Minutes of the Business Meeting of the 2001 Convention

The 2001 LPIA Convention was held at the Iowa State Memorial Union in Ames on March 17th, 2001. The agenda for the convention's business meeting was approved.
  1. Officer's Reports

  2. Constitution & By-Laws Amendments - Roger Fritz served as Parliamentarian. Proposed amendments presented by Rich Moroney
    • Proposed by-law change - Change Bylaw VII Section 2 from:
      Section 2. Delegates to the (National) Libertarian Party Convention shall include the Chairperson and the Secretary, if these officers so desire. Other delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be elected in the same manner as nomination of candidates.
      to:
      Section 2. Delegates to the (National) Libertarian Party Convention shall include the Chairperson and the Secretary, if these officers so desire. Other delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be at least sixteen years of age at the time of the convention convenes and shall be elected in the same manner as nomination of candidates.
      Amendment Failed


    • Proposed constitution change - Change Article XVI from:
      ARTICLE XVI: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
      This Constitution may be Amended by a 90% vote of the Delegates at any Regular Convention.
      to:
      ARTICLE XVI: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
      This Constitution may be Amended by a 75% vote of the Delegates at any Regular Convention.
      Amendment to proposed Amendment to change "75%" to "80%" - Passed
      Amendment Failed 18-4 (note: 18 votes for passage defeated by 4 votes against passage)

  3. Platform Planks
    • Kevin Litten introduced a revised "Natural Resources" plank that had been introduced at the 2000 convention.

      Sensible Land Use (First Draft Revised Proposal)

      We recognize that historically state ownership of land has very often not been in the best interests of the citizens of Iowa nor has the state been the best steward of its resources. We therefore propose the following changes:

      1. All state owned land used for recreational or conservation purposes shall be turned over to a public non-profit corporation which shall be entrusted with maintaining and acquiring land for the purpose of insuring optimal environmentally sound usage now and into the future. (This corporation may charge rentals, user fees, or sell concessions for its funding.)
      2. The state may not use its right of eminent domain except for acquiring land for its own usage.
      3. The liability to a landowner for claims of bodily injury from persons using the land either for pay or not, shall be limited to those claims where malicious intent can be proven.
      4. Individuals and corporations shall be held liable for activities on their property that adversely affect the value of their neighbors or nearby property.

      Sections 3 and 4 of proposed plank noted as redundant per current "Responsible growth" plank. Sections deleted as friendly amendment.

      Mark Nelson moved to divide plank by its natural sections. Motion passed.

      1. Give public lands to private, non-profit corporation
        Failed
      2. Eminent domain - Mark Nelson moved amendment to change "may" to "shall" - Motion to amend passed.
        Passed

  4. Resolutions
    1. The Chair is instructed to draft and present to the 2002 regular convention enabling amendments to the constitution and bylaws which will reduce the number of at-large members of the Executive Committee to offset the addition of members elected from each congressional district.
      Passed unanimously

    2. The Chair is instructed to draft and present to the 2002 regular convention enabling amendments to the constitution and bylaws which will reduce the number of at-large members of the Executive Committee to offset the addition of members selected due to a specified, important, functional role they fill in the party.
      Passed unanimously
    3. The Executive Committee and membership of the LPIA adopt as a primary goal the achievement of the right of any Iowa voter to register as Libertarian. The means of achieving this goal may be legislative, judicial, and/or electoral. In keeping with this priority,
      • electoral efforts in 2002 will be focused on meeting the definition of political party as then contained in Iowa law;
      • judicial efforts will be focused on reversing the effect of the 1990 decision in Iowa Socialist Party v. Nelson; and
      • legislative efforts will be focused on passage of legislation to define "minor political party" with significantly lower qualification standards and which provides only voter registration privileges.

      Passed unanimously

  5. Election of officers - Motion to vote by open ballot - Passed
    • Chair
      Nominations: Mark Nelson
      Vote: Motion to accept Mark Nelson by acclamation - Passed unanimously
    • Vice-Chair
      Nominations: Christy Welty
      Vote: Christy Welty - Elected unanimously
    • Treasurer
      Nominations: Tim Hird
      Vote: Tim Hird - Elected unanimously
    • Secretary
      Nominations: Tom Stanley, Lorra Browne
      Vote: Lorra Browne - Elected on a 14-4 vote
    • At-Large Executive Committee Seats
      Nominations: Tom Stanley, Bob Farnham, Michael Ryan, Rich Moroney, John Podgorniak, Sylvia Olson, Kevin Litten
      Vote: Motion to accept all by acclamation - Passed unanimously
    • Judiciary Committee
      Nominations: Ben Olson, Clyde Cleveland, James Bonner, Roger Fritz, Gary Roewe
      Vote: Motion to accept all by acclamation - Passed unanimously

  6. Motion to Adjourn - Passed unanimously

Libertarian Party of Iowa
Executive Committee Meeting

Date: March 17, 2001
Called to Order: 4:20 p.m.
Adjourned: 5:45 p.m.

Present: Chairman Mark Nelson; Vice-chairman Christy Ann Welty; Treasurer Tim Hird; Secretary Lorra Browne; At Large committee members: Tom Stanley, Bob Farnham, Michael Ryan, Rich Moroney, John Podgorniak, Kevin Litten, Sylvia Olson.

Absent: None

Call to order by Chairman Mark Nelson.

Self introductions were made around the table.

The following items were presented for discussion. Each item received a motion, second and passed unanimously:

  1. After discussion the board decided to continue indefinitely the introductory $10. party memberships. The treasurer will maintain a list of new members enrolling at that rate for purposes of tracking renewals and financial feasibility of this program.
  2. Tom, Tim and Mark were commissioned to investigate in the next two weeks options for obtaining credit card capabilities for collecting membership dues and donations. The goal is to have this in place for the next fundraising project.
  3. Kevin Litten reported that the next Iowa LP newsletter is slated to be mailed in the next couple of weeks. Kevin and Mark will continue to fine tune the printing and mailing process for the newsletter. Mark Hein will use the state party's listserve, as well as investigate an announcement list, for e-mail alerts between publications for now taking care to use brevity.
  4. Mark is working on an annual report to be sent to members, recent expireds and potential members. A fundraising/membership drive will be incorporated in the report mailing.
  5. Mark will proceed with establishing organizational meetings for activists in the congressional districts and selected counties (at this time Lee, Jefferson, and Polk counties).
  6. Gary Roewe will be instructed to maintain the database of information relating to the state party membership.
  7. Tim Borchardt will be responsible for issuing timely press releases including but not limited to national press releases with state edits. Christy Welty will serve as primary editor representing the board. If Christy is not available, Tim will receive prior approval on press releases from another executive committee board member. All press releases will be given to the board secretary for the purpose of copying all ex com board members.
  8. Rich Moroney was named Legislative Director. He is to seek out issues and coalitions for board consideration.
  9. Lorra Browne will do monthly follow-ups with inquiries and potential new members.
  10. Mike Ryan is continuing to develop a plan for the state party's website. He will present his plan for approval at the next board meeting. Mike committed to getting new info on the website within a week of receiving it.
  11. Mark will investigate the possibility of sharing 800 (telephone) expenses with neighboring states.
  12. Tom Stanley will develop and present ideas to the board for candidate and campaign management training.
  13. Kevin Litten's outreach to college students continues. Bob Farnham was recruited to help with this effort.
  14. John Podgorniak is to assist with copy editing for party newsletter and other publication needs.

The board members were advised to expect an electronic meeting in the next couple of weeks to give final approval to projects as mentioned above. Another electronic or phone meeting will be held in the next couple of months.

The next physical meeting will be in May or June to coincide with Jim Lark's visit which will also entail guest hosting at several sites.

Meeting adjourned.