[Lnc-business] Financial woes

[Joshua Katz]

I agree. Thank you. I will
On Aug 9, 2014 7:55 PM, "Vicki Kirkland" <vickilp12 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dan:
> Thank you for this intelligent, well thought out explanation.
> Vicki Kirkland
>
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Daniel Wiener <wiener at alum.mit.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> I only have time for a quick comment right now.  We do not "have a
>> balloon payment hanging over our heads."  That balloon payment isn't due
>> for another ten years, at which time the principal will have been reduced
>> to $367,741 if we do nothing else but pay the monthly mortgage (which is
>> much less than our previous office lease).  At that time we could deal with
>> the balloon payment by either (1) Refinancing the remaining amount, or (2)
>> Having another big fundraising drive which would only need to raise the
>> same amount we already raised for the purchase, or (3) Sell the office,
>> which would have a large amount of equity, even if real estate prices
>> declined from the $850,000 purchase price instead of rising.  We made a
>> large enough down payment that we do not have to worry about our loan ever
>> being under water.
>>
>> Even that is a worst-case scenario.  I authored the change to the Policy
>> Manual which requires us to budget an additional $60,000 to pay down the
>> principal in every odd-numbered (i.e., non-election) year, when we can
>> mount pay-off-the-mortgage fundraising drives without interfering with
>> ballot access priorities.  As I showed in the attached spreadsheet, the
>> result of that will be to completely eliminate the balloon payment at the
>> end of the ten years.
>>
>> Dan Wiener
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 10:21 AM, Joshua Katz <joshua.katz at lp.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Since I had only one person join me in my call to authorize additional
>>> debt, and that was qualified with the idea of waiting another month, I now
>>> float the following three motions and seek sponsors.
>>>
>>> 1.  The LNC shall authorize no expenditures other than those necessary
>>> for activities already authorized by vote or bylaws to be undertaken (to
>>> include votes which closed before the effective date but which have not yet
>>> been reported on the effective date, if any.)  No money shall be expended
>>> by the party until November 1, 2014, other than that which has already been
>>> authorized or encumbered, exempting expenditures from restricted funds.  No
>>> additional expenses shall be undertaken, and no agreements with vendors
>>> entered into requiring payment before November 1, 2014.  In addition, the
>>> LNC shall direct the Secretary to write official notices of apology to all
>>> vendors whose payments are delayed via negotiations by staff, or via
>>> non-payment or extension of terms, on behalf of the LNC.
>>>
>>> 2.  Prior to the December meeting in New Orleans, staff shall be
>>> requested to issue all necessary reports in written form, to be presented
>>> at the meeting (as specifically required, or traditional.)  Staff presence
>>> at the LNC meeting shall be restricted to the Executive Director and one
>>> additional staff member, to be chosen by the Executive Director following
>>> consultation with the Chair.
>>>
>>> 3.  The LNC directs the Executive Director to issue a report with all
>>> specific staff responsibilities, estimated hours required per week, and
>>> skills needed to perform staff functions.  The Executive Director then
>>> shall issue a report indicating potential to replace staff functions with
>>> volunteer efforts, after conducting a member survey for skills and
>>> willingness to volunteer.  The LNC requests that the Chair, after
>>> consulting said report, reconsider all staff arrangements and contracts.
>>>
>>> I favor the first, but am looking for all ways to stem costs.  We have a
>>> balloon payment hanging over our heads, currently are bankrupt, and have
>>> continued to vote to authorize expenditures.  I believe these operations
>>> must be reconsidered.  I understand that our financial hole is a temporary
>>> phenomenon, and that our bankruptcy is a matter of accounting, but we are
>>> still in dire financial straits.  I do believe that we need to bring in
>>> more money, but a financial crisis is also an opportunity to reconsider our
>>> spending habits, which should be restrained, and mostly aimed at our core
>>> mission, at all times, regardless of circumstances.
>>>
>>> Joshua A. Katz
>>>
>>> Region 8 (Region of Badassdom) Alternate
>>> Libertarian National Committee
>>>
>>> Chair, Libertarian Party of Connecticut
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *"In general, we look for a new law by the following process. First, we
>> guess it (audience laughter), no, don’t laugh, that’s the truth. Then we
>> compute the consequences of the guess, to see what, if this is right, if
>> this law we guess is right, to see what it would imply and then we compare
>> the computation results to nature or we say compare to experiment or
>> experience, compare it directly with observations to see if it works. If it
>> disagrees with experiment, it’s WRONG. In that simple statement is the key
>> to science. It doesn’t make any difference how beautiful your guess is, it
>> doesn’t matter how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is.
>> If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. That’s all there is to it.”*
>> -- Richard Feynman
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>
>>
>
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