[Lnc-business] contractors and delegate status at convention

[Alex Merced (Region 8 Alt)]

I am comfortable with current policy and practice outlined in your email.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 8, 2018, at 1:50 PM, Wes Benedict <wes.benedict at lp.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear LNC:
> 
> I wanted to open up a discussion regarding convention attendance and participation by 1) Staff Employees, 2) Staff Contractors, and 3) Non-staff Contractors. This is for disclosure purposes, to review the LNC's policies, to disclose my personal additional restrictions and recommendations, and to also give the LNC time to make any policy adjustments you might want to make.
> 
> It matters now because I think we have some staff contractors willing to pay all of their expenses, including flight, hotel and as much as a Gold Package, to attend the convention, and in those cases I want to make sure it's also okay for those people to serve as delegates.
> 
> There are three categories mentioned in the first paragraph above, and I'm describing them below:
> 
> 1) Staff Employees - people listed here https://www.lp.org/staff/ that meet the government's definition of "employee."
> 
> 2) Staff Contractors - people listed here https://www.lp.org/staff/ that meet the government's definition of "contractor" (confirmed by legal counsel).
> 
> 3) Non-staff Contractors - people NOT listed here https://www.lp.org/staff/ that might have been a vendor or done some contract work for the LNC for compensation, like ballot access petitioners, some graphic designers, telemarketers, etc.
> 
> You can find examples of who's in what category on page 30 of this 2017 page document:
> 
> https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017_08_19-20-LNC-Minutes-approved.pdf
> 
> The LNC's Policy Manual, Section 2.01 subsection 3) Employment Terms:
> 
> Page 20: https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180115_LNC_Policy_Manual.pdf
> 
> "Employment agreements shall specify in writing that registering as delegate to any national
> party convention constitutes an immediate resignation of employment."
> 
> That section clearly prohibits 1) Staff Employees from being delegates. that section does not prohibit 2) Staff Contractors or #) Non-staff Contractors from being delegates.
> 
> The LNC's Policy Manual, Section 2.03 subsection 4) Conventions:
> 
> Page 30: https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/20180115_LNC_Policy_Manual.pdf
> 
> "4) Conventions
> The Party shall not directly or indirectly compensate or otherwise underwrite or subsidize the
> convention travel, lodging (excepting room upgrades which the Party received at no cost),
> entertainment costs or speaker fees/honorariums of any Convention delegates. This policy
> shall not prohibit the Party from underwriting organized convention events offered to all
> donors of a particular level. Nor shall it prohibit delegates from receiving complementary
> meals or access to convention events in rough proportion to their level of volunteer work. All
> volunteer compensation must be approved by the Convention Oversight Committee, and
> contemporaneously published when actual compensation is received. "
> 
> That section prohibits everyone, including 2) Staff Contractors and 3) Non-staff Contractors from having expenses covered by the Party and being a delegate.
> 
> But, staff contractors paying their own way appear to be allowed to be delegates, and that's been our practice in prior years.
> 
> In case it helps to use a specific individual as an example, I'll do that here. Our Press Secretary, Richard Fields, is a contractor, and plans to attend our 2018 Convention in New Orleans at his own expense (paying his own airfare, hotel, and purchasing a convention package). While I would have liked for the party to bring every staff member including Richard to the convention and to cover all of his expenses to attend the convention and have him "on the clock" while there and writing press releases, we try to keep our convention costs under control and so I've only selected a portion of our staff I feel are the most critical to have on location at this convention. Since Richard is paying his own way to be there, and since he's not an employee, I think he is not breaking any rules if he decides to serve as a delegate at the convention. Richard is NOT intending to serve as a delegate, so his situation is entirely flexible on this matter. However, I wanted to bring this issue up the the LNC because I think I would be correct in saying that Richard is allowed to serve as a delegate if he chooses to.
> 
> My intention is to inform Richard and any others that fit his similar situation (not being compensated at the convention, covering their own expenses, a contractor and not an employee) that they are allowed to serve as delegates at the convention if they'd like to and are picked up as delegates by a state.
> 
> If there's substantial disagreement with my previous sentence, I'd like the LNC to clarify the situation further by amending the Policy Manual as needed. And, if I see discussion along the lines of seriously considering a change, that will help me help staff make educated guesses on how important it is to keep various options open.
> 
> I am comfortable with the current policy, or with a policy amendment, though I lean towards keeping the current policy and practice.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -- 
> 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
>