved. The remaining recommendations from the Bylaws Committee were not discussed due to lack of time.
Additional speakers and presentations in the main hall included: Mark Rutherford, Phil Miller, a slide show tribute to John Perry, Ron Crickenberger, Andy Horning, Otto Guevara, John Berthoud, and "William Jefferson Clinton". The lunch speaker was Harry Browne. There were additional speakers in breakout rooms.
The main event of the evening was the LNC candidate forum. First, candidates for Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and At-Large were each given a chance to speak for a few minutes -- this portion lasted about 45 minutes. Then the three main candidates for Chair made statements and answered questions submitted by the audience. All questions were for all candidates with each candidate given the same amount of time to answer. There were no candidate-to-candidate questions or rebuttals. This portion of the program lasted about 85 minutes.
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| Main convention hall. |
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| Ron Crickenberger speaking to convention. |
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| Delegates waiting to speak. |
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| Chair candidate forum. |
FRIDAY - 5 July 2002
The registration count reported in the morning (after taking into account a few additions approved by the convention) was 456; a figure of 536 was reported in the afternoon.The convention voted to give awards as follows:
| Sam Adams award | Richard E. Pearl Sr. |
| Thomas Paine award | Bruce Baechler |
| Thomas Jefferson award | John Perry |
The main business of the day was consideration of the Platform Committee report.
Amendments to four planks were approved: the addition of a paragraph about proportional representation and IRV to the Election Laws plank, replacement of a paragraph in the Internal Security and Civil Liberties plank with two new paragraphs, and minor changes to the Colonialism and Military Policy planks. A recommendation relating to the Juries plank was discussed but not approved. The remainder of the recommendations for amendment of planks were not considered due to lack of time.
In addition, the convention adopted two resolutions concerning the Platform. First, the Platform Committee was authorized to produce an executive summary of the Platform, consisting of one sentence for each plank. This document is to be available by Sunday afternoon.
Second, the Platform Committee will continue to work as a special committee with the goal of developing a proposal for a revised Platform, having the same section and plank structure but different structure within each plank, for consideration by the next convention. There will be an open e-mail list [lpus-plat-format@dehnbase.org] to allow all members to offer input to this process. The target for completion of this proposal is October 2003.
Speakers in the main hall included: Bill Masters, David Brin, Rebecca Sink-Burris, Ed Thompson, Carla Howell, Steve Dillon, and Gary Johnson. Breakfast speakers were David Brin and John Buttrick. The lunch speaker was Ron Paul. There were additional speakers in breakout rooms.
There was a "30th Anniversary Celebration" in the evening, with birthday cake.
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| Vendor exhibit area. |
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| Scene outside convention center. |
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| David Nolan speaks at anniversary party. |
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| Birthday cake. |
SATURDAY - 6 July 2002
The registration count reported in the morning (after taking into account a few additions approved by the convention) was 615; a figure of 624 was reported in the afternoon.It was reported that all Platform planks had received more than 50% in the initial retention vote.
The main business of the day was election of members of the Libertarian National Committee:
| CHAIR: | Geoff Neale | 261 |
| Elias Israel | 178 | |
| George Phillies | 123 | |
| NOTA | 5 | |
| "all of the above" | 1 | |
| [Phillies dropped according to rule; Israel withdrew; Neale elected in voice vote against NOTA] | ||
| (details) | ||
| VICE CHAIR: | Ken Bisson | 260 |
| Steve Boone | 238 | |
| NOTA | 6 | |
| "Head on a Stick" | 1 | |
| "Pool" | 1 | |
| (details) | ||
| SECRETARY: | Steve Givot | 349 |
| Carol Moore | 147 | |
| NOTA | 12 | |
| George Phillies | 1 | |
| (details) | ||
| TREASURER: | Deryl Martin elected in voice vote against NOTA | |
| AT-LARGE: | nominees in alphabetical order - results not yet available | |
| Al Anders | ||
| Mike Dixon | ||
| Richard Freedman | ||
| Sam Goldstein | ||
| Don Gorman | ||
| Austin Hough | ||
| Dan Karlan | ||
| Bette Rose Ryan | ||
| Starchild | ||
| Aaron Starr | ||
| R. Lee Wrights | ||
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES:
AK CO ID MT OR UT WA WY
rep: Ed Hoch
alt: Mike Fellows
AZ CA HI (double-size region)
rep: Joe Dehn and Mike Dixon
alt: Mark Hinkle and Scott Lieberman
IN KY MI OH
rep: Mark Rutherford
alt: Jeff Zweber
AL FL GA NC SC
rep: Michael Gilson de Lemos
alt: Sean Haugh
DC DE MD NJ PA VA WV
rep: Lorenzo Gaztanaga
alt: Fred Childress
CT MA ME NH NY RI VT
rep: Mark Cenci
alt: Bonnie Scott
AR LA MS NM NV OK TN TX
rep: Steve Trinward
alt: Tim Hagan
IA IL KS MN MO ND NE SD WI
rep: Mark Nelson
alt: Bob Sullentrup
Speakers in the main hall included: Michael Cloud, Reginald Jones, Tim Slagle, James Dan, Larry Pratt, Austin Hough, and Clyde Cleveland. Breakfast speakers were John Hospers, Tonie Nathan, Ed Clark, and David Bergland. There were additional speakers in breakout rooms.
The evening banquet featured Ed Crane, receiving the Champion of Liberty Award, and Neal Boortz.
The evening's festivities were topped off by an evacuation of the hotel at about 1:15am.
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| Breakfast panel: Bergland, Hospers, Nathan, Clark. |
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| Geoff Neale acceptance speech. |
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| Banquet. |
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| Hotel guests evacuate. |
SUNDAY - 7 July 2002
Results for LNC At-Large (top five elected):
Bette Rose Ryan 316
Mike Dixon 277
R. Lee Wrights 265
Don Gorman 259
Austin Hough 257
Aaron Starr 184
Dan Karlan 178
Starchild 169
Al Anders 167
Sam Goldstein 138
Richard Freedman 65
Elias Israel 3
Carol Moore 1
Marina Neale 1
NOTA 0
(details)
(Note: as a result of the election of Mike Dixon to an
at-large position, the second Region 2 representative is
now George Squyres)
The following were elected to the Judicial Committee by
acclamation (seven candidates for seven positions):
Dean Ahmad
Greg Clark
Rock Howard
Tom Knapp
Richard Moroney
David Nolan
Blay Tarnoff
(The Judicial Committee elected Dean Ahmad as Judicial
Committee Chair.)
Convention Committees
BYLAWS COMMITTEE
10 members, all selected by LNC...
Mark Nelson (IA) - interim chair lpiachair@mchsi.com
Ken Bisson (IN) kbisson@usa.net
Sam Goldstein (IN) sam8074@aol.com
Don Gorman (NH) taylorgorman@juno.com
Tim Hagan (NV) trhagan@yahoo.com
Dana Johansen (VA) AsstTreasurer@lpva.com
Dan Karlan (NJ) DanKarlan@compuserve.com
Richard Moroney (IA) rkmoroney@hotmail.com
Geoff Neale (TX) liber8or@austin.rr.com
Marianne Volpe (VA) mvolpe@starpower.net
PLATFORM COMMITTEE
20 members, 10 selected by LNC...
Mike Dixon (AZ) - interim chair mdixonlp@earthlink.net
Dean Ahmad (MD) dahmad@speakeasy.net
Lorenzo Gaztanaga (MD) diazvivar@aol.com
Michael Gilson de Lemos (FL) mg4u@oasis.net
Henry Haller (PA) HEHaller@aol.com
Sean Haugh (NC) seanhaugh@mindspring.com
Ed Hoch (AK) edsway@sprynet.com
Erin Hollinden (IN) ehollind@indiana.edu
Robert Murphy (OK) ww@telepath.com
George Squyres (AZ) gbsnavas@infomagic.net
Joe Hauptmann (IN) - 1st alt. jah@indyweb.net
Mark Schreiber (IN) - 2nd alt. markwell@iquest.net
plus one selected by each of the 10 largest state parties...
CA: Wayne Nygren wnygren@earthlink.net
Laura Stewart - alt. laurastewart@spamcop.net
FL: Dan Nafe dan@autobahnco.com
GA: Steve Hoffman UniLib@aol.com
IL: Austin Hough houghfamily4@msn.com
MI: Keith Edwards keithmarni@aol.com
NY: Bonnie Scott rabbit@cownow.com
Bill McMillen - alt WMPMCM@msn.com
OH: Norma Skoog skoog@fuse.net
PA: Julian Heicklen lppawest@yahoo.com
TX: Robert Restivo RestivoLawFirm@netzero.net
WA: Greg Clark gregjclark@juno.com
CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
10 members, 5 selected by LNC...
Gary Johnson (TX) - interim chair GaryJohnson@compuserve.com
Dena Bruedigam (OH) bruedigam@columbus.rr.com
Nick Dunbar (VA) NickDunbar@hq.lp.org
Richard Fischer (VA) rfisc67910@aol.com
Bette Rose Ryan (CO) BetteRose@aol.com
plus one selected by each of the 5 largest state parties...
CA: Ray Acosta ramon4@yahoo.com
FL: Jack Tanner jacktanner@mail.com
GA: Tim Forzly ObjtvRlst@cs.com
MI: Emily Salvette salvette@ameritech.net
TX: Rock Howard rock@rockhoward.com