LNC 2017: Summary, first draft of meeting minutes of last weekend’s meeting in Pittsburgh

For detailed liveblogging and discussion see our prior article.

Alicia Mattson via LNC email list:

Attached are the first draft minutes from the April 15-16, 2017 LNC meeting.

Please note that comments from the LNC on the minutes are due by May 7.

I have heard no one express any issue with dubbing the newly formed
committee as the Social Media Process Review Committee, so that’s what I’ve
called it in the minutes.

I see that my footer text disappeared starting with the Region 5 Report
appendix. I didn’t spot it until after I had my PDF built. I’ve fixed it
in the underlying file so it will look right in the next update, but I
didn’t take the time to rebuild the PDF just for that.

There was a snafu with Mr. Somes’ motion regarding Paladin Strategies.
When he originally stated the motion he said the contract would be for up
to 3 months. When I requested more precise wording in writing for the
minutes, the written version said for up to 6 months, and I didn’t
immediately notice the discrepancy, and that’s what I typed. All of you
heard 3 months, and you couldn’t see that the written version said 6
months, so Mr. Hagan’s amendment was based on the 3 months * $5,000/mo =
$15,000. Twice during the debate, including right before the vote, the
chair read the motion from my screen, so he read 6 months. RONR prescribes
that the language read just prior to the vote is the official language in
such a situation, so the minutes say 6 months. That makes the $15,000
amendment look odd, but that’s what happened.

-Alicia

Draft Minutes

https://www.lp.org/event/lnc-meeting/ has the written reports, and http://www.ustream.tv/channel/libertarian-party1 has archived video (not permanently, but probably at least for a few months).

My own summary of the highlights of the meeting (some of the language copied and pasted from Alicia Mattson’s draft minutes):

1. After several proposals on Saturday, none of which passed, a Social Media Process Review committee was created on Sunday. Brett Bittner, Daniel Hayes, and Steve Nekhaila were elected to the committee. Two remaining positions on the committee will be filled by the just-elected members. Caryn Ann Harlos, Joshua Katz and Arvin Vohra also applied but were not elected. Disclosure: I applied for one of the 2 non-LNC spots and recommended Matt Hasty for the other one. Several LNC members also recommended Matt Hasty. I’m not sure if anyone else recommended me. Several other people have reportedly applied; I don’t know who they are at this time.

2. Joshua Katz resigned from the Advertising & Publication Review Committee. Whitney Bilyeu won a vote for the vacant seat over David Demarest.

3. The LNC heard from Paladin Strategies with a proposal to hire them to consult regarding “extensively reviewing and making recommendations for the Libertarian Party’s messaging (and modes of messaging), inclusion in the debates, fundraising and campaign finance, campaign
mechanics, and state and local affiliates.” A motion to hire this company did not pass at the meeting.

4. 84 people had applied for the 5 LNC-appointed seats on the Platform Committee (15 additional members to be selected by several states that get appointments according to a formula described in the bylaws). Bill Redpath nominated all those who had applied. Applicants who were present were permitted to speak to their own nominations, and various LNC members spoke on behalf of various applicants. Jeffrey Miron, Andy Craig, John Fockler and Alicia Mattson were elected on the first ballot. The final LNC appointed slot was a four-way tie between Caryn Ann Harlos, Aaron Starr, Adam Bates and Joseph Henchman. The last slot was eventually filled by a coin flip with Caryn Ann Harlos edging out Aaron Starr on the 7th ballot. Since that time, New Hampshire served notice that they appointed Darryl Perry to the platform committee. The remaining states which get appointments are AK, CO, NV, VA, CA, TX, FL, NY, OH, PA, IL, MI, IN and WA. I do not know if any of those have made their appointments yet or when they will. Alicia Mattson was elected interim chair.

5. 51 people applied for the 10 LNC-appointed seats on the Bylaws Committee. 13 were not party members, leaving 38 eligible applicants. Bill Redpath nominated those 38. Andy Craig, Joshua Katz, Chuck Moulton, Caryn Ann Harlos, Aaron Starr, M Carling, Joseph Henchman, David
Pratt Demarest, and Alicia Mattson were elected to the Bylaws and Rules Committee, having received majority votes. One final position remained unfilled as no other candidate received a majority vote. Kimberly Ruff won a majority approval on the second round and won that seat. I haven’t looked it back up yet, but from memory I believe 10 positions are appointed by states. I don’t have a list of those states handy at the moment but will update with that list when I find it. Joshua Katz won the election for interim chair over Chuck Moulton.

UPDATE: Correction from Dan Karlan: there are only ten members of the bylaws committee, all appointed by the LNC.

6. Ms. Mattson moved that LNC make arrangements to appoint Credentials Committee members at the next LNC meeting. Starchild moved that the ballots be signed and reported. Both motions passed. Starchild also moved that the ballots for bylaws and platform committees be signed and reported, but at that point many ballots had already been turned in and not signed for the first round of votes. Starchild’s motions on an open ballot re-vote for platform and bylaws did not pass. At the request of Ms. Harlos, Ms. Mattson agreed to solicit applications for the credentials committee at least one month prior to the meeting.

7. After some explanation, Mr. Katz moved to direct staff to build relationships with sympathetic Congressional staffers, particularly in the Senate, and direct up to half of our Candidates and Campaigns budget for that purpose. Starchild moved to amend to add “and that staff develop, with outside expertise as appropriate, written and oral guidelines to those engaged in such contacts, on how to exert influence without being influenced.” The Starchild amendment failed; the Katz motion passed.

8. Ms. Harlos spoke of her efforts phoning lapsed members and asking them to renew, and signing up new members at state conventions in her region. She encouraged other regional representatives to do the same. The LNC took no action.

9. Following discussion, Mr. Hagan moved to direct the Chair to direct our special legal counsel to review the existing draft document retention and whistle blower policies and obtain a recommendation on further needed action. The motion was adopted without objection.

In the days before and since the meeting various discussions related to the social media committee and process review have dominated the LNC list. There has also been additional discussion of Palladin Strategies, Historical Committee, ordering name badges, and setting the place and time of the final 2017 meeting (the motion being voted on over email is for the New Orleans Hyatt Regency on December 9th and 10th, 2017, at the site of the planned 2018 convention hotel). Among other things there is also a discussion of the definition of “staff” as it applies to the LNC.