Document:LNC Minutes 11-12 August 1990: Difference between revisions

Dasbach moved to repeal Resolutions 331  and 321 concerning [[Liberty  Services]]. After some discussion of the history of this, the motion passed on a voice vote.

Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 53  on the grounds that it is covered by Resolution 243. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 163, concerning payment of debt, on the grounds that it no longer applies. Ahmad objected that we should keep it as a statement of policy. The motion passed by a vote of 9 to 3, with Ahmad voting no.

Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 222  concerning disclaimers in the LP News, on the grounds that we haven't been doing it.  The motion failed on a voice vote.

Dasbach moved to delete the third paragraph of Resolution  271, concerning party support in situations when there appears to be only one candidate for the presidential nomination,  saying that the  1983 situation cited as an example therein is actually a good example of why this is a bad policy.  Ahmad said that in any case the statement that there was only one candidate in that year was false, and that we shouldn't have lies in the resolutions.  The motion passed on a voice vote.

Dasbach moved to delete Resolution 173  on the grounds that it was already covered by Resolution 275. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Dasbach moved to delete Resolution  57, concerning purpose and strategy, on the grounds that it is just too old and no longer relevant. Walter asked if this was like saying that the Declaration of Independence is no longer relevant. After some discussion,  Gingell moved to amend the motion to just delete the second,  "strategy", section.  Gingell's motion passed on a  voice vote. The main motion passed on a voice vote with Gingell and Ahmad voting no.

Dasbach presented a list of additional proposals to consolidate various sets of resolutions on certain topics into single resolutions. Dehn objected that this was simply moving text around, and that such consolidation served no purpose unless someone was going to do the work to integrate the material into something more coherent.

Gingell moved that further consideration of this topic be postponed to the end of the meeting as item 38. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Committee members,  in response to an informal poll by  Dasbach, indicated that they were interested in considering integration of the resolutions in question.

[The meeting recessed  for lunch at  12:33pm, and was called  back  to order by Walter at 1:37pm.]

Gingell provided a  written report on committee activities and plans  [Attachment M] and a  Field Coordinator report [Attachment  B]. She discussed plans for the APC News, mixed results on the "ladder of development" and the difficulty in figuring out what kind of assistance we can provide to get states beyond "level 3",  and the need for administrative help and good messages for the telephone tree. She said that the Expert Talent Bank information may be made part of the activist directory and/or field organizing manual, and that how-to bibliographies would be added to the manual.

She reported that she had received a request from someone who wants to use the activist directory as a  mailing list for a business purpose, and asked for comments from the Committee. She said that she currently gives out labels free for libertarian networking purposes.  There was no enthusiasm for setting up a  formal list rental policy,  comments including that there would not be enough revenue involved to be worth the trouble and that it would be seen as endorsing use of the names for non-LP purposes.  Various people commented on the difficulty or inadvisability of attempting to restrict the information,  comments including: this is like the list we publish in LP  News, we want to encourage people to use it for networking purposes,  a copy is available on BBSs from which anyone could make their own labels. There was some disagreement about the expectations of the activists whose names are listed.  It was decided that the information should remain available to anyone, but that we will not provide labels except for LP networking.

Field Coordinator Marla  Bottemiller reported on her activities.  She said the job has turned out to include being an "ombudsman"  with respect to helping states deal with the national office, that she plans to arrange for state parties to act as mentors for their weaker neighbors, and that the field organizing packet had been updated.  She said that in the Council of  State Chairs meeting a major concern was ballot access. Gingell said that Field  Coordinator expenses for the year will be below budget because of reduced travel and because no

supplementary field coordinator staff had been hired. Ahmad suggested that the field organizing packet include pages on candidate recruitment and on ballot access.  

Allard provided a written report [Attachment  C]  and an update [Attachment  N].  She reviewed the activities of the committee. She reported that a letter had been sent to vendors explaining the membership packet insert program.  She asked that the minutes include a list of who received the membership contest prizes (page 2 of Attachment C).

Allard moved that  Resolution 89 be made part II of Resolution 65, the existing text being  part I with  heading "National  Dues  Reduction", with the membership category "contributing" renamed "subscribing", the dollar amount for sustaining increased to $30, for sponsor to $50, for patron to $125,  and for life  to $500.  Ahmad moved to divide the question, with the consolidation of the resolutions separate from the substantive changes.  There was no objection,  and the consolidation passed on a voice vote.

There was a  discussion  of  various  issues  relating  to  membership levels, including the  roundness of the numbers, the current associate life amount not  being really sufficient  to fund continuing  service, when a change  would go into  effect, the fact that  pledgers who give more than enough to qualify for a premium category are still listed as just contributing members,  and the lack  of a  program  to  encourage people to renew at the same or higher level. The main motion to change the dues categories passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to make Resolution 194 be part III of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to replace the words  "joined as a member"  with "signed the oath" in part III of Resolution 65. The motion passed by a vote of 8 to 4.

Allard moved to delete Resolution 260 and add as part IV of Resolution 65: "Membership Committee:  A membership committee  shall  be  created under the 'General  Guidelines for Action  Committees' to contact past contributing members to  contribute membership dues, contact 'members' and LP  News  subscribers  to  become  contributing  members,  provide national LP staff  with contents for the membership packets, update LP News editor  of  membership  activities  and  membership  status,  and organize any 'special' project which will encourage growth in national

Allard moved to make Resolution 333  be part V of  Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to make Resolution 338  be part VI of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to make Resolution 349 be part VII of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to make Resolution 350 be part VIII of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Allard moved to make the resolution passed earlier in this meeting regarding archiving of old membership records be part IX of Resolution 65. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Black provided a written report [Attachment D] and an update  [Attachment  O].  She said that the mailing to gun owners had been ineffective because of inappropriate material and a poorly-maintained list.  She is working on additional literature but doesn't plan for it to be printed unless we have enough money.

Bottemiller suggested the development of radio ads. Ernsberger  said that it is  unlikely that the  profit from the census  project will be needed for legal defense since the house to house operation was over and nobody had yet been prosecuted.

Ernsberger provided a written report on Campus Outreach [Attachment P] and said the budget could be reduced by $2000.

There  was  a  discussion  of  the  drug  issue,  and  the  lack  of implementation of the  Coalition to End  Drug Violence, with  comments including: this is a "deadly" issue that legislators are not yet ready to support, that  we needed to  get more supporters  lined  up  before announcing it, that  people are moving  our way, that what is "deadly" for the other  parties can still  be of value for  us even if  only  a small fraction of  the population agrees,  that this  may  not  be  an appropriate project for  the national LP because of its size, and that the fact that the Executive Committee was given authorization to spend money on something  and then decided  not to should not  be viewed  as evidence that the  authorization was a  mistake. Tonie Nathan reported that she is still getting calls from people interested in the project and recommended that we continue working on it.

Johnson said there are requests for outreach material in  Spanish. Ahmad reported on  a talk he  gave at a meeting of the Islamic Society of North America.

Thies provided a written report [Attachment E] and offered to answer questions. He said he had done only a kind of spot check this time and had not found any big problems, but that it was human nature to magnify whatever problems exist. There was a small fuss about the office allowing the  Lord campaign to use the office address and not offering this service to other campaigns;  Dunbar pointed out that the only cost was a box in the office and that it wouldn't really be practical for anyone more distant.