[Lnc-business] Proposal

[Joshua Katz]

I've spent some time thinking about this one, spurred by a few recent
events.  We purchased a non-building in Washington to be close to the 'seat
of power.'  I don't know that we're making effective use of that fact.  I'd
like to see a few uses for it, but right now I'm just talking about one
that I find interesting.  As we know, obtaining appointments is frequently
easier than winning elections - I've been encouraging my members to seek
appointments, and having been appointed to fill a vacancy on the Zoning
Board of Appeals, in conjunction with then being allowed to attend ABA land
use training, is part of what gave me credibility in running for Planning
Commission - I could point to past offices held and training that is closed
to the general public.

Obviously, federal government appointments won't lead to being elected to
offices at the same level, or at least aren't likely to, but service at the
federal level gives increased credibility when running at the local or
mid-level (by mid level I mean between local and state.)  It gives access
to people and support that can translate to endorsements.  Most of all, it
gives real experience governing, and the public does not believe that most
Libertarians understand the act of governance.  On this, I agree with the
public - a lot of Libertarians believe that having the ideology correct and
being able to recite the mantras is what makes for a good candidate,
demonstrating that they do not understand what the art of governance is.
If they did, they'd be looking for candidates who can convincingly explain
how they'll actually move government in a freedom direction, and far too
many of our candidates can't explain that, or even how they'll govern
effectively and keep basic operations running - because we haven't done a
great job on providing that education, and because a lot of our members
don't have experience in government, or similar experience that can give
those skills.

Anyway, this leads me to think that we should make an effort to place our
members into federal-level appointments, just as affiliates should endeavor
to do the same there.  Here is my action plan:

1.  Create a database of members interested in federal appointments,
organized by demonstrated skill - to be put into the database, the person
needs experience and/or education that clearly make them qualified for
appointment.  This can be done and maintained by volunteers with oversight
from a couple interested LNC members - that is, a working committee with a
few LNC members and a lot of volunteers, with the LNC members explicitly
responsible for ensuring that we're keeping only serious, qualified
candidates on the list.
2.  Instruct staff to foster relationships, by direct office visits, with
those responsible for making appointments, particularly the staffers
(rather than politicians) who make the lists to present to the politicians.

3.  Instruct staff to keep aware of appointments below the cabinet level
that are vacant, particularly boards and commissions, but
underunderunderunderunderSecretary could work too, and less desirable
ambassadorial posts.
4.  When an eligible appointment comes up, contact the database members
with the correct skill set, and see who wants it.  This again can be done
by the committee above.  The LNC can then vote, with input from the
committee, on selecting one or two candidates to put forward.
5.  Staff works their contacts in Washington and promotes those names to
the responsible staffers.

If this is something we want to do, I will personally do two parts - put
together the committee and build the database, and provide training to
everyone on the list regarding the art of governance.  I'll want to ask a
few others to help me on this, and have a few people in mind.

Joshua A. Katz
Westbrook CT Planning Commission (L in R seat)
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