<div dir="ltr">It seems to me that this continues to be an excellent argument for a September meeting. I know I feel less and less comfortable supporting or opposing anything without an actual deliberative assembly. That has also been the sense of my regional members so far.<div><br></div><div>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666"><b>In Liberty,</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666"><b>Caryn Ann Harlos</b></font></div><div><font size="1">Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee </font><span style="font-size:x-small">(Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - <a>Caryn.Ann. Harlos@LP.org</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Communications Director, <a href="http://www.lpcolorado.org/" target="_blank">Libertarian Party of Colorado</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Colorado State Coordinator, <a href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/" target="_blank">Libertarian Party Radical Caucus</a></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Sep 4, 2016 at 5:00 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 dir="auto"><div>Aaron , I'll try to answer that exactly on Tuesday. </div><div><br></div><div>In advance of my exact answer, would you care to suggest an amount you think would sound concerningly high to you, an amount you think is expected or completely reasonable, and an amount you think is comfortably low?</div><div><br></div><div>Do you have other questions you'd like us to work on that you can ask now? </div><div><div class="h5"><div><br></div><div><br>On Sep 4, 2016, at 6:32 PM, Aaron Starr <<a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div>At first I understood that "<span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">all of these budget increase requests are the result of good news".</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">With further inquiry I now understand that is not the full explanation: </span>"<span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">There have been some raises and bonuses given that also affect overall compensation--with my own total compensation being the biggest factor there (as you know I was given a new contract by the LNC in July 2016)."</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">We are certainly aware of the change caused by the new executive director contract. That explains some, but not all, of the requested $60K increase for the balance of the year. </span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Before supporting an increase in budget for compensation we should all understand that there is a distinction to be made between increased expenditures due to timing differences (or even an increase in activity) versus increased expenditures resulting from pay raises.</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">How much was paid in bonuses so far during 2016?</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Not including the Executive Director, how much has the annualized cost of compensation increased on account of changes in pay rates?</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">Aaron Starr</span></div><div><br></div><div><br>Sent from my iPad</div><div><br>On Sep 2, 2016, at 10:15 AM, Wes Benedict <<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<p>I haven't taken the Policy Manual out to read it in detail before
providing this response, and I haven't taken the time to
investigate line-by-line every 2016 expenditure, but in general,
unless I'm mistaken, the budgets that the LNC passes are annual
limits on expenditures, not monthly limits. Some months we may go
over the average monthly budget limitation, and some months we may
go under the average monthly limit. <br>
</p>
<p>Beyond monthly variations, however, as you noted below, we have
indeed consistently spent at a rate that, if continued through to
the end of the year, would put us over the 2016 annual
compensation budget. <br>
</p>
<p>My thinking for the 2016 effort was that we should plan for
success, but be prepared for the worst, and also front-load our
expenses when it mattered the most. So, I was comfortable spending
over the average monthly limits in the first two-thirds of the
year when we had the very large critical projects of the <b>national
convention</b>, and <b>50 state ballot access,</b> that take a
lot of staff time. Had things gone really poorly this year, we
would still have had the option of cutting back staff sufficient
to meet whatever budget restrictions were in place later in the
year. As an exaggerated example, in theory, if things had going
really really poorly, we could terminate every staff member except
for Robert Kraus, terminate most contractors, and I could have
resigned myself (or be terminated). Again, that's not what we
expected, or hoped for, but it was a way to meet budget
requirements if needed.</p>
<p>It turns out, things have gone really well--far better than the
LNC or I projected. And my thinking back in early 2016 was that if
things did go very well this year, the LNC would likely want to
increase the budget later in the year.<br>
</p>
<p>There have been some raises and bonuses given that also affect
overall compensation--with my own total compensation being the
biggest factor there (as you know I was given a new contract by
the LNC in July 2016). </p>
<p>The bottom line is, we can add people and hours and pay and
continue working to grow this party, or we can cut people and
hours and pay, and shrink it. My recommendation is to grow. <br>
</p>
<p>In summary, we have been spending more than our average monthly
budgeted amount, and I recommend increasing the budget. <br>
</p>
<p>This email took me an hour to write because I was trying to be
rather careful. Hopefully I got all of my facts right, or at least
close enough. I'll be correcting a fact in a response to Alicia.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<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>
<div>On 9/2/2016 2:48 AM, Aaron Starr wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Wes,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I’m
still missing something here.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The
original budget for compensation was based on a particular
staffing level at specific amounts of compensation.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">It
looks like the activity of the first eight months is already
running at a rate that will exceed the budget for
compensation for the year. (If $314,155 is eight months of
expense, a simple extrapolation would bring us to $471,233
for twelve months, which is well above the budget of
$388,800.) I seem to recall that most of our compensation
cost is based on fixed salaries, not hourly rates.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">During
the first eight months we were spending just under $40K per
month. For the last four months of the year you anticipate
spending only $34K per month, so I’m not seeing how the need
for a $60K increase in the budget is due to a need to cover
increased people costs between now and the end of the year.
It appears that we were spending well over our budget
earlier during the year. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Aaron
Starr<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(805)
583-3308 Home<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(805)
404-8693 Mobile<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">
Lnc-business [<a href="mailto:lnc-business-bounces@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">mailto:lnc-business-bounces@<wbr>hq.lp.org</a>] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>Wes Benedict<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 01, 2016 4:25 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Lnc-business] Upcoming budget
increase requests<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p>I can't disclose exact pay rates and hours worked publicly on
this email list, as you know. In any case, the increase in the
budget is to cover more hours and more people than were
originally budgeted for. <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some contractors and staff have been
working more hours, and I'd like to continue working more
hours, than were in the original budget.<br>
<br>
I've got more contractors than in the original budget.<br>
<br>
I'd like to spend more on additional staff, including interns,
as advertised here:<br>
<a href="http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/hiring-libertarian-packaging-interns" target="_blank">http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/<wbr>hiring-libertarian-packaging-<wbr>interns</a><br>
<br>
<br>
With Robert's help, the numbers below show:<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">FYI
– Compensation:</span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Compensation
YTD * <wbr> $314,155 </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Est
Amount for Sept-Oct (based on July/Aug) $69,000 </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">Est
Amount for Nov-Dec <wbr>
$65,000 </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">TOTAL
EST 2016: <wbr>
$448,155 </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:navy">*
Includes 09/07 payroll </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
I'm prepared to scale back everywhere if needed as needed,
including cutting people, hours, pay rates, etc., if activity
drops post Election Day or whenever regardless of how far it
drops. Of course we hope to win lots of elections and see
activity skyrocket even higher after Election Day, but I'm
prudently prepared for the alternate scenario as well.<br>
<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p>
<pre>Wes Benedict, Executive Director<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><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><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 9/1/2016 6:25 PM, <a href="mailto:starrcpa@gmail.com" target="_blank">starrcpa@gmail.com</a>
wrote:<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for the good news!<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would like to understand in greater
detail the need for a $60,000 increase in compensation. <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aaron Starr<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPhone<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
On Sep 1, 2016, at 12:46 PM, Wes Benedict <<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>>
wrote:<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear LNC:<br>
<br>
I'd like to start a discussion about several budget
increase requests before a formal motion is considered.
I mentioned to the chair that I thought it would be good
for me to put this before the LNC soon, and he agreed it
was okay for me to get this discussion started on this
list.<br>
<br>
To me, all of these budget increase requests are the
result of good news -- our revenue, membership, and
interest is very high, far higher than budgeted, and as
a result, many of our expenses are higher as well. <br>
<br>
More revenue and members means more membership cards and
LP News to mail out, and bigger lists to send
fundraising letter to.<br>
<br>
The original 2016 Budget adopted for the entire year of
2016 was <b>$1,474,561</b>. My preliminary estimate
for August 31, 2016 YTD revenue is $1,679,938 (July 2016
YTD) plus $412,425 (August 2016) = <b>$2,092,363</b>.
It's possible we could double the original revenue
budgeted for the entire year (although I'm not ready to
predict that). <br>
<br>
Dues-paying membership has increased from <b>11,693</b>
at the start of January to approximately <b>19,300</b>
at the end of August. <br>
<br>
The original budget for branding revenue was <b>$35,000</b>.
We've already brought in <b>$205,862</b> in branding
revenue (that's mostly the stuff we sell at <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a>).<br>
<br>
Again, all of these increases in donations, memberships,
and store orders, means higher postage, credit card
processing fees, purchases of items offered at <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a>,
office supplies, and some labor to help process all that
stuff.<br>
<br>
Robert Kraus and I have looked over the results of this
year to date, considered what things could look like
going forward, and are recommending that the LNC
proposed and passes the following budget increases. <br>
<br>
<br>
26-Brand Political Materials Revenue increase by
$150,000 to $400,000<br>
32-Fundraising Costs increase by $60,000 to $201,364<br>
33-Membership Fundraising Costs increase by $35,000 to
$127,200<br>
40-Adminstrative Costs increase by $50,000 to $310,050<br>
45-Compensation increase by $60,000 to $448,800<br>
55-Brand Political Materials Expense increase by
$150,000 to $400,000<br>
85-Member Communication increase by $17,500 to $62,500<br>
<br>
We have the revenue to pay for all of these budget
increases. I'm pretty certain we have more money in the
bank for the September of a Presidential election year
than ever before in the history of the Libertarian
Party, and that's in spite of paying what it has taken
to achieve 50 state ballot access for the first time
since 2000.<br>
<br>
While we are not technically over budget in most areas,
we are trending in that direction and certainly will go
way over budget by the end of the year unless I
proactively cut back on fundraising letters, LP News,
shipping <a href="http://lpstore.org" target="_blank">LPStore.org</a> materials,
staff levels, and other areas. That could be done, but I
don't think it's the right thing to do. For example,
instead of focusing my time on trying to continue the
growth of membership and fundraising by hiring another
intern to fill boxes with campaign materials, I could
spend my own time stuffing envelopes and filling boxes
with yard signs--something I do actually enjoy and find
to be therapeutic. <br>
<br>
I'd be happy to try to respond to any questions you have
on these items. <br>
<br>
Thanks for your consideration. I'm hoping we have a
productive discussion on this, and then the chair or
treasurer can propose a motion that fits a consensus for
you to consider of the Labor Day Weekend. <br>
<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p>
<pre>-- <u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Wes Benedict, Executive Director<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><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><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">______________________________<wbr>_________________<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/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a><u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p>
<pre>______________________________<wbr>_________________<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Lnc-business mailing list<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
<br>
<pre>______________________________<wbr>_________________
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/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>______________________________<wbr>_________________</span><br><span>Lnc-business mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a></span><br><span><a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a></span><br></div></blockquote></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>______________________________<wbr>_________________</span><br><span>Lnc-business mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a></span><br><span><a href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a></span><br></div></blockquote></div></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<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/<wbr>listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.<wbr>org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666"><b>In Liberty,</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666"><b>Caryn Ann Harlos</b></font></div><div><font size="1">Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee </font><span style="font-size:x-small">(Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - <a href="mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos@LP.org" target="_blank">Caryn.Ann. Harlos@LP.org</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Communications Director, <a href="http://www.lpcolorado.org" target="_blank">Libertarian Party of Colorado</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">Colorado State Coordinator, <a href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org" target="_blank">Libertarian Party Radical Caucus</a></span></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size:x-small"><br></span></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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