From the LPTN website. I’m attending the event.
2013 Libertarian Party of Tennessee Convention
It’s that time again!
The Libertarian Party of Tennessee will be having our next state convention on
Friday and Saturday, March 8th and 9th in Nashville, TN
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Nashville Airport
2424 Atrium Way
Nashville, TN 37214
1-615-889-8889
Registration will be 6pm-9pm Friday night and Saturday morning at 8am. Make sure to reserve your room NOW! We have Special Convention rate of $99.00 per night.
This is our year for bylaw proposals/changes. The deadline has passed for submitting yours, however you can find the proposals in the upcoming Voice of Freedom newsletter or by clicking here.
We also take some time to listen to some great speakers! Below are those confirmed:
– Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee, will speak on “Policing for Profit”
– James Baird, Assistant TN State Director for the Fair Tax Nation will speak about HR-25, the FairTax Act of 2013.
– Drew Johnson, editor of the Free Press opinion page at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, will tell us how libertarians can be more effective in the media.
– Radley Balko, former senior editor at Reason magazine and current senior writer and investigative reporter for the Huffington Post, where he covers civil liberties and the criminal justice system. He’ll be discussing the militarization of the police.
– Michael Lotfi, Campaign Chairman for Shaun Crowell’s Campaign for his 2012 US Senate race, helped create the Belmont Young Americans for Liberty chapter, owner of TheLibertyPaper.org and is a contributor for LibertarianGlobal.org. The libertarian movement is gaining momentum every day. He will be speaking about how we can continue this as well as make it more effective.
Admission: $40 (students $20) You can pay at the door. However, if you pre-register, you get a free LPTN t-shirt! Just include your shirt size with your payment.
http://www.examiner.com/article/libertarian-party-of-tennessee-holds-annual-convention-nashville
Paulie said: “The ‘fair’ tax speaker is up now, so I am skipping that one.”
I hope that somebody debates this speaker over this issue, or there is a Q & A where some people in the audience can expose the many flaws in the so called “Fair Tax” plan.
Change in speaker order. The “fair” tax speaker is up now, so I am skipping that one. Radley Balko is also speaking later, and a guy from the Chattanooga Free Press, which endorsed Gary Johnson. One other speaker that I am blanking on…someone from the ACLU, I think.
Speakers: Lee Wrights spoke first. We are now on break and Michael Lofti of http://thelibertypaper.org/ is scheduled to be speaking next.
http://www.muslims4liberty.org/clearskies/
A resolution to endorse the Clear Skies Initiative against government use of drones was adopted.
Resolution to change the libertarian party if TN name to The Liberty Party has been voted down.
Secretary results : Michael Lofti 24 Ray Ledford 30 NOTA 2.
Treasurer: Mike Maness (unopposed)
Jim Tomasik from Memphis elected chair 28-25 over Vice Chair Matthew Novak with 2 for NOTA. Tomasik was the Johnson coordinator for TN and wants to copy the organizational model of Kevin Knedler and the Ohio LP. Other attendees have described him and those supporting him as Tea Partiers. Tomasik criticized the previous leadership of the state party for not being aggressively growth oriented enough and for not being organized enough, and said the near-miss on presidential ballot access should never have been allowed to happen. Novak’s speech was focused on describing that some growth has taken place in various ways and defending the previous party leadership’s record.
Matthew Novak was re-elected as Vice Chair 28-24 (I think it was 3 for NOTA) over Steven Rodriguez (sp?). Rodriguez emphasized the importance of outreach to LGBT and non-white folks and students. Rodriguez said he opposes purity tests and would like to have a more inclusive party. Since Novak had already spoken in his race for chair he did not speak again.
Other positions will be elected after lunch.
Four bylaws amendment proposals were offered; all were defeated or withdrawn. Only one came close to passing.
Te rest of the time has been spent on adding various people as credentialed delegates. The count has steadily increased from 22 this morning to 55 by the time the chair’s election took place.
$40 with a T-shirt included with a pre-register sounds good.