[Lnc-business] Executive Committee Conference Call - 7/24/14 @ 9:30 pm EST - NH Ballot Access

Fri Aug 1 07:04:09 EDT 2014

I disagree. What you said made sense. Let's institute a spending freeze now
other than commitments already made such as salaries.

Joshua Katz
On Aug 1, 2014 6:06 AM, "Ron Windeler" <rowindeler at aol.com> wrote:

> Maybe we are being a little harsh on Josh.  I think that I let myself get
> carried away with creative sarcasm.  I also tried to con Alicia into
> awarding me some negative points. Isn't negative pointflow just as bad as
> negative cashflow?  My self imposed penance will be to pledge $25 per
> month with the understanding that I will continue to do so whether our
> cashflow gets better or worse. (or whether she awards me any negative or
> positive points).
>
> Ron Windeler
> rowindeler at aol.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
> To: lnc-business <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
> Sent: Fri, Aug 1, 2014 1:45 am
> Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Executive Committee Conference Call - 7/24/14
> @ 9:30 pm EST - NH Ballot Access
>
>   Smokey Robinson is wondering, do you feel like giving a lifetime of
> devotion to anyone who seconds that emotion?  :-)  Sorry, couldn't resist.
>
>  I prefer to first see what the June financials look like to see if the
> problem is getting better/worse or staying about the same.  We moved into a
> new building and had a convention, both of which can disrupt cash flow
> patterns.  We haven't heard much analysis of the situation, but maybe Tim
> could do that for us.  Just $10,000 wouldn't fill the current hole, so we'd
> still be left shuffling payment dates for the rest anyway.  Sending staff
> off to try to find a short-term loan would also take away from their
> fundraising time to help fix the problem, and it might not be so easy to
> get another loan when we just took on a mortgage and we're in a hole.  If
> staff can wing it temporarily and time will correct the situation, fine.
> If this appears to be a continuing problem, then we can consider if the LNC
> needs to do something.
>
>  -Alicia
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 9:32 AM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Since this hole sounds temporary, and therefore wouldn't accrue much
>> interest, I would like to float the following emotion
>> Move to authorize borrowing of up to $10k. This borrowing is authorized
>> only in the event that bills pending as of the date the motion is put to a
>> vote come due in excess of cash on hand. This debt is to be repaid no later
>> than October 31 2014. If cash is not available on that date, an automatic
>> spending freeze is put in place until the debt is paid, and a balance
>> transfer is authorized to lower the interest rate.
>> I think this is better than making vendors wait, especially if we want to
>> obtain good deals in the future.
>> I cannot sponsor of course, nor am I a financial wiz, so I'm floating the
>> idea without marrying it.
>>  Joshua Katz
>>   Thanks.
>> On Jul 31, 2014 4:27 AM, "Alicia Mattson" <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>   Joshua,
>>>
>>>  Restricted cash is money sitting in our bank account, but the donor
>>> specified it is only to be used for a particular thing.  It would require
>>> permission of the donor to spend it on anything else besides what they have
>>> specified.
>>>
>>> The largest pile of restricted cash we have had recently has been
>>> donations for the building fund.  As of the end of May we had restricted
>>> funds of approximately:  $8,300 for campus outreach (a donation from Dr.
>>> Lark, I believe), $9,400 for the building fund, $350 for a radio ad
>>> project, and $2,000 for the legal offense fund.
>>>
>>> Most of our donors give us unrestricted funds, though, and it's then up
>>> to us how we choose to spend it.
>>>
>>> When you see the total cash amount on our balance sheets, you have to
>>> subtract the restricted fund amounts to figure out what is available for
>>> everything else.
>>>
>>>  When we create a budget, it does not create restricted funds because
>>> it's not the donor putting limitations on what our cash can be used for.
>>> The budget is the LNC putting spending caps on certain categories, but the
>>> LNC can later amend the budget and shuffle things around between categories
>>> without having to go back to the donors for their permission to make those
>>> changes.  (Though the budget may include a plan for using some of the
>>> restricted funds, in which case only those lines are restricted and the
>>> rest are not.)
>>>
>>> If we have budgeted $1,000 for category X, but we have spent only $300,
>>> the balance of $700 isn't restricted.  Restricted funds are cash already in
>>> the bank account.  But the remaining $700 of spending authority for
>>> category X is dependent on us actually receiving the budgeted revenues.  We
>>> might not even have $700 cash on hand, though we have $700 left in the
>>> budget.
>>>
>>>  I am not aware of any open lines of credit that we have, though there
>>> are party credit cards that we pay off every month.  Article 10.5 of the
>>> bylaws forbids the party from borrowing more than $2,000 without prior
>>> approval by a 2/3 vote of the LNC.  There is an exclusion there for "trade
>>> payables" like when a vendor goes ahead and ships the product to us and
>>> then bills us with the understanding that we'll pay in so many days.
>>> That's not considered borrowing under that bylaw.
>>>
>>>  -Alicia
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> What does unrestricted cash on hand mean? If money is budgeted for a
>>>> certain use, but no expense has been incurred, is that money then
>>>> considered restricted? If so, what would be needed to unrestrict it? If
>>>> not, are we at risk of not paying our bills? Does the party have open lines
>>>> of credit?
>>>> Finally, given this situation, how can we cut costs associated with our
>>>> upcoming meeting?
>>>>  Joshua Katz
>>>>   On Jul 24, 2014 5:05 PM, "Alicia Mattson" <agmattson at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  I inquired about our cash flow status, since things looked very
>>>>> tight at the end of May and I don't think I have seen June financials yet.
>>>>> Robert Kraus provided me the following information, indicating that our
>>>>> cash flow has gotten worse since May:
>>>>>
>>>>> Current unrestricted cash on hand is $110k. We are looking at the
>>>>> following upcoming expenses: $26k in ballot access obligations for LPIL and
>>>>> LPKY, Payroll $18k, Hyatt Columbus (estimated) $90k, Credit Card $21k
>>>>> (mostly convention related). That's a total of $155. That would be a cash
>>>>> shortfall of -$45k. I think if funds come in as they've been the last week
>>>>> or so we can cover this over a period of a couple weeks and I can delay
>>>>> some of the payment to Hyatt. Also NY has generously agreed to spread their
>>>>> obligation over a 6 week period but that still doesn't leave us any wiggle
>>>>> room for any additional expenses until at least Sept/Oct.
>>>>>
>>>>>  We're currently in a financial hole.  In June of 2010 (a comparable
>>>>> point in our 4-year financial cycle), we were approximately $200k better
>>>>> off in terms of cash flow.  I believe some contributing factors to be the
>>>>> fact that we hired a political director with "savings" from buying a
>>>>> building, but we hired the position a year before we actually bought a
>>>>> building and moved in so as to achieve any savings.  The building
>>>>> fundraising efforts seriously cannibalized our general fundraising
>>>>> efforts.  We have a political director and own a building now, but we left
>>>>> ourselves in bad financial shape.
>>>>>
>>>>>  We need to be building the warchest to get our 2016 presidential
>>>>> candidate on the ballot, so on tonight's call I will be asking questions
>>>>> like:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1)  Given how many of our affiliates currently have 2016 ballot
>>>>> access, what is the ballpark estimate of what we'll have to spend in the
>>>>> 2016 cycle to get our presidential ticket on in the other states?
>>>>>
>>>>>  2)  Looking at historical data in NH for LP U.S. Senate candidates,
>>>>> what baseline % does the typical paper candidate get?  What has been the
>>>>> maximum an LP U.S. Senate candidate has gotten there in the recent past?
>>>>> In other words, has presidential ballot access been successfully obtained
>>>>> this way in the past, or is this a hail-Mary?
>>>>>
>>>>>  3)  What is the state party doing to contribute to this candidate's
>>>>> ballot access effort?  Funds?  Volunteer signatures?  Etc.
>>>>>
>>>>>  -Alicia
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 12:19 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>  Robert Kraus provided me with the call-in details for tonight's
>>>>>> Executive Committee teleconference regarding NH ballot access as follows:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Meeting Time:  9:30 Eastern / 6:30 Pacific
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Guest Instructions
>>>>>> Dial-in: 1 (217) 258-5588
>>>>>> International Dial-in: 00 + 1 (217) 258-5588
>>>>>> Guest Pin Code: 207730
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Alicia Mattson
>>>>>>  LNC Secretary
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:53 AM, Nicholas Sarwark <chair at lp.org>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> All,
>>>>>>> There will be an Executive Committee conference call tonight at 9:30
>>>>>>> pm EST to discuss spending ballot access funds to petition to put
>>>>>>> Gardner Goldsmith from the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire on the
>>>>>>> ballot.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wes or Robert will follow-up with the call-in details.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -Nick
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
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