[Lnc-business] Ruling of the Chair re: Doug Craig's sustaining membership status at the time of his election

[Norm Olsen]

I have to disagree with the ruling of the Chair.  We ask people to
___PURCHASE___ a gold, silver, or bronze package.  Such ___PURCHASEs___ are
carried on the books as "Convention Income" and not under any of the several
fundraising accounting lines.  A payment to attend a convention is not,
technically, a donation. 

I'm a big fan of Doug Craig, and I want more than (perhaps) anyone else to
see him serve on the LNC as an At Large Representative.  However, setting
this precedent is very bad policy and must not be adopted simply to allow
Mr. Craig to vote at _one_ meeting at which only _one_ issue is to be
decided.

Thus, I am "voting"(?) to overturn (or is it overrule) the ruling of the
chair, announce my co-sponsorship of an e-mail ballot to appoint Mr. Doug
Craig to the At Large vacancy, and encourage all LNC members to vote
promptly as that is probably the only way Mr. Craig will be able to
participate in the May 3rd electronic meeting.

Norm
--
Norman T Olsen
Regional Representative, Region 1
Libertarian National Committee
7931 South Broadway, PMB 102
Littleton, CO  80122-2710
303-263-4995

-----Original Message-----
From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of
Nicholas Sarwark
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 8:18 AM
To: lnc-business
Subject: [Lnc-business] Ruling of the Chair re: Doug Craig's sustaining
membership status at the time of his election

All,

Mr. Goldstein has requested a ruling as to whether Doug Craig's purchase of
a convention package on May 6, 2014 was sufficient to make him a sustaining
member at the time of his election the the LNC on March 29, 2015.  I believe
it was.

Bylaws Article 5, Section 3, says "'Sustaining member' is any Party member
who has given at least $25 to the Party in the prior twelve months, or who
is a life member."  There is no language in the Bylaws that discusses
convention purchases as separate from an other giving to the Libertarian
Party.  Without explicit language in the Bylaws to the contrary, I find that
the money Mr. Craig gave to the Libertarian Party for his convention package
on May 6, 2014 was in excess of $25 and given in the twelve months prior to
the  LNC meeting in Phoenix on March 29, 2015.

The Association levels that Dr. Lieberman points to are not in the nature of
a Bylaw, but are set by the LNC as a way to recognize supporters at
different giving levels.  Whether his contribution would count for an
association level is not the question at issue here.

With that, I don't think there is an issue with Mr. Craig's eligibility at
the time of his election.  If there are those on the LNC who would still
like a mail ballot on the issue Ms. Mattson has raised, I think it's
appropriate to phrase it in a way that it is clear that it is also an appeal
of the ruling of the Chair, but it would probably be most appropriate to
combine it with the question of voting to fill the vacancy with a particular
person should the ruling of the Chair be successfully appealed.


-Nick

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