Getting To Know Roy Minet, Candidate For LPPA State Chair

Roy Minet – Candidate for LPPA Chair

Announcement of Candidacy 03/09/13

I have been approached by multiple people multiple times suggesting that I should run for state chair.  Since Tom Stevens announced that he will not stand for re-election, such requests have intensified.  I assure you that being chair has just not been on my radar.  Believing that the party needs and can benefit greatly from good marketing, I have felt that area is where I can make the greatest contribution.  The pitch that I hear most often is that I am impartial, not a part of any “faction” and may be the best person to unify our members behind doing the things necessary to become a successful political party.  I have spent a lot of time working for the LPPA (as well as the LP) and I surely do want us to succeed.  So, assuming that the above pitch has some validity, I will run for chair.  I am asking for your support which would be very much appreciated.

Background

Philosophically, I have been a strong libertarian since I was 15 or 16 years old.  I fought for liberty as an idealistic young person before there was a Libertarian Party.  Now I continue that fight primarily for my children and grandchildren.

My college major was pure physics, but my first job was applied physics (engineering) with a large multi-national corporation.  Following that was sales, then marketing management and finally management of a strategic business planning group, all for the same corporation.  Getting into small business, I bought and operated a beer distributorship for 12 years before selling it.  While distributing (or maybe drinking) beer, I founded Intelligent Computer Systems, Inc., which developed comprehensive business software and installed turnkey computer systems for distribution businesses.  After 22 years, ICS was sold to the 3M Corporation.  I am now retired and pursuing a backlog of personal projects.  I also teach economics part time in 11^th and 12^th grades with the Junior Achievement program.

Recent LPPA Activity

I chair The Marketing Committee and The Media Relations Committee and am a member of The Platform Committee under chair Henry Haller.  The Platform Committee recently posted its proposal for the planks section of our LPPA Platform.  I strongly urge that this proposal be adopted on April 27^th.  The Marketing Committee has created “Aids from the Marketing Committee” that can be accessed in the folder of that name on the LPPA_BB Yahoo group.  Several of us on the committee have been working hard to improve the LPPA.org website and convert it to the WordPress framework.  We hope to have the new and improved LPPA.og online in late April.

Three years ago, I chaired a temporary ad hoc strategic planning committee.  I presented the final report at our convention two years ago.  Looking through the PowerPoints and the narrative will convey a pretty good picture of some of my views.  Your attention is especially directed to the recommendations at the end.  (follow link, see attachments: http://www.lppa.org/smf/index.php?topic=36551.0 )

Last spring, I attended the LP national convention; collected nominating petition signatures for Governor Johnson and our LPPA statewide candidates; helped validate signatures using the VIDAS tool; and helped file the petitions with 39,000 signatures in Harrisburg.

When Republicans challenged our signatures last August, I volunteered to recruit, schedule and expedite the 84 volunteers who helped us with signature validation.  I helped our marvelous legal team train and supervise the volunteers.  I rehabilitated petitions containing thousands of signatures that the Rs had challenged on technical grounds.  For me, this turned into a full-time, 7-days, 9-week project with two weeks of it living out of Philadelphia area motels; over 4,000 emails and ‘phone calls were handled.  Ultimately, this colossal team effort handed the rotten Republicans a total defeat and serves as a terrific example of what can be accomplished when we actually do work together.

Pledge of Fairness, Impartiality and Transparancy

I pledge that, if elected chair, all LPPA proceedings and business will be scrupulously fair, impartial, businesslike, respectful and transparent.  This has always been my policy in dealings of any kind, LPPA or other.  I hope and fully expect that those who know me will confirm that to be true.  I brought this matter up at the December 1, 2012, board meeting to emphasize the importance of adhering to these obviously important principles.  As can be found in the minutes of that meeting, I introduced the following resolution which passed unanimously: “All LPPA officers and board members are committed to the open and transparent conduct of all LPPA business.  Consequently, all interested LPPA members in good standing are encouraged to join the Yahoo LPPA_BB Board Business group for the purpose of monitoring the board business discussions conducted thereon.  Similarly, interested LPPA members in good standing are welcome to attend scheduled Board of Directors meetings for the purpose of observing the functioning of the board.”

Conduct of Campaign

I deplore the personal attacks and in-fighting that occur all too often for reasons I have difficulty understanding (immaturity?).  Such behaviors waste our limited resources (time, energy, patience), serve to divide us when we need to be united and are downright self-destructive.  They also tend to repel new members when we need to attract them.  I have always tried to tamp these things down and have often pointed out that we libertarians frequently are our own worst enemies.  Win or lose, this campaign will not tear down any other libertarian and will not engage in scurrilous allegations or unsubstantiated innuendo.  It will focus on what I would do to build our party going forward.

LPPA Future Direction

It is critically important that we focus our limited resources on replacing crappy politicians with good libertarian citizens.  It’s a mistake to dissipate resources fighting a bunch of issues; if we get good people into office, they will fix the issues.

In order to elect libertarians, we need a successful political party that is based on libertarian principle.  That has to be our goal.  We don’t need a club or a debating society!

Almost the only thing important to the success of a political party is membership.  We don’t just need a 50% or 100% increase in membership.  We need to think in terms of increasing it 10-fold, 20-fold and eventually even more.  Growing disgust with the old parties gives us the best opportunity we have ever had to accomplish that.  Let’s not blow it.

The best way to capture new libertarians is to do a good job of marketing our fundamental principles.  Many people will agree fairly quickly with our principles.  But we need to recognize that it takes some time for most to evolve into accepting the full application of libertarian principle to all issues.  The LPPA needs to be a welcoming incubator for new libertarians where we help them evolve, not deride or reject them for being “imperfect.”

A few more specific things the LPPA can do are:

·         Complete development and optimization of the new LPPA.org website.  This is a key tool.  Test the use of Google AdWords and other technologies to drive new traffic to the site.

·         Instead of just an Eastern Vice Chair and a Western Vice Chair, change our structure to have six regional vice chairs.  A primary duty of a vice chair is to develop and assist county committees.  It’s ridiculous to expect one person to cover 33 counties and half the state.  A sixth of the state and 11 counties would work much better.

·         Set up a few trained speakers dispersed around the state and make an organized effort to book them speaking engagements wherever possible to explain/promote libertarianism.  The Marketing Committee could develop a PowerPoint presentation that speakers can optionally use.

·         Collaborate with the PA Ballot Access Coalition to organize an intelligent lobbying effort to see if the Voters’ Choice Act can be passed this legislative session.

·         Move the annual LPPA convention date earlier (either the third week of March or the weekend nearest the end of November).  Have final nominating petitions ready and volunteers organized to collect signatures at polling places on primary election day.

·         Conduct a study and compile a list of the easiest-to-win local elections and make serious efforts to recruit good libertarian candidates for them.  Offer marketing support to candidates.  Concentrate resources from surrounding areas and possibly the state to help them win.