<p dir="ltr">I would not be opposed to an affiliate agreement, depending on the terms. If nothing else, it would mean not having dilemmas like this one, and the fear that states view listing their candidates, information they provide to us, with media outlets, as infringing on their autonomy. The solution when a large group doesn't agree on what terms mean is to set those terms out in writing. </p>
<p dir="ltr">However, I don't see how to have one without changing the bylaws. I'd want to be very careful about the wording of that revision. It should not just remove the autonomy statement. I'd favor adding a clause allowing for an agreement, but not requiring one. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Joshua Katz </p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Oct 1, 2014 4:42 PM, "Scott L." <<a href="mailto:scott73@earthlink.net">scott73@earthlink.net</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Some might construe this idea as
off-topic, but I don’t think it is.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">This has probably been implemented
before, but since we are again facing the problem of non-responsive
state-affiliates, perhaps this would work:<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Most state affiliates do not have
enough money to hire anyone full-time, or perhaps even part-time. However, in
unity there is strength.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">I did a <u>very, very rough</u>
back of the envelope calculation, and came up with a figure of $10 per <b><span style="font-weight:bold">National</span></b> LP member per year to have a full
time employee whose sole job would be to act as a remote office-manager for the
30 smallest state affiliates. I understand that due to FEC regulations this
would probably have to be organized by the states, and that state LP membership
is likely to be a smaller number than National LP membership in a given state.
I am hoping that we have enough fund-raising expertise in our party to teach
our affiliates to be able to raise this amount of money for that purpose.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">This full-time employee would
essentially be working full-time for 1 ½ weeks each year for each state that
they were working for. The 30 smallest state affiliates all have fewer than
200 National LP members, so my guess is that 1.5 weeks per year is enough time
to keep up the state’s database, make sure the web site is kept up to
date with logistical content (contact info, event info, etc), and answer the
phone for that affiliate. I assume the next largest 15 states could hire
another employee to perform a similar function, and I assume there are 5 states
that can take care of these functions on their own.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Perhaps the National LP’s
contract with affiliates should include a provision that affiliates must have a
live person available to answer the phone from 8am until 8pm local time (phone
trees would be permissible for this purpose), and that this office manager
would fill that requirement.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">So – when a media call came
in for a given state, this employee would call each person on the list in a
given state until they reached someone. This might require enabling the Chair,
Vice-Chair, and one other person the authority to answer media inquires, but
that would help guarantee that media inquires would be answered by an in-state
LP official. Of course, you don’t need an employee to have a phone tree,
but I would guess that it is always better for the media person to be able to
initially reach a live person within one minute.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Obviously the goal is to grow all
of our affiliates to the point that all of them can afford to have at least one
full-time employee, but the above suggestion is the first step towards that
goal.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana">Volunteers are great, but if you
absolutely, positively do not want stuff to fall thru the cracks, you need to
pay someone to get that kind of service year in and year out.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"> Scott Lieberman</span></font><font face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font color="black" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext;font-weight:bold">From:</span></font></b><font color="black" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext"> Lnc-business [mailto:<a href="mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org</a>] <b><span style="font-weight:bold">On Behalf Of </span></b>Norm Olsen<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, October 01, 2014
12:07 PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b> 'Wes Benedict'<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Cc:</span></b> <a href="mailto:lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Lnc-business]
[Statechairs] LP National's dilemma Re: DenverPost Voter's Guide contact
information</span></font><font color="black"><span style="color:windowtext"><u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Hello Wes . . .<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">With regard to your
message:<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>1><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">National
is capable of supporting a full time staff of 6(?). State Chairs and
other affiliate officers are all volunteers.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>2><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Maybe
two or three affiliates have a full (or even part time) employee which is not a
volunteer.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>3><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">National
should respond to all reasonable requests in this very busy time of year in a
reasonable manner.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>4><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Affiliates
where the requested information is not easily accessible to media are in no
position to complain.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>5><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">The
judgment of the Executive Director and the Political Director should be
trusted.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>6><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">More
frequent contact between national and the affiliates would establish some
report and thus reduce substantially this type of paranoia which is hurting us.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><span>7><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></font></span></span></font><u></u><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Yes,
staff has a lot to do, but general elections only occur once every two years.<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Norm<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">--<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Lucida Handwriting"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Handwriting";color:#1f497d">Norman
T Olsen<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#1f497d" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1f497d">Regional
Representative, Region I</span></font><font face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font color="black" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext;font-weight:bold">From:</span></font></b><font color="black" face="Tahoma"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:windowtext"> Statechairs [mailto:<a href="mailto:statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">statechairs-bounces@hq.lp.org</a>] <b><span style="font-weight:bold">On Behalf Of </span></b>Wes Benedict<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b> Monday, September 29, 2014
2:56 PM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b> Chuck Plunkett;
<a href="mailto:statechairs@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">statechairs@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b> [Statechairs] LP
National's dilemma Re: Denver Post Voter's Guide contact information<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Perhaps you can imagine
the dilemma we face at LP National. Do we help expedite coverage for our
candidates in a quick efficient way, or put another thing on the plate of the
state chair, or engage in a sometimes time-consuming cumbersome permission
process with the state chair?<br>
<br>
It's quick and easy for us to make a list and send it to a reporter. It's even
quicker simply to forward a note like this to a state chair. It's time
consuming to contact the state chair, wait for a response for hours or days,
then decide what to do if a response is not forthcoming.<br>
<br>
Based on participation rates on recent IT Committee surveys, LP News affiliate
submissions, and responses to requests for updates to things like State Chair
contact lists, I think most state chairs are quite busy and don't have time to
respond to lots of things like this. <br>
<br>
I don't think sending a list of contacts to a reporter violates state affiliate
autonomy. I think telling a state affiliate they are required to send a list to
a reporter DOES violate state affiliate autonomy. <br>
<br>
In this particular case for Colorado and the alleged Denver Post contact, I'm
going to pass the buck and ask our political director Carla Howell to use her
best judgement (meaning to judge whether or not the contact is legit and is a
legit and important enough media outlet to warrant a list, is it important
enough for us to send a list, should the state chair be contacted first for
permission, etc.)<br>
<br>
I've heard from one person "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission"
and also "don't talk to any media in my state." <br>
<br>
LP Colorado, please speak up if you have an opinion on this in the mean time. I
know some states are quick to respond and some almost never respond. Thanks,<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Wes Benedict, Executive Director<u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
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