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    <p>You are clearly an expert and so rather than doing it to prove
      something to me, would you consider working with the EPCC Audit
      Committee, and Treasurer, to generate a good coding system that
      answers the questions of how to allocate? <br>
    </p>
    <p>Perhaps test it for a few weeks once a draft plan is created.</p>
    <p><br>
    </p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lp.org/membership">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/2/2016 7:05 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
cite="mid:CAL4U=_p4RaTykJvmndCJ6zJpOuyLi51NJ_T5PtANhDva4s8JgQ@mail.gmail.com"
      type="cite">I have done it twenty years in my job.  As do
      attorneys all over the world.  I don't need to prove it further.
      <div><br>
      </div>
      <div>The issue is a good coding system that answers the questions
        of how to allocate.<span></span><br>
        <br>
        On Friday, December 2, 2016, Wes Benedict <<a
          moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>>
        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">
            <p>Caryn Ann, I don't mind if you do it successfully.  I'm
              not saying it can't be done.</p>
            <p>So, I hereby challenge you to do it, if you can do it
              without my help (meaning don't ask me what goes in what
              category).<br>
            </p>
            <p><br>
            </p>
            <pre cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','wes.benedict@lp.org');" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
            <div>On 12/2/2016 5:11 PM, Caryn Ann Harlos wrote:<br>
            </div>
            <blockquote type="cite">
              <div dir="ltr">Wes I'm not the best person to make that
                challenge to.  I'm a paralegal.  My entire work day
                requires me to keep track of every six minute block by L
                and A codes.  I have done it for twenty years.  It does
                require setting guidelines for what things get
                calculated as and tolerance levels on level of
                granularity.
                <div><br>
                </div>
                <div><br>
                  -- <br>
                  <div>
                    <div dir="ltr">
                      <div dir="ltr">
                        <div dir="ltr">
                          <div dir="ltr">
                            <div dir="ltr">
                              <div><font face="arial, helvetica,
                                  sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>In
                                    Liberty,</b></font></div>
                              <div><font face="arial, helvetica,
                                  sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><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
                                    moz-do-not-send="true">Caryn.Ann.
                                    Harlos@LP.org</a></span></div>
                              <div><span style="font-size:x-small">Communications
                                  Director, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
                                    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
                                    moz-do-not-send="true"
                                    href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/"
                                    target="_blank">Libertarian Party
                                    Radical Caucus</a></span></div>
                              <div><br>
                              </div>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                  <span></span>
                  <div><br>
                    On Friday, December 2, 2016, Wes Benedict <<a
                      moz-do-not-send="true"
                      href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','wes.benedict@lp.org');"
                      target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>> wrote:<br>
                    <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px
                      0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
                      rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
                      <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
                        <p>An interesting experiment would be for each
                          LNC member to track its hours for one month
                          according to the Functional Allocation of
                          Expenses procedures requested. It would give
                          you some hands on experience in dealing with
                          the reality that we switch categories often
                          every few minutes, like from:<br>
                        </p>
                        <p>40 - Admin (this conversation)</p>
                        <p>88 - Outreach (LNC photos on the website)</p>
                        <p>80 - Media or 85 - Member Communications
                          (delivering the message the LNC wants)</p>
                        <p>85 - Member Communication (recording the
                          termination of the membership of person who
                          disapproves of LNC buying meat)</p>
                        <p>40 Admin? or 55 Branding? or 70 - Ballot
                          Access?  - approving staff getting a poster
                          about ballot access printed.<br>
                        </p>
                        <p>I literally switch tasks every few minutes.
                          Trying to track this in detail is very tough.</p>
                        <p>I really would like to see the LNC track
                          themselves for a month. You'll find out how
                          hard this is after one hour.<br>
                        </p>
                        <p><br>
                        </p>
                        <pre cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre>
                        <div>On 12/2/2016 3:21 PM, Joshua Katz wrote:<br>
                        </div>
                        <blockquote type="cite">
                          <div dir="ltr">
                            <div>I pointed out earlier the concern I am
                              expressing here, but I did it briefly and
                              without much explanation, because I wanted
                              to know if, in fact, I have misunderstood,
                              if I was making a big mistake, and if my
                              concerns were unfounded.  All of that
                              remains perfectly possible, but the fact
                              that I have not received an explanation
                              making those points suggests to me that
                              perhaps I am onto something important.</div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>80% of the proposed budget is accounted
                              for by administration and compensation.  A
                              member seeing that might be excused for
                              believing that the national party simply
                              consumes 80 cents of each dollar
                              received.  This would be a mistake, but it
                              would be an understandable mistake - and
                              one we can easily prevent.  </div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>This member would be mistaken because
                              compensation is not consumption.  Staff
                              does a lot of things.  Staff work is a
                              very large proportion of what the national
                              party does.  When we see an affiliate
                              support line with a rather small number on
                              it, it conceals the fact that staff spends
                              a good amount of time supporting
                              affiliates.  Since staff time is split
                              between different functions, we have a
                              timesheet policy allowing staff time to be
                              billed to different lines.  </div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>So this brings us to, perhaps, a bigger
                              problem:  even knowing this, the member
                              reading this budget has no idea how much
                              of staff time is spent on what projects. 
                              Perhaps most importantly, neither does the
                              LNC.  Certainly the LNC is not giving
                              direction as to how staff time should be
                              spent.  We have, essentially, created a
                              black box into which we place 50% of the
                              annual budget.  </div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>A budget that breaks down staff time
                              the way it is to be billed, and that funds
                              staff time from line items, also allows
                              members, at a glance, to see what
                              priorities the national party has, and to
                              know easily and quickly what staff is
                              doing.  Most importantly, it assures
                              members that these priorities are being
                              set by those they elect to make such
                              decisions, not being left to the ED, or to
                              chance, or to "whatever is most pressing
                              at the moment."  I have said before that
                              my most pressing </div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>After all, functional and operational
                              transparency require not only that members
                              see and hear us talking, but that we are
                              talking about the things that members need
                              to know.  If we make ourselves open, but
                              exercise no control over fully half the
                              budget, we are not transparent.</div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>This is not at all hard to fix.  We
                              know the proposed total compensation.  We
                              may modify it at our meeting.  A portion
                              of that, perhaps 20%, should be left in
                              the compensation black-box.  The LNC can
                              decide what we'd like to prioritize by
                              setting percentages to various functional
                              lines.  The remaining compensation
                              multiplied by the percentage gives the
                              amount to be moved from compensation to
                              the appropriate line item.</div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>Maintaining is also easy.  Simply fund
                              compensation from the various lines, in
                              accordance with the timesheets received. 
                              The Treasurer can, in turn, keep an eye on
                              the lines, and see if some lines are over
                              or under funded.  If so, the board can
                              decide how to react - by amending the
                              budget, or by instructing staff to respect
                              the priorities set.  </div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>I am not known as a transparency
                              champion.  In large part, I have a
                              different notion of transparency from many
                              of my colleagues.  The above shows the
                              sort of transparency I worry about.  I
                              hope, though, that my colleagues who are
                              known as transparency champions will join
                              me on this issue, and join me in
                              requesting that we not place 50% of our
                              annual expenditure in a black-box line
                              item such that members cannot use the
                              budget to determine what it is that we do,
                              and we cannot use the budget to govern the
                              organization.</div>
                            <div><br>
                            </div>
                            <div>For my part, I am disinclined to vote
                              for a budget that black-boxes 50%, and
                              that charges 80% to administration.</div>
                            <div><br>
                              <div>
                                <div>
                                  <div>
                                    <div dir="ltr">
                                      <div>
                                        <div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz
                                          <div><br>
                                          </div>
                                        </div>
                                      </div>
                                    </div>
                                  </div>
                                </div>
                              </div>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                          <br>
                          <fieldset></fieldset>
                          <br>
                          <pre>______________________________<wbr>_________________
Lnc-business mailing list
<a moz-do-not-send="true">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listi<wbr>nfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
    

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</blockquote></div>
</div></div>


<fieldset></fieldset>
<pre>______________________________<wbr>_________________
Lnc-business mailing list
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','Lnc-business@hq.lp.org');" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" 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>
</div></blockquote></div>

-- 
<div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><b>In Liberty,</b></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="#666666" size="4"><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 moz-do-not-send="true" 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 moz-do-not-send="true" 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 moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org" target="_blank">Libertarian Party Radical Caucus</a></span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="font-size:x-small">
</span></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">
</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>



<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
Lnc-business mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a>
</pre>

</blockquote>
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