[Lnc-business] Committee Transparency revived

Fri Aug 12 17:50:48 EDT 2016

Thank you Whitney for your response!

I think I will cover a lot of that when I can sit down to address Ken's
concerns, but I will make sure I do.

-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org/>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/>

On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 3:44 PM, Whitney Bilyeu <whitneycb76 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Caren Ann,
>
> 1)  I do not want my phone number published on LP.org.  This is not
> negotiable for me.
>
> 2)  I believe that committees should operate as they see fit.  Given that
> they are only allowed to make recommendations to the LNC, and not actually
> create policy without LNC approval, I see no reason to require them to
> share every detail with the while of the membership.  If they make
> proposals that violate our principles, we don't approve them.  People who
> want to know everything the committee does, should find out how to get on
> the committee.
>
> 3)  I do appreciate committees that give notice of their meetings, and
> allow folks to listen in.
>
> 4)  I think it is best practice for a committee to solicit input from
> membership at-large via a partywide forum/medium, and receive such input
> via e-mail (example: policycommittee at lp.org) or by phone (numbers
> provided voluntarily by individual members, if they choose).
>
> 5)  I do not agree with requiring any committee to operate in a certain
> manner...top-down control is not my thing.  LNC members were elected to do
> the business of the Party, LNC members then vote to create
> committees/subcommittees.
>
> 6)  I am the Chairperson of the LPTexas Policy Committee.  We believe in
> keeping it simple....as you can see from the Policy Manual excerpt below:
> STANDING COMMITTEES
>
> Any standing committee formed shall be chaired by a current member of the
> SLEC unless decided otherwise by majority vote of the SLEC.
>
> Standing committees do not include the convention committees of rules,
> platform, and credentials.
>
> We do, however, have commitee e-mail addresses for standing
> committees...to which anyone can submit inquiries, suggestions, etc...all
> committee members see these messages, and they are addressed accordingly.
> While each committee may not always invite everyone to listen in to
> committee meetings, we do submit minutes after each meeting, and those are
> posted in the forum, as well.  Nothing we do is in secret, and all
> decisions are made public.  The SLEC, still has to vote on any proposal,
> and those sessions are streamed/videotaped in the case of the LNC anyway.
> So, no decisions get made in the shadows....at least, that is how I see it.
>
> 7)  Opening up every single conversation, deliberation, exchange of ideas,
> or proposal to the entire membership to scrutinize, question, challenge, or
> change is an invitation for confusion, convolution, inefficiency, and
> impasse.
>
> 8)  What Daniel Hayes is doing, opening his calls to us all, is great!  It
> works for that committee, and I expect it will render positive results.
> However, I don't agree with requiring Daniel to open his meetings.  Those
> charged with that business should be empowered to take care of their
> business in accordance with the dynamics of their team.  As Ken stated
> earlier, certain committee material is sensitive, and should be.
> Therefore, I oppose the notion that every single communication should be
> open.
>
> 9)  If an issue arises, and a committee's integrity is questioned, or
> evidence of wrongdoing is put forth, let's address it.
>
> 10)  The Policy Manual should be brief, concise, clear, and everything in
> it must be enforceable, without creating undue burdens on the LNC itself.
>
> 11)  I am not seeing in the Policy Manual where it says that
> (sub)committees must do all the things you suggest.  You say you are only
> suggesting one thing different...that is the phone number publication.  I
> think LNC meetings should be subject to more transparency than
> (sub)committee meetings.  I don't wish to *require* committees
> (subordinate to the LNC) to do the things being suggested here.
>
> Whitney Bilyeu
> Region 7 Representative
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 10:45 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos <
> carynannharlos at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Whitney, I have to ask, do you then object to the current transparency
>> level of the LNC?  Because I have proposed little different (other than the
>> listing of information about committee members) then presently exists.
>>
>> And I have to ask all Regionals, and this is a drum I will constantly
>> pound.  Is opacity what the members of your Region want?  I make it a point
>> to interact as much as they wish with the members of my region and the
>> affiliates, and not a single one has told me they favour opacity.  I will
>> be raising this question in my next regional mailer.
>>
>> I thank Starchild for the very thorough post, and the "cost of secrecy"
>> part had me nodding my head vigrously.
>>
>> Another cost of secrecy is that we will not have great LNC candidates for
>> the future.  I do not flatter myself into thinking I was a "great"
>> candidate but my region is happy so far, and the only reason I felt
>> competent to run was that I spent the six months prior to convention
>> studying all the decisions and information that was available in the open
>> and attending every single open meeting I could.  Slamming the door on this
>> is slamming the door on opportunity to groom future Party leaders.
>>
>> I still hope to provide my full response to Ken's thoughtful points this
>> weekend.
>>
>> --
>> *In Liberty,*
>> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
>> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska,
>> Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
>> Harlos at LP.org
>> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
>> <http://www.lpcolorado.org/>
>> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
>> <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/>
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 8:59 AM, Whitney Bilyeu <whitneycb76 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I agree with Ken.
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 10:15 PM, Ken Moellman <ken.moellman at lpky.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> So, I'm breaking this down, and I still have a few concerns. (I never
>>>> intended to de-rail before, sorry about that.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> First, there are committees with no power to spend, but are strategic
>>>> in nature that would fall under this proposal. Specifically, I can tell you
>>>> that the Ballot Access Committee has discussed important strategies on how
>>>> to achieve ballot access.
>>>>
>>>> I have already heard from some members that they believe committee
>>>> transparency would expose our strategy, putting us at greater risk of being
>>>> on the wrong end of shenanigans. By the wording, these substantial
>>>> strategies would be required to be exposed.
>>>>
>>>> And it's not even just the Ballot Access Committee. Look at Affiliate
>>>> Support or Candidate Support; do we really want to let our opposition know
>>>> our next few chess moves?  I foresee a day where our opposition raises
>>>> money to counter the actions of a candidate to be funded by the LNC before
>>>> the candidate even gets the money from the LNC.  Politics is a game of
>>>> chess, and telling your opponent your next 3 moves means you're either
>>>> really good, or really dumb. And I don't see us winning elections, so that
>>>> might narrow such a move into only one of those two categories...
>>>>
>>>> I'm all about transparency, but only after the information is of no
>>>> value to our opponents anymore, and cannot be used by our opponents to
>>>> cause harm to the party or its candidates.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Second, a committee would be able to set their own rules on executive
>>>> session.  What stops a committee from adopting rules that puts them
>>>> permanently into executive session whenever they're in a business meeting?
>>>> Unless, of course, we create special rules for every committee (and clutter
>>>> up the Policy Manual -- sorry, but it's true!)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Third, you're talking about creating new mailing lists aliases.  That's
>>>> more work for the LNC staff.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Fourth, the Ballot Access Committee has had one or two emergency
>>>> meetings. There are times when 48 hours notice is not realistic.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Fifth, I strongly oppose publishing my phone number on LP.org.  I'm
>>>> already annoyed enough that I get phone calls from petition coordinators
>>>> from around the US. It is great to have my phone going off in the middle of
>>>> the day while I'm trying to be on a conference call, or trying to lead a
>>>> meeting (sarcasm). Maybe some folks like having their phones blown up and
>>>> being put on spammer phone lists. I do not.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Finally, I would suggest not hardcoding the "public reflector"
>>>> language. There are better ways to publicize mailing lists that don't
>>>> involve the current configuration which could be examined in the future.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> So, now that I'm through everything that I see wrong with it, here's
>>>> what I'd counter-propose:
>>>>
>>>> *Any committee which has been empowered to expend funds shall notify
>>>> the LNC chair, in writing, of the exact wording of any motion passed by the
>>>> committee to expend funds, and the LNC chair shall be responsible for
>>>> approving those expenditures prior to funds being expended.  All
>>>> expenditures shall be recorded in compliance with the law and this policy
>>>> manual.  All expenditures shall be reported to the full LNC at the next
>>>> in-person LNC meeting.*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>> Ken C. Moellman, Jr.
>>>> LNC Region 3 Alternate Representative
>>>> LPKY Judicial Committee
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2016-08-11 22:20, Caryn Ann Harlos wrote:
>>>>
>>>> As per the request of several committee members, here once again is
>>>> what I like to offer as a Policy Manual Amendment:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 2) Committee Transparency
>>>>
>>>> The names and contact information (phone number, email address, or
>>>> both)for all committee members shall be posted on the LP.org website.
>>>> Unless otherwise specifically excepted on a committee-by-committee basis or
>>>> within the committee's own published standing rules for "executive
>>>> session," all committee meetings shall be open to any member of the
>>>> National Party to observe or listen and all electronic committee
>>>> correspondences shall bemade available on a public reflector system on the
>>>> LP.org website, the location of which will be published with the committee
>>>> contact information. Notices, minutes, agendas, and call-in information of
>>>> committee meetings shall be published to said reflector list or otherwise
>>>> on the LP.org <http://lp.org/> website, including a record of all
>>>> substantive committee actions and how each membervoted. At least 48 hours
>>>> public notice will be given for any committee meeting.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My intent for this is that I want to empower committees but will oppose
>>>> that if it adds a layer of opacity that does not presently exist.  Right
>>>> now, we as an LNC are micromanaging things, but at least the members can
>>>> see the decisions.
>>>>
>>>> I would like some real discussion on this and respectfully ask that any
>>>> discussions about the policy manual being too long, or needing to be
>>>> consolidated, that do not debate or make suggestions as to the merit of
>>>> this specific proposal have their own email thread.
>>>>
>>>> I want to sponsor with Joshua Katz a Candidate Support Committee.  But
>>>> I cannot/will not unless we have transparency in place either in the
>>>> description of that committee or as a general rule which guides all of our
>>>> committees.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> *In Liberty,*
>>>> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
>>>> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska,
>>>> Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
>>>> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
>>>> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
>>>> <http://www.lpcolorado.org>
>>>> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
>>>> <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *In Liberty,*
>> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
>> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska,
>> Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
>> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
>> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
>> <http://www.lpcolorado.org>
>> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
>> <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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
>
>

-- 
*In Liberty,*
*Caryn Ann Harlos*
Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
<http://www.lpcolorado.org>
Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
<http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
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