Meeting of 8 October, 2011

Minutes of the LPSF Meeting of October 8, 2011

 

Members Present: Marcy Berry (Chair), Michael Edelstein, Aubrey Freedman, Jawj Greenwald (Secretary), Charles Olson, Richard Winger.

 

Guests: Tony Adams

Officers’ Reports:

Chair: Marcy Berry has agreed to participate in a study being conducted by Chris Elmendorf, a law professor at UC Davis and visiting professor at Hastings Law School,  about how politicians tailor their message differently according to the political bent of groups they address.  She awaits his survey with interest.

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

Treasurer: No report; treasurer absent

Secretary:  Minutes of the September meeting (taken by Aubrey Freedman) have been posted on the website.

 

Committee Reports:

Internet Communication/Social Networking:   Marcy Berry discussed our need for a member who can attend local meetings to eventually take over as webmaster from Rob Power, now living in New York City, who is continuing in this role on an interim basis.

 

Membership: Marcy Berry reported that one new member joined this month.  We now have twelve dues-paying members.

 

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 is working on the Ron Paul campaign, canvassing Iowa voters.  Aubrey Freedman worked on the Jeff Adaichi mayoral campaign.  Marcy Berry wrote a comment for the website to clarify that our recommendation against the school bond measure did not mean we didn’t support efforts to improve education in other ways. Jawj Greenwald, on vacation in England, led architectural tours of the London Reform Club emphasizing its classical liberal reformist roots.

 

Announcements:

Richard Winger reported that a new legal challenge is being filed to the “Top Two” election system (passed as Proposition 14).  If the system goes into effect, the Libertarian Party will not qualify for ballot access after November 2014 unless it gets 1% of the vote in that month’s gubernatorial election.  He urged that a drive for voter registration be launched after November 2012, when most Ron Paul Republicans should be willing to register Libertarian.

 

Marcy Berry announced that the Junior League of San Francisco is holding a discussion forum on local “Emerging Issues” on October 13, and that she has been invited to attend.

 

 

Michael Edelstein appealed for donations and support for Ron Paul during an upcoming October 16 on-line fundraising day.

 

Aubrey Freedman reported that Starchild’s Liberty Coalition meetings were on hiatus until a new venue could be found for these monthly events.

 

Old Business:

Tax I.D.: Marcy Berry has applied for an organizational employer tax ID number for the LPSF.  This will obviate the need for any officer to give a personal tax ID number to maintain our bank account, and avoid problems such as those recently encountered in having to have PayPal transfers made to an individual.  As anticipated, however, the IRS has sent a form letter demanding tax returns.  Marcy has replied to the IRS indicating that no income taxes or filings are required or due, and that the tax ID number is being requested solely for banking purposes.

 

PayPal Account: Marcy Berry reported that the LPSF’s PayPal account has been closed, and Bryce Bigwood has transferred to LPSF all the funds in the account. For the moment, the option to make an LPSF donation through PayPal has been removed from the website.  It will be restored, using a PayPal account for the LPSF itself, as soon as the party receives the tax ID number discussed above.

 

Amazon Program: Marcy Berry reported that the program has been discontinued.  Rob Power will forward to LPSF $63 in accumulated commissions.

 

Mail Box: Marcy Berry presented the pros and cons of various LPSF mailbox options.  Our present private box costs $240 annually and is up for renewal in mid-October.  In view of this, it was agreed to renew for one more year, and to get wait listed for the a small box at one or two centrally located U.S. Post Office branches so that this option will be open to us in another year.  The search for a cheaper, more accessible location, whether post office or private, will continue.  Suggestions are invited.

Election Recommendation Postcards: Aubrey Freedman has prepared the postcards with the initiative recommendations previously voted on, and they will be mailed to approximately 200 LP members to coincide with the City’s mailing of the official ballot pamphlets.   Despite a previous proposal of a mechanism for recommending certain candidates, the Executive Committee decided not to add candidate recommendations for lack of space.

 

Election Recommendations on Website: It was decided (5-1 vote) that next year  initiative recommendations as posted on our website would include a brief statement of reasons.  Such statements would be approved by vote of the members at the meeting to vote on recommendations.

 

 

New Business:

 

SiteGround Upgrade for Website: We considered a website service upgrade that Rob Power brought to our attention.  For $12 annually we can get upgraded website security, or for $60 a security upgrade plus additional domain names.  We agreed that we had no need of additional domain names, and should defer any decision as to the $12 security upgrade until we had a new webmaster to advise us.

 

2012 Pride Festival Participation: It was unanimously agreed that we should participate in next year’s Pride Festival.  Aubrey Freedman volunteered to lead the effort.    Marcy will guide him through the registration process, and will coordinate with Rob Power to make sure that we can again register under the wing of Outright Libertarians, using its non-profit status.