Meeting of 9 January, 2010

 

 

Minutes of the LPSF Meeting of January 9 , 2010

 

 

Members Present: Rob Power (Chair) presiding, Francoise Fielding (Secretary) recording, Leslie Mangus, Ron Getty, Richard Winger, Michael Edelstein, Jawj Greenwald, Marcy Berry, Phil Berg, Starchild, Mike Denny.

 

Non-members: Charles Olson and daughter.

 

Officer’s Reports:

 

• Treasurer:  Marcy Berry reported that there was no activity in the past month. The balance in the LPSF account is still $2,179.01. Petty cash remains $20.64.

            Today Marcy received a check for $25 from Francoise Fielding for       membership renewal and one from Rob Power for $196.52  as reimbursement for         the check Marcy issued in October to SiteGround Webhosting.

 

• Secretary: Francoise Fielding had nothing to report.

            The Minutes of the Meeting of December 5, 2009 were approved.

 

• Vice Chair: Ron Getty had nothing to report.

 

• Chair: Rob Power reported that he sent out 2 postcards about this meeting: to  current members and those lapsed within the last few months, and to people who had been members as far back as 2006. He hasn’t printed the receipts so it  he will give them to the next treasurer.

 

Committee Reports

 

• Outreach and Newsletter: Starchild was absent. Rob repeated his plea for anyone interested in being newsletter editor. The content is available on the  website so anyone can put it together.  The question was raised whether a newsletter is not redundant and an anachronism.

 

• Bylaws: Rob  has not had time to write the new Bylaws. Once he gets a draft of  the by-laws done we have to give 30 days notice by postcard that we are going to  vote on them at the next meeting.

 

• Website and Database: No report

 

• Membership and Fundraising:. Marcy Berry printed out the list sent by the LPCA. We have 30 paid members.  Marcy finds that sad because when she joined the LPSF had 200 members. She said we might want to discuss why that is. Rob Power said that according to the National LP there are 200 local members in the LP. We may have to  either have our own paper newsletter or come up with something else that makes it worth it to people to give us money or  work towards a more fundraising style. If you have ideas for a fundraiser or membership dues let the Chair know. Jawj Greenwald suggested we contact Peter Thiel (Paypal), but before we contact a welthy donor we need an ambitious, exciting project. Phil Berg suggested a radio advertising campaign directed at the government focusing on unemployment and how city and state governments make unemployment worse.

 

• Initiatives: Ron Getty reported that the Supervisors are still mulling around what will be on the ballot but haven’t put anything to a vote yet. The Supervisors have  to make a  decision soon.

 

• Campaigns:
  • Phil Berg- CD 8. He has not gone down to City Hall and gotten his signatures yet. He is sensing some enthusiasm: he received a phone call from an enthusiastic young lady wanting to work on his campaign.  The State  Party also suggested he get a list of people who voted in the last off election since they are very likely to vote again. John Dennis got Ron Paul’s endorsement.

Phil would like to set aside an hour of the  meeting next month for          people to write postcards and letters to people who voted in the last election. They can sign and serve as their own circulators. It was pointed out that the signatures are due around the end of February so this project should start right now. Phil said he will pay for it because it is expensive. We could also offer to come over and pick up the petitions.

•  
  • Starchild- Supervisor. Starchild’s due date is later but he and Phil could share the effort.

            Starchild has been invited to participate in a debate February 22nd at the           Harvey Milk Center. The debate is sponsored by 3 different         organizations. He needs help with his campaign, in particular someone    who knows web design and someone who would help manage his     campaign by finding debate opportunities and keeping him on track. 

            Rob Power says there is an offer by SiteGround for one year of hosting for        $10. It expires today or tomorrow so anyone who is interested should    contact him fast.

 

• Social Networking: We put this off to “In Meeting Activism”.

 

Announcements:     

 

Michael Edelstein is going to be debating February 3rd at the Vegan Dinner Club at the Red Victorian (1665 Haight Street). The topic is: “The only thing more evil than self- esteem is the State”.  Michael will be debating David Koot who is the organizer of the Vegan Dinner Club.

Richard Winger had 6 op-eds against the open primary in the last month. They are up on the website.

 

 

Old Business

 

Meeting location. There was a motion made to reconsider meeting at the Richmond Police Station Community Room.  A motion to reconsider requires a 2/3 vote (ie 8 votes) That would open  the vote to a majority decision.  There were only 6 votes in favor of reconsidering. The issue can be reconsidered next month.

 

New Business:

 

• Endorsement vote on Ballot initiative 09-0042 which “Reinstates the right of same sex couples to marry” aka “Restore Equality 2010”. 

            Proponents hope it  will be on the Nov 2010 ballot.

            The petition needs the signatures of 725,000 registered voters. There are less than         100 days left.

            There was a discussion about the fact that this ballot initiative undoes Prop 8      which said that marriage was between a man and a woman but also adds words         against plural marriages and interspecies marriages. We could endorse this and            add a policy statement. There was a vote on the proposition: “Resolved that the             LPSF endorses Ballot initiative 09-0042 which reinstates the right of same sex             couples to marry”. The vote was 6 in favor, 0 against and 5 abstentions.       Endorsements require a 2/3rds vote so the motion failed. Rob Power would like            one of the people who abstained to write something up for the website on why         they abstained. Starchild said he would.

 

• Choose State Party Platform Committee delegate:  Each county can send one delegate. Starchild was chosen by acclamation.

 

• LPSF Officer Elections:

Chair: Marcy Berry was chosen by acclamation.

Vice-Chair: Ron Getty was chosen by acclamation.

Secretary: Jawj Greenwald was chosen by acclamation

Treasurer: Leslie Mangus: We are going into tax time so Leslie will not be able to attend meetings but he can send in Treasurer Reports. Leslie was chosen by acclamation. We will have two signatures on file with Bank of America because Marcy Berry has an account there and we don’t get charged for our account because of this.

 

• Choose Delegation Chair to LPC Convention (if newly elected LPSF Chair cannot attend LPC Convention).  The county chair is responsible for submitting the names of people who want to be delegates at the National Convention. Starchild was chosen as the person to submit the names. They are Francoise Fielding, Rob Power, Mike Denny, Michael Edelstein, Phil Berg and Starchild. We will also submit Chuck Olson’s name even though he is a San Mateo county member.

 

• Feb meeting date: The date of our next meeting conflicts with the date of the State Convention. It was decided not to change the date of our meeting.

 

• Libertarian Marketing and Activism: Nicholas Guillermo didn’t show up.

 

• San Francisco Patrol Special Police. Mike Denny sent the Activists’ list  an email about this, Marcy asked what we could do to support them and Michael Edelstein suggested we put this as and item on the Agenda. The San Francisco Patrol Special Police require approval from the San Francisco Police Department to operate. They have been operating since the Gold Rush. Recently they have been meeting with resistance from the Police Department which does not want to renew their charter. Merchants hire these officers which are cheaper than off-duty cops. There are some things they don’t handle. SFPD restricts them from carrying guns. It was suggested that they should be removed from the control of the SFPD and put under the supervision of the Civilian Review Commission. They shouldn’t be regulated by their competition. One problem is that they carry SFPD two-way radios. We should talk to them directly and find out what they need.

            Starchild has a contact in the Castro: Jane Warner. He will set up a meeting with            her of a committee consisting of Mike Denny, Michael Edelstein and Phil Berg.       Phil Berg will report back to the LPSF.

 

In-Meeting Activism:

 

Starchild pointed out that Facebook is best used for posting to non libertarians. More useful are the websites of  sfgate, sf guardian and other sites that allow one to post comments. Rob says we can put link on website to comments made by libertarians.

Starchild wants to have website revised so it is clear that anything you buy from Amazon (not just Harry Browne’s book) gives the LPSF revenue. Rob knows how to do that.