<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Wes,<br><br>Hah! I'm sure I could lend a hand on some of our lovely beaches sometime! Apologies for the slower-than-usual response. I got a laugh out of your email though.<br><br></div><div>All,<br></div><div><br></div>I want to echo what Mr. Bittner wrote. I appreciate the information being distributed and would really like to make sure that we have it in an easily-accessible archive. I could be mistaken, but it strikes me that the majority of the information is in the heads of just a few people. <br><br></div>While I appreciate this is just how things have gone, it also sheds a bright light on one of those many business/process flaws we suffer from. We need data like this to be readily available for the LNC so that people can make well-informed decisions. And I'll just go ahead and write it since apparently it's an elephant around here, we also most definitely need to have this data cataloged so that every - single - person on this board is 100% expendable. I'm certainly including myself in that claim (and staff too for what it's worth). Nobody should be granted a role in this organization simply because they're the only ones who know how something works. And since nobody else seems to have data on this topic and since it's quite obviously a HUGE point of importance for the LNC, something has to give. In any other organization those people would be required to distribute that information to the team or they themselves would be terminated. I would like to help lead that effort any way I can so that this is not a one, or two, or five man show, but rather a full team.<br><br></div>I happen to hire and manage a lot of people both for the businesses I own and for the ones I consult for. I can't say for certain at this point because I really haven't had a chance to analyze the numbers in any depth, but it seems we could likely pay people much better for the job than we originally did. Having followed some of the emails much earlier in this process, it seems that we were paying people "market rates" for the work they were preparing to do (and have now done).<br><br></div>As a general business strategy I tend to pay my employees and contractors well above "market rate". In exchange for this I most certainly get the best, brightest, and most hard-working people on my team (yay capitalism). I am also able to put many more caveats on the workload. I don't reward being late. I don't reward inaccuracy. I don't reward repeat mistakes. I am paying for quality and so I demand it from people working for me. In this case that would focus on expediency and accuracy.<br><br>Again, I'm not saying for certain that this would be a good strategy as I certainly don't know the market well, but it often strikes me that a common Libertarian mentality is to pay "what the market can handle". But let's face it, the truth is that we're just being cheap. Just plain cheap. And of course as a predictable consequence, we get exactly what we pay for. In this case a complete inability to predict the actual time and cost of completing this task from the get-go with an almost 100% cost markup from the original goal. That's should be awfully troubling to anyone who manages people. These people have allegedly been doing ballot petition drives for years and they're 100% off of their estimates? That's pretty bad. Yes, I know you can rattle off a bunch of reasons as to why there were more costs; I read the emails. But then I will just say, "and so quite clearly their inability to predict those obstacles to the tune of *double* means maybe they're not the best afterall".<br><br></div>All I'm saying is that with actual numbers to examine, perhaps there is a better, faster, more efficient and cost effective way to do this. In fact, that strategy might not just benefit the Libertarian Party, but might actually endear us to highly competent and qualified petitioners from around the country (and world) who hear we're a great enterprise to work for/with.<br><br></div>I will be working to catalog as much info as I can into a Wiki and I hope I can recruit some LNC members to help me with that. I intend to strictly moderate it so that it is limited to LNC members (for input anyways) and will ensure it contains data, facts, and NOT opinions.<br><br></div><div>In all though, thank you so very much to Wes and Robert for having provided information as we have gone along. It's been very helpful and is very much appreciated!<br><br></div><div>Thanks as always.<br></div><div>Kevin Ludlow<br></div><div>Region 7 Rep<br>512-773-3968<br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 10:40 AM, Brett Bittner <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:brett@brettbittner.com" target="_blank">brett@brettbittner.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I have flip flops, and I may be able to make the sacrifice to petition during Spring Break at South Padre Island. It will be tough, as the snow in Indiana will be hard to leave, but somebody has to do it.<div><br></div><div>Seriously, thank you, Wes! Your updates have made this process more visible to LNC members and those that read the list outside the LNC.</div><div><br></div><div>Kevin, I appreciate your desire to get the nuts and bolts recorded to make future decisions regarding $100k expenditures with more data and less conjecture.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div>Brett C. Bittner<div><br></div><div><a href="mailto:brett@brettbittner.com" target="_blank">brett@brettbittner.com</a></div><div><a href="tel:404.492.6524" value="+14044926524" target="_blank">404.492.6524</a></div><div><div><br></div><div>"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." -- Thomas Jefferson</div></div></div></div><div><div class="h5">
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 11:31 AM, Wes Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
Kevin, there's a giant blizzard headed my way, and I'll be rushing
home to work from home soon, so I'm going to keep this short.<br>
<br>
1. We contracted with one organization (the LP OK), which
subcontracted to 31 individuals and 2 organizations so far.<br>
<br>
2. We have 40,045 signatures in hand. <br>
<br>
3. 24,712 valid are required. The best estimates I've heard for
validity are 67%, which comes to 26,830. But valid signatures is not
a number that's knowable with certainty, even with a theoretical
unlimited resources. Our validity checkers may make different
judgements than the Oklahoma elections officials in each county. We
want plenty of extra signatures to be safe. The LNC is not paying
for more signatures, but volunteer and local efforts continue. <br>
<br>
4. My cost estimate so far is $101,077. I don't expect it go higher
hardly at all. We've stopped spending and paid for everything, but
some small bills might still roll in.<br>
<br>
Finally, I'm going to interrupt this winter in Alexandria, Virgina,
and the ice storm I endured while visiting Oklahoma, and bring back
scenes from my experience 12 years ago petitioning in Texas. South
Padre Island, Texas, that is. Spring Break. <a href="https://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/80107-signatures-two-hotties-and-mismanagement-of-the-insane-professional-lp-petitioners/" target="_blank">Click
on the photo </a>for the full story of petitioning in Texas. See
some of the same ole names in the comments. Kevin, you better get
your flip flops ready and your sun tan lotion and book early for
2018 Spring Break because LP Texas is going to have to petition
again most likely, for the first time since 2004, and I can't go to
Padre anymore.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/80107-signatures-two-hotties-and-mismanagement-of-the-insane-professional-lp-petitioners/" target="_blank"><img src="cid:part2.01090705.05080204@lp.org" alt="" height="386" border="0" width="510"></a><span><br>
<br>
<pre cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
</span><div><div><div>On 1/22/2016 1:55 AM, Kevin Ludlow
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>Thanks for having sent out this information,
Wes.<br>
<br>
</div>
Now that the petition is ended (at least I think
it is), do we have the numbers yet?<br>
<br>
</div>
I would be very interested in the following data
points:<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>1) How many different people we employed to
collect signatures<br>
</div>
2) How many signatures we collected in total<br>
</div>
3) How many VALID signatures we collected<br>
</div>
4) What the total cost was for all of the signature
collection<br>
<br>
</div>
And before anybody thinks there's some interest to twist it
around, I'm simply interested in archiving this data for the
future so that we have better records next time it comes
up. It seems to me that we do a lot of guess work around
here. It also seems to me that in order to improve upon
that we really need to be more diligent with data. As
always, apologies if I'm mistaken, but I certainly don't
know of any available resource that houses data like this.
I'd like to help improve that any which way I can.<br>
<br>
</div>
Kevin Ludlow<br>
</div>
Region 7 Rep<br>
<a href="tel:512-773-3968" value="+15127733968" target="_blank">512-773-3968</a><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 12:11 PM, Wes
Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Thanks Roland. I just
sent you an email separately with contacts in Oklahoma
that can get you set up and productive quickly. Thank you
again so much for helping out in such a big way. <br>
<br>
<pre cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<span><a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></span></pre>
<div>On 1/19/2016 10:57 PM, Roland Riemers wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:16px">
<div><span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr">Wes, my latest schedule plans seems to
be to leave ND on this Thursday or Friday. Instead
of Tulsa, I decided on Oklahoma City instead,
because I have a daughter and free housing there.
She lives in Moore, Oklahoma, and I have her and
her husbands signatures already obligated. Moore is
in Cleveland County, and it looks like a lot of good
open housing developments in that area, so I might
just concentrate on house to house in Cleveland
County and maybe some large sites during the day
where I can set up a table and chair. Weather looks
good for this time period. </div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Have anyway in Okahoma City area that
would be willing to work with me a few days?</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">I have the petitions all printed out,
and also some voter registration forms for those not
registered, although not quit sure where they
should be turned in to.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">While in Oklahoma, locals can reach me
on my cell phone at <a href="tel:701-317-1803" value="+17013171803" target="_blank">701-317-1803</a>.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">I will drive one of my vans down, so if
any volunteers, I can also provide transportation.
Will also have my table and chairs and even my
bullhorn and a few American Flags if needed.</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Roland Riemers, ND<br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div style="display:block">
<div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:16px">
<div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif;font-size:16px">
<div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2">
<hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">From:</span></b>
Wes Benedict <a href="mailto:Wes.Benedict@lp.org" target="_blank"><Wes.Benedict@lp.org></a><br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</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">Sent:</span></b>
Monday, January 18, 2016 1:32 AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b>
[Lnc-business] Fwd: Ending Oklahoma paid
petition drive on January 18th (today)<br>
</font> </div>
<div><br>
<div>
<div><span> Roland, we'd still like
your help to cover unexpected problems
with validity. But we'll be finished
with the paid portion of the drive
today.<br>
<br>
If someone wants to contribute $1,500
directly to the LP Oklahoma, that could
pay for an additional 1,000 signatures
at the $1.50 rate. Contact me if you are
interested in that (or Tina directly if
you're in contact with her). You need to
make sure it goes into their ballot
access fund instead of their general
fund to be sure it gets spent on
signatures.<br>
<br>
Graph below (more signatures are on the
way not yet reflected in that graph),
and the "ending" announcement is below.
<br>
<br>
<img alt=""> </span>
<div><br>
<br>
-------- Forwarded Message --------
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">Subject: </th>
<td>Ending Oklahoma paid petition
drive on January 18th (today)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Mon, 18 Jan 2016 02:22:57
-0500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>Wes Benedict <a href="mailto:Wes.Benedict@lp.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:Wes.Benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">mailto:Wes.Benedict@lp.org</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td>Tina Kelly <a href="mailto:tina.kelly@cox.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:tina.kelly@cox.net" target="_blank">mailto:tina.kelly@cox.net</a>,
Bill Redpath <a href="mailto:william.redpath@lp.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:william.redpath@lp.org" target="_blank">mailto:william.redpath@lp.org</a>,
Nicholas Sarwark <a href="mailto:chair@lp.org" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:chair@lp.org" target="_blank">mailto:chair@lp.org</a>,
<a href="mailto:travellingcircus@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">travellingcircus@gmail.com</a>,
<a href="mailto:ken.moellman@lpky.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ken.moellman@lpky.org</a>,
<a href="mailto:oliverbhall@gmail.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">oliverbhall@gmail.com</a>,
'Richard Winger' <a href="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com" target="_blank">mailto:richardwinger@yahoo.com</a>,
'Robert Kraus' <a href="mailto:robert.kraus@lp.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:robert.kraus@lp.org" target="_blank">mailto:robert.kraus@lp.org</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div>
<div> <br>
<br>
Due to strong progress, we are
ending the paid petitioning in
Oklahoma at the $1.50 rate at the
end of the day on January 18, 2016
(that's means today if you are
reading this the day it is sent).<br>
<br>
Petitioners will have four days to
turn in their signatures to Tin
Kelly (turn them in by January 22,
2016). <br>
<br>
My note below indicated we would end
the $2.50 rate on January 17, and
due to quantities projected, we are
ending the $1.50 rate on January 18
(just one day's worth).<br>
<br>
A big thank you goes out to everyone
who helped with this drive. We still
need a couple thousand signatures
from volunteers in Oklahoma to make
sure this drive is successful. If
you are interested in collecting as
a volunteer, please contact Tina
Kelly.<br>
<br>
<br>
<div>Wes Benedict, Executive
Director<br>
<small><small>Libertarian National
Committee, Inc.<br>
<b>New address: 1444 Duke St.,
Alexandria, VA 22314</b><br>
<a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202)
333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a>
@LPNational<br>
Join the Libertarian Party at:
<a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></small></small><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Wes Benedict wrote on 1/11/2016
6:57 PM:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">Attention
petitioners, Libertarian National
Committee, and Libertarian Party
of Oklahoma: the deadline for paid
petitioning in Oklahoma at $2.50
per signature is January 17. We
are almost out of money and have
almost reached our targets. <br>
<br>
Thanks to a great effort by many
petitioners, we are close to
hitting our approximate target of
around 38,000 signatures paid for
by the Libertarian National
Committee and Libertarian Party of
Oklahoma. We will come close to
reaching that target on January
17. <br>
<br>
Petitioners will have four days
after January 17 to get their
signatures turned in to Tina
Kelly, the petition organizer in
Oklahoma. You will not get paid
$2.50 per signature for signatures
collected after January 17. <br>
<br>
We may be short a a few hundred or
a few thousand signatures. We may
hire a few people to continue
collecting signatures at $1.50 per
signature after January 17 perhaps
for several days. If you are
interested in collecting
signatures for $1.50 after January
17 for a limited amount of time,
please contact Tina Kelly and get
approval for that in advance. <br>
<br>
Thanks for your great work on this
petition drive. <br>
<br>
This email is approved for release
to others, including the public. <br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lnc-business mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
<br>
<pre>_______________________________________________
Lnc-business mailing list
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lnc-business mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a><br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>========================================================<br>
Kevin Ludlow<br>
<a href="tel:512-773-3968" value="+15127733968" target="_blank">512-773-3968</a><br>
</div>
<div><a href="http://www.kevinludlow.com" target="_blank">http://www.kevinludlow.com</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
<br>
<pre>_______________________________________________
Lnc-business mailing list
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div></div></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
Lnc-business mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
Lnc-business mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>========================================================<br>Kevin Ludlow<br>512-773-3968<br></div><div><a href="http://www.kevinludlow.com" target="_blank">http://www.kevinludlow.com</a><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>