Libertarian Party of Iowa
Annual Convention-March 1, 2003
Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa

Minutes of the Business Meeting

The business meeting of the Convention was called to order by Mark Nelson, Chair, at 1:40 pm.

1. Without objection the agenda was approved.

2. Without objection the rules were suspended to allow those who had been members for less than 30 days to vote. Sixteen voting members were present.

3. Mark Nelson gave the Chair's report. Among his principal themes were the need for greater organization, fundraising, and building alliances that further Party growth and recognition.

4. Tim Hird gave the Treasurer's report. As of 12/31/02 the Party had funds of $75.70. Currently (before Convention receipts and expenses) the Party had approximately $600.00.

5. The minutes of the previous convention held April 6, 2002 were approved unanimously.

6. Rich Moroney presented a proposed amendment to the Constitution, and accepted a friendly amendment from Tom Stanley. The constitutional amendment was passed unanimously, as follows:

OLD LANGUAGE

ARTICLE IX: NOMINATIONS OF CANDIDATES

Section 1. Nomination of candidates for U.S. Senator and the executive offices of Iowa will normally be made only at the Regular Convention held preceding the election. Nominations of candidates may be made by a Caucus of Eligible Electors. Under special circumstances, a candidate for political office can be nominated at any convention. To be nominated at a convention in a year that does not contain an election, a candidate must:

a. File notification of intent to seek the Party nomination for a particular office by registered mail with the Chairperson of the Party at least 30 days prior to the convention, and

b. The person's candidacy must be approved by convention Delegates.

Section 2. Nominations shall be made from the convention floor by the Delegates. All balloting shall be done by secret ballot.

Section 3. If, after a ballot, no candidate has attained a majority vote, all nominees who have received less than 10% of the total vote shall be struck from subsequent ballots. If, after two ballots, no candidate has attained a majority vote, the candidate with the least votes shall be struck from the subsequent ballots; this procedure shall be repeated after each ballot in which no candidate has received a majority vote until one candidate attains a majority.

Section 4. If a Caucus of Eligible Electors is called, Sections 2 and 3 of this Article shall apply, with Eligible Electors as the Delegates.

Section 5. The candidacy of any person for any office may be disavowed by a three-fourths vote of the entire membership of the combined Judicial and Executive Committees, meeting in joint session.

NEW LANGUAGE

ARTICLE IX: NOMINATIONS OF CANDIDATES

Section 1. Party nominees for U.S. President and Vice-President are automatically the nominees of the national Libertarian Party for those offices.
Section 2. Nomination of candidates for U.S. Senator and the executive offices of Iowa will be made at the Regular Convention held preceding the election.

a. Nominations shall be made from the convention floor by the Delegates. All balloting shall be done by secret ballot.

b. If, after a ballot, no candidate has attained a majority vote, all nominees who have received less than 10% of the total vote shall be struck from subsequent ballots. If, after two ballots, no candidate has attained a majority vote, the candidate with the least votes shall be struck from the subsequent ballots; this procedure shall be repeated after each ballot in which no candidate has received a majority vote until one candidate attains a majority.

Section 3. Nomination of candidates for U.S. House of Representatives and Iowa legislature will be made at the Regular Convention held preceding the election following the procedure in Section 2.

Section 4. Notwithstanding Sections 2 and 3, nominations of candidates may be made by a Caucus of Eligible Electors following the procedure of Iowa §44. If a caucus of Eligible Electors is called, Section 2a. and Section 2b. of this Article shall apply, with Eligible Electors as the Delegates.

Section 5. In the event that no candidate was nominated or a subsequent vacancy occurs in a nomination made under Sections 2 through 4 of this Article, then the Executive Committee may fill the vacancy. Nominations made by the Executive Committee under this Section shall require that the candidate be approved by at least 60% of the full Executive Committee.

Section 6. The nomination of any person for any office may be voided by a three-fourths vote of the entire membership of the combined Judicial and Executive Committees, meeting in joint session.

7. Certificates of Recognition were presented to the Party's 2002 candidates.

8. The Convention elected the following officers for two-year terms unanimously:

Chair Mark Nelson
Deputy Chair of Membership & Development Kevin Litten
Deputy Chair of Advocacy & Public Policy Rich Moroney
Deputy Chair of Campaigns & Elections Jason Gross
Vice-Chair Rich Moroney
Secretary Tom Stanley
Treasurer Tim Hird

9. The Convention elected the following additional members of the executive committee:

District 1 (left vacant; the Chair and Vice-Chair will approach Mike Ginsberg to fill this seat)
District 2 Pam Wagner (unanimously)
District 3 Sean Martin (unanimously)
District 4 Heather Clark (unanimously)
District 5 Jeremy Oehlert (unanimously)
At-Large Rich Moore {two open at-large seats in a four-way}
At-Large Richard Campagna {race with Bob Farnham & Eric Kiesler}

10. The Convention passed the following resolutions:

a. to adopt the "Liberty Penguin" as the official LPIA mascot;
b. to appoint Bob Farnham as Campus Coordinator, with responsibility to promote the growth of college and university Libertarian Party chapters;
c. to complete in 2003 the nominating petitions for our 2004 statewide races (President/Vice-President and Senator);
d. to thank Heather Clark for her work as Webmaster.

11. There being no further business, the business meeting adjourned at 3:50 pm.

Libertarian Party of Iowa
Minutes of the Executive Committee-March 1, 2003
Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa

Chair Mark Nelson called the LPIA Executive Committee to order at 4:00 pm.

All members were present: Mark Nelson (Chair), Rich Moroney (Vice Chair and Deputy Chair of Advocacy & Public Policy), Kevin Litten, (Deputy Chair of Membership & Development), Jason Gross (Deputy Chair of Campaigns & Elections), Tom Stanley (Secretary), Tim Hird (Treasurer), Pam Wagner (District 2), Sean Martin (District 3), Heather Clark (District 4 and Webmaster), Jeremy Oehlert (District 5), Richard Campagna (At-Large), and Rich Moore (At-Large). All motions discussed below were agreed to by consensus.

1. The agenda was approved.

2. Members introduced themselves.

3. The minutes of the previous meeting held April 6, 2002 were approved.

4. Jason Gross will cancel the cell phone and move the 800 service to a less expensive carrier.

5. Heather Clark was given the authority to redo the LPIA website.

6. The various past and present Iowa libertarian internet discussion groups were mentioned. It was agreed to recognize the discussion group moderated by Jeremy Oehlert (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LPIowa/) as an LPIA discussion forum.

7. It was agreed to use the LPIA email announcement list only for LPIA operations and activities. Items submitted for posting shall be approved by the Chair, and posted by the Webmaster.

8. Kevin and Pam agreed to work on cleaning the LPIA mailing list.

9. It was agreed to hold the LPIA 2004 convention on the weekend preceding the Iowa presidential caucuses.

10. The LPIA agreed to comply with the provisions of the BCRA (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act). This may involve setting up a separate "federal funds" checking account, but, if past practices continue limiting Party contributions to federal candidates, should not result in required filing of FEC reports.

11. It was agreed to continue the introductory $10 membership, but to no longer promote the introductory membership as a renewal option for lapsed members.

12. Jeremy, Kevin and Rich Moroney agreed to organize an LPIA presence at the Million Marijuana March in Des Moines on May 3rd.

13. It was agreed to print additional $1 million protest bills if and only if an affiliate organization requests them.

14. There being no further business, the Executive Committee adjourned at 4:50 pm.