MICHIGAN LIBERTARIAN
Volume 46:01
Out of Your Chair!
Spring is the time for everything to come back to life. And so it goes for the Libertarians here in Michigan. While we may have been gathering ourselves, the battle against the forces of big government never stops.
We have had time to pause and set the course for our Party to step up to even bigger promise in the coming years.
First off. If you missed the Special Convention and LibertyFest - you missed not only a lot of fun, but historic events. Greg Stempfle and his team presented delegates with substantial changes in our bylaws to help us move into our new status as a primary-qualified political party.
The Special Convention was held February 4, 2017, at the Ramada Lansing Hotel and Conference Center. 7501 West Saginaw Hwy, Lansing. The new bylaws, available on the party website, were approved by 96% of the delegates.
Our Summer Convention will be an all-day affair at the same location on July 29. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.
Before we leave February 4, it's important to say that the 2017 LibertyFest was a big success, too. We should all offer our congratulations to this year's Libby winners.
- Our Producer of Liberty Award was received by Bob Broda. Bob's long and consistent activism speaks volumes to anyone on our quest for more freedom.
- The Promoter of Liberty Award was given to Logan Fleckenstein. Party of the large number of young activists coming to the Party, Logan set a great example of how candidate outreach can bring new people to our movement.
- We were all moved by the story of Maryanne Godboldo, who received our Spokesperson for Liberty award. I hope you go to our website press release section to read more about Maryanne.
In addition to these and other personal awards given by the Chairman, the audience was given much inspiration by Nick Sarwark, the Chairman of the Libertarian Party of the USA. Nick's personal presentation and ability to provide important examples provided a certain energy to our efforts that we all hope will carry on into 2018.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the changes in our bylaws is that our State Convention will be that we will have delegates sent from our local affiliate conventions. We'll be providing more updates in coming weeks about where and when various county conventions will occur.
The Membership Outreach team is working with 5 new groups right now who hope to form affiliates in the next year. A big congrats goes to Kim McCurry, who helped our new Macomb affiliate navigate it's way to become our approved group. Mike Saliba and his team will undoubtedly make our State even stronger for liberty.
EVEN BIGGER NEWS!
The Monday after the Special Convention gave Libertarians their first opportunity to participate in a political primary with our new status. Democratic Representative Brian Banks from Detroit / Harper Woods in the 1st State House District resigned his seat in the legislature. He has admitted to activity involving fraud committed to obtain a loan.
Veteran Libertarian Greg Creswell, whose efforts on our behalf included a 3rd place finish in the 2006 Governor race, has filed for the Special Primary to be held on August 8, 2017. This race provides a unique opportunity for Libertarians throughout Michigan to step up and help Greg and his team. Here is a great chance for folks all over the State to step forward and help someone that has given so much for the LPM.
Don't just watch these moments go by. Get out of your chair!
2017 is going to be the Year of Opportunity for the Libertarian Party to build and begin making a new mark in Michigan. Look forward to more information down the road on how to get involved. As always, you can communicate directly to me at Chair@MichiganLP.org.
For Liberty! Bill Gelineau
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