- Upcoming Events
- Civics Lessons
- District 2 Libertarians to hold caucus
- Ray Kirkus Gains More Local Support
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- Upcoming Events
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February 20, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- The Libertarians of Allegan County will hold their monthly meeting at the Blue Heron. Our special guest will be Ray Wilson from Allegan County based Citizens for School Accountability (http://www.geocities.com/stoptaxes/) Ray will talk to us about the upcoming 2.8 millage vote to give KVCC special access to Allegan County. We will have information about the statewide petition drive to put the LP back on the ballot for 2002 elections. Also on the agenda will be news from the Feb 4 LPM conference in Plainwell and the LPM convention coming up the first weekend of May.
- Location: The entrance to the Riverfront parking is at the corner of Hubbard and Chestnut. Drive down and park behind Dockerty's. The Blue Heron is right next door to Docherty's, entrance on the riverfront. All interested in the Libertarian Party are welcome.
- Contact: Rick Dutkiewicz Phone: (616) 673-5503 E-mail: rdoogie@datawise.net
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February 21, 2001
- Monthly meeting of the St. Clair County affiliiate.
- Location: Figaro's is located at 1503 11th Street, Port Huron, MI 48060. TX: (810) 987-3588. Join us for dinner at 6:00 PM. Business begins at 7:00 PM.
- Contact: Richard Friend Phone: (810) 982-7178 E-mail: rfriend@advnet.net
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February 27, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- The monthly meeting of the Ottawa County Libertarian Party
- Location: The Yellow Jacket Inn. 12011 Lake Michigan Dr. West Olive, MI
- Contact: Jason C. Miller Phone: (616) 669-2851 E-mail: jcmiller@triton.net
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February 28, 2001 - 6:30 PM
- LP of Oakland County General Membership Meeting. Public welcome. Meet for dinner at 6:30PM, business begins at 7:30PM.
- Location: Sila's, 4033 W. 12 Mile Rd., Berkley. Sila's is located 2 blocks east of Greenfield on 12 Mile Rd.
- Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: chair@lpocmi.org
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March 6, 2001 - 6:30 PM
- Monthly Meeting - LP of Wayne County Dinner 6:30pm. Program starts at 7:45pm.
- Location: La Trattoria Restaurant - Dearborn MI
- Contact: Joann Karpinski Phone: (313) 925-6917 E-mail: Momjoann@aol.com
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March 6, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Kalamazoo Libertarian Party General Meeting
- Location: TGI Friday's Restaurant, 5650 W. Main St., Oshtemo, MI
- Contact: Tim Miley Phone: (616) 668-3951 E-mail: thmiley@yahoo.com
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March 12, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Clare-Gladwin Libertarian Party meeting. Refreshments provided. Business: Annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Clare, the State Convention and Fundraising.
- Location: Mid Michigan Community College
- Contact: Ghazey Aleck Phone: (517) 386-2699 E-mail: ghazey@alecklawfirm.com
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March 13, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- LP of Oakland County Executive Committee Meeting All dues paying members are welcome. Business begins at 7:00PM.
- Location: LPM HQ, 619 East Nine Mile in Hazel Park, just east of I-75
- Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: chair@lpocmi.org
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March 14, 2001 - 6:30 AM
- Libertarians of Macomb County monthly meeting. Drinks and dinner at 6:30 PM, business begins at 7:00 PM.
- Location: Miles World Resturant, 17689 Masonic, Fraser, MI 48026, 810-415-4500.
- Contact: Diane Barnes Phone: (810) 774-1625 E-mail: dbarnes98@aol.com
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March 15, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Libertarian Party of Berrien County will hold its monthly meeting. Please contact us in case of a change of meeting location. Please tune in to designated broadcast stations in case of cancellation or postponement due to inclimate weather conditions
- Location: Chili's Restaurant, Hilltop Road at Washington St, Saint Joseph MI
- Contact: Glenn Whitt Phone: (616) 473-2764 E-mail: trombonist1@juno.com
- More
- For more events, see the online calendar at:
- http://www.michiganlp.org/lpmonline/events.php
- Civics Lessons
by Tim O'Brien
The following article is the latest in a series of
Op-ed articles written by LPM Executive Director Tim O'Brien
and submitted to news outlets across the state for
publication. This current article was published on December
18, 2000 in the Detroit Free Press and can be viewed on
their web site
at:http://www.detnews.com/EDITPAGE/0102/16/obrien/obrien.htm.
A group of Allen Park high schoolers got a wonderful,
real-world lesson in how government works when they went on
a field trip to a recent meeting of our city council.
As luck would have it, there happened to be an item on the
agenda that was of particular interest to these young
citizens.
In response to complaints by a retiree about the volume at
which certain motorists played their radios while passing
his home, a new ordinance was being proposed that would
empower the police to issue traffic citations in such
circumstances.
Rather than investing in the equipment and training
necessary to employ a decibel meter to scientifically
measure the magnitude of the offense, the standard to be
imposed was whether the officer could hear the radio from 50
feet during daylight hours or 15 feet at night.
Needless to say, the teenagers immediately perceived that
they were the obvious target of this proposal.
Knowing that this class of potential victims could use a bit
of adult support, I took up their cause during the citizen
comment time.
I began by observing that traffic court is widely perceived
to be more a supplementary source of income to local
government than a forum for unbiased resolution of legal
disputes. This is especially the case for defendants under
the age of twenty.
Then there was the arbitrary and utterly subjective nature
of the proposed standard. Who could say what a particular
officer can or cannot hear from some particular distance on
some particular occasion? Much less disprove it (since the
burden of proof in traffic court is as a practical matter on
the defendant, legal pretensions notwithstanding).
Finally, this was clearly an attack not on noise pollution
generally but on the customs of young people particularly.
Did the police intend to ticket large semi-trucks that
routinely shake our windows and rattle our walls as they go
rumbling by? Or the trains that roar through the city, their
whistles heard from distances measured not in feet but in
miles? Or the jetliners that pass overhead whenever
conditions put us under flight patterns into and out of
Metro Airport?
The measure was tabled and referred to a committee for
further study. The students applauded.
But that wasn't the lesson.
The lesson came a half hour later when a question arose
among council members as to whether they had violated a
provision of our new city charter for not yet having
appointed a board of ethics within one year of adoption as
required.
Our city attorney opined that the clock started ticking on
the time limit not from the date of the election at which
the charter was adopted (Nov. 2, 1999), but rather from the
date on which it was officially recorded and certified by
the Secretary of State's office in Lansing. No one could say
exactly when that was.
In any case, counsel advised, the ordinance establishing the
new committee was quite complex, running to nearly a dozen
pages, and he would have no qualms about arguing in court --
if it came to that -- that the council was "making a
diligent effort to comply."
Everyone in the room but me accepted the logic of these
arguments without question or hesitation.
I couldn't help but wonder how these same defenses would be
received if proffered by teenage musical motorists: "I
wasn't sure exactly what time the sun set, your Honor. Or
whether the standard for radio volume was 15 feet or 50
feet. And anyway, my new Pioneer sound system is very
complicated and I was searching for the volume control at
the time -- making a diligent effort to comply."
Do you think the judge would be dazzled by the penetrating
legal argumentation of this future Clarence Darrow?
The important lesson these students needed to take from
their experience watching government in action was this:
Officials will hold you to standards of behavior that they
it would never even cross their minds to apply to
themselves.
Somehow, I doubt that their government teacher made this
real world observation.
And there's an interesting postscript to this little tale.
It now turns out that the one-year time limit for setting up
Allen Park's new board of ethics is nowhere near expired. It
seems the new charter was never received in Lansing.
Our local officials were a bit chagrined, but explained that
to save money they always sent such documents via
first-class mail, rather certified or registered mail, and
the filing must have gone astray in transit.
Now here's a way out of traffic ticket difficulties that
doesn't even require a court appearance: "I sent in that
ticket, your Honor. It must have got lost in the mail."
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- District 2 Libertarians to hold caucus
by Jason C. Miller
WEST OLIVE -- Libertarians in Michigan's second
congressional district are meeting to form the area's first
district caucus. State law allows for political committees
at the state, district, and county level. The purpose of
this district committee will be to fund and support
candidates throughout the region using the entire region as
a funding base. Lakeshore Libertarians have high hopes for
2002.
The caucus will be formed and officers will be elected
November 27 at 7:00 at the Yellow Jacket Inn in West Olive,
MI. All members from throughout the district are encouraged
to attend and be a part of this historic event.
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- Ray Kirkus Gains More Local Support
by Glenn Whitt, Camapign Coordinator
It appears that certain city leaders of New Buffalo,
Michigan are not talking much to Mr. Ray Kirkusf these
days. He is officially on the municipal ballot for city
council of New Buffalo. He submitted 28 signatures of New
Buffalo registered voters, which were all validated by the
city clerkfs office. He only needed 25.
Mr. Kirkus, who is chairman of the Berrien County LP,
has blasted the city council on a proposal to increase the
spending limits of the city manager without requiring city
council approval. He has also expressed strong disapproval
for raising the dollar amount requirement for comparative
prices for sales or purchases. He has made several promises
which indicate that he plans to try and persuade the city
council to protect the taxpayersf money and property, and
to be more accountable of every penny to be spent. Mr.
Kirkusf position on these and other issues won the support
of the local Lithuanian community. They are planning a
fundraiser in his behalf, and want to help him get the vote
out in his favour.
If any would like to help Mr. Kirkus financially,
please send contributions to him at:
Ray Kirkus
c/o Libertarian Party of Berrien County
P.O. Box 9142
Benton Harbor MI 49023-9142
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