Friday, June 15, 2012

Libertarian Party Of Pennsylvania Elects Judicial Committee For 2012-2013 Term Of Office

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA) held its annual State Convention on Sunday, April 22, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Princess Ballroom of the Best Western Genetti Hotel & Conference Center located at 77 East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

During the Business Session of the State Convention, the following individuals were elected to serve on the LPPA's Judicial Committee:

Wm. Martin Sloane
Roy A. Minet
Michael J. Robertson
Timothy A. Russell
Lou Jasikoff

When it was later determined pursuant to the LPPA Bylaws that Lou Jasikoff was ineligible to serve due to the fact he serves on the Board of Directors in the capacity of Immediate Past Chair, the Judicial Committee met and appointed Marakay Rogers to fill the vacancy. At that time, they also selected Wm. Martin Sloane to serve as Chair. Roy A. Minet subsequently resigned on May 29, 2012 after being designated Media Relations Committee Chair by the Board of Directors since he expects to serve as a voting member of the Board in relation to that capacity. John DiLiberto was selected to replace Roy Minet on the Judicial Committee and notice of said election has been made to the Board of Directors as required by the LPPA's Policy Manual.

As of today, the current members of the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania are the following individuals:

Wm. Martin Sloane, Chair (Cumberland County)
Michael J. Robertson (Clarion County)
Marakay Jessica Rogers (York County)
Timothy A. Russell (Venango County)
John DiLiberto (Luzerne County)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

LPPA Joins Double Region & Votes To Send Jim Lark Of Virginia To The LNC As Its Voting Region 5S Representative

Article 8.2.c of the national Libertarian Party bylaws allows the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania to band together with other affiliates to form a "representative region" to gain voting representation on the Libertarian National Committee. That bylaws section, in relevant part, reads, "Affiliate parties may, by mutual consent, band together to form "representative regions," and each such "region" with an aggregate national party sustaining membership of 10% or more shall be entitled to one National Committee representative and one alternate for each 10% of national party sustaining membership." The region formation period began 90 days before the start of the national Libertarian Party convention (which was February 3, 2012) and ended the second day of the convention (May 4, 2012).

Dr. Tom Stevens, elected LPPA Chair on April 22, 2012, led the negotiations on behalf of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, obtaining feedback from party members along the way. Eventually, after much discussion regarding what affiliates would be included and what the Regional Formation Agreement would say, Dr. Stevens signed off on an agreement placing the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania in the southern part of a double region currently referred to as Region 5.

Region 5 South (the southern part of double Region 5) consists of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia & West Virginia. The Regional Representative for Sub-Region 5S is Jim Lark of Virginia. The Regional Alternate Representative is Scott Spencer of Maryland.

Region 5 North (the northern part of double Region 5) consists of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Regional Representative for Sub-Region 5N is Rich Tomasso of New Hampshire. The Regional Alternate Representative is David Blau of Massachusetts.

The Regional Formation Agreement for all affiliates in Region 5 is the following:

Agreement Concerning the Formation of Region 5 for the 2012-2014 Term of the Libertarian National Committee
 
The state affiliate parties of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia agree to form a representative region for the 2012-2014 term of the Libertarian National Committee.  Since the total sustaining membership of these affiliates (as of Oct. 31, 2011) is 2,771, this representative region is entitled to select two regional representatives and two alternate regional representatives.
 

The administration of this region, to be known as Region 5, will operate according to the following rules:

 

The affiliate parties of the states of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia will form a sub-region to be known as “Region 5S” (or “Region 5 South”).

 

The affiliate parties of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont will form a sub-region to be known as “Region 5N” (or “Region 5 North”).

 

The Region 5S affiliates will be responsible for the selection of one regional representative and one alternate regional representative.  Similarly, the Region 5N affiliates will be responsible for the selection of one regional representative and one alternate regional representative. 

 
The chairs of the Region 5S affiliate parties may remove the regional representative and/or the alternate regional representative selected by those affiliates. 
 
Removal of the Region 5S representative or alternate representative requires a vote of the majority of the entire number of state chairs of the Region 5S affiliates.  In addition, the total sustaining membership of the state affiliates whose chairs have voted to remove a representative or alternate representative must constitute a majority of the total sustaining membership of the Region 5S state affiliates as of Oct. 31, 2011. 

 
A vacancy in the position of the Region 5S representative or the alternate representative may be filled by a vote of the majority of the entire number of state chairs of the Region 5S affiliates.

 
The chairs of the Region 5N affiliate parties may remove the regional representative and/or the alternate regional representative selected by those affiliates. 

 
Removal of the Region 5N representative or alternate representative requires a vote of the majority of the entire number of state chairs of the Region 5N affiliates.  In addition, the total sustaining membership of the state affiliates whose chairs have voted to remove a representative or alternate representative must constitute a majority of the total sustaining membership of the Region 5N state affiliates as of Oct. 31, 2011.

 

A vacancy in the position of the Region 5N representative or the alternate representative may be filled by a vote of the majority of the entire number of state chairs of the Region 5N affiliates.  


After the nominations for the position of Region 5S regional representative and the nominations for the position of Region 5N regional representative have been opened, a state affiliate party may join or withdraw from this agreement (and thus join or withdraw from Region 5) only with the written consent of all of the chairs of the other state affiliate parties in Region 5. 

Friday, June 1, 2012

Libertarian Party Of Pennsylvania Establishes Life Membership Category

On May 29, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania (LPPA) voted to establish a Life Membership category for the first time in the organization's history. The issue of establishing a Life Membership was first brought up by Dr. Tom Stevens, LPPA State Chair, at the Board of Directors Meeting held immediately following the State Convention held in Wilkes-Barre, PA on April 22, 2012. The issue was referred to the Membership Committee whose members offered feedback on the proposal.

During the Membership Committee's Report presented at the Board of Directors meeting held by teleconference on May 29, 2012, Ron Goodman, the newly reappointed Membership Committee Chair, made the following motion that was seconded by Tim Havener and which passed unanimously:

MOTION: to establish a Life Membership category for the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania to cost $500.00; $150.00 (if purchased by August 31, 2012) by individuals who have been LPPA members for the past five (5) consecutive years, or who, during the past five (5) years have served as a statewide LPPA officer (Chair, Western Vice-Chair, Eastern Vice-Chair, Secretary or Treasurer), a Standing or Working Committee Chair, or as an officer in a local chartered LP county organization.

The current annual dues required of a Regular Member is $15.00. Students can join for $5.00 a year. Anyone interested in showing their support for the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania by purchasing a Life Membership can do so by clicking on the following link where you can make a one-time contribution:
http://www.lppa.org/actions/contribute-to-the-lppa.html

After you purchased your Life Membership, tell Dr. Tom Stevens, LPPA State Chair, you have done so and let him know how much you contributed. You can contact him at DrTomStevens@aol.com

Dr. Stevens has asked Patti Fryman, LPPA's State Treasurer, to establish a special fund into which all monies collected through the purchase of Life Memberships can be documented and preserved for future use in "party-building activities".