2006 Massachusetts State Convention

From Libertarian Wiki

The 2006 Libertarian Party of Massachusetts Convention took place on 23 September 2006 at Tweed's Pub in Worcester. George Phillies organized and hosted the meeting; Tom LaRoche presided over official business.

This summary is unofficial and does not constitute the minutes for the meeting, which were kept by the presiding officer. All first-person statements are paraphrased in real-time except where marked by quotes.

Contents 1 Business meeting 1.1 Election of new State Committee 1.2 Remarks by nominees 1.3 Results 2 Amendments to by-laws 3 Amendments to platform 4 Nomination of Candidates 5 Other business before lunch 6 Lunchtime speakers 6.1 Stephen Gordon 6.1.1 Ballot Base 6.1.2 Candidate Tracker 6.1.3 Online courses 6.1.4 National marketing survey 6.1.5 Membership metrics 6.1.6 Web traffic 6.1.7 LPNews 6.1.8 Media in general 6.1.9 Q&A 6.2 Dan Karlan 6.3 Note about speakers 7 Officers' reports 7.1 Vice-chairman 7.2 Treasurer 7.3 David Roscoe 7.4 Other motions 7.5 Chair 8 Ballot questions 8.1 Question 2 (fusion) 8.2 Question 1 (wine) 8.3 Question 3 (child care) 9 Final announcements 10 Closing remark

Business meeting

Election of new State Committee

Nine slots are available

Remarks by nominees

• Carol MacMahon - Monson - present treasurer, looking for someone to replace as Treasurer.
• Walter Ziobro statement read by George Phillies - meetings should be quarterly - highly disappointed by state Committee - haven't been active - "leadership constipation"
• Steve Drobnis - Stoughton - Committee 1990-94, most active period. Would like to reactive Party. Marketing background - Party needs more of it. Runs 3 companies. Never missed meeting during his prior tenure.
• Arthur Torrey - North Billerica - Agrees with Walter's statement about dissatisfaction. Town Meeting rep. Ran Planning Board campaign - lost, but at least he tried. Active in LP for years.
• Mary-Anne Wolf - LP socials for a few years, just joined LPMA. Ran for elective town meeting, won. Two things she'd like to change: Attitude toward other political orgs. We're so small, we need to look for others not part of our org, so we should welcome MassCANN, LfM, etc. Way to find people who agree with us. 2. Perception haven't been doing anything - not true, need more effective communication. Even time or moral support can help someone who runs for office. Even standing out holding signs or petitioning. Will run for Recording Sec'y - advocates sharing minutes beyond Committee. Advocates broader distro of address lists.
• George Phillies - Worcester - "Wonderful opportunities before us." GOP is falling fast. Natural gap. Strong local affiliates, supports local candidates. Back in 1998, no one to reach out to in district. Seen as setting up serious people for statewide office. Not just "stamp from Secy. Galvin" saying we're a major party, but really be one. Running for POTUS - thenextpres.com has identified as leading Lib, 2 years out - build an effective outgoing party that supports groups like Outright Ls, MassCANN
• Dave Roscoe - Chelmsford - member since late 80s, was on Committee, stepped aside to bring in others. Comes to all meetings. Would like to change things on Committee
• Shirley Underwood - Springfield - member for few years with husband Bob. Help ppl get on ballot. Supports causes she believes in.
• Bob French - Boston - Committee member, Lib since early 90s, missed only a couple of meetings. Acknowledges problems, but thinks individualism is more important than collectivism to get things done. Even 4 meetings/year is hard for people. Committee's job is "to get out of the way" and let people campaign etc. as they wish.
• Bill Hees - Cambridge - Since 90s, ran for City Council in Cambridge, didn't win but did well, beat GOP candidate. Seen MA Lib grow, disappointed at how things are going. No grudges, but would like to be involved, one aspect not done yet.
• Stephanie Woiciechowski in absentia
• Dennis Corrigan - Boxford - arrived late and accepted nomination. If you need somebody, willing to do it - no agenda. "If elected, I will serve." French: Has done much to get people on the ballot. MacMahon: Has done much to get candidates the info.
• Bob Underwood - Springfield - Running for State House as Libertarian. (applause) We need to emphasize local races. Then statewide races will take care of themselves in time. Problem is most races will have no Libertarian candidate. We've fallen short in helping people get on ballot. Webmaster for PVLA - Spanish web site, only group trying to reach that demographic. Reached out to deaf voter using sign language. LP isn't inclusive enough - looking around, "faces are pretty white". Without ethnic minorities, we can't elect anyone. Can serve that niche.

Results

Elected:

• MacMahon 15
• Drobnis 14
• Torrey 13
• Phillies 13
• Hees 13
• Wolf 12
• Bob Underwood 12
• Roscoe 11
• Woiciechowski 11

Not elected:

• Ziobro 8
• Corrigan 8
• French 7
• Shirley Underwood 4

Amendments to by-laws

No motions

Amendments to platform

Motions: Phillies: In light of national changes, state Committee should consider drafting a MA-specific platform. Direct Committee to consider new state platform. (I.e., not yoke it to national.) Seconded.

At last nat'l convention, wanted to drop platform to four planks, but same of them were saved. Would be better if state party had own platform.

Examples: Mass Firearms laws, would be better to have VT conceal and carry. LaRoche: AK would be better, reciprocity.

CA has own platform - e.g. Iraq

Corrigan: Point of order, is it a simple majority? Phillies: sent it to Committee because of interaction with party Constitution.

Harlan: I'm NJ platform committee member. Adopted similar to National's, reformatting process. Laundry lists: anti-taxation (30 taxes), agriculture (many different agencies - Sweet Potato Board, White Potato Board). These expose the idiocy. No planks for national issues (e.g. war). General principles follows National. Copies available on request.

French: Committee shouldn't micromanage campaigns, but platform is a legitimate function.

Passed 13-1, 2 abstentions, 1 presiding.

Nomination of Candidates

Irrelevant, no statewide candidates.

Other business before lunch

Motion to endorse Bob Underwood for Third Hampden District, State House of Representatives - Passed 15-0, 1 abstention, 1 presiding

LaRoche: We didn't have many MA delegates to National Convention, only three. (applause) Motion to recess for lunch - Passed unanimously

Lunchtime speakers

Stephen Gordon

LNC Communication Director New LNC Programs

Ballot Base

Cf GOP's Voter Vault

Improves GOTV; pushes that 2-3% for Repubs to win. Ballot Base has two people working who've used VV

Volunteers, candidates CA-50 - beta - estimate tripled vote result targeted script - e.g. let Greens know there's no Green, mentioned only antiwar candidate Boost name recognition First polling app

Off-season; Targeting by variables - lapsed members, gun-rights who haven't given in a while, etc. 2006 - work out kinks Problem - getting voter lists - each state or district is different

Candidate Tracker

LP website - identify candidates BCRA - can't suggest you donate to a candidate, but can link to their site and highlight them.

Online courses

Range of things people need to learn - campaign mgmt. Each specific issue a mgr. needs to know. You name it, they'll probably find an instructor

National marketing survey

libs, counter-libs, intermediate groups Libs did moderately well - 21%, 24% counter, other half falls in middle - cf. World's Smallest Rs and Ds can only get 30% who strongly support, so in light of that our numbers aren't that bad. We outnumber counters in three of 10 issue areas (national, not local):

• Abortion rights / sexual freedoms
• Govt influence in private lives
• Foreign military involvement

(Also gun control, war on drugs)

Counters also outnumbered in 3. Taxes surprising were worst for Libs. Discussion of issues surrounding military/defense issues. French: Do you think this has caused party to lose membership? Gordon: Many in GA left because they had been attracted by Neil Boortz, but hard to answer. Three metrics for membership in last 16 months, all this while public opinion shifting on Iraq -- by feel, anecdotally, seems to be back on track to 3-4 years ago.

Membership metrics

As of last convention -- anyone who signed pledge: ~100k Sustaining member -- $25 in last year:

Web traffic

Beating GOP, Dem on site traffic.

LPNews

More focus on divisive political issues - focus less on internal divisions, more something that you could hand out. More outreach-oriented.

Media in general

Gordon - experience getting state and local races into national media

1. strategic plan - certainly should be flexible
2. Networking - "earn" national piece by knowing the reporter. E.g. Reason mag - go drink a beer with a reporter, get to know them. Smither (TX-22) - they drink with Wash Times reporter who broke a story: Amber Alert system developed from Smither's prior work with missing childrens. Hotsoup.com - another example, new site coming out. We have equal spot.

Vermont - four Lib fusion candidates, three won. People aren't scared to vote for Libertarian ideas, if they're not facing "wasted vote"

Q&A

Philip Reed: What's the plan for engaging netroots?

Answer: It has to be decentralized; however, there are ways to engage it. I've never turned down an interview for a Web site. Internet is important - not yet winning elections. Is influencing primaries. (Howard Dean might not be chairman without Kos.) I can facilitate, sometimes, appease, but not control.

Drobnis: Regarding Ballot Base, aren't voter lists matter of public record?

Answer: Yes, but some states consider a "reasonable fee" outrageous (e.g. AL $1.25M).

Follow-up: It's different in MA, can only charge cost. Some discussion over whether candidates, who get this for free, can give to LP.

Phillies: What plans to use Ballot Base for 2006 or 2008 elections?

Answer: Right now it's hit and miss. In future, Candidate Tracker will help determine who gets the help. For now not time to train everyone for 2006, but BB is intended for 2008. (Democrats, after fighting for a year, have finally decided which tool to use.)

Drobnis: What about Raiser's Edge?

Answer: I use it every couple of months to find a phone number. But it is in use and implemented. Only way could be changed would be LNC.

Follow-up: Drobnis had significant other pass away several years ago; still gets mail bc of RE. State RE coordinator is David Roscoe.

Drobnis: I used to be member of National, but they broke promise not to harrass/give away or sell my info. Will National protect my privacy now?

Answer: I'll have to follow up?

Drobnis: I do marketing for a living. We don't market effectively. We're internet geeks. We could market just by going to small businesses.

Answer: What would you suggest?

Follow-up: KISS - mail a simple survey, if you agree you're essentially libertarian whether you know it or not. Raise awareness of libertarian leanings. (Digression about Fed govt tracking money - French: they no longer track M3).

Phillies: Regarding Ballot Base, anything to amplify about Presidential campaign?

Answer: Not yet determined, but I imagine it will be: No resources until you're nominated, then you get full access. Also considering a "vote with your dollars" exposure scheme on the Web site.

Power:What does the LNC have to stay ahead of campaign finance regulatory climate, e.g. 527s?

Answer: I've worked for R and D campaigns and they can't even keep and top on this. But we certainly track what the opinions are. "I don't know a way to get on top of c f. It's too bureaucratized."

Follow-up: rumors McCain et. al. will close loophole. What will be the next loophole?

Answer: I can't imagine they won't have some way of getting large dollars in.

Reed: How can you get vetted to volunteer with this cool stuff (e.g. as an IT professional)?

Answer: Proper answer - go sign up on web site. Real answer - no volunteer coordinator, so no one to do the vetting. So give Executive Director a personal call. Shane Cory.

Dan Karlan

LNC member, New Jersey

Start out by addressing Raiser's Edge: Visited before implementation, there were several problems. Database crashed all the time. Wasn't treated as membership tool, just for contributions. Shane Cory: Only way he knows there's a problem with the state is if they speak up. If they give up and stay quiet, that means they must be satisfied.

So the point is:

• Get involved in the local database community.
• Communicate with regional rep. Hardy Macia - he's a db whiz.
• Don't shut up because you're dissatisfied. It's only a datum that you're not complaining any more.

Roscoe: I've complained, and I don't complain any more -- in part because I'm not listened to, in part bc things are better. Examples of problems: Membership ID changes, new member classifications.

Karlan: They were running two systems in parallel planning to end-of-life one, but many problems weren't discovered until it was too late.

Note about speakers

Health issues prevented Don Gorman from being here. George invited all Presidential candidates he could find, but no one (but him) was available.

Officers' reports

Vice-chairman

Not present, moved out-of-state. Probably just figured his term would expire.

Treasurer

Docs distributed

(missed)

MacMahon: Compliance is always an issue. Every extra donation helps. E.g. newsletter now has a coordinator.

French: Could we email PDF? MacMahon - it depends on coordinator, what software they have access to.

Hees: What about credit card acct? MacMahon: They were charging every month regardless of activity. LaRoche: New bank, Citizen's, thanks to them for covering one of our goof-ups. MacMahon: Yes, Citizen's was helpful.

Wolf: Doesn't matter where bank is, what about a network that's statewide? LaRoche: But we still need to carry checks.

Hees: Follow-up, acct will be reopening? MacMahon: Yes, we have to maintain an account open.

Phillies: BCRA has some odd implications. What if newsletter mentions national candidate? Gordon: This limitation has been rescinded by FEC. Phillies: Voter registration had to be done with Federal dollars. Is that still true? (No real answer given.)

LaRoche: State dues need to be deposited based on nature of expenditure. Safer to pay newsletter out of FEC acct.

Power: What about online donations? MacMahon: We could do, but we don't presently. LaRoche: expense for credit card donations was too much.

David Roscoe

As of 25 June 213 both signed pledge and donated (some via UMP) 20 didn't sign, but donated 2762 signed pledge including both contributors and non-. 14621 contacts (no pledge or money)

Power: What about decision made in Waltham to take state dues?

Those who are members of national need to be phased out, won't be considered contributing. To get a newsletter, you'll have to write a check.

Torrey: What about registration numbers?

No data.

Power: UMP breakout?

No data.

Gorman: UMP dissolution should be done by now. Phillies: Still showing on financial reports.

Other motions

Phillies: motion to thank David Roscoe. Accepted by acclamation.

Chair

Will be short. Ziobro's words were less-than-kind, but there's truth to them. It's time for a change. I ended up as Chair by succession - I view as facilitator. Not enough to facilitate. Phase of burnout - many who did great things, are now burned out, have left. I hope this new Committee will be a turnaround point. I won't fade into the woodwork, but will step back and watch things take momentum.

This Convention has gotten smaller, but many good people are off doing their own thing.

Ballot questions

Power: What about ballot initiatives?

Drobnis: Move that we hear what they are. Accepted by acclamation.

Power: Read three initatives.

1. New category of food licenses to sell wine. Yes = relax Each chain can have 3 licenses max. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's sell wine as one of their three. Others don't. Subject to local authorities.
2. Nomination of candidates for public office - Yes = fusion, No = status quo. E.g. NYLP endorsed William Weld, GOP candidate.
3. Family child-care providers - Yes = allow home providers who receive state aid to bargain collectively

Power: Yes, Yes, No respectively

Question 2 (fusion)

French: No to fusion candidate. Phillies: Proposal is not well-thought-out w/r/t sticker campaigns. Doesn't offer us much. In NY, these extra parties become extra ballot lines

French: Move to not take a position. President: Question over whether it is a valid motion, but decided it is. Second: Phillies.

Much discussion. LaRoche, Shirley Underwood, others express impetus for a No vote.

If motion passes, no more motions on question. If fails, another motion is possible.

Vote: 6 for motion of no position, 6 against motion. None abstained. Chair voted against - Motion defeated.

Drobnis: Motion to endorse a No position. Seconded.

Motion passed 9-3 (?). Endorsement: No on Question 2.

Question 1 (wine)

Power (?): Motion to endorse Yes. Seconded.

MacMahon: Local control is a good thing.

LaRoche: Libertarian-leaning, not libertarian. Truly libertarian would allow sales without necessitating govt approval.

Drobnis: Cost may go down because of Wal-mart. French: Studies show cost may not decrease but convenience will.

Torrey: Will enhance town revenues, decrease traffic to NH.

Motion passed: 12 aye, 0 nay, no abstain, 1 presiding.

Question 3 (child care)

French: Absolutely against this. Move to endorse No. MacMahon seconds.

French: Look at Mass Pike. When govt. allows unions for government jobs, no competitions. Unions OK when competition, but not here.

LaRoche: Are you understanding? Yes vote will allow them to bargain collectively.

Confusion over wording of ballot question. Phillies: Actual meaning is hidden unless you know the background. I would urge we take no stand unless someone has done lots of study. Power: Doesn't appear misleading, depends on if SoS description is accurate. LaRoche: Can of worms, unionization might lead to closer to a market outcome. Torrey: Yes, but the provider made that decision to take state subsidies. LaRoche: That's why I say can of worms. Drobnis: Girlfriend used work for day-care, $325/wk; most are owned by Knowledge Learning Center. They want to set rates. State regulates this industry. LaRoche opposes because it's just more subsidy of indigents.

Hees: We should adopt no position, because libertarian position is to end subsidy altogether.

French: Withdraw motion, agree with Hees. President: Same person must second withdrawal. Point of order: No, that's not right. Point of order (Phillies): Once motion has been debated, it belongs to body -- withdrawal requires body's consent.

Torrey: Motion to table, let Committee adopt a position if they so desire. Motion passed 8-2 (?) 2 abstentions.

Final announcements

Power: Next Massachusetts Constitutional Convention is a week after the general election.

French: Back in 2001-02, we tried to ask gay rights groups to support. They slapped us in the face. Now they seem to want our help. Power: This is a stance of principle, not a favor to groups.

Drobnis: Move to adjourn, second (Torrey), Passed unanimously.

End convention business

Closing remark

Phillies: We lost $100, which a donor covered, so we're breaking even.

Meeting adjourned. An organizational LPMA State Committee meeting followed.