<div dir="ltr">Interestingly enough, my LP class requires timesheets in .1hour, so I've been doing this since August. It is frustrating, but I do not stop what I am doing every few minutes to log hours; I sum up every so often. I recognize that timesheets are not perfectly accurate, and I would not object to a standard of 1 hour rather than .1. If the system is too cumbersome and you have particular feedback on how we can allocate hours more effectively, the EPCC is eager to hear it, and I know I am very open to modifications. I'm not open to the idea of dropping all staff time into a black box, personally. What I object to, additionally, is having a policy but then budgeting as if it didn't exist.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz<div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 2:38 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">
<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 class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-signature" cols="72">Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314
<a href="tel:(202)%20333-0008" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-txt-link-abbreviated" 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 class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></pre><div><div class="h5">
<div class="m_-7317621363026609069moz-cite-prefix">On 12/2/2016 3:21 PM, Joshua Katz
wrote:<br>
</div>
</div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="h5">
<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 class="m_-7317621363026609069m_8278745216533835877gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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</blockquote>
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