LNC MINUTES KANSAS CITY, MO AUGUST 19-20, 2017 CURRENT STATUS: AUTO-APPROVED SEPT 19, 2017 AMENDED BY LNC: JUN 30, 2018 LEGEND FOR AMENDMENTS: text to be inserted, text to be deleted, unchanged existing text CALL TO ORDER Nick Sarwark called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. (all times Central) At the suggestion of Brett Bittner, the LNC participated in a 1-minute standing ovation in remembrance of R. Lee Wrights. ATTENDANCE Attending the meeting were: Officers: Nick Sarwark (Chair), Arvin Vohra (Vice-Chair), Alicia Mattson (Secretary), Tim Hagan (Treasurer) At-Large Representatives: Sam Goldstein, Daniel Hayes, Joshua Katz, Bill Redpath, Starchild Regional Representatives: Caryn Ann Harlos (Region 1), Ed Marsh (Region 2), Brett Bittner (Region 3), Jeff Hewitt (Region 4), Jim Lark (Region 5), David Demarest (Region 6), Whitney Bilyeu (Region 7) Regional Alternates: Steven Nekhaila (Region 2), Ken Moellman (Region 3), Aaron Starr (Region 4), Sean O’Toole (Region 6), Erin Adams (Region 7), Larry Sharpe (Region 8) Not attending were: Patrick McKnight (Region 8 Representative), Steven Nielson (Region 1 Alternate), Trent Somes (Region 5 Alternate) Staff included Executive Director Wes Benedict and Operations Director Robert Kraus. Contractors Lauren Daugherty and Andy Burns were present. The gallery contained several other attendees in addition to those listed above. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Starting from the proposed agenda: There was no objection to a motion by Ms. Mattson to: • delete the agenda item for a report from the Credentials Committee; LNC – Kansas City, MO – August 2017 Page 1 • add a 20-minute item (after Social Media Process Review Committee Report) to make nominations for the Credentials Committee; • allow overnight for marking the ballots; and • make the ballots due at the call to order on Sunday Ms. Mattson moved to extend the time on the Protect Party Assets item to 30 minutes. The motion was adopted by a show of hands with a vote total of 8-7. Mr. Katz moved to extend the time for the EPCC report to 10 minutes. There was no objection. There was no objection to a motion from Mr. Hewitt to adopt the agenda as amended, as shown below: Report of Potential Conflicts of Interest (Mattson) 3 minutes Officer Reports Chair's Report 15 minutes Treasurer's Report 15 minutes Secretary's Report 15 minutes Convention Oversight Committee (BetteRose Ryan) 25 minutes Staff Reports 45 minutes Counsel's Report 30 minutes Protecting Party Assets (Mattson) 30 minutes Reports of Standing Committees Audit Committee (Julie Fox) 15 minutes Affiliate Support Committee (Hayes) 15 minutes Awards Committee 5 minutes Employment Policy & Compensation Committee (Lark) 10 minutes IT Committee (O’Toole) 20 minutes Platform Committee (Mattson) 5 minutes Bylaws Committee (Katz) 5 minutes Ballot Access Committee (Moellman) 25 minutes Reports of Special Committees Historical Preservation Committee (Harlos) 15 minutes Social Media Process Review Committee (Bittner) 15 minutes Credentials Committee Nominations 20 minutes New Business with Previous Notice Creation of a Process for Supporting Candidates (Starchild) 30 minutes Creation of a Candidate Support Committee (Goldstein) 30 minutes Staff Directive Regarding APRC Functions (Mattson) 15 minutes Document Destruction and Whistleblower Policies (Mattson) 15 minutes Discussion of Membership Decline (McKnight) 15 minutes Resolution on Withdrawal from NATO (Vohra) 10 minutes New Business without Previous Notice Regional Reports 5 minutes each Announcements 10 minutes LNC – Kansas City, MO – August 2017 Page 2 REPORT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The Secretary reported that since the previous meeting, the following potential conflicts of interest were submitted: Erin Adams: Board Member, The Feldman Foundation Volunteer, Rex Lawhorn's campaign for Governor in Oklahoma David Demarest: Promoter of the Omaha Roads to Liberty Un-Convention, a non-profit event under the legal and financial responsibility of my “2017 Omaha Un-Convention, LLC” corporation I have had verbal and email discussions with John Engle and Mike Fishbein of Paladin Strategies about their availability to speak at the Omaha Un-Convention and provide their advice on event publicity. We have not agreed on any specifics yet since the event is 8 month away. Paladin Strategies has done no work yet for the Un-Convention nor has any compensation been discussed although I will certainly be offering at a minimum to cover their travel and lodging expense I have offered some LNC members and LNC staff the opportunity to speak at the Un-Convention and have suggested arrangements to cover their travel and lodging expense Vice-Chair, Libertarian State Leadership Alliance Secretary Pro Tem, Libertarian State Leadership Alliance Founder, Road to Freedom Foundation Founder, Grassroots Privatization Caucus Sam Goldstein: Political Director, Libertarian Party of Indiana through at least May 2018 Caryn Ann Harlos: husband Wayne Harlos was elected Chair of the CO affiliate in March 2017 One of the founders of the Unity Caucus Plans to start a liberty activist YouTube/Patreon show soon Daniel Hayes: President, Metairie Unit of the National Association of Parliamentarians Founding member, Louisiana Self Defense Coalition Ken Moellman: Treasurer, Libertarian Party of Kentucky Bill Redpath: Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Virginia Treasurer, Cliff Hyra for Governor Campaign in Virginia The following updates were reported during the meeting: Daniel Hayes involved with an organization called NOLA Initiative to modify the New Orleans charter, with a goal of eradicating red light cameras Caryn Ann Harlos is no longer on the board of the Radical Caucus Jeff Hewitt is no longer an At-Large Alternate on the Executive Committee of the California affiliate LNC – Kansas City, MO – August 2017 Page 3 Member, West Riverside County Council of Governments Member, West Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority Starchild is no longer on the Executive Committee of the California affiliate Vice-Chair, Libertarian Party of San Francisco Member, Libertarian Party Audacious Caucus David Demarest no longer Secretary ProTem of the Libertarian State Leadership Alliance indicated his prior listing as Founder of the Grassroots Privatization Caucus is premature and can be removed Brett Bittner Chair, Libertarian Party of Marion County, Indiana After receiving a schedule update from Julie Fox, the agenda was amended without objection to set the Audit Committee Report for a time certain at 2:00 p.m. OFFICER REPORTS CHAIR’S REPORT Mr. Sarwark had submitted a written report in advance (see Appendix A). He supplemented with a brief oral report and fielded questions and comments. The LNC took no action. TREASURER’S REPORT July financials had been distributed in advance. Mr. Hagan noted that we received a bequest from Frank Clinard of New Mexico. He made a brief oral report and fielded questions and comments. Because membership fundraising costs have been over budget, Mr. Hagan moved to amend the budget to move $12,000 from Line 37-Building Fundraising Expense, and to move $8,000 from Line 36-Ballot Access Fundraising Expense, and to add $20,000 to Line 33-Membership Fundraising Costs. Dr. Lark moved to postpone the motion to be taken up after hearing the staff report. There was no objection to postponement. Mr. Hagan moved to amend the budget to move $20,000 from Line 45-Compensation to Line 80-Media to cover contractor expenses for the newly hired Press Secretary, and to move $20,000 from Line 45-Compensation to Line 60-Candidate, Campaign & Initiatives to cover contractor expenses for the Candidate Support Specialist expected to be hired soon. At Dr. Lark’s request, there was no objection to also postponing this motion to be taken up after hearing the staff report. SECRETARY’S REPORT Ms. Mattson had submitted a written report in advance (see Appendix B). There were no questions. The LNC took no action. CONVENTION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE BetteRose Ryan, as Chair of the Convention Oversight Committee, had submitted a written report in advance (see Appendix C). She supplemented with an oral report and fielded questions. She noted that the 2018 convention website is now live ( www.libertarianconvention.org ) and event t-shirts are ready for sale. The LNC took no action. LNC – Kansas City, MO – August 2017 Page 4 STAFF REPORTS Staff had submitted a written report (see Appendix D). Mr. Benedict made an oral presentation regarding staff changes, and Lauren Daugherty gave a presentation on fundraising. The LNC took up the motions which had been postponed from the Treasurer’s report, but divided them. Following debate, the motion to amend the budget to move $12,000 from Line 37-Building Fundraising Expense and to add $12,000 to Line 33-Membership Fundraising Costs was adopted without objection. Following debate, the motion to amend the budget to move $8,000 from Line 36-Ballot Access Fundraising Expense and to add $8,000 to Line 33-Membership Fundraising Costs was adopted without objection. Following debate, the motion to amend the budget to move $20,000 from Line 45-Compensation to Line 80- Media to cover contractor expenses for the newly hired Press Secretary was adopted without objection. Following debate, the motion to amend the budget to move $20,000 from Line 45-Compensation to Line 60- Candidate, Campaign & Initiatives to cover contractor expenses for the Candidate Support Specialist was adopted without objection. Mr. Hagan moved to amend the budget to increase Line 33-Membership Fundraising Costs by $50,000 for membership prospecting letters (to the Gary Johnson campaign list, to a purchased list of registered Libertarians, and to a Reason list) and to increase Line 20-Membership Dues by $20,000 and to increase Line 21-Donations by $30,000. Following debate, the vote on the motion was as follows: Voting “aye” : Demarest, Goldstein, Hagan, Hayes, Hewitt, Marsh, Redpath, Sharpe, Vohra Voting “no” : Bittner, Harlos, Katz, Lark, Mattson, Starchild Abstaining : Bilyeu, Sarwark The motion was adopted with a 9-6 vote total.