[Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-08: Budget Meeting

Tue May 2 18:31:35 EDT 2017

Caryn Ann,

	Who said anything about a dank basement? I suspect that a comfortable place with sufficient space could be found for much less than $1000 in obligations, if not free. If food were unavailable for purchase on the premises, delivery is generally an option. Hotel meeting rooms do not make it certain that people can attend comfortably or that they are able to eat comfortably. There are other types of discomfort you may not be considering, for instance the discomfort of being in a sterile atmosphere lacking fresh air or one where you feel party funds are being wasted on inappropriate overpriced extras. Nor are more basic types of physical discomfort necessarily eliminated. During our last meeting I had to call the hotel staff multiple times to ask that the air condition be turned down because it was too cold (I saw you putting your blanket or wrap over yourself, so I know it wasn't just me). They took away beverages that the party presumably paid for – I still don't know how much, because as far as I know Robert has yet to supply the breakdown of the costs for the meeting, as requested and as he told me at the meeting he would – when I and others still wanted to use them (e.g. hot water for tea). Pre-set catered food menus often put people with dietary considerations on the short end of the stick. I've experienced more than once not being able to eat a full, balanced meal, or having to make special requests of hotel staff, because the menu was planned around an omnivorous diet that assumed people would want meat/dairy.

Love & Liberty,
                                ((( starchild )))

P.S. – On a side note, the signers of the Declaration of Independence were not yet on the literal field of battle either.

On May 2, 2017, at 6:02 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos wrote:

> Starchild, I care not for the food etc but disagree on the image.  We are not yet fortunately on the literal field of battle and meeting in a comfortable place with plenty of room is necessary for the most efficient use of our time and energies. We are not robots where that does not matter.  I know that my mind and body are not of such that say a dank basement would work as well.
> 
> Further these spaces makes it certain that members can attend comfortably and they also are able to eat.
> 
> I don't find it unreasonable for what we get IOW.
> 
> -Caryn Ann 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, May 2, 2017 at 4:02 AM Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> On Apr 30, 2017, at 7:56 PM, Daniel Hayes wrote:
> 
>> Starchild,
>> 
>> There is a $1,000 F&B(catering) requirement associated with the use of the room.  Nick had said a working lunch was probable for the budget meeting and I passed the specs as per consultation with Robert on to our HelmsBriscoe rep who coordinated it with the Hyatt.
>> 
>> Daniel Hayes
>> LNC At Large Member
>> Convention Oversight Committee Vice-Chair
> 
> 
> 
> 	 Assuming Daniel Hayes is correct, and I have no reason to doubt him, meeting at this location would cost the party $1000 in food and beverage purchase obligations to the hotel. 
> 
> 	Certainly I accept any person's choice in spending his or her individual funds in any way that s/he chooses, and I am, for better or more likely for worse, probably as guilty as many libertarians of putting resources toward my own sensual gratification which I could put toward advancing the freedom movement. But regardless of our individual preferences or habits in this regard, as representatives of the members of the Libertarian Party I think we owe it to our members to spend the collective resources they have entrusted to us on advancing the cause of freedom.
> 
> 	If there were some reason why expensive hotel rooms were truly necessary in order for us to meet, I would by all means support using party money to pay for those rooms, but they are not necessary. There are plenty of places where we can reasonably meet and incur $0 in financial obligations instead of $1000. 
> 
> 	Some have made an "image" argument – that we need to spend money to meet in upscale locations in order to look "serious" or "professional" or what-not. I do not think this makes us look serious about fighting for freedom. When the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence pledged their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor", that wasn't just trying to look serious, it was being serious. I won't say they were being "professional"; it seems almost insulting to the memory of those who led that previous struggle for American independence to use the term in relation to their efforts. Is the struggle we are now engaged in any less important and critical for the future?
> 
> 	I believe the path to freedom lies through manifesting as agents of change, not by emulating the well-heeled organizations that characterize the political establishment – doing things that make us look more like an establishment organization or the party of the wealthy are contra-indicated. They drive away our natural supporters who, for good reasons, mistrust and oppose that establishment. If it walks like a duck...
> 
> 	But even more than how it looks, is what it is. Former vice-president Joe Biden has said many dumb things, but I've heard him credited with saying at least one wise thing. He reportedly said, don't tell me what your values are – show me your budget, and I'll tell you what your values are. Are you comfortable with what spending party money on hotel-catered food for meetings of party leaders when it isn't necessary tells people about our values? I am not.
> 
> 	I vote no, and encourage my fellow National Committee members to vote this down and instead get behind a motion to meet at a different location in New Orleans that would not incur such an unjustifiable expense. 
> 
> Love & Liberty,
>                                    ((( starchild )))
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>                                  (415) 625-FREE
>                                    @StarchildSF
> 
> 
> 
> On May 1, 2017, at 9:37 PM, Alicia Mattson wrote:
> 
>> I vote yes.
>> 
>> -Alicia
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 10:48 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:
>> We have an electronic mail ballot.
>> 
>> Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by May 1, 2017 at 11:59:59pm Pacific time.
>>  
>> Co-Sponsors:  Hayes, Harlos, Goldstein, Bilyeu, Redpath
>> 
>> Motion:  The 2017 LNC budget meeting shall be held at the New Orleans Hyatt Regency on December 9th and 10th, 2017.
>> 
>> -Alicia
>> 
>> 
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> 
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> -- 
> 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
> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus 
> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee
> 
> A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
> We defend your rights
> And oppose the use of force
> Taxation is theft
> 
> 
> 
> 
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