[Lnc-business] The fiduciary duties of the chairmanship

Tue May 26 19:42:35 EDT 2020

Nick, sincr the contract is bad, why didn't you express your concerns last
night at the COC meeting. Several LNC members did and those points are
being sent back to the hotel for consideration. I was silent the whole time
but noted your attendance early in the evening. Any concerns you had or
have could have and should have been brought up there. You don't get to
refuse to participate and then claim foul because your voice wasn't heard.
The fact that you dialed in showed you didn't forget about the meeting or
have other plans. Please explain your concerns in detail.

Before you do, please explicitly state the intent of your message above. It
implies you are not willing to sign but is very careful not to say that in
clear terms. I, this body, and the party tire of these games and we would
like to look to the future again and how to make everything work rather
than focusing on whether or not the chair will execute his duties.

Please state frankly and clearly: will you sign the contract if the COC
follows the appropriate procedures for negotiation and puts it in front of
you, yes or no?

Richard Longstreth
Region 1 Representative (AK, AZ, CO, HI, KS, MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY)
Libertarian National Committee
richard.longstreth at lp.org
931.538.9300

Sent from my Mobile Device

On Tue, May 26, 2020, 16:12 erin.adams--- via Lnc-business <
lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:

> I have also yet to see any communication from mr. Hall that says he feels
> this is a "bad contract" . What I have seen is him State new rest times
> that it is not his role to tell us whether or not a contract is good or bad
> but only to advise us I'm potential liabilities in any contract. If someone
> else has seen something other than that please point it out for me because
> it certainly isn't something I want to miss
>
> Erin Adams Region 7 alt.
>
> On May 26, 2020 6:08 PM, Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business <
> lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>
> The chair signed a contract for 2020 Austin with potential liquidated
> damages of up to $166,279 for non-force-majeure cancellation.  Yet we
> don't
> owe that amount because it was cancelled under the force-majeure clause.
>
> The chair signed a contract for 2022 Reno with potential liquidated
> damages
> of up to $215,011 for non-force-majeure cancellation.
> The chair signed a contract for 2024 D.C. with potential liquidated
> damages
> of up to $252, 860 for non-force-majeure cancellation.
>
> In the bigger context, the non-force-majeure cancellation clause for
> Austin
> is fairly low at $105k.
>
> Again I will suggest that the readers consult the policy manual language
> before buying the chair's utterly false description that the COC has
> "taken
> it upon themselves to decide what contracts are beneficial."  The LNC has
> expressly delegated this task to the COC and said that the COC acts "on
> behalf of the LNC" in this matter.  See policy manual 2.02.7:
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "The Convention Oversight Committee shall make recommendations for
> convention sites to the LNC, but the LNC shall choose the site.  On other
> matters concerning the Party’s conventions, the committee shall act on
> behalf of the LNC, including:
>
> -conveying requirements to convention planners.
> -ensuring the convention meets the Party’s needs.
> -reviewing and approving in a timely manner major elements, such as
> contracts, the convention budget and the convention program.
>
> The committee shall periodically report its decisions and actions to the
> LNC... "
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> -Alicia
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 26, 2020 at 3:45 PM Nicholas Sarwark via Lnc-business <
> lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>
> > Dear All,
> >
> > Since our bylaws and policy manual make me the person who decides on
> party
> > decisions and how to speak or behave on behalf of the party in the
> absence
> > of an explicit LNC decision to override my authority, I thought it might
> be
> > worth letting the LNC know how I exercise those prerogatives.
> >
> > While members of the LNC or other party members may have particular
> > functions they think are most important, my role as Chair is to make
> sure
> > the LNC is best able to meet the purposes outlined in the bylaws:
> >
> > “The Party is organized to implement and give voice to the principles
> > embodied in the Statement of Principles by:
> > 1.functioning as a libertarian political entity separate and distinct
> from
> > all other political parties or movements;
> > 2.electing Libertarians to public office to move public policy in a
> > libertarian direction;
> > 3.chartering affiliate parties throughout the United States and
> promoting
> > their growth and activities;
> > 4.nominating candidates for President and Vice-President of the United
> > States, and supporting Party and affiliate party candidates for
> political
> > office; and
> > 5.entering into public information activities.”
> >
> > In the current situation relative to a proposed second sitting in
> Orlando,
> > we have an LNC that as of today has no financial obligation to any event
> > venue in the future and is owed approximately $45K by the convention A/V
> > vendor as a deposit refund.
> >
> > There are members of the Convention Oversight Committee who would like
> me
> > to make the LNC liable for up to $105K in liquidated damages and to
> convert
> > that approximately $45K refund into a new contract for A/V services at
> an
> > in-person convention to be held less than 6 weeks from now.
> >
> > From a financial and prudential perspective, the proposed contract is
> bad
> > for the Libertarian Party. That is my opinion and the opinion of the
> > special counsel to the party. The current contract puts more risk on the
> > LNC and less on the hotel. It was negotiated by the Convention Oversight
> > Committee Chair without my input or approval. In fact, the Convention
> > Oversight Committee Chair has not taken my phone calls or communicated
> with
> > me directly for nearly a month. That is a choice he is allowed to make,
> but
> > I thought it worth sharing with the LNC so they can better understand
> the
> > situation we find ourselves in.
> >
> > A subcommittee of this committee has taken it on themselves to decide
> what
> > contracts are beneficial, whether we are allowed to hold an online
> > convention, and what our delegates will have to do to hold this
> Libertarian
> > National Committee accountable for their actions this term. That is
> upside
> > down from how things are supposed to work. Delegates should decide who
> > represents them on the LNC, not LNC members deciding who will be able to
> be
> > a delegate.
> >
> > I hope that helps give people a sense of how I intend to execute my
> duties
> > as Chair as long as I hold the office.
> >
> > Yours in liberty,
> > Nick
> >
>
>
>