Fishman to Run for Congress

by: AuMass

Fri Jan 27, 2012 at 21:24:29 PM EST

We have some quotes from him: "We still seem to not understand that liberty means liberty for people to do things you don't approve of...I think Libertarians are feeling that they are finally making headway in their arguments...For me, I think that once spending is less than taxes, we can talk about raising taxes -- but we should not spend first and finance later. Let's get spending below revenue first."

State Committee Meeting November 2011 Concluded

by: AuMass

Fri Dec 30, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Reimbursements
George went over the amounts from the treasurer's report that he needs to be reimbursed for. Dick made a motion to reimburse George for these amounts, and Alwin seconded. The motion passed without objection.

Candidate Assistance

David opened a discussion about how we could be more helpful to candidates. We've talked about keeping volunteers busy, and there will be a time when nomination papers are ready, people are going door to door, etc. We need to be ready to help our candidates, and have volunteers ready to go when these times begin. David would like to solicit ideas about how we could prepare for the upcoming election.

November 2011 State Committee Meeting Continued

by: AuMass

Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

In closing, George said that he makes a point of doing things "the right way", such as making sure the fundraising letters have the right statements, presenting receipts for review, etc. The reason for this is if you don't always do things the right way, or the treasurer gets sloppy, there are unpleasant consequences. As proof of that, George presented a letter from the OCPF to Carla Howell citing her for improper campaign expenditures, which ended up costing her thousands of dollars.

Press Outreach

Bob Underwood reported that he hasn't made progress on the media list recently, but he has done some outreach to local groups like Occupy Springfield. He said there were 3 or 4 people holding signs, and 13 police officers watching them. During this time there were a rash of break-ins in the area, while the police were downtown, so Bob has been playing that up.

State Committee November 2011--OWS Discussion

by: AuMass

Sat Dec 24, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Alwin has a list of people who ran, or were interested in running last time. He will contact them over the next few weeks, through email or phone calls, to see who might be interested in running next year, and see how many candidates we may have for state representative, state senate, and congressional elections.

State Committee November 2011 Meeting

by: AuMass

Thu Dec 22, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Call to Order
Meeting called to order on November 20th, 2011 at 1:48pm in Worcester. Present were committee members: David Blau, George Phillies, Dick Martin, Alwin Hopfmann, Bob Underwood, and Bob Clark. A modified agenda was accepted.

Officer Reports

It's Election Year!

by: AuMass

Tue Dec 20, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

If you want Real Libertarian candidates you can vote for in November, you need to support our prospective candidates as they step forward.

You can't get on the ballot in Massachusetts by filing a few forms.  You need an organized effort to collect and file signatures, produce financial statements, and comply with conflict-of-interest laws. If you want our candidates to get big vote totals so we are seen as an emerging major party, you need to help by distributing trifolds, holding signs,  contributing to campaign committees, and writing letters to the editor.

Your fellow Libertarians are standing up to run for office.  They need your help to get on the ballot, stay on the ballot, and reach their fellow voters.  Please stand up for freedom in America.  Support our fellow libertarians, your party's candidates for office, so you can vote Libertarian in November.

October Minutes Part 3

by: AuMass

Sat Dec 17, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

5. Votes may also be cast for None of the Above (NOTA). However, a ballot for NOTA may only contain the vote for NOTA, and any names listed on the ballot other than NOTA shall not be counted. Votes for persons other than nominees are not valid. No nominee receiving fewer votes than NOTA shall be elected.

6. The nominees who receive the most votes, and more votes than NOTA, are elected as the new State Committee.

INSERT INSTEAD
5. Each person present and eligible to vote at the State Convention may cast a ballot for electing State Committee members. The ballot will list the names, and a vote of YES, NO, or ABSTAIN for each nominee. If a particular candidate is not listed on a particular ballot, the vote is recorded as "ABSTAIN".

6. The nominees who receive the most votes, computed as number of YES votes minus number of NO votes, are elected, up to a total of nine persons elected. If there is a tie, in such a way that not all persons in the tie can be elected without exceeding the size limit of the State Committee, a fresh vote is taken with only the persons in the tie placed on the ballot. The nominees who receive the most votes, computed as number of YES votes minus number of NO votes, are again elected, up to a total of nine persons elected in both rounds of voting. If there is a further tie, in such a way that not all persons in the tie can be elected without exceeding the size limit of the State Committee, the persons in the tie are not elected.

October 2011 Minutes Part 2

by: AuMass

Tue Dec 13, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Political Facilitator
Alwin said the redistricting for state representatives is complete, and can be found on the Secretary of State's website. He believes that maybe the state senate districts are established too. At this point, we may expect an influx of candidates to declare for next year's elections.

Alwin said he has also been doing other outreach, and attending a few, small events. He would like to follow up with the occupy groups, as he's just handing out the basic brochures for now.

We should make a new trifold which targets the occupiers more specifically. Maybe George can help come up with one. Anyone else's help would be good. Al said he will come up with something by next meeting. George can print and fold them quickly once they are laid out and typed.

October 2011 Minutes -- Part 1

by: AuMass

Sat Dec 10, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Libertarian Party of Massachusetts
Minutes for the October, 2011 Meeting

Call to Order

Meeting called to order on October 23rd, 2011 at 2:13pm in Worcester. Present were committee members: David Blau, George Phillies, Dick Martin, Alwin Hopfmann, Bob Clark,
And guest: Chris Maden

George moved to adopt the previous bylaws on an interim basis, subject to the amendments that have been presented to the committee, which can be discussed later in the meeting. With no objections, the motion passed. With no objections, the October 7th minutes are adopted.

Your State Committee

by: AuMass

Wed Dec 07, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

David Blau, (Chair) chair@LPMass.org
Bob Clark (Recording Secretary, Webmaster)
         Bob.Clark@LPMass.org
Alwin Hopfmann (political advice)
         Alwin.Hopfmann@LPMass.org
Richard Martin (Membership Renewals)
         Richard.Martin@LPMass.org
George Phillies (Treasurer, Editor),
        George.Phillies@lpmass.org
Bob Underwood (Press Outreach)
         Bob.Underwood@LPMass.org
Chris Maden

Officers
Chair - David Blau
Editor - George Phillies
Membership Secretary - George Phillies
Operations Facilitator - Bob Clark
Political Advisor - Alwin Hopfmann
Press Outreach - Bob Underwood
Recording Secretary - Bob Clark
Treasurer - George Phillies
Webmaster - Bob Clark

Good Libertarian News

by: AuMass

Sun Dec 04, 2011 at 21:48:00 PM EST

Joe Kennedy has moved to New York City - new job.  Congrats to the LPNY on their new candidate.

The New Hampshire Libertarian Party has a ballot access petition drive.  It has already collected as many raw signatures as would be needed for ballot access, and is now collecting the overage needed to cover for invalid signatures and a legal challenge safety margin.  New Hampshire ballot access laws are much the opposite of ours.  If the New Hampshire drive succeeds, the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire will be able to place their candidates on the ballot by filling out paperwork, with no significant petitioning required.

Libertarian Ken Moellman, running for State Treasurer in Kentucky's 2011 statewide elections, received 37309 votes (5%) and held the winning Democrat to 49% of the total votes cast.

Libertarian Presidential hopefuls Lee Wrights, Roger Gary and Carl Person staged a debate in  South Carolina.  Thanks to the Wrights campaign, you can watch it for yourself at http://wrights2012.com/  After the debate, they had two straw polls.  Lee Wrights won the attendee straw poll by one vote.  A straw poll of delegates to the 2012 convention was a three-way tie.

New Hampshire State Convention

by: AuMass

Wed Nov 23, 2011 at 21:38:50 PM EST

The message from Rich Tomasso reads:
LPNH state convention is set for December 3rd. Free business meeting starts at 3pm, followed by a dinner social at 5ish. We're meeting at Chen Yang Li in Bedford, New Hampshire. All the presidential campaigns have been invited, I have one confirmation so far and expect a second one soon. We will be pledging at least one vote for the nominating convention in May.

As always with our convention we'll have officer elections, constitutional amendment ratification, resolutions, and a review of the year that has been. Plus other news. I'll create an event once I have the final agenda.

If you have text for a resolution you'd like the convention to consider, please send it to me in advance so I can place it on the agenda.
Thanks.

Presidential Ballot Access

by: AuMass

Mon Nov 21, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Massachusetts libertarians need to do their part to help in this process.  We've already spent the money we raised for Presidential ballot access; it's been spent  on our Federal lawsuit, which did get Bob Barr on the 2008 ballot, and which has at least clarified the law relating to petitioning and substitutions.

For 2012, we need 12 volunteers.  Your mission is to re-register and line up with Joe Kennedy, who ran as the candidate of the "Liberty' Party.  11 volunteers will be the Presidential Electors; one volunteer will be the US Senate  Candidate.  The National Party is planning on handling ballot access in Massachusetts, but they will doubtless be grateful for anything you choose to do to help get our Presidential candidate on the ballot.

State Committee Minutes, September 25 Meeting

by: AuMass

Sun Nov 20, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Call to Order
Meeting called to order on September 25th, 2011 at 2:15pm in Worcester. Present were committee members David Blau, George Phillies, Dick Martin, Alwin Hopfmann, Bob Underwood, and Bob Clark.
The agenda for today's meeting is Officer reports, Working Group reports, George has bylaws amendments to discuss. The upcoming convention. The agenda was adopted.   The minutes from the August meeting were distributed via email on September 23rd. With no objections, these minutes are adopted. However, George mentioned that the minutes contain things that we're going to do before the next meeting. It would be nice if the minutes got out very quickly. They would be of more use that way.

Officer Reports from State Convention

by: AuMass

Sat Nov 19, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM EST

Editor
Massachusetts Liberty continues to appear on a regular monthly basis, in both paper and electronic editions. It's almost unique.  Almost no other state parties are bringing out a monthly newsletter.

Membership Secretary
As of October 1, 2011 we had 120 members.  Over the past three years we have had 200 members reach their expiration date; of these, 120 still belong.  That's far better than the national party is doing. We continue to send out a four-piece series of renewal letters, followed by an electronic reminder.  I am still trying to set up a terminal telephone contact reminder and have not yet been able to bring this to fruition.

Treasurer
As of October 1, 2011, we had 2069.82 in the Federal (FEC) account, and $4056 in the state (OCPF) account.  From October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011, the Federal Account had $7498 in income, and $10,635 in expenditures.

From October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011, the State Account had $5090 in income and $2987 in expenditures. MORE BELOW FOLD