LPCO's Annual Convention Minutes
Minutes for Libertarian Party Business Meeting 03/08/2008

Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 9:32 a.m. by Chairman Travis Nicks.

A count was taken. In attendance: 35.

Records Director Steven Gallant took minutes. Marc Goddard served as parliamentarian. Wes Long served as technical manager.

Directors

• Front Range Outreach – Jeffory Orrok
• Western Slope Outreach – Ron Bain
• Membership – Clint Jones
• Records – Steven Gallant
• Legislative – Richard Randall
• Treasurer – Leah Kelley

Meeting Rules

Motion to adopt meeting rules (see included text). Seconded and passed unanimously.

Meeting Agenda

Motion to adopt meeting agenda (see included text). Seconded and passed unanimously.

Minutes

2007 minutes approved by unanimous consent.
(Quorum: 36.)

Board Director Reports

Motion to postpone Front Range Outreach report until Orrok’s arrival. Seconded and passed unanimously.

Western Slope Outreach – Two major achievements: Liaison to Ron Paul Meetup group; helped form new Mesa County affiliate.

Membership – See report.

Records – See report.

Legislative – Will be stepping down this year. Has focused on improving the platform in order to support libertarian legislative efforts.

Treasurer - See report.

Chair – Thanked Directors for all of their work. Sad to see some of them leave. Has seen the LPCO overcome some challenges since he became Chair. The Ron Paul Revolution has drawn away some LPCO members, but it also provides an opportunity to bring in some new activists. Attended Libertarian State Leadership Alliance conference. LPCO has 30 delegate slots for National LP Convention. Region One will be reconfigured. Media access has been improved in the last few years.

Randall moved for a 15-minute break to allow delegates to read the Platform Committee Report. Seconded and passed unanimously.

(Reconvened 10:15 a.m. Quorum: 37.)

Front Range Outreach – From 2006 to 2007, saw growth of 14 percent. From 2007 to 2008, saw growth of one percent. Some counties, including Larimer, did lose members to Ron Paul Revolution, but not a huge number. Orrok suggests using “weapons of mass induction”, including “Discover Liberty” publication from the Advocates for Self-Government. Also recommended outreach to high school students.

Platform Committee Report

Randall moved to adopt the Platform Committee Report. Seconded. David Williams moved to divide and recommit items 1,4 and 5. Aye: 22. Nay: 16.

Nicks noted that Williams was not credentialed, because his application was processed one day late. Orrok raised a point of order that, according to the LPCO Constitution, membership begins on the date that the voter signs the application, not the date that it is stamped by the Secretary of State. Williams said his membership would still be one day late. Nicks moved to accept Williams as a delegate regardless. Seconded and passed unanimously.

Aitken moved to divide Item 2. Motion failed on voice vote.

Buchanan moved to divide the platform committee report into 11 individual planks. Motion passed 23-15.

• ITEM 1
  Randall moved to recommit Item 1 to platform committee. Seconded. Motion carried by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 2
  Randall moved to adopt Item 2. Seconded. Discussion ensued.
  
  Orrok challenged the Chair’s ruling on the voice vote to recommit Item 1. The Chair’s ruling was upheld by voice vote.
  
  Joe Johnson moved to amend Item 2 to strike all wording from plank and replace it with “abolish the income tax”. Seconded. Randall suggested that the item be recommitted to committee with the recommendation that it be reworded to call for the abolition of the income tax. Johnson accepted the recommendation. Seconded and passed 29-9.
  
  
• ITEM 3
  Randall moved for the adoption of Item 3. Seconded. Discussion ensued concerning the meaning and wording of the item. Jack Woehr moved to call the question. Seconded and passed by voice vote. m 5 with stronger language more in keeping with libertarian principles. Seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 4
  Randall moved to recommit Item 4. Seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 5
  Randall moved to recommit Item 5 with stronger language more in keeping with libertarian principles. Seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 6
  Randall moved to recommit Item 6. Seconded. Seth Anthony explained the meaning of the “safety clause”. Orrok moved to amend the plank to add a bullet point requiring that the Colorado state constitution repeal bills with the safety clause after one year. Michele Poague moved to replace “repeal” with “sunset”. Seconded and passed on voice vote. Ronald Thomas moved to amend the language to apply retroactively. Discussion ensued. Question called. Seconded and passed by voice vote. Amendment to apply motion retroactively failed by voice vote.
  
  Motion to end debate seconded and passed by voice vote. Amended language passed 20-18. Proposed language was unclear. Randall suggested that the platform committee determine the exact wording, in keeping with the will of the assembly. Chair said motion was out of order. Withdrawn.
  
  Johnson moved to postpone the vote on the amended language until a definite time of 1 p.m. to allow the committee to re-write the language. Seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 7
  Randall moved to adopt Item 7. Seconded and passed unanimously.
  
  
• ITEM 8
  Randall moved to adopt Item 8. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Johnson moved to recommit. Seconded and failed by voice vote. Mykl Kryka moved to call the question. Seconded and passed unanimously. Item 8 adopted by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 9
  Randall moved to adopt Item 9. Seconded. Poague moved to amend the motion to strike the words “themselves or” from the first paragraph. Amendment seconded and failed by voice vote. Primary motion passed unanimously.
  
  
• ITEM 10
  Randall moved to adopt Item 10. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Kryka moved to call the question. Seconded and passed by voice vote. Motion to adopt Item 10 failed 23-15.
  
  
• ITEM 11
  Randall moved to adopt Item 11. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Motion to amend to add the word “not” between “but” and “necessarily” in the first paragraph under “The Solution” section. Motion to amend passed by voice vote.
  
  

Woehr moved to strike “,or range voting” and end sentence there. Seconded. Motion to amend failed by voice vote. Kryka challenged the ruling of the Chair on the voice vote. The Chair’s ruling was upheld by voice vote. Joe Johnson moved to allow “None of the Above” to be added as a choice on the ballot. Seconded. Randall moved to postpone until a definite time of 1:05 p.m. to allow platform committee to work on the language of Item 11. Seconded and passed by voice vote.

PRE-LUNCH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nicks said the assembly has been graced with the attendance of three 2008 LP presidential candidates, Wayne Allen Root, George Phillies, and Michael Jingozian, who will speak during lunch.

Orrok and Nicks discussed the 2020 Vision, a plan for the LPCO to achieve major-party status by 2020.

LUNCH

(Motion to amend agenda to allow each presidential candidate two additional minutes for closing remarks. Seconded and passed by voice vote.)

Platform Committee Report

• ITEM 6 (Revisited)
  Randall moved that the additional language for Item 6 be adopted. Seconded.afety to sunset after one year.”
  
  Woehr moved to amend the language to add “henceforth” between “laws” and “passed”. Seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  Motion to add amended bullet point language to Item 6 passed by voice vote.
  
  Motion to adopt Item 6 passed by voice vote.
  
  
• ITEM 11 (Revisited)
  Regarding Item 11, it was moved that the language “CRS 1 should be amended to require that ‘None of the Above’ be a ballot choice for each elected office” be added. Seconded.
  
  Joe Johnson moved to revise the proposed language, changing “require” to “allow”. Added and amended language seconded and adopted by voice vote.
  
  Motion to adopt Item 11 with revised and added language seconded and passed by voice vote.
  
  

Election of Delegates and Alternates to the National Convention

Nominees:

• Martin Buchanan
• Norm Olsen
• Elizabeth Johnson
• Joe Johnson
• Charles Wright
• David Aitken
• Ronald Thomas
• Tom Sullivan
• Joseph Thompson
• Greg Woods
• Marc Goddard
• Ken Wyble
• Clint Jones
• Frank Atwood
• Daniel Ong
• Keith Laube
• Ralph Shnelvar
• Leah Kelley
• Travis Nicks
• Seth Anthony
• Jim Frye
• Steven Gallant
• Randy Luallin
• David Williams
• Richard Randall
• Jaime Brown
• Claire Gersch
• Mykl Kryka
• Jeffory Orrok
• Ken Waters

Alternates:

• Ron Bain
• Doug Anderson
• Aaron Chase
• Scott Ward
• Bo Shaffer
• Rachel Trainor
• Michele Poague
• Eva Kosinski
• Monte Poague

Motion to approve this list of delegates and alternates seconded and passed unanimously.

Gersch nominated Wyble to be the delegation chair. Goddard nominated Nicks, but Nicks declined. Wyble was unanimously approved for the position of delegation chair.

Election of Nine State Electors

Williams nominated Wyble. Wyble declined.

Nominees:

• Frank Atwood
• Marc Goddard
• Claire Gersch
• Joseph Thompson
• Mykl Kryka
• Travis Nicks
• Ronald Thomas
• Megan Reece
• Richard Randall
• Gerald Kiltz
• Norm Olsen

Olsen moved that the nominations for the slate of electors be postponed until after the selection of candidates for public office. Seconded and passed by voice vote.

Constitution and Bylaws Committee Report

Anthony moved that the assembly recess for ten minutes to allow for review of committee report document. Seconded and passed by voice vote.

(Reconvened 1:57 p.m. Quorum: 37.)

MOTION TO CREATE THE OFFICE OF VICE CHAIR
See included text for relevant changes to constitution and bylaws. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Motion failed by voice vote.

MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA POSITIONS INTO COMMUNICATIONS POSITION
See included text for relevant changes to constitution and bylaws. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Kryka moved to call the question. Motion seconded and passed by voice vote.
Original motion failed 21-16.

MOTION TO REORGANIZE AND EXPAND OFFICER DUTIES
See included text for relevant changes to constitution and bylaws. Seconded. Randall moved to strike “organizing and managing an intern program” from Section 7, page 13. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Kryka called the question. Seconded and failed by voice vote. Motion to amend passed by voice vote.

(Quorum: 36.)

Jones moved to strike the added underlined language from Section 10, page 12. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Motion to amend passed by voice vote.

Shnelvar moved to postpone the main motion until the 2009 LPCO Convention to allow the assembly more time for review. Seconded and passed by voice vote.

MOTION TO STANDARDIZE CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS
Strike “sixty” and insert “ninety” in Section 4. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Motion passed by voice vote.

MOTION TO AMEND LPCO CONSTITUTION ARTICLE XII
See included text for relevant changes to constitution. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Gallant moved to postpone the motion to the 2009 Convention to allow for further review. Seconded and failed by voice vote. Joe Johnson moved to re-commit the motion in order to review possible negative consequences. Seconded and passed 24-13.

SPENDING LIMITATIONS
See included text for relevant language. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Long moved to add “monthly” to each Section. Amendment seconded and passed unanimously. Bain moved to separate the changes to Section 3 from the changes to Sections 4 and 5. Seconded and failed by voice vote. Kosinski called the question. Seconded and passed by voice vote. Main motion failed by voice vote.

Anthony called orders of the day.

Nomination of Candidates for Public Office

For President:

Long nominated Wayne Allyn Root.
Kosinski nominated George Phillies.
John Finger nominated Ron Paul.
Anthony nominated Steve Kubby.
Poague nominated Michael Jingozian.
Wyble nominated Christine Smith.
Joe Johnson nominated Bob Jackson.

The assembly voted to indicate their preference for 2008 LP Presidential candidate.

(Quorum: 35.)

Wyble nominated Frye for House District 42. The nomination was supported unanimously.

Woods nominated Luallin for Boulder County Commissioner, District 3. The nomination was supported unanimously.

Luallin nominated Shnelvar for Boulder County Commissioner, District 1. Shnelvar: 30. NOTA: 5.

Luallin nominated Bo Shaffer for Boulder County Commissioner, District 2. Shaffer: 20. NOTA: 15.

Brown nominated Wyble for State Senate District 28. Wyble: 34. NOTA: 1.

Jones nominated Buchanan for US Congressional District One. Jones moved to allow Buchanan to speak for a few minutes. Motion seconded and passed by voice vote. Buchanan spoke.

Discussion ensued concerning Section V, Article VIII of the Bylaws and the powers of the vacancy committee. The Board failed to notify the membership of Buchanan’s candidacy.

Anthony moved for an exception to Section V to allow Buchanan to be nominated without giving him another 27 minutes as specified. Seconded. Nicks apologized for failing to notify the membership of Buchanan’s candidacy. Nicks called the vote to allow an exception for Buchanan. The motion passed 32-3. To comply with the letter of the Constitution, Randall suggested that the assembly grant Buchanan 30 minutes and requested that Buchanan cede that time back to the business meeting. This was done.

Long nominated Woehr for House District 25. The nomination was supported unanimously.

Randall sought a vote of confidence for a potential U.S. Senate run. The assembly voted its unanimous support.

Shnelvar moved to prohibit the vacancy committee from nominating candidates to the offices of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and governor of Colorado. Seconded. Orrok asked that he be allowed a few minutes to research Robert’s Rules of Order. The assembly recessed to allow this.

(Reconvened 3:56. Quorum: 33.)

Orrok said the Rules indicated that the vacancy committee had the authority to fill these nomination vacancies. Nicks said that, as Chair, he would rule in favor of Orrok’s interpretation, but that he would like to have a vote of confidence from the assembly. Seconded. Discussion ensued concerning the establishment of the vacancy committee and possible conflicts with party documents. Nicks said that when there are conflicts in organizing documents, the one that is most clear takes precedence. After discussion, Nicks withdrew his call for a vote of confidence in favor of a constitutional amendment.

Woehr moved that the period at the end of the last sentence of Article VI, Section III be changed to a comma and that the following be added: “and that vacancy committee shall have the powers to fill any candidate vacancy with any eligible individual who was not voted down at the convention.” Anthony moved to amend the motion to read “and that vacancy committee shall have the powers to fill any candidate vacancy, independent of the restrictions on candidacy in Article VIII, Section 5, with any eligible individual who was not voted down at the convention.” Seconded. The amendment to the motion passed 23-10. Finger moved to add “the most recent state” before “convention” in the last sentence. Seconded. The amendment failed 16-17. Orrok moved to change the motion to read, “and that vacancy committee shall have the powers to fill any candidate vacancy by a 2/3 vote, without notice and with any eligible individual who was not voted down at the convention.”

Randall moved to table the motion momentarily in order to nominate a candidate for Legislative Director. Motion to table seconded and passed unanimously. Randall nominated David Williams to serve as Legislative Director.

(Quorum: 32.)

Williams: 32.
NOTA: 0.

Discussion continued concerning vacancy committee authority and relevant constitution and bylaw language.

Motion to call the question. Seconded and passed by voice vote.

Motion to approve amended language, “and that vacancy committee shall have the powers to fill any candidate vacancy by a 2/3 vote, without notice and with any eligible individual who was not voted down at the convention.” seconded and failed by voice vote.

Article VI, Section 3 proposed amendment to read: “The Board of Directors shall have the control and management of all the affairs, properties, and funds of the Party consistent with this Constitution and shall meet in the manner specified in the Party Bylaws. The Board shall serve as the Party's vacancy committee, and that vacancy committee shall have the powers to fill any candidate vacancy, independent of the restrictions on candidacy in Article VIII, Section 5, with any eligible individual who was not voted down at the convention.” Motion to adopt amended Article VI, Section 3 failed by voice vote.

Election of Officers to the Board of Directors

Nominations were opened for Campaigns Director. Bain nominated Joe Johnson for the position, but he declined. Nominations closed.

(Quorum: 31.)

Nominations were opened for Front Range Outreach Director. Bain nominated Orrok. Orrok nominated Joe Johnson, but Johnson declined.
Orrok: 31.
NOTA: 0.

Bain nominated Brown for Publications Director.
Brown: 31.
NOTA: 0.

Brown nominated Bain for Media Director. Kelley nominated Randall for Media Director. Bain deferred to Randall.
Randall: 31.
NOTA: 0.

(Quorum: 32.)

Goddard nominated Gallant for Records Director.
Gallant: 32.
NOTA: 0.

Randall nominated Kelley for Treasurer.
Kelley: 32.
NOTA: 0.

Brown nominated Poague for Fundraising Director. Poague accepted the nomination provided that everyone in the room attend the national LP Convention.
Poague: 31.
NOTA: 1.

Election of Nine State Electors

The Assembly returned to the nomination of the State Electors. Goddard and Atwood were moved to the Alternate list. The Nominee list consisting of:

• Claire Gersch
• Joseph Thompson
• Mykl Kryka
• Travis Nicks
• Ronald Thomas
• Megan Reece
• Richard Randall
• Gerald Kiltz
• Norman Olsen

was seconded and approved by unanimous consent.

Resolutions

Randall moved to add a Section 2 to Article XI of the Constitution, dealing with the Platform.

Proposed Section 2: “Amendments to the Platform whose sole purpose is to correct typographical, spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and cross-reference errors and to make such other technical and conforming changes as may be necessary to reflect the intent of the Delegates may be made by the Board of Directors, by a two-thirds vote, without further approval from the Delegates to the Convention.

Seconded and passed by voice vote.

Joe Johnson moved to eliminate Section 5, Article XIII of the Constitution. Seconded. Discussion ensued. Wyble moved to postpone the question indefinitely. Seconded. Motion to postpone failed 14-18. Motion to call the question. Motion seconded and passed by voice vote. Motion to strike Section 5 of Article VIII failed 13-19.

Thomas moved to reconsider the motion to add the position of Vice-Chair. Motion to reconsider seconded and failed by voice vote.

Bain moved to amend Section 5 of Article XIII by striking the word “All” and changing “shall” to “should”. The motion died for lack of a second.

Nicks reminded candidates for public office to fill out their candidate packets.

Gallant moved to adjourn.
Seconded and passed 31-1.

Meeting adjourned 5:07 PM