Carl Person, LPNY Candidate For Attorney General, Withdraws Offer Of Direct Financial Support For Statewide Petition Drive

In response to the LPNY State Committee suspending the membership of Dr. Tom Stevens, State Representative of the Libertarian Party of Queens County, pending a Hearing to be held on Sunday, June 27, 2010, Carl Person, LPNY's candidate for Attorney General, has withdrawn his offer to contribute $5,000.00 to the statewide petition drive.

In taking this action, Carl Person said the following:

I am deeply disturbed by the recent unjustified suspension of the membership of Dr. Tom Stevens in the Libertarian Party of New York. The actions of the LPNY State Committee taken on June 6, 2010 represent the most egregious example of tyranny by the majority where reason and logic give way to petty, dysfunctional infighting and where Pyrrhic bureaucratic victories count more than promoting liberty.

I had recently indicated a willingness to Dr. Stevens to pay $5,000 to the LPNY for the statewide petition drive. Because of the actions taken against Dr. Stevens by the LPNY State Committee, I cannot go through with that support, which was for Dr. Stevens more than anyone else. The Libertarian Party of New York must realize I cannot in good faith donate money to a party that is able to cast aside one of its most principled and intelligent Libertarian activists instead of working to get its nominated candidates on the ballot and doing the fundraising that will make that possible. I wish to be clear I will still do everything I can to obtain volunteer petitions signatures. However, my proposal to Dr. Stevens of paying $5,000 directly to Dr. Stevens' former associates is no longer possible.

Blay Tarnoff made the motion to suspend the LPNY membership of Dr. Tom Stevens with supporting documentation posted by Gary Donoyan, both of Nassau County. These were the same two individuals who successfully obtained the temporary de-chartering of the Libertarian Party of Queens County in 2007 and who were instrumental in forming a Brooklyn-Queens LP that claimed to represent Queens County Libertarians. The grounds used against Dr. Stevens as set forth in the LPNY bylaws were the following:

1. that he followed a continued public course of action knowing it to be contrary to the principles and objectives of the LPNY.

2. that he claimed to represent the LPNY while knowing that this is not the fact; and

3. that he knowingly, seriously and repeatedly disrupted meetings or activities of the LPNY.

No evidence was provided regarding Dr. Stevens having taken a "public course of action...contrary to the principles and objectives of the LPNY" or his "claiming to represent the LPNY while knowing that this is not the fact" other than that he posted information and reported on the activities of the LPNY through his personal blog, which was characterized as "appearing to be an official Press Release of the Libertarian Party of New York."

The evidence provided against Dr. Tom Stevens regarding his "knowingly, seriously and repeatedly" disrupting meetings or activities of the LPNY have to do with postings he made to the LPNY State Committee Yahoo Group where general discussions were taking place about state committee business and not during official meetings of the State Committee. Two examples given of his disruptions were his publicly requesting that the committee be fully informed about the prison record of a candidate being considered for a LP Congressional Nomination in Suffolk County and his asking the LPNY Convention Committee to provide a breakdown of the income received during the 2010 LPNY State Convention.