[Lnc-business] The Libertarian Party only has 2 full-time staffers?!
Sam Goldstein
goldsteinatlarge at gmail.com
Thu Jul 13 18:25:01 EDT 2017
Darn, Ken. You beat me to it!
Sam
Sam Goldstein
Libertarian National Committee
Member at Large
8925 N Meridian St, Ste 101
Indianapolis IN 46260
317-850-0726 Phone
317-582-1773 Fax
On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 6:20 PM, Ken Moellman <lpky at mu-net.org> wrote:
> But the Nat office is in VA now, not DC. So.... :)
>
> On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 5:57 PM, Joshua Katz <planning4liberty at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Speaking as someone who doesn't find this information particularly
>> helpful, I am content to leave the priority of projects in the ED's
>> discretion, but must note that, to my understanding (I won't be an attorney
>> for another few years), DC law provides that directors have access to such
>> information. That doesn't mean staff needs to drop everything and provide
>> it right away, but I do think getting something out should be done. It
>> doesn't need to be a spreadsheet; I think invoices would be fine. Thank
>> you for what you have provided.
>>
>> I would, for the record, not support any motion telling staff to
>> prioritize a records project, nor would I support a motion directing staff
>> to set aside what they think is a reasonable NDA requirement (which, if
>> memory serves, is permitted under DC law as a prerequisites to directors
>> receiving documents).
>>
>> I would just ask that Starchild receive the information, in whatever form
>> is easiest to get out, in a reasonable time frame.
>>
>> Joshua A. Katz
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 4:51 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Starchild,
>>>
>>> If I thought this information would be useful for an upcoming decision,
>>> I'd make sure we bumped other things back and moved this forward.
>>>
>>> Robert has kept a spreadsheet detailing the LNC meeting costs. It's
>>> significantly out of date and will take time to update.
>>>
>>> If I get a sense from a significant number on the LNC that it is
>>> important enough for us to stop other work and get that spreadsheet
>>> updated, we could certainly do that.
>>>
>>> Or, if the LNC would be satisfied to get a list of meetings from the
>>> past just to get a sense of the costs, Robert has provided that and it's
>>> attached.
>>>
>>> I don't personally see much coming from providing that information
>>> urgently, but again, we could certainly get it done if it was a top
>>> priority.
>>>
>>> In general, staff has usually included in our suggestions and research
>>> low-cost options like Oklahoma and Alexandria, and the LNC has chosen
>>> places that were not the lowest cost options staff has provided. I point
>>> that out, because I want to make it clear that, if the costs of LNC
>>> meetings is your concern, I don't want our membership or the LNC to think
>>> that staff requires expensive meetings. We go with the flow of the LNC. Of
>>> the 5 to 10 times I've suggested a specific location for an LNC meeting, I
>>> don't think the LNC has taken my suggestion. I don't mind. I've thought
>>> most of the places we've had meetings were reasonably decided.
>>>
>>> I think Robert has shown many of the contracts to you in person when
>>> you've visited LPHQ.
>>>
>>> I believe Robert has offered to email all the contracts to you if you
>>> sign the standard Non-Disclosure Agreement. I believe you have so far
>>> chosen not to sign the non-disclosure agreement for certain reasons that
>>> you're in a better situation to explain than me. It's not a big deal to me
>>> personally, just has been our practice related to contracts.
>>>
>>> I don't think there's anything especially interesting or "secret" in any
>>> of the contracts we've had with hotels to have LNC meetings. Payments to
>>> hotels can be found in detail on the FEC website.
>>>
>>> I think sometimes vendors offer "discounts" and sometimes put in their
>>> contracts terms requesting confidentiality, but I'm not going to go through
>>> and dig up a bunch of contracts to see for myself unless I get a sense from
>>> the LNC that that is what they want staff to spend time on.
>>>
>>> If the LNC could pass a motion requesting staff to provide all the LNC
>>> meeting contracts to Starchild and other LNC members without requiring an
>>> NDA, I'd feel more comfortable stopping other work and doing that, and not
>>> requiring an NDA.
>>>
>>> We did not find the word "Confidential" in the upcoming LNC meeting in
>>> Kansas City and New Orleans. Those contract are attached.
>>>
>>>
>>> Wes Benedict, Executive Director
>>> Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
>>> 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
>>> (202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
>>> facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
>>> Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/13/2017 10:03 AM, Aaron Starr wrote:
>>>
>>>> "Do you agree with Alicia and I that the LNC should be provided with
>>>> data on
>>>> our meeting costs as I've been requesting? Going forward, I would like
>>>> to
>>>> see those costs disclosed upfront, before a meeting site is selected,
>>>> and I
>>>> would also like to see the our past costs for each meeting this term,
>>>> within
>>>> some reasonable frame of time."
>>>>
>>>> While I am not personally fixated on the costs of meetings, I do believe
>>>> that it is perfectly reasonable for a member of this committee to
>>>> request
>>>> past data on our meeting costs and copies of contracts. That
>>>> information was
>>>> requested on June 6 and should have been provided by now.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Aaron Starr
>>>> (805) 583-3308 Home
>>>> (805) 404-8693 Mobile
>>>> starrcpa at gmail.com
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of
>>>> Starchild
>>>> Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2017 1:22 AM
>>>> To: Nick Sarwark
>>>> Cc: Libertarian National Committee list
>>>> Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] The Libertarian Party only has 2 full-time
>>>> staffers?!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Nick. So I guess the question remains, who is answering
>>>> the
>>>> phones and handling routine office tasks? Austin Petersen says that
>>>> during
>>>> his time in the office, he developed a strong intern program. If so, I'm
>>>> wondering what happened to that program. Do we have any written records
>>>> of
>>>> it, and if so, can those records be sent to the LNC?
>>>>
>>>> My understanding - correct me if I'm wrong - is that we don't
>>>> currently have any interns, but if we have names and contact info of
>>>> past
>>>> interns, I'd volunteer to call them and ask about their experience
>>>> working
>>>> as interns for the LP. That could help us rebuild a program and start
>>>> getting more bodies in the office getting stuff done, including routine
>>>> tasks.
>>>>
>>>> Do you agree with Alicia and I that the LNC should be provided
>>>> with
>>>> data on our meeting costs as I've been requesting? Going forward, I
>>>> would
>>>> like to see those costs disclosed upfront, before a meeting site is
>>>> selected, and I would also like to see the our past costs for each
>>>> meeting
>>>> this term, within some reasonable frame of time. Do you have any
>>>> objection
>>>> to this, and if not, what time frames seem reasonable to you?
>>>>
>>>> Love & Liberty,
>>>>
>>>> ((( starchild ))) At-Large
>>>> Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>>>> RealReform at earthlink.net
>>>> (415) 625-FREE
>>>> @StarchildSF
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Jul 12, 2017, at 9:08 PM, Nicholas Sarwark wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Starchild,
>>>>>
>>>>> At present, the LNC has Wes Benedict, Eric Dixon, and Robert Kraus
>>>>> full-time and based out of the Alexandria office. My understanding is
>>>>> that Nick Dunbar and Mat Thexton are also based out of that office,
>>>>> though not full-time. We also have a number of contractors working
>>>>> remotely, including Andy Burns, Lauren Daugherty, Jess Mears, Denise
>>>>> Luckey, Bob Johnston, and Elizabeth Brierly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Wes and I are in the midst of interviewing candidates for Press
>>>>> Secretary, which is anticipated to be full-time, and will be moving on
>>>>> to interviewing candidates for a Candidate Support Specialist shortly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yours in liberty,
>>>>> Nick
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 8:05 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you, Alicia. Coupled with the Convention Oversight Committee
>>>>>> experience you mention, this does raise questions. But beyond the
>>>>>> issue of getting the requested information, I was honestly shocked to
>>>>>> hear that only Wes and Robert are usually in the office full time. If
>>>>>> their time is valuable enough to justify what we're paying them,
>>>>>> surely we should not be having them routinely spend that time on
>>>>>> tasks that lower-paid staffers, or volunteers, could be handling.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would like to hear what Nick Sarwark as chair thinks about both the
>>>>>> data request compliance and how staff hours are apparently being
>>>>>>
>>>>> allocated.
>>>>
>>>>> Love & Liberty,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ((( starchild ))) At-Large
>>>>>> Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>>>>>> RealReform at earthlink.net
>>>>>> (415) 625-FREE
>>>>>> @StarchildSF
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jun 7, 2017, at 3:02 PM, Alicia Mattson wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Starchild,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have a lot of disagreements with your other ideas about how we
>>>>>> should find meeting locations and what arrangements are workable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, I do agree with you that it should not take so long to
>>>>>> provide the LNC with basic data about the routine costs of our
>>>>>> meetings, and provide copies of the meeting space contracts showing
>>>>>> which of those expenses are required performance. You've been asking
>>>>>> for some time, and it's not that large of a data request.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Recently, the Convention Oversight Committee was not in agreement
>>>>>> about whether to again use an outside professional to assist with the
>>>>>> 2020 site search, or whether to do it in-house with Robert Kraus as
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>
>>>>> point person.
>>>>
>>>>> When the issue of asking a staff member to take on such a
>>>>>> time-consuming job was discussed, the COC was told that when Wes
>>>>>> tells the LNC that staff is overloaded, that characterization does
>>>>>> not necessarily include Robert Kraus, and he was willing and able to
>>>>>> add such a large project to his plate. If that's the case, then I
>>>>>> don't see why there isn't time to fulfill this data request of yours
>>>>>> in a
>>>>>>
>>>>> more timely manner.
>>>>
>>>>> -Alicia
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Jun 6, 2017 at 4:34 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net>
>>>>>>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>> Maybe I just haven't been paying attention. That's what LP
>>>>>>> operations manager Robert Kraus suggested when I spoke with him
>>>>>>> today and expressed surprise at his statement that he and Wes
>>>>>>> Benedict are the only paid staff working full time at our office. He
>>>>>>> said that if I'd read the report Wes presented at the last LNC
>>>>>>> meeting,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> I would have been aware of the situation.
>>>>
>>>>> Robert told me this by way of explaining why he has not yet sent the
>>>>>>> LNC the details of how much we are paying for hotel meeting space,
>>>>>>> food and beverage obligations, staff airline flights, shipping
>>>>>>> costs, etc., in connection with LNC meetings. At the last LNC
>>>>>>> meeting in Pittsburgh in April, he told me in response to my asking
>>>>>>> him for this information that he would send it within a week or so.
>>>>>>> When I spoke with him today, he said that if I wanted him to stop
>>>>>>> what he was doing and send the information now, he would have to
>>>>>>> stop working on updating donor information to help us raise money,
>>>>>>> because he was the only person in the office right now. When I asked
>>>>>>> whether he could get us the meeting information prior to the next
>>>>>>> LNC meeting on August 19 (over 2 months from now, and 4 months from
>>>>>>> when
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> he originally said he'd provide it), his response was "possibly".
>>>>
>>>>> We have 11 people listed on our staff page
>>>>>>> (https://www.lp.org/staff/), not even counting individuals like our
>>>>>>> legal counsel and our FEC consultant who are kind of "on call", and
>>>>>>> although political director Carla Howell's contract wasn't renewed,
>>>>>>> the chair recently proposed adding an additional lower-level
>>>>>>> staffer. With that many folks on the roster, I don't understand why
>>>>>>> the two highest-paid individuals on staff are the only ones who are
>>>>>>> being paid full-time salaries and asked to staff the office largely
>>>>>>> by themselves. If this is true, it means that our highest-paid
>>>>>>> staffers are likely spending a significant part of their time doing
>>>>>>> routine office tasks like answering phone calls which could be
>>>>>>> handled
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> by lower-paid staffers or even by volunteers.
>>>>
>>>>> Robert did say he agreed with me that staff should not be asked to
>>>>>>> monitor or be involved in the party's social media outreach, which
>>>>>>> would potentially take a lot of their time away from other tasks. I
>>>>>>> also suggested that volunteers, instead of staff, could be the ones
>>>>>>> to research LNC meeting locations and present options to the LNC.
>>>>>>> Local activists in the cities where we're considering holding
>>>>>>> meetings would be the logical people to do this. If we don't have
>>>>>>> any local activists in a particular area able to help us find free
>>>>>>> or low-cost meeting venues there and help with details such as
>>>>>>> coordinating local transportation and folks able to host out-of-town
>>>>>>> visitors, it would beg the question of why we are meeting in that
>>>>>>> location instead of somewhere there is an active local Libertarian
>>>>>>> organization that can support us and which we in turn can support by
>>>>>>> seeking to arrange to have visiting LNC members make press
>>>>>>> appearances,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> attend local campaign events, do fundraising, etc., while in town.
>>>>
>>>>> But if what Robert says is correct, it seems to me that we are not
>>>>>>> running our office efficiently. It also seems to me that LNC members
>>>>>>> being made to wait months and months after an LNC meeting to see
>>>>>>> what the actual expenses were for that meeting is unreasonable.
>>>>>>> Actually, we should be seeing such expenses listed before each
>>>>>>> meeting, since expenses like hotel meeting space fees, food and
>>>>>>> beverage obligations, staff airline flights, and shipping costs are
>>>>>>> in most cases known in advance. And we should be seeing estimates of
>>>>>>> these costs prior to even making a decision on where to meet, since
>>>>>>> such
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> costs ought to factor into our decisions.
>>>>
>>>>> Love & Liberty,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ((( starchild ))) At-Large
>>>>>>> Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>>>>>>> RealReform at earthlink.net
>>>>>>> (415) 625-FREE
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Lnc-business mailing list
>>>>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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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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>>>>> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>>>>> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>>>>>
>>>>
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>
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