Joshua Chaires, a member of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania residing in Chester County, attended the statewide Board of Directors Meeting held at the Harrisburg Hilton on April 13, 2013 participating in debate and voting on motions as the State Representative of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County. Mr. Chaires had no authority to act in that capacity, was never appointed to represent the Northampton County LP as State Representative, and ignored calls and texts received from Dr. Tom Stevens, Northampton County LP Chair, who observed him voting online while watching the video feed of the Board Meeting.
Despite immediate notification to the Board of Directors that Paul Rizzo was the current voting State Representative of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County, Joshua Chaires continued to be listed by Ken Krawchuk, the LPPA Secretary, as the voting State Representative of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County and was permitted to vote again on behalf of the Northampton County LP on subsequent online motions.
Dr. Tom Stevens, County Chair of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County, filed the following complaint with the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, which read, in part, as follows:
Joshua Chaires of Chester County was never authorized to vote as the Northampton LP State Board Representative. Paul Rizzo was and is currently authorized to vote in that capacity. It is my understanding that Joshua Chaires was encouraged by some Montgomery County LP members to claim the right to vote as Northampton LP Representative at the last Board of Directors Meeting, when he was never authorized, ever, to vote in that capacity...Ken Krawchuk continues to list him as our Rep and is allowing him to cast votes in currently pending motions. Finally, since Josh Chaires was never authorized to vote and yet attended the Board Meeting on April 13, 2013, participating in debate and voting on motions, I believe whatever decisions were made there were tainted by the illegal participation of Josh Chaires and should be declared null and void.
After conducting an investigation into the charges brought against Joshua Chaires for engaging in Voting Fraud, the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania issued the following Decision by unanimous vote:
For the past month the only authorized Board representative from the Northampton County LP has been Paul Rizzo. Any votes cast on or after 13 April 2013 on behalf of Northampton County by Josh Chaires or any person other than Paul Rizzo is null and void and may not be included in the vote total. If Mr. Chaires' vote was decisive on any issue, then that question must be re-voted.
Daulton Florindi, First Vice-Chair of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County, issued the following statement:
Because our County Chair votes on the LPPA Board of Directors in his capacity as Immediate Past Chair, Dr. Stevens designated Paul Rizzo to be our State Representative in accordance with the provisions of Article 3, Section 2 of our Bylaws. On April 11, 2013, two days before the Board of Directors Meeting, Mr. Rizzo voted in favor of Henry Haller as Western Vice-Chair indicating on the Board Business Yahoo Group that he was the "Rep from Northampton County". Despite this public knowledge and Dr. Stevens reaffirming this fact to the Board, Joshua Chaires of Chester County presented himself as the voting State Representative from the Northampton County LP and was permitted to participate in debate and vote on motions at the Board Meeting. Even after Dr. Stevens notified the Board that Mr. Chaires had no authority to represent Northampton County, Ken Krawchuk, LPPA Secretary, continued to list Joshua Chaires of Chester County as the voting Rep from Northampton County and permitted him to vote on subsequent motions that took place via the internet, including one dealing with an effective transfer of monies from the State Treasury to the Montgomery County LP Treasury.
The actions of Joshua Chaires denied the Northampton County Libertarian Party the representation it was entitled to both at the Board Meeting and in subsequent motions. Mr. Chaires of Chester County was the deciding vote in at least one of those motions and his vote was used to pass a motion to effectively transfer $350.00 from the State Treasury to the Treasury of the Montgomery County Libertarian Party, that is the host of the upcoming Annual Convention and gets to keep all profit generated at that convention. Paul Rizzo, the Northampton County LP State Representative, was opposed to granting this gift to the Montgomery County LP but was not permitted to vote. Roy Minet, Marketing and Media Relations Committee Chair, confirmed this money grab when he posted the following to the Board Business Yahoo Group:
"Jim Babb already posted that the vote was taking too long and that the convention fees were, therefore, going to be set on the basis that the room cost would NOT be covered by the LPPA. That pricing for the convention has already been done and posted online. The motion should be withdrawn or simply dispatched by more NO votes or abstentions. Since the outcome of this vote can in no way save the delegates to our convention any money, it has simply become a vote on whether or not to transfer $350.00 out of the LPPA treasury and into the Montgomery County treasury."
It is, therefore, for political reasons that Montgomery County LP members allegedly encouraged Joshua Chaires of Chester County to claim the right to vote as the Northampton County LP Rep and why Ken Krawchuk, LPPA Secretary (who also serves as Secretary of the Montgomery County LP) continued to list Joshua Chaires as Northampton LP Rep and noted a YES vote on his behalf to effectively transfer $350.00 from the State Treasury to the Montgomery County LP Treasury.
It is exactly this type of behavior that many fear will become the norm if Steve Scheetz, Chair of the Montgomery County LP is elected State Chair; if Ed Reagan, Treasurer of the Montgomery County LP is elected Eastern Vice-Chair; if Richard Schwarz, an active member of the Montgomery County LP is elected State Treasurer; and if Ivan Glinski, an Alternate Rep for the Montgomery County LP is elected State Secretary. Mr. Scheetz refused to support Gary Johnson for President and didn't devote a single hour to help the LPPA defend its petitions from an aggressive GOP challenge, one which I am proud to say that thanks to Dr. Tom Stevens, Roy Minet and 84 volunteers, we defeated.
When actions such as these take place, democracy is subverted and people lose confidence in the Libertarian Party to be an effective pro-liberty activist organization.
Daulton Florindi was elected First Vice-Chair of the Libertarian Party of Northampton County (LPNC) at the Annual Meeting of the Membership held on January 7, 2013. Mr. Florindi previously served as the organization's Treasurer.
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