Meeting of 12 November, 2011

Minutes of the LPSF Meeting of November 12, 2011

 

Members Present: Phil Berg, Marcy Berry (Chair), Michael Edelstein, Aubrey Freedman, Jawj Greenwald (Secretary), Les Magnus (Treasurer), Richard Winger, and Starchild

 

Guests: Charles Olson.

Officers’ Reports:

 

Chair: Marcy Berry participated in a survey being conducted by Chris Elmendorf, professor of law at UC Davis and visiting professor at Hastings Law School, about how politicians and political parties tailor their message differently for different audiences.    She will share any results she receives from Professor Elmendorf.

 

She lunched with Alton Yee, the fundraising director of the New York City LP, and gleaned useful tips as to how they conduct their meetings and business.  Michael Edelstein, Aubrey Freedman, and Starchild went too.

 

Vice Chair: No report (Our vice chair still has to work Saturdays).

 

Treasurer: The LPSF has $4,424.42 in its coffers ($20.64 cash, the rest in the bank).

 

Secretary:  Minutes of the October meeting have been posted on the website.

 

Committee Reports:

 

Internet Communication/Social Networking:   Marcy Berry volunteered to remove our November 8 voter recommendations from the first page of the LPSF website, now that elections are over.

 

Membership: Marcy Berry reported that Emmet Murphy  joined as a new member this month.

 

Activism Reports:

We went around the table reporting on what, if anything, we had done to strike a blow for freedom this month.  Michael Edelstein continued his work on the Ron Paul campaign, canvassing Iowa voters, and attended the annual all-day Libertarian conference held by Students for Liberty at UC Berkeley.  Aubrey Freedman worked on the Jeff Adaichi mayoral campaign and did LP outreach setting up a table in the Castro with Starchild.  Marcy Berry wrote and posted articles on our website to keep it ever fresh and topical.  Richard Winger worked on the anti -“Top Two” voting (Prop 14) campaign, and noted that the California Libertarian Party is a co-plaintiff in a legal challenge to be filed November 15 locally.

 

Announcements:

None

 

Old Business:

Announcement of LPSF Annual Elections: It was agreed that the required 30 day notice of the LPSF’s annual election of officers at its January meeting could be made by email announcement to members, in lieu of a postcard mailing.  Marcy Berry will do the necessary.

 

November 8 Election Postmortem: Aubrey Freedman led a discussion of the November 8 San Francisco election results.  Turnout was a low 40%, and there were few surprises.  The new instant run-off voting process worked well in the mayoralty election, much to the chagrin of the political consultant professionals who had campaigned hard to eliminate it to give them more work.  We played a prominent and effective role in the ballot argument pamphlet.  We were a lone voice in the wilderness against Proposition A (a school bond measure that passed easily) providing the only argument against and thus automatically becoming the official (unpaid) “against” argument.  We provided a paid LPSF argument in favor of Proposition D’s pension reform measure, as well as putting our individual names to several of the other arguments in favor.  Although Proposition D was rejected in favor of Proposition C’s weaker pension reforms, the strong campaign on D probably made passage of some sort of pension reform seem inevitable.  We were on the winning side in our third ballot argument, against Proposition G’s sales tax increase.

 

New Business:

 

“Americans Elect” New Political Party: Michael Edelstein and Richard Winger described a new internet-based political party that has recently achieved ballot access in California.  It has no political platform and seeks to be non-partisan (e.g. requiring that its Presidential candidate choose a Vice President with a different traditional party affiliation).  It focuses on a process of internet voting for candidates that it dubs “direct democracy.”  Michael Edelstein suggested it might provide ballot access for a third party candidate like Ron Paul.  It was agreed that the LPSF should not get involved with this project as a group, but that members who are interested could find out more at www.americanselect.org.

 

California LP Convention: The 2012 state convention for the California LP will be held March 2-4, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ventura, California.  Members are urged to attend as delegates in order to influence the choice of Libertarian candidate for President in 2012.

 

California LP Information Request on Local Government Bodies: We discussed how best to respond to a request from Beau Cain, administrator of state LP, for a list of local agencies and districts that could be used to promote the election or appointment of libertarians to local bodies.  While an exhaustive and up-to-date list would be difficult and laborious to create, Marcy Berry, with Aubrey Freedman’s help, will try to compile a list of the major ones. She will request from Beau a copy of a list produced by Aaron Starr several years ago as a basis for updating.

 

Local Party Activity FEC Guidelines: Beau Cain sent a copy of current federal election commission guidelines for political parties to comply with federal election law in state and local elections.  Although some felt that they were seldom enforced at the local level, activists among us are encouraged to read them.

 

Guest Speakers: We discussed whether we should invite guest speakers to our meetings, and, if so, who and when.  While we have always invited candidates and people presenting issues and projects we are considering getting involved with, opinion was divided about whether we should have speakers on topics of general interest.

 

Guest Speaker: Charles Olson and his young daughter gave a brief presentation in song and dance of his proposals for constitutional reform.  He advocates that the federal government operate entirely through governors of all 50 states meeting five days a year, and a Congress that “shall make no law.”

 

December 10 meeting:  Our December 10 meeting, which may be shorter than usual, will be followed by adjournment to a local restaurant that caters to carnivores as well as vegetarians.