[Lnc-business] [Statechairs] Emergency email ballot to move LP HQ

Wed Apr 1 13:20:32 EDT 2015

I'll co-sponsor.  I never liked the office condo at Alexandria, anyway.

Sam Goldstein

On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 1:11 PM, Brett H. Pojunis <brett at pojunis.com> wrote:

> Mr Wiener,
>
> Thank you for providing this information to the state chairs.
>
> I am happy to allocate some of Nevada resources to assist with this
> matter, specifically, I can assign members of our Legal Committee to review
> this and provide immediate guidance. I personally have some experience in
> this matter due to my background in finance and dealing with estate
> planning issues.
>
> I do agree that action is probably the most important thing at this time.
> Talking to the estate benefactor is also important as we will get an
> indication of what their intentions are. Lastly, based on the wording in
> the will this could be an amazing opportunity for the entire Libertarian
> Party due to her generosity. Unless it specifically states that the money
> must go to the Libertarian National Committee, some of the funds could be
> appropriated to each state affiliate. Otherwise, a sizeable donation like
> this could sit in escrow (or hopefully a money market fund yielding
> interest) and disbursements will be made according to FEC regulations which
> would release only a very small dollar amount each year. Lastly, if the
> wording is that the money is to benefit the Libertarian Party in general,
> this could qualify some candidates to be recipients of the donation.
>
> I would suggest a prudent approach to immediately setting up shop in ND
> and working directly with the ND Affiliate to see if there is temporary
> office space available which we could use. Having headquarters outside of
> DC shouldn't be an issue with anyone. Furthermore, unless specifically
> stipulated in her will, there is no reason we cant maintain a presence in
> DC via and office suite.
>
> I am volunteering to assist the LNC anyway I can and I hope the LNC will
> take advice from people with experience in this specific matter. Please let
> me know what I and LPNevada can do to be helpful.
>
> Best,
>
>
> Brett H. Pojunis
> Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Nevada
> The Political Party - Founder
> 1771 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 201 A
> Las Vegas, NV 89119
> 702.763.9301 | Office (direct)
> 702.325.7426 | Las Vegas Mobile
> 202.505.3606 | Washington D.C. Mobile
> brett at pojunis.com
> *www.LPNevada.org <http://www.LPNevada.org>*
> *www.PoliticalPartylv.com <http://www.PoliticalPartylv.com>*
>
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 9:57 AM, Daniel Wiener <wiener at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>
>> This is a heads-up to the LNC that I expect to shortly be asking for
>> co-sponsors for an email ballot to immediately relocate our headquarters to
>> North Dakota.  This matter is extremely urgent, for the following reasons:
>>
>> You may already have read on Twitter the sad news that Wyoming Knott
>> passed away early this morning, after she fell 60 feet from the top of a
>> fracking drilling rig.  Wyoming Knott is of course better known as the
>> "North Dakota Fracking Queen" and was an ardent advocate for personal
>> liberties. She was an uncompromising individual who demanded total freedom
>> from any state interference in the booming fracking industry.  She will be
>> sorely missed, and our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and
>> friends and the entire fracking community.
>>
>> Back in 2003, Ms. Knott apparently altered her will to bequeath a quarter
>> of her estate to the Libertarian Party.  At the time her estate consisted
>> primarily of undeveloped land near Williston, North Dakota worth an
>> estimated $375,000.  A quarter of that ($93,750) was certainly a generous
>> amount even back then.  Today, as a consequence of development of the
>> Bakken Shale Formation which underlies it, that land has appreciated
>> enormously, with a November, 2014 appraisal coming in at just over $6
>> billion.  That would put the value of her bequest to the Libertarian Party
>> at $1.5 billion, although that may have since declined to about $900
>> million due to the drop in oil prices.
>>
>> However, Ms. Knott detested everything connected with Washington, D.C.,
>> including the fact that the LP's office was located there.  So she added a
>> codicil to that bequest that it would only be effective if the Libertarian
>> Party's office was located in North Dakota, which to her represented the
>> cultural and ideological opposite of Washington, D.C.  She believed that
>> removing the Libertarian Party from the center of government corruption
>> would help it avoid the inevitable rot.
>>
>> One possibility is that we could challenge that condition in court.  But
>> let's be realistic.  Regardless of whether the eventual value is $1.5
>> billion or $900 million or somewhere in between, there will be scores of
>> lawyers crawling out of the woodwork, anxious to do everything possible to
>> deny us that bequest, if they can cobble together even the slightest
>> pretext.  So the sooner we can move our headquarters to North Dakota to
>> prove we are complying with her codicil, the better.
>>
>> Again, time is of the essence.  If all LNC members immediately vote on
>> the upcoming email ballot, we ought to be able to complete it by the end of
>> today.  In the meantime, our Executive Director can fly to North Dakota and
>> rent a temporary office to get us started, until we can construct a major
>> new high-rise office building.  (It's been suggested that it be named the
>> Wyoming Knott Memorial Office Building, and my response is "why not"?).  If
>> all this gets finished today (on the same day as her death, April 1, 2015)
>> I think it will greatly strengthen our legal position.
>>
>> Daniel Wiener
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Statechairs mailing list
>> Statechairs at hq.lp.org
>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/statechairs_hq.lp.org
>>
>>
>
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