California Freedom

Video: Wayne Root Speaks at LPCA Convention

2010-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

2008 LP Vice Presidential Candidate Wayne Root opened and closed his LPCA convention lunchtime banquet remarks on Sunday with this message: "What this Party is missing, what it needs is a chief salesman, a chief spokesman, a chief rainmaker, and that's why I've announced I'm running for national chairman of the Libertarian Party."

Video and more excerpts after the jump:

65% of all Republicans like the TEA Party movement. You know what percentage of Democrats like it? 19%. There's our common ground. There is none on the Left. The common ground is on the Right.
If you're a libertarian, you can't believe in global warming. It's an attempt from the Left to make sure we have bigger government.
People ask me: "You're running for national Chair, will you run for President in 2012?" Let me give you an honest answer: I think this party right now is too disorganized to ever do well in a presidential election. And I don't think, until I can get elected chairman and build it and organize it and be CEO of this party for a few years, I don't think it's worth it running for president, or senator, or anything else -- you'll get 1% of the vote. I want to seriously run for president, after I've been national Chair, in 2016, after I've built this party, and we really are structured and organized, and I have a chance to actually get 5, 10, 15 million votes. And if luck happens, and we catch fire, and we catch lightning in a bottle, and maybe even win. That's my current game plan.

LPCA Convention Slideshow

2010-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

LPCA Convention Hears Warning of Prop 14's "Top-Two Primary"

2010-02-15T16:08:00.001-08:00

A dark shadow was cast on this weekend's California Libertarian convention by Prop 14, the "top-two primary" initiative on the June ballot. Keynote speaker and Ballot Access News editor Richard Winger called it the greatest threat to independent and third-party politics in America in the last 50 years. He warned that it would make it effectively impossible for independents and third parties to challenge the incumbent parties in November elections.

Keynote co-speaker Christina Tobin said that opposing Prop 14 will be the core theme of her campaign for Secretary of State. Tobin previewed her speech in a posting at FreeAndEqual.org, and her SoS campaign had already been endorsed by the LPCA Executive Committee.

Kevin Takenaga's Chair's report included the following:

Judge Jim Gray: Jan retirement party and fundraiser in SoCal, Feb fundraiser in Monterey
John Inks joined Mountain View City Council
Junior Statesman of America - tabling at 3 or 4 conventions
Coalition w/ Free And Equal Foundation
Chris Agrella special congressional election
Campus Facebook groups
Southern California Regional Libertarian Conference
Visalia follow-up meeting in Central Valley
San Diego fundraiser @ Richards'
Incumbent parties' registration slipping, LP edging up in absolute numbers:
2006: 84465 (0.53%) 2008: 81548 (0.52%) 2010: 84462 (0.50%)
Open rate of LPCA email blasts is 20%
Challenges: Prop 14 top-two primaries; "competition with other freedom-oriented movements"; "internal matters"
Capitol candidate rally Apr? 2010

Mike Seebeck was elected Southern Vice Chair over Matt "Boomer" Shannon, 27-23. Dan Wiener was elected to be the LPCA's regional rep on the Libertarian National Committee, while the outgoing rep Mark Hinkle is running for LNC Chair. Scott Lieberman defeated Seebeck 46-29 to remain the LPCA's alternate rep to LNC.

ExCom incumbents TJ Campbell and Jesse Thomas did not run for re-election. Elected to ExCom terms were the following, with the top five being elected to two-year terms by the 68 registered delegates:

55 Flavio Fiumerodo - built the LP Ventura County web site
54 Dana McLorn - incumbent, and Chair of LP Ventura County
51 Chris Agrella - prolific LP candidate
49 Alan Pyeatt - incumbent, LP member since 1981
48 Paul Darr - Chair of LPSBD
47 Dave Bowers - Secretary of the LPLA
46 Jill Pyatt - an appointed incumbent who had recently resigned
45 Glynda Perrotte - Treasurer of LPSBD

Rich Vanier and Savva Vassiliev won the alternate ExCom seats. Judicial Committee incumbents Mark Hinkle, Alan Hacker, and Rick Nichol did not run for re-election. Incumbent Dan Wiener finished two votes out of the running, and those elected were:

37 Bob Weber
37 Mike McMahon
33 Less Antman - incumbent, reportedly new JudCom Chair
26 Ray Fostore
26 Rick Bronstein

Treasurer Brian Darby reported that the California Freedom newsletter had been suspended until it can be operated without losing so much money. He projected a $70 profit in the 2010 budget. The convention spent 90 minutes in executive session to hear a report from the Judicial Committee. The convention also heard interviews with LNC Chair candidates Mark Hinkle, Wayne Root, and Ernie Hancock, as well as with Vice Chair candidate Carolyn Marbry and Treasurer candidate Aaron Starr.

Delegates adopted Platform provisions defending the right of political parties to nominate or endorse candidates of other parties, and opposing the mandatory use of body-scanning technology in airports.
The convention also adopted one Bylaws change, specifying that anyone convicted of a felony against a person or property shall not be an LPCA officer or endorsed candidate without the consent of 2/3 of the Executive Committee.

LPCA Convention - Day 2

2010-02-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

9:25 Called to order. Attorney General candidate Tim Hannan spoke. Says that the purpose of government is to "protect us from violence and fraud, and otherwise leave us alone."

9:33 Discussion of whether the 2nd LNC rep should be considered 1st alternate. No, because LPCA might again be part of a two-rep region.

9:39 62 delegates credentialed.

9:40 LNC nominations: Scott Lieberman, Mike Seebeck. Carolyn Marbry: Seebeck convinced her to rejoin the LP last year after she "resigned over a matter of ethics".

10:08 Lieberman 49 Seebeck 26

10:09 Aaron Starr moves to suspend the rules for a Bylaw change, specifying that a person convicted of a felony against a person or property shall not be an LPCA officer or candidate without the consent of 2/3 of the Executive Committee.

10:15 Rule suspension passes 49-18.

10:50 Bylaws change passes after amending "candidate" to "endorsed candidate". Recess.

11:00 Greg Perry demonstrates his software for slicing and dicing voter registration info.

11:26 Perry demo ends. Begin Platform Committee report.

Proposal 1: in IV.19 change "or corporation" to "or group". Starr moves to insert "group," rather than substitute "group" for "corporation". Passes at 11:43. Amended proposal passes at 11:45.

11:45 Proposal 2: in IV.19 add "We support the right of any political party to nominate the candidates of its choosing for public office, even when those candidates are the nominees of another political party or parties." Ted Brown advocates that we should instead delete the Bylaw requirement that LP nominees be registered Libertarians.

11:58 Starr moves to add "or endorse" and "or endorsees". Passes. Amended proposal passes. Recess for lunch to hear Wayne Root. Root gives a rousing speech to a packed room.

1:39 Wayne Root, Ernest Hancock, and Mark Hinkle take the stage for an LNC Chair candidates debate. There will also be 12 minutes each for Vice Chair candidate Carolyn Marbry and Treasurer candidate Aaron Starr. Starr goes first, and the others are escorted to a "green room" holding area so that order doesn't matter. Starr says he will be circulating an opinion from Robert of Robert's Rules supporting his contention that a non-zero registration fee does not contradict the Party's rules.

1:59 Marbry: only 10% to 15% of the LNC budget goes to actual politics. Begging (direct mail) should not be the only or primary way of raising funds. We need event-based fundraising, like music festivals. "I don't think anybody should have a purity test. I'm a believer in sticking to core ideals, but I believe there are many manifestations of those ideals." Example: pro-life vs. pro-choice, but mandatory abortions is not libertarian. Hopes to visit every state affiliate in her term, or at least have an officer visit. As media director of the 2008 Phillies campaign, was on the plane "every single weekend". We find ourselves defending crazy things from past platforms. I offer "sensible libertarianism", a successful home-schooling mom, "normal" but "not Libertarian lite".

2:12 Ernest Hancock: Root will promote his vision of libertarianism and do a good job of it. I will promote your vision of libertarianism and do a good job of it. I just want the word 'libertarian' defined as libertarian. I'll take 5 hardcore libertarian activists against 1000 TEA partiers any day. If we don't embrace hardcore libertarian philosophy, we will be in trouble. If we have one, the proper role of government is defending individual rights. The headquarters in Washington D.C. is a waste of money. LP.org doesn't have a single link off-site to other freedom groups. It doesn't mention the war or gay rights.

2:31 Wayne Root: New web-based business emails to 6000 people, makes $100K/month with no employees and very low overhead. LP needs to issue a video every day. LP has 60K emails in its contact list. "War has got to be avoided at all costs except with a direct attack on the U.S., and then only with a declaration of war." Focus on the issues where people agree with us, like the TEA parties do.

2:47 Mark Hinkle: Paid $100 for life membership in early 1970's; membership has cost me ~$40K since then. We are internally split when the national scene should be begging Libertarian solutions. We need to stop the infighting. LNC members with no portfolio tend to default into an auditor role, and so everybody points fingers, and nobody gets anything done. Office lease runs until 2012. Looking at cutting Internet and telephony costs. Current skeleton budget is pretty tight. Like Unified Membership Plan for its economies of scale. LPCA went from 2000 members to 6500. Advocates somethink like Project Archimedes direct mail, but via Internet since direct mail doesn't work as well any more. $25 member commissions for recruiting dues-payers, as we get about $60/yr from each dues-payer. Advocated Liberty Links on lp.org [contrary to Hancock's assertion that lp.org doesn't link offsite]. We used to be the focal point for the libertarian movement, but we lost our way. We need to work well with the rest of the libertarian movement.

3:13 Back to the Platform report. Starr moves to suspend rules to choose NatCon delegates. Suspension passes. 60 NatCon delegates nominated by 3:28. 62 LPCA delegates currently credentialed.

3:30 Platform Proposal 3: Append to IV.3: "We call for the removal of any Whole Body Imaging such as backscatter x-ray or millimeter wave, from all airports in California." Ryan wants to amend by appending: "that are government-owned or subject to mandatory government security procedures". Fails, as Starr has better language. Scrivani moves to replace "any" with "all". Time extended by five minutes. Scrivani amendment passes. Starr proposes substitute: "We oppose government-manded security procedures at airports, and we find particularly offensive the requirement to use whole body imaging, such as backscatter x-ray or millimeter-wave devices. We believe airlines and airports should determine their own procedures to protect passengers." Substitute passes. Time extended two minutes. Two Starr sentences swapped. Scrivani attempt to insert "all" before "whole" fails. Proposal as amended passes.

4:02 Starr requests the orders of the day. Adjourned. Gubernatorial candidate Dale Ogden speaks.

Jack Dean presents the Karl Bray Award to tax protester and Tyranny Busters host Mike Benoit.

The ExCom met next. McLorn volunteered to run electronic communications. Fiumerodo will release on Mar 14 a libertarian social network based on Wordpress and Buddy Press. He suggests that the site ("Freebook") could replace the existing ca.lp.org implementation.

As expected, the ExCom appointed Dan Wiener to be the LPCA's LNC regional rep, and Scott Lieberman to be the alternate rep.

LPCA Convention - Day 1

2010-02-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

8:45 Lt. Governor candidate and Pierce College economics professor Dr. Pam Brown speaks at breakfast

10:00 Convened with 54 delegates

10:07 Bob Weber adds an item "Judicial Committee report" to the agenda

10:13 Motion to defer officer elections to tomorrow fails 23-25

10:14 Agenda adopted, begin keynote presentation of Richard Winger and Secretary of State candidate Christina Tobin

10:24 Tobin plays Obama "taxman" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0M__0Z1pjg

10:26 Tobin says she was recruited to run for Secretary of State by Richard Winger, in order to campaign against Prop 14 ("top two" primaries). She is endorsed by the LPCA Executive Committee as well as by an international greens group.

10:30 Tobin introduces "ballot access guru" Richard Winger. Winger calls Prop 14 the greatest threat to third-party and independent politics in the last 50 years. Prop 14 will change the ballot-qualification threshold to party registrants. LPCA is at about 80,000 RegLibs, would need about 100,000 to remain ballot-qualified.

10:49 Richard Newell's Northern Vice Chair report

10:52 Kevin Takenaga's Chair report

Judge Jim Gray: Jan retirement party and fundraiser in SoCal, Feb fundraiser in Monterey
John Inks joined Mountain View City Council
Junior Statesman of America - tabling at 3 or 4 conventions
Coalition w/ Free And Equal Foundation
Chris Agrella special congressional election
Campus Facebook groups
Southern California Regional Libertarian Conference
Visalia follow-up meeting in Central Valley
San Diego fundraiser @ Richards'
Incumbent parties' registration slipping, LP edging up in absolute numbers:
2006: 84465 (0.53%) 2008: 81548 (0.52%) 2010: 84462 (0.50%)
Open rate of LPCA email blasts is 20%
Challenges: Prop 14 top-two primaries; "competition with other freedom-oriented movements"; "internal matters"
Capitol candidate rally Apr? 2010

11:25 Takenaga finishes, Aaron Starr leads standing ovation for Chair and other officers

11:27 Mike Seebeck: appointed Southern Vice Chair two weeks ago. Attended recent LPSD convention. Asks how many from LPSD here, two hands raise. Working for candidates on opposition research. Made a missing-candidate milk carton when Chris Agrella's incumbent opponent didn't show at debates. Supporting a bill that requires auto insurance companies to carry over customer longevity when customer changes companies.

11:33 Brian Darby's Treasurer's report. 2009: increased revenues, only lost $1500. Suspended newsletter until it can be executed without losing money. End of 2008: $16K in bank, 2.1 months reserve. End of 2009: $4K, less than 1 month's reserve. 2010 budget forecasts $70 profit.

11:42 Starchild asks for data on attendance and financials of past conventions, asks if Darby has considered cheaper conventions (e.g. bring your own food).

11:44 LPUS Treasurer Aaron Starr thanks Darby. Asks how many financial contributors we have. Carlos Castenada asks why convention attendance is down. (At least 80 people are in the room, every seat is filled.)

11:46 Gale Morgan's Secretary's report.

11:47 Alan Pyeatt reports on fundraising. Starr asks @ 11:54 what is the most effective method e.g. direct mail, phone, personal solicitation. Pyeatt not sure, but emphasizes that fundraising must have low overhead.

12:00 Orders of the day: lunch. Don Cowles makes a pitch for the Candidate Support Committee, which hopes to match candidate spending on ballot statements.

1:25 Insurance Commissioner candidate Rick Bronstein clarifies that the insurance proposal Seebeck mentioned would merely make it no longer illegal for insurance companies to recognize the tenure of customers who transfer from another company.

1:30 Zander Collier moves to enter executive session to discuss the Judicial Committee report. Succeeds 43- 16.

Delegates who were outside the room when executive session commenced were not allowed to return to the room. Delegates who were outside the room observed that delegates who were inside when executive session commenced were allowed to exit and re-enter.

2:58 The convention left executive session. The events in executive session are strictly secret.

3:10 Ed Gonzalez, candidate for Congress CD16, electrified the room when he said he was a principal of "for-profit, private school".

3:19 Starr moves to defer Platform debate until after officer elections. Succeeds 39-18.

3:28 68 delegates are now credentialed. Matt Barnes and Bruce Cohen are both still members of the LPCA.

3:28 Southern Vice Chair nominations: Matt "Boomer" Shannon, Lawrence Baird, Michael Seebeck.

3:39 Seebeck: "I know I'm controversial, but I speak my mind."

4:01 Southern Vice Chair 1st round: 26 Seebeck 23 Shannon 2 Baird 2 Collier. 2nd round: 27 Seebeck 23 Shannon. Seebeck elected.

4:05 Ted Brown moves to combine elections for 2-year and 1-year at-large ExCom seats, so that the top 5 vote-getters win 2-year seats, and the next 3 get 1-year seats. Passes without objection. ExCom nominees:

Flavio Fiumerodo: building a Libertarian social networking service for LP candidates/members
Dave Bowers: Secretary of the LPLA
Dana McLorn: (incumbent) Chair of LP Ventura County
Paul Darr: Chair of LPSBD. Served 1-year tour in Iraq. Loves the idea of citizen soldiers, hates how military is being used.
Glynda Perrotte: Treasurer of LPSBD
Willis Scrivani: Campaign For Liberty activist
Savva Vassiliev: incumbent 2nd Alternate
Jill Pyeatt: (was incumbent, but resigned over suspension controversy)
Alan Pyeatt: (incumbent) LP member since 1981, libertarian since high school
Chris Agrella: Jesse Thomas says Agrella runs for every office he can, got 5% in last congressional election.

5:27 Results (top eight elected)

Fiumerodo 55
McLorn 54
Agrella 51
Alan Pyeatt 49
Darr 48
Bowers 47
Jill Pyatt 46
Perrotte 45
Vassiliev 40
Scrivani 33
Shannon 1 (is already on ExCom)
Starchild 1
Grahm 1

5:32 Nominees for the two ExCom alternate seats:

Rich Vanier
Savva Vassiliev
plus Scrivani Starchild Grahm

Vassiliev and Vanier won.

Scrivani 26
Starchild 17

5:45 Ocean View School Board president Norm Westwell appealed for donations to his race for city council in Huntington Beach. He has raised three times as much as the incumbent, and more than any of the dozen other candidates.

5:55 Motion to adjourn fails. Judicial Committee elections. Nominees:

Lawrence Baird
Dan Wiener
Bob Weber
Gary Chartier
Mike McMahon
Willis Scrivani
Deborah Tharp
Anthony Burke
Rick Bronstein
Jason Gonella
Less Antman
Ray Fostore

6:49 LNC elections

Mike Seebeck
Dan Wiener
Mark Hinkle

7:10 LNC Chair candidate Ernest Hancock speaks: "the proper role of government is the defense of individual rights".

7:16 Judicial Committee results:

Weber 37
McMahon 37
Antman 33
Fostore 26
Bronstein 26
Wiener 24
Chartier 22
Clark 22
Gonella 22
Gravanti 21
Baird 20
Burk 17
Holtz 1
Hacker 1

LNC rep:

Wiener 35
Hinkle 33
Seebeck 28
Starchild 1
NOTA 1

7:19 Adjourned.

Libertarian Trustee Opposes $4.3M In Tax Money for Clinic

2010-02-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Excerpts below from a Feb. 4 article in the San Mateo County Journal by Bill Silverfarb. Former LPSM Chair Jack Hickey, an elected trustee of the Sequoia Health Care District, is running in the June election for county supervisor.

The Sequoia Healthcare District pledged $4.3 million to help build a new clinic in the North Fair Oaks area of unincorporated Redwood City yesterday. The district board voted 3-1 to approve the grant request from the county-operated San Mateo Medical Center. Board members Don Horsley, Kim Griffin and Katie Kane approved the grant request while Jack Hickey voted against it. Boardmember Art Faro was not in attendance.

The Sequoia Healthcare District still collects $5M/yr in taxes, despite having sold in 1996 the Redwood City hospital which the district was created to build and operate in the 1940s. Since then, two civil grand juries, the Palo Alto Daily News, and district board member Jack Hickey have all argued that the board should be dissolved and its funds returned to county taxpayers.

A Feb. 1 article in the San Mateo Daily News said "Hickey, a Libertarian activist and member of the Sequoia Healthcare District Board, contributed $6,000 to his own campaign and recently said he plans to raise slightly more than that for a countywide mailer."

San Mateo Libertarians Oppose School Tax

2010-02-04T23:59:00.001-08:00

From a Feb 3 article in the San Mateo County Daily Journal by Heather Murtagh:

Burlingame voters are asked to renew two taxes totaling $180 — Measure A, a $76 yearly parcel tax for eight years passed in 2003, and Measure S, a $104 annual parcel tax for six years that started in 2005 — for 10 years under Measure B. If passed, the measure would begin in July 2011 and continue generating $1.4 million annually for the district.

Opponents argue schools account for over half the state’s budget and their administrators should be able to live within those means. Parcel tax revenue is close to 7.5 percent of the district’s annual budget, said Marc Friedman, a former district trustee who is now treasurer of the Committee to Protect Great Burlingame Schools, which supports Measure B.

Jack Hickey, who signed the argument against the measure, wrote public schools consume over half the state’s budget and continue to ask for more. “We couldn’t stop Sacramento from raising sales and income taxes last year — but we can finally put an end to one long-standing ‘temporary’ parcel tax,” reads the letter signed by Hickey and Harland Harrison, chair of the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County.

Libertarian Supervisor Opposes Subsidized Rural Water Service

2010-02-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Libertarian Tom Tryon is serving his seventh consecutive term on the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors since first being elected in 1984. From an Feb. 3 article by Dana Nichols in the Stockton Record:

Ed Pattison, the water resources manager for Calaveras County Water District, reminded the supervisors that the cost to build water infrastructure and the struggle for Calaveras County to preserve water rights has powerful influences on the General Plan. That's why the water element calls for "looking to steer growth toward city centers." Pattison acknowledged that planning to concentrate people in towns will displease private-property rights advocates who hope to carve ranch land into ranchettes.

Pattison seemed to have some support for his views. Supervisor Tom Tryon said growth in community centers should be required to have municipal water, sewer connections and streets built up to standards. And he urged his colleagues in local government to send the message that property owners should not expect agencies to provide services such as water lines to rural housing tracts whose wells go dry.

"If you want to exercise your rights to rural sprawl, you're on your own," Tryon said.

Libertarian Supervisor Skeptical of Carbon Emissions Lawsuit

2010-01-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Libertarian Tom Tryon is serving his seventh consecutive term on the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors since first being elected in 1984. From an Jan. 28 article by Walt Cook in the Calaveras Union Democrat:

An environmental group filed lawsuits Wednesday against the California Department of Forestry that contend the agency failed to properly analyze carbon emissions stemming from 15 logging plans proposed by Sierra Pacific Industries. State law requires industries to analyze any projects that could add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and, thus, potentially contribute to climate change.

If all 15 SPI logging plans are approved, over 5,000 acres of forest would be clear-cut in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, according to the environmental group. The lawsuits comes as no surprise to SPI spokesman Mark Pawlicki. He said the environmental group originally challenged the logging projects over greenhouse gas emissions in August. This prompted SPI to re-submit its analysis to the forestry department, which approved the revised plans in December.
Pawlicki contends that SPI’s logging practices actually cut down on greenhouse gases because the company — the state’s largest private landowner — plants more trees in logged areas than it removes. He said that calculation even takes in to account the diesel exhaust from harvesting equipment.

Pawlicki has support from local politicians. “I’m skeptical on all this global warming, quite frankly,” said Calaveras County Supervisor Tom Tryon. “What they want to do is run Sierra Pacific Industries out of business.” Tryon surmised that if SPI went under, its large forest landholdings would become severely overgrown or turned into large-lot subdivisions.

John Buckley, director of the Twain Harte-based Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, meanwhile, shared the Center for Biological Diversity’s concerns. He also pointed out an irony: SPI, through its participation in a program allowing it to sell carbon offsets to polluters, has acknowledged the impact carbon emissions have on climate change. “The company is actually profiting by getting paid for carbon credits,” Buckley said. “That makes it even more reasonable to require SPI to legally comply with state environmental policies.”

Libertarian Councilman Links MJ Dispensary To Community Concerns

2010-01-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

The Mountain View City Council includes Libertarian Party member John Inks and economist Tom Means, a fellow at the libertarian Independent Institute. From a Jan. 27 article by Daniel DeBolt in the Mountain View Voice:

In 2005, Mountain View native Jonathan Lustig came to the City Council with a seemingly radical proposal: Let him open a medical marijuana dispensary somewhere in the city. With that the issue seemed to die, but recent shifts in policy at the federal and state level have led to a resurgence in requests to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Mountain View. So many requests are coming in, in fact, that the city manager is putting the topic of regulating such operations on the council's to-do list this spring.

Among the new crop of requesters is Brian David, whose family ran Eddy's Sport Shop from 1950 to 2002. David says his "Shoreline Wellness Collective" would sell medical marijuana to those with a prescription out of an industrial building in the Shoreline area, and donate all excess profits to local service organizations. Changes in policy Lustig said a local dispensary today is "more realistic than it was in 2005, certainly," because in October the Obama administration instructed federal prosecutors to ignore those who use and sell marijuana in compliance with state laws, such as the medical marijuana law California voters passed in 1996. As a result, dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries have sprung up in the Bay Area without the blessings of local governments, a trend that recently led Gilroy to ban the operations and for San Jose to say it will order dozens to shut down or face fines of up to $2,500 a day.

Another recent regulatory change helping those in the medi-pot business is a state Supreme Court decision made last Thursday which lifts specific limits on the amount of medical marijuana that can be possessed by patients. The decision allows patients to have as much marijuana as is found to be "reasonably necessary" for treatment, making it harder to prosecute them. Santa Clara County's own limits — six mature plants and eight ounces of harvested marijuana per patient — were nullified as well, said Amy Cornell, spokesperson for the District Attorney's office.

There are no policies specifically supporting or opposing a marijuana dispensary in Mountain View, but a handful of potential operators have found that a lack of appropriate zoning in the city still makes it difficult to open one without a zoning administrator- or City Council-approved variance.

One thing that appears to make council members nervous is the neighborhood opposition sure to come whenever a marijuana dispensary is proposed. That's why David believes it would be best to locate one near Shoreline Amphitheatre, away from residential neighborhoods and schools. "There has to be community support," said council member John Inks, who added he would have to know more about a given proposal and the group behind it before deciding whether to support it. During the 2005 debate, council member Tom Means said he and other council members feared a dispensary would be repeatedly targeted for robbery, as they have in other cities, or turn nearby areas into sites for drug dealing. Lustig said strict rules could prevent problematic people from obtaining membership at a medi-pot club, and David said he doesn't believe the businesses would be any more prone to being robbed than certain others, such as his own family's gun store. David says the security methods used by other dispensaries include vaults and metal detectors, and he also says he's considering using an armored car service.

In an unusual twist, David is a Republican and a staunch advocate of the right to bear arms. He has voted for every Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan, and was ranked best competitive outdoor pistol shooter in the state in 2003 and 2004, he says.

Michael Seebeck Running For LPCA Rep To LNC

2010-01-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

After a lot of consulting, consideration, and discussion with both family and colleagues within the Party, I am announcing my candidacy for LNC Regional Representative for Region 2, serving California.

These past two years have seen the LNC in turmoil and the LPCA in growth, and the next 3 years are OUR time. It is time to restore strong and principled leadership to the LNC and to continue that growth in California. As the largest state affiliate and the only single-state region, California’s role on the LNC is unique. We’ve seen their turmoil and its impacts on our state, and it is past time to end it and move forward with doing the jobs we have pledged our time, our money, our sweat, our tears, and even our blood—using the political process to advocate, create, and move towards a libertarian society. Great progress has been made, but it is time to build on that and grow nationally, and to continue our growth in California. THIS IS OUR TIME! We need to make the most of it. Voters are angry, and we MUST tap into that for our success, at all levels.

What do I bring to the LNC?

I’m a known name and presence in LNC circles. I maintain regular contact with several current, past and most likely future members, and I have earned their respect and admiration, and they have expressed support for me. I have been very active in national affairs, including helping to blaze the trail for the now-common and much-needed webcasting of the LNC meetings to members. I have a good sense of what is going right and what is going wrong there.

My LP experience spans a decade over two states (CA and CO), at all of their levels, from county offices and committees to state leadership. I’ve been a candidate for office once, and while I didn’t win, I did defeat a $46 million bond issue. I’m an activist at heart, but I’ve also been a county Treasurer; a gofer; a campaign manager, adviser, and worker; a state and county Media Director; a county Outreach Director and activist; a Bylaws guru; a Style writer; a convention organizer; and a legislation and ballot proposition analyst. I have been published in newspapers and been interviewed on TV, and at one point was also a radio guest host. I bring a diverse set of skills and experience to the job.

I have no intention of compromising libertarian principles in the name of “going along” or “being successful.” I believe that we can be successful ONLY by not compromising our principles, and by doing the work that needs to be done to make the LP achieve its birthright as the future of American politics. But, I also need to also make a couple of things clear:

If elected, I will continue my work on the LPCA Executive Committee. I made a commitment to my colleagues there, to our candidates, and to the California membership, and I intend to honor it. I believe that commitment plus being a Regional Representative, while together are difficult, are actually complementary in nature. There are positive things California is doing, and while we can lead by example, we also need to communicate by example as well, and we can draw from other states what they are doing right, pool our information, and help each other grow. That means it is necessary to have our Regional Representative “in the loop” at the state level and the state “in the loop” at the national level, and the membership “in the loop” at ALL levels. It is my intention to do exactly that, and we have so much to do!

This is not about personal glory or titles. My personal reward for doing my work within the LP is the love of my family and a clear conscience that I’ve done my best for the cause of liberty, to make their and our future a little better and brighter. Titles carry responsibilities, and it is there where I focus. There is no end to the number of things that need doing at all levels of the LP. Titles don’t mean anything if the job isn’t done and done right. It’s not about me, and it never has been, and never will be—that’s not my style. I want what’s best for the Party and what’s best for liberty, first and foremost, and I truly believe my work within the LP will stand by itself to the objective mind as positive and productive, even under the traditionally harsh scrutiny that libertarians tend to give each other and everything else.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a critic of a good number of LNC actions. In the past, I’ve been a similar critic of my state and county LP actions as well. Back then, I was effectively told to “put up or shut up.” So I “put up”. Once again, I’m “putting up.” I’m willing to step up and make things better. I undoubtedly have my own set of critics—it comes with the territory. BUT, if we all step up and make things better as a team, we can do what has been thought to be the impossible. That takes a lot of hard work and dedicated and focused effort by everyone at all levels, and sometimes on more than one level, which is also why I’m running. It’s time to make the LNC successful as well as our great state. Others across the country will be doing the same thing, and we will succeed by working together, which means I need your support, feedback, and even a kick in the pants from time to time. The best teams lift each other up and accomplish remarkable things. California has been very fortunate these past few years to have a good team in leadership, and now it’s time to get everyone on board—including you!—and take it to the next level, both in terms of intensity here and to the LNC. That is what I intend to do, with your help at every step of the way.

In closing, I believe that I am the best fit for what California needs for representation on the LNC, and I ask for your support in Long Beach next month and beyond. We can do this together!

Nearly 100 LPCA Candidates Seeking Signatures For 2010 Ballot Access

2010-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

Infromation below is from Ted Brown, LPCA Candidate Recruitment Chair. Even though the LPCA is ballot-qualified, the government charges our candidates as much as $1,500 to get on the ballot. That cost is reduced by around $10 for every registered Libertarian who signs a petition for an LP candidate seeking to represent them. Please join the Signature Circle to put LP candidates on your ballot.

Libertarians have declared their candidacies for each of the statewide offices that will be voted upon in the 2010 election. The announced candidates are:

For Governor - Dale F. Ogden of San Pedro; insurance consultant and actuary
For Lt. Governor - Pamela Brown of Northridge; Ph. D. professor of economics
For Secretary of State - Christina Tobin of Mill Valley; open elections activist
For Attorney General - Timothy Hannan of Santa Rosa; attorney at law, private practice
For Controller - Andrew Favor of Laguna Niguel; certified public accountant
For Treasurer - Edward Teyssier of San Diego; business owner and attorney
For Insurance Commissioner - Richard Bronstein of Encino; life/health insurance agent

For U. S. Senator - Gail Lightfoot of Arroyo Grande; retired nurse and veteran candidate

We have a total of almost 100 candidates who have signed up around the state. This includes all the statewide offices, 37 of the 53 congressional races, 10 of the 20 state senate races, and 39 of the 80 state assembly races. Many have run before, but many more have signed up for the first time. We had a lot of volunteers who contacted the party’s office this year, likely due to anger over current governmental policies — at both the federal and state level. Hopefully all of our candidates will succeed in qualifying for the ballot, since they need to go out and collect signatures from registered Libertarians to do so.

Watch Steven Greenhut Discuss Plunder! on CSPAN

2010-01-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Steven Greenhut of the Pacific Research Institute joined the Libertarian Party of California in 2008. This is C-SPAN's description of their Jan. 3 broadcast of his Dec. 10 book-signing in Orange, CA:

Steven Greenhut talked about his book Plunder!: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation (The Forum Press; November 23, 2009). He took a critical look at government workers and the unions that represent them. Mr. Greenhut argued that government employees, who receive salaries, benefits, and a level of job security that far outpace workers in the private sector, have become a huge drain on state and federal coffers. He responded to questions from members of the audience.

LPUS Lists 20 Elected California Libertarians

2010-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

The LPUS has updated its list of Libertarians in elected office. It includes the following 20 Californians. Four of them have pro-rated budget authority of at least $5 million.

Tom Tryon - Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, District 4, California - $37M

John Inks - Mountain View City Council, California - $24M

Norm Westwell - Ocean View School District Board, California - $15M

Jack Hickey - Sequoia Healthcare District Board, California - $5M

Frank Manske - Mount Diablo Healthcare District Board, California

Timothy Healey - Fair Oaks Water District Board, District 1, California

Jim Gardner - San Gorgonio Memorial Health Care District Board, California

Brian Holtz - Purissima Hills Water District Board, California

James Guadagni - Liberty Elementary School Governing Board, California

Jim Hill - Oceano Community Services District Board, California

Jonathan D Hall - Tehachapi Cummings Water District Board, California

Julie Dawson - Manton Joint Union School District Board, California

Kate O'Brien - Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Board, California

Laurel Kieny - Esparto Community Services District Board, California

Linda Strom - Lakeside Community Planning District, California

Phillip Binley - Bolinas Fire Protection District Board, California

Phillip Leavitt - Carlotta Community Services District Board, California

Robert Dickson - Timber Cove Fire Protection District Board, California

Rodger Musso - Black Oak Mine Unified School District Governing Board, Seat 2, California

Vern Dahl - Oceano Community Services District Board, California

LPUS News Roundup: 2004 LP Nominee Badnarik Hospitalized

2009-12-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

An email from Libertarian Lists:

News tidbits regarding the Libertarian Party and libertarian political community:

2004 LP presidential candidate Michael Badnarik suffered a heart attack while on the road in Wisconsin. “Badnarik was fitted with a temporary pacemaker and a balloon pump to ease stress on his heart, according to Libertarian Party sources,” reads one media report. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season.
Physics professor and former presidential hopeful George Phillies has announced his intention (Note: this site frequently downloads slowly) to run for Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. He is joined as a candidate for this position by LNC member Mark Hinkle. The current Chair, Bill Redpath, recently announced that he has no intention to seek reelection. Rumors are that the LP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root may also seek this position.
Congressman Ron Paul’s son Rand is running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in Kentucky. He’s currently enjoying a considerable polling lead (Note: .pdf format) over his competitor in the primary election contest. Rand was just endorsed by Concerned Women for America. He also raised $100,000 in less than 12 hours, according to CQ Politics. He’s currently under fire from the liberals over at Daily Kos. Learn more at Rand Paul’s website.
In our last e-mail, we let you know about (independent candidate/LP member) Joe Kennedy’s run for Ed Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts. He’s now completed his first debate and is scheduled for even more.
Frequently antagonistic towards Ron Paul, even the Houston Chronical is using wording like “no longer ignored” and “going mainstream” to describe the former LP and GOP presidential candidate. “Paul's proposal to audit the Federal Reserve — first introduced by the Texas congressman more than 20 years ago — recently sailed through the House Financial Services Committee,” reads one article. “His bill has an astonishing 317 co-sponsors in the House, three-quarters of the chamber's members. In the Senate, where Paul asked Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont socialist, to introduce a similar bill, the measure already has 30 co-sponsors.”
2008 Vice Presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root has been compared to an Energizer Bunny more than once. Lately, he’s spending more and more time on national radio and television programs and the media is starting to notice. “He didn’t get as much coverage as, say, Dick Armey, but 2009 was a very good year for one of the more ambitious figures in conservative politics, Wayne Allyn Root. A self-made millionaire who rose to prominence as an expert on gambling — especially sports betting — Root barreled into the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential campaign, eventually becoming Bob Barr’s running mate,” writes Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent.
The LP has a shot at placing one of their members in the Georgia State Senate. Taylor Bryant is running in a January 5 special election for the Augusta area seat. He will face three Democrats and zero Republicans in the election. If no candidate wins a majority of the votes, the runoff election will be held on February 2. Learn more at his website.
Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2012. This libertarian-leaning Republican just launched a new PAC called Our America. You can catch this podcast interview of Johnson for additional details.
Now that his campaign is over, former congressman and 2008 LP presidential candidate Bob Barr is writing for the Atlanta Journal Constitution again. Although the national LP website failed to mention that there was any federal debate over healthcare from September 10 to December 24, Barr has been paying attention to the issue. “The president told Gibson that if his health care ‘reform’ legislation is not passed quickly by the Congress, ‘the government will go bankrupt,’” wrote Barr. “Well, guess what, Mr. President – our country already is over $12 trillion in debt, and the estimated cost of your health care legislation far exceeds another trillion dollars!”

Libertarian Lists is sponsored by Forward Focus Media, LLC. Click here if you’d like to sign up to receive e-mail updates regarding the libertarian community.

Protester Pays San Diego Property Tax In $1 Bills

2009-12-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

LPCA Executive Committee Jesse Thomas was among supporters of a San Diego tax protester who paid his $3700 property tax in one dollar bills:

In the video, the tax protesters ask government officials where they get the authority to collect taxes.

The Libertarian Party Platform says: "Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property. [...] All persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. We call for the repeal of the income tax, the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the U.S. Constitution."

The U.S. Declaration of Independence says: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." It goes on to say that when "a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government". The protesters in the video do not say whether they plan to overthrow the U.S. government.

California Libertarians Help Craft LPUS Platform Recommendations

2009-12-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Libertarian Party Platform Committee met in Las Vegas on Dec. 12-13 and adopted a relatively modest set of 24 recommendations to the current "greatest hits" platform that the LP assembled in 2008 from language chosen from nine previous LP platforms. That complete overhaul in 2008 came on the heels of a revolt by the delegates to the 2006 Portland convention, in which they deleted 46 out of the 61 planks of the 2004 platform and left the platform with massive holes necessitating the 2008 reconstruction.

The meeting seemed to confirm that the LP's platform wars were ended by the 2008 "Denver Accord". That unofficial agreement transformed the Platform from 2004's detailed 14,000-word recipe for abolishing government to a 2500-word declaration of Libertarian policy principles that neither mandates nor precludes the complete replacement of government with markets. There was in Vegas no effort to revert to a radically detailed abolitionist platform, nor did the PlatCom recommend adding any new language asserting a proper role for government.

Another sign of platform peace was in the roll-call voting. Brian Holtz was the editor of the 2008 Platform draft that was chosen in Denver over the detailed radical platform offered by Rob Power, and both Californians are back on the 2010 PlatCom. In Vegas they voted the same way on 22 out of the 25 platform roll-calls for which both were present. On one of their three disagreements, Holtz in fact cast the lone "radical" vote (against language to "phase out" Social Security rather than "replace" it).

2008 Chair Alicia Mattson was elected Chair over Power, 16-1, after Power had declared the election a referendum on whether PlatCom can use teleconferencing for formal meetings (despite the absence of any Bylaws authorizing them). Holtz was elected Vice-Chair with 12 votes to Power's 3 (and 2 for Adam Mayer). M Carling was elected Secretary by acclamation.

2008 LP Vice Presidential candidate Wayne Root spoke during the public comments period the first morning, after inviting PlatCom to his palatial home the previous evening for cocktails. Root said that if elected LP Chair in 2010 he will position the LP to take advantage of the Tea Party movement and the growing interest in libertarianism in mainstream politics. LPNV Senate candidate Jim Duensing was also on hand to pass out 9/11 Truth literature and discreetly show the surgical scars from his recent shooting by the LVPD.

PlatCom recommended rewrites for four planks: Personal Liberty, Rights and Discrimination, Energy and Resources, and Free Trade and Migration. The first two rewrites mention "self-ownership" and replace an unqualified parental "right to raise their children according to their own standards and beliefs" with the declaration that "unlike adults, children realize certain rights as they mature and develop the ability to understand and accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions".

The Energy and Resources plank was so extensively edited from Adam Mayer's original proposal that he joined the losing side of the 8-5 vote adopting it. It talks about energy being "needed to fuel a modern capitalistic society", and says "our current dependence on carbon-based fuel has led to our involvement in wars throughout the globe".

The Free Trade and Migration recommendation qualifies the current immigration screening language to only "credible" threats to health, security, and property. It also says "We invite those not requiring public assistance to come to our country to embrace the American dream."

No changes were recommended on abortion or foreign policy. The clause in plank 1.2 about drugs was moved unmodified to plank 1.5. Opposition to "legal tender laws" was qualified to opposing "unconstitutional legal tender laws". Deletions were recommended for subjective language about "moral values" in education, about "bigotry" being "irrational and repugnant", and contrasting "sensible use" vs. "misuse" of natural resources.

The 24 Recommendations, if not modified by PlatCom at their pre-convention meeting, must be separately approved by 2/3 votes of the delegates to the May 2010 convention in St. Louis. Most of the recommendations are standalone, but a few may need to be disentangled. The recommendation to add the drug language to 1.5 will surely be ordered before the recommendation to remove it from 1.2. A simple recommendation to delete "unrestricted" from the immigration plank might be dropped in light of the subsequent rewrite that seemed to assume inclusion of that word. Separate recommendations to append individual sentences to the Health Care plank will need to be ordered, if not combined.

PlatCom also voted, over Power's lone dissent, to endorse the Bylaws Committee's recommendation about plank retention voting. The proposal is that plank retention voting by delegates will only happen upon the request of either 4 PlatCom members or 10% of the delegates to the previous convention.

If all of the PlatCom's Vegas recommendations are adopted, the Platform would be modified like this: http://libertarianmajority.net/2010-lp-platform-vegas.

Dec. 10: OC Book-Signing For Plunder! by Steven Greenhut

2009-12-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

Steven Greenhut of the Pacific Research Institute joined the Libertarian Party of California in 2008. From an email yesterday by LPCA Chair Kevin Takenaga:

The Forum Press is pleased to announce the 1st Southern California Book Signing Event for Steven Greenhut, author of PLUNDER! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries Controlling our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation. The event will be filmed by CSPAN. Steven Greenhut was on the OC Register Editorial Board for eleven years. He is now Director of The Pacific Research Institute Journalism Center in Sacramento

"Greenhut has performed a great service for ordinary citizens and taxpayers with Plunder! With clarity and a compelling writing style, he reveals how public employees have, indeed, become 'America’s Protected Class.'”—Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Thursday, December 10, 2009
6:00 PM
Barnes and Noble
791 S. Main Street
Orange, CA 92821
714-871-7148

Public Affairs / Trade paperback / November 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9842752-0-5/ USA $18.95

For more information please contact:

James C. Riordan
Project Manager
The Forum Press
3100 W. Warner Ave.
Suite 7
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Tel: 714-545-3114
Fax: 714-545-3164
www.TheForumPress.com

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/lpcalif/calendar/12044600/

Rob Power Running For LPUS Secretary

2009-12-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

An announcement from LP San Francisco Chair Rob Power:

San Francisco, California, December 4, 2009. Rob Power today announced his candidacy for Libertarian National Committee Secretary.

“The time is right for us Libertarians to adopt a new strategy,” Mr. Power said. “Our Party is unique in its longstanding rejection of perpetual war, central planning, and government favoring certain classes of individuals over others. After nearly a decade of war for which most Americans now realize there was never any national security interest, and years into a recession prolonged by federal government policies, voters have caught up to the Libertarian Party’s longtime understanding about the nature of big government. Even those who have long shared our skepticism of Washington DC’s ability to solve society’s problems have recently come to the realization that their former ‘allies’ – the religious right – cannot be trusted to oppose the growth of government, especially when their operatives are elected to office. If our message of individual liberty and personal responsibility is to gain any traction in these key demographics who are most open to our recruitment, the Libertarian Party must have a new generation of leadership, rejecting social conservatism and reaching out in their own terms to those voters who may have lost their faith in big government only very recently.”

“We’ve heard that several internal problems, with our Platform, our Bylaws, or certain interest groups, have been what’s holding our Party back. Thus, great internal effort has been expended to gut our platform, centralize executive power in our Bylaws, and purge certain longtime constituents from our Party. It didn’t help us at all. Our true obstacles are a lack of ballot access, indifference or even hostitility from the mainstream media, caricatures of Libertarians and our principles – often by those within our Party – and a focus on making our Party look more and more like the less successful of the two major parties. Nothing about the obstacles we face has changed in four decades. These are old problems, and it’s long past time for new solutions. We must stop scapegoating our own Platform, Bylaws, and respected Party Founders, and instead realize that the opposition is outside, not inside, by implementing new technologies and new ideas to bypass media and ballot access roadblocks and recruit new members and activists. We also must learn that donors like to know where their money is going, and reliance on blind generosity is an unwise strategy for fundraising. Finally, we must ‘walk the talk’ and actively campaign to stop and reverse the trend of increasing obstacles to ballot access.”

“Outside our Party, instead of burning bridges, we should be building them, with issue-based affinity groups and a brain trust of think tanks to back up our policy recommendations in the media.”

“We need to advance beyond keeping an expensive infrastructure running without any liberty-increasing benefits coming from that expense, and instead create budgets and policies that include resources and time for real politics – supporting candidates and issues. Fundraising to maintain infrastructure dedicated to fundraising for instrastructure is like a snake eating its own tail, does not promote liberty, and is not a winning strategy. Similarly, internal parliamentary games and McCarthy-style witch hunts of longtime Libertarian activists have not won us a single office, overturned a single tax or regulation, or made any of us more free in this country.”

“I’m an efficiency expert. One of my Master’s degrees is in Industrial Engineering. I’ve done a root cause analysis, and I think I’ve discovered why these non-value-added activities are consuming all of our time that should be going to real politics. The root cause is that a technocratic mentality has taken over the Libertarian National Committee. While I do have an MBA and the technical and organizational skills required to serve as Secretary, let’s not forget that the officers on the National Committee also cast votes where sound Libertarian ideology is far more important than how many Parliamentary certifications or business-related degrees one holds. Our organization is unfortunately not large enough to require a CPA as Treasurer, an MPA as Secretary, and PRPs as Chair and Vice-Chair. I think the debates in past officer elections over who has the most acronyms following their name have not served our Party well, so you will not hear me questioning any opponent’s technical skill to serve as a Libertarian Party Officer. It may be hard work, but it’s not rocket science. Though did I mention that my undergraduate degree was in Aerospace Engineering?”

“When electing Officers in St. Louis, I hope the Convention Delegates realize that ideology matters far more than degrees and certifications. It’s just as important for Officers to subscribe fully to Libertarian principles as it is for the other Representatives to the National Committee, if not more so. Wouldn’t it be more efficient just to elect Officers who already are comfortable with Libertarian principles, letting them direct all of their effort at real politics instead of watering down our Party’s principles and messaging to match their beliefs?”

“The most important task for those of us elected to leadership within the Libertarian Party is to facilitate grassroots action instead of building roadblocks and stifling grassroots creativity and progress. Our activists and candidates give us their time, resources, and visibility, and we need to honor their commitment with our support. The support of campaigns is the very reason why political parties exist, and I will do everything in my power to advance that goal.”

“I’m proud to have the support of dedicated Libertarians, from the members of the ‘Draft Rob Power for LNC Secretary’ group on Facebook to the endorsers below:

Carolyn Marbry: “Rob Power, the national chair of Outright Libertarians and chair of the LP of San Francisco, would make a fantastic secretary for the LNC. I’ve never seen anyone with the kind of energy Rob has devoted to activism. He’s exactly what the LNC needs. ”

George Phillies: “Rob’s years as a Massachusetts Libertarian activist were marked by effective outreach to liberty-leaning special-interest groups, positive, active participation in volunteer work, and highly competent participation in the back-office efforts that keep an organization running on an even keel. Rob Power is an ideal choice for National Secretary.”

Rob and his husband Kai reside in San Francisco. Rob is the Director of Engineering for a Software-as-a-Service firm in Oakland, CA and volunteers as Lead Program Chair and Executive Board Member of the Commonwealth Club of California’s INFORUM division. Rob cast his first Libertarian vote at age 20 for Harry Browne in 1996 and has been a member of the Libertarian Party for over a dozen years, serving in capacities at local, state, and national levels.

LPCA ExCom Mtg + Candidate Training Sat/Sun in Sacramento

2009-12-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

From a Dec. 2 email from the Libertarian Party of California:

California's LP presents a day of candidate training for our Libertarian candidates Sunday, December 6th, in downtown Sacramento.

Candidates for public office plus their campaign staff should bring their questions and learn from experts. Get the complete Libertarian perspective about California's most pressing issues -- vital knowledge for creating effective sound bites -- plus all the do's and don'ts of campaigning in California.

Make a weekend of it! Be our guest at Saturday's Executive Committee meeting. Watch your elected officers tackle our end-of-year business and prepare for the Party's annual convention of delegates in Long Beach next February.

BONUS! Join your California LP Executive Committee at Sacramento's Fortune House Seafood Restaurant for on-your-own dinner in one of the private dining rooms. It'll be a great way to wrap up the final Executive Committee meeting for this year, so just ask for the Libertarian Party when you arrive.

To attend any or all of these events, please call Beau Cain at 818-782-8400, or e-mail him at office@ca.lp.org. Let's get our candidates' campaigns rolling before the election year begins!

Executive Committee Meeting

December 5, 2009
10:00AM-5:00PM
Comstock Apartments
1725 K Street
Sacramento, California 95811

Dinner with the Executive Committee
Fortune House Seafood Restaurant
6:30 p.m.
1211 Broadway
Sacramento, California 95818

Candidate Training
December 6, 2009
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Comstock Apartments
1725 K Street
Sacramento, California 95811

Carolyn Marbry Running For LPUS Vice-Chair

2009-12-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

An announcement from Carolyn Marbry. For more from and about Marbry, see the IPR discussion of the announcement.

Ontario, California - Libertarian activist Carolyn Marbry today announced that she is a candidate for Libertarian National Committee Vice Chair.

“This is such an exciting time to be a Libertarian,” Ms. Marbry said. “The coming decades will bring tremendous opportunities to the party as Americans grow more and more disillusioned with bank bailouts, the flagrant destruction of the right to marry for an entire group of Americans, attacks on our second amendment rights and never-ending wars, among other things. To reach out to these people and help our activists make real changes in policy, the party needs a new generation of leadership, one that welcomes and supports all Libertarians.

“We still have a lot of the same problems we’ve always had as a third party. Lack of ballot access, media “black out,” absurd representation of our ideas, mission creep… It’s time for new solutions to our old problems. Those new solutions start with leaving behind the old paradigm and focusing on new technologies and new ideas to build membership, activism and fund raising.

“We need to build strong coalitions with like-minded groups outside the party, and we need to develop and support Libertarian think tanks.

“We need to maintain open, transparent records so members can see what their leadership is doing and where their money goes, and we need to make sure our money goes toward real politics, not bureaucracy.

“We need to take a hard, business-like look at where we can reduce our fixed expenses so we can mobilize more of our money for activism and party growth.

“We need to focus less on what separates us and more on our common goals. A rising tide raises all ships, and the LNC leadership needs to be that rising tide.

“Above all, we as the LNC leadership need to remember: We’re there to take obstacles out of the way of our activists and candidates, not to put up more obstacles. We need to support our activists, who are the lifeblood of our party, and to support the candidates who give us visibility and help grow our party.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the response of my fellow Libertarians to my campaign. It’s been wonderful to have early support from Lonnie Holcomb, Thomas Knapp, Less Antman, Angela Keaton, Mike and Lidia Seebeck, Jake Porter, Charles Wilhoit and David F. Nolan, among others. I am pleased that my early support comes from such an eclectic group of Libertarians.”

Here’s what some of her supporters have to say:

Angela Keaton: “Small business woman, civil libertarian, homeschooling mother and patriot; Carolyn Marbry brings a fresh face and real world experience to political arm of the liberty movement.”

Jake Porter: “In the summer of 2007, I started working directly with Carolyn Marbry to assist one of the contenders for the Libertarian Party’s Presidential nomination. Within the first few weeks of working with Carolyn, I discovered that not only did she have the management skills necessary to be successful in politics, but that she also possessed the leadership skills necessary to make sure we were getting the right things done. Carolyn Marbry is intelligent, hard working, motivated, and courageous enough to speak her mind even when faced with strong opposition. The Libertarian National Committee could really benefit by having Carolyn serve as a member.

“I urge all Libertarian Party delegates to join me in supporting Carolyn Marbry for LNC Vice-Chair.”
Less Antman: “The very type of respectful persuaders I want to see in leadership positions in the LP are people like Carolyn Marbry. ”

Carolyn is an established Libertarian activist. In 2007-2008, she served as media director for the Phillies 2008 Presidential nominating campaign, rapidly ramping up to regular distribution of Phillies 2008 press releases to over 15,000 media targets. She served as platform lead on the Libertarian Party of California’s Style Committee as well as serving on the state party’s by-laws committee and an ad-hoc committee to investigate the viability of the state’s printed newsletter. She also served as treasurer for her local county party.

Carolyn’s first career was as a cellist. By the time she was 21, she was CEO of her own custom software company, creating applications for signature recognition for banks, pressure and flow calculations based on pipe fittings for a mechanical engineering firm, dyslexia diagnosis and therapy software for audiologists and custom accounting packages for unusual businesses. She was recruited to Artisoft where she was an engineering supervisor, opting after a few years to retire from that career to homeschool her son. During those homeschooling years, she was not idle, however, launching a career in theatre as a playwright, actor and stage director in Tucson, AZ. She starting her own Shakespeare Theatre Troupe for homeschooled teenagers. In 2003, she produced and edited an internationally distributed independent film with English director Rob Walker.

Carolyn lives in Rancho Cucamonga with her partner, Mike McMahon, and her son, Jericho Arcuri, who is attending college studying criminal justice.

San Jose Considers Banning Cycling With A Leashed Dog

2009-11-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

From an Oct. 26 article by Lisa Fernandez in the San Jose Mercury News:

On the heels of a deadly freak accident, San Jose is exploring a law to make the city the first in California — and possibly the country — to address the issue of bicyclists riding with leashed dogs.

Councilwoman Nancy Pyle is convening a meeting Wednesday night to gauge public opinion on whether the city should clamp down in some way to prevent what happened to Beverly Head on Sept. 16. The retired 62-year-old San Jose phlebotomist died after she hit her head when she got tangled up in a dog leash while walking along a popular South San Jose trail.

"This is a horribly tragic accident, but we can't legislate accidents," said Justin Grosso, a San Jose resident. Then there's trail users like Terri Gong, who says she usually doesn't like when government intervenes in the lives of ordinary citizens. But in this case, she said, there's a need for it. "I'm darn near a Libertarian," Gong said. "But at the very least, bikers should have their dogs on the right."

Comparing Top-Two Primary Law in Washington and California

2009-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

From an October posting by Richard Winger in Ballot Access News:

Washington’s “top-two” law, in effect since 2008, is quite similar to the California “top-two” proposal that will be on the ballot in June 2010, but there are significant differences. In each instance, the Washington state version is significantly kinder to minor parties than the California proposal.

1. Washington state lets anyone running for office choose any ballot label he or she desires. For example, in Washington state a candidate for the legislature appeared on the primary ballot with “Prefers Salmon Yoga Party”, and in 2009 a candidate for County Office filed and requested the label “Prefers Grange Party”.

By contrast, the California proposal only lets candidates “prefer” the name of a qualified party. This interpretation was confirmed on October 19 by former State Senator Steve Peace, a leader in the drive to pass “top-two.” He consulted with the attorneys who drafted the California proposal.

2. Washington state will count write-ins in the general election if the vote-counting computers indicate a write-in candidate could possibly have outpolled the candidates on the November ballot. By contrast, the California proposal says write-ins at general elections are never to be counted.

3. Washington state’s primary is in late August, and California’s primary is in early June. The Washington system allows for candidates to enter the race as late as May 15 of an election year. By contrast, California’s proposal does not allow anyone to appear on a ballot unless that person enters the race by March 12 (except, theoretically, one could enter the California first round in May as a write-in, and conceivably might place first or second and thereby appear on the November ballot, but this is very unlikely). Each election year’s calendar is slightly different; those particular dates are the ones that would apply in 2010.

If the California proposal passes, California, Texas and Nevada would be the only states in which all practical routes to have one’s name printed on a ballot would be closed off by mid-March. Furthermore, Texas and 43 other states would still permit someone to enter a general election as a write-in candidate, so one could argue that California would be one of only 6 states that closes the door to any candidacy that is announced later than the summer (the earliest state deadline to be a qualified write-in candidate in November is Florida’s July 20 deadline).

4. “Top-two” does not affect presidential elections, but the California “top-two” proposal indirectly makes it more difficult for minor parties to place a presidential candidate on the November ballot. Because, under the California proposal, parties would no longer have nominees for state office or for U.S. Senate, the existing law that lets a party remain on the ballot if it polls 2% for any statewide race in a midterm year would effectively cease to exist. Therefore, all parties would go off the ballot, but those with registration of at least 1% of the last gubernatorial vote would instantly re-qualify. 1% of the last gubernatorial vote will probably be 100,000 registered members, which means the Peace & Freedom Party (which has fewer than 60,000 registered voters) would almost certainly lose its qualified status, and no longer be able to place a presidential candidate on the ballot. Peace & Freedom Party nominated Ralph Nader for president in California in 2008. If “top-two” had been in effect in 2008, this means it is overwhelmingly likely that Nader would not have been on ballot in California in 2008. The independent petition requirement in 2008 for a presidential candidate, 158,372, was so severe that Nader could not have qualified.

By contrast, Washington state lets any independent presidential candidate, or the presidential candidate of an unqualified party, appear on the ballot with a petition of 1,000 names, due in August.

One final contrast: Washington state supporters of the “top-two” system are honest enough to use that label. California supporters insist on calling the idea the “open primary”, even though the California proposal has nothing in common with the standard open primary used in over 20 states.

Libertarian Supervisor Blocks Limits On Who Can Run For Tax Collector

2009-11-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Libertarian Tom Tryon is serving his seventh consecutive term on the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors since first being elected in 1984. From an Oct. 28 article by Michael Kay in the Calaveras Union Democrat:

Despite the hopes of Calaveras County Treasurer-Tax Collector Lynette Norfolk, future aspirants to her office will need only a California Driver’s License, after the board voted 2-2 on half her birthday wish — establishing continuing education requirements — resulting in no action.

The requirements are laid out in a little over a page of text in the state Government Code, but adopting them is optional, according to a County Counsel opinion. Under them, candidates are required to have either a degree in a finance-related field, served three or more years in a similar position with a public agency, or be certified as an accountant, financial analyst or cash manager.

“I’m very leery of putting conditions on what the voters can vote on,” said Supervisor Tom Tryon. County Counsel Jim Jones informed the board that the requirements, even if instituted, did not define any penalty for noncompliance.

An unsigned Nov. 4 editorial in the Union Democrat cited evidence against its own position, and then feebly invoked the bad example of occupational licensure:

Said Calaveras County Supervisor Tom Tryon during last week’s debate, “I’m very leery of putting conditions on what voters can vote on.” Indeed, a case can be made that anyone should be able to run and that voters who elect a tax collector-treasurer without financial experience “get what they deserve.”

Until the mid-1990s, there were no qualifications for the treasurer-tax collector post. Then, in 1994, Orange County’s investment portfolio crashed like a house of cards due to risky, reckless investments by Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert Citron. The county’s loss: $1.5 billion.

Citron resigned, later pleaded guilty to six felony charges and was sentenced to a year in jail. In the wake of the scandal, the Legislature added optional qualifications for the job to the Government Code. Ironically, Citron himself met the requirements when first elected in 1970. By that time he had been an assistant in the office long enough to meet the experience standards.

So, obviously, qualification and continued education requirements alone are no guarantee that an unscrupulous politician won’t violate the public’s trust. But just as consumers choose among licensed contractors when looking to build, they should be able to choose among professionals when deciding who will manage the taxes they pay.

And it’s not as if the proposed qualifications would drastically shrink the potential candidate field. Norfolk said some 50 certified public accountants practice in Calaveras County, and being a CPA is only one of several ways a treasurer-tax collector candidate can qualify for the job.

Libertarian Councilmen Split on Greenhouse Gas Goals

2009-11-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

The Mountain View City Council includes Libertarian Party member John Inks and economist Tom Means, a fellow at the libertarian Independent Institute. From a Nov. 5 article by Daniel DeBolt in the Mountain View Voice:

Using 2005 levels as the yardstick, the city wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent by 2012, with gradual reductions until emissions are reduced by 80 percent by 2050.

The council voted 6-1 to approve the emission reduction goals, with member John Inks opposed. Inks said it was important to have some goals for emission reduction, but felt that the city should study what could be realistically expected from environmental measures first instead of copying the goals of other cities. He pointed out that the city's biggest polluters, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, were largely out of the city's control.

Council member Tom Means said he would support the goals because they were "voluntary and unenforceable," though some council members said the state could impose penalties in the future.

According a city staff report, 56 percent of the city's 2005 emissions came from gas and diesel emissions, 25 percent from electricity, 16 percent from natural gas and 3 percent from waste and landfill emissions. Another chart showed that 13 percent of emissions came from residences, 21 percent from commercial uses and 6 percent from industrial uses.