- Upcoming Events
-
June 19, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Libertarians of Allegan County monthly meeting. LPM vice-chair Ghazey Aleck will be our guest speaker. We will be planning our petition activities for the upcoming Allegan Bridgefest celebration.
- Location: Blue Heron Coffeeshop on the Riverfront in downtown Allegan. 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.
- Contact: Rick Dutkiewicz Phone: (616) 673-5503 E-mail: rdoogie@datawise.net
-
June 20, 2001
- Monthly meeting of the St. Clair County affiliate.
- 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
-
June 21, 2001 - 7:00 AM
- Regular monthly meeting of the Berrien County Libertarian Party.
- Location: Conference room of the Berrien Springs Public Library, located across from the Old County Courthouse in Berrien Springs MI
- Contact: Glenn Whitt, Secretary Phone: (616) 473-2764 E-mail: trombonist1@juno.com
-
June 21, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Monthly meeting of the Van Buren County affiliate.
- Location: CT's Restaurant, South Haven, on the corner of M-140 and Blue Star Highway. Join us for dinner at 6:30pm.
- Contact: Bill Bradley Phone: (616) 637-4525 E-mail: bbradley@cybersol.com
-
June 23, 2001
- Allegan BridgeFest Celebration, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, featuring parading and petitioning by the Libertarians of Allegan County. Also music, kiddy rides, food, and fun.
- Location: On The RiverFront in Downtown Allegan
- Contact: Rick Dutkiewicz Phone: (616) 673-5503 E-mail: rdoogie@datawise.net
-
June 24, 2001 - 1:00 PM
- The Libertarian Party of Shiawassee County would like to invite you to join us for a Celebration of Summer! Not a Fundraiser! Not a Political Event! Just an opportunity to relax and enjoy the company of friends! What to bring: Your choice of beverage; your choice of meat to throw on the barbie (hamburgers will be provided); any other food you want; your friends; your kids; your neighbors... Cards, Frisbees, Fishing gear.... It’s up to you! Let’s have some fun! Call for directions. (Participation in event is purely voluntary; the LPSC assumes liability for NOTHING)
- Location: Shiatown Park in rural Shiawassee County
- Contact: Ben Steele III Phone: (989) 288-5616 E-mail: bsteele1@tir.com
-
June 26, 2001 - 6:00 PM
- The monthly membership meeting of the Ottawa County Libertarian Party. Business meeting starts at 7:00.
- Location: The Denny's in Holland off of US 31
- Contact: Roger L. Bouwman Phone: (616) 218-2616 E-mail: chair@oclp.org
-
June 27, 2001 - 6:30 PM
- Libertarian Party of Oakland County Monthly Meeting. Meet for dinner at 6:30pm. Business begins at 7:30pm. Public welcome.
- Location: Sila's Restaurant on 12 Mile Road in Berkley.
- Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: chair@lpocmi.org
-
June 28, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- The Ballot Access Restoration Committee meets the second and fourth Thursday every month -- until we submit petition signatures to the Bureau of Elections to be certified to once again be able to run Libertarian candidates in partisan races. All LPM members are welcome to attend and help with both the planning and execution of our petition drive.
- Location: LPMHQ, 619 E. 9 Mile, Hazel Park (just east of I-75)
- Contact: Nancy O'Brien Phone: (313) 562-5778 E-mail: nobrien321@home.com
-
July 9, 2001 - 7:00 PM
- Clare-Gladwin Libertarian Party Meeting. Turn in signatures, get new petitions, get ready for the Fair, get ready for Freedom Banquet 2001 on October 20th.
- Location: Grant Township Hall, located 1 mile West of Jays Sporting Goods on Surrey Road.
- Contact: Ghazey Phone: (517) 386-2699 E-mail: aleckfamily@voyager.net
- More
- For more events, see the online calendar at:
- http://www.michiganlp.org/lpmonline/events.php
- ATENTION PETITIONERS!!!
by Nancy O'Brien
The first petition deadline is here!
Now is the time to mail (or drop off) whatever signatures
you have gathered thus far to the HQ:
Libertarian Party of Michigan
619 E. 9 Mile
Hazel Park, MI 48030
We will be doing our first tally at the HQ on Saturday, June
23 beginning at 1pm.
If you can come by to help check the signatures so that they
can be logged and counted, we would be grateful for the
assistance.
MOST IMPORTANT: Please make sure you get whatever signatures
you have already collected to the HQ by Saturday so that
they can be counted. We need to know how well we are doing
in order to determine how much we need to spend on
professionals as we go along. The worst thing we could do
is overestimate where we are at, lose time and come up short
at the end of the drive. The second worst thing we could do
is underestimate where we are at and waste money buying
signatures we don't need. Both of these situations can be
avoided if we can accurately track how we are doing as we go
along. But we can't track how we're doing if you don't send
us the signatures you have gathered as we hit our deadline
dates.
Oh, and this doesn't mean you should stop collecting
signatures. Just send in what you have, and then get right
back out there and collect some more!
Thank you. See you on Saturday!
Back to Contents
- Steinport Wins
by Jason C. Miller
GRAND RAPIDS – Winning by less than a hundred votes,
Jeff Steinport delivered an amazing victory for the
Libertarian Party. On June 11 22-year-old Jeff Steinport
was elected to the Board of Education in Michigan’s second
largest city.
Backed by the Coalition for Community Involvement, Jeff and
three others that support site-based management as a way to
decentralize the school system and save money, he was
elected to Grand Rapids School Board. Jeff described the
victory as “exciting.”
“The enormity is starting to sink in,” he said of the
responsibilities associated with being on the school board
for a city of 180,000 people. Realizing the time
commitments necessary to represent small government views on
the board of ed, Jeff resigned as chair of the Libertarian
Party of West Michigan at the group’s June 14 meeting.
Steinport attributed his win in a crowded field of nine
candidates for three seats to a winning strategy. “This year
I worked smarter rather than harder.” Last year Jeff ran
for the same office but came up short. His story can be an
inspiration for many Libertarians.
Back to Contents
- Miller for School Board
by Jason C. Miller
On June 11 my school board campaign lost. The results
were:
Thomas Butcher 708 (elected)
Joan Huffman 520 (elected)
Howie Boeve 306
Jason Miller 254
This looks like an especially bad when you consider that
Howie Boeve was only a paper candidate and relied completely
on his name recognition as a realtor and a member of the
Christian Reformed Church. However, there's more to this
than meets the eye.
Each voter could vote for up to two candidates. Roughly 900
people showed up to vote. Since they couldn't vote for me
more than once, this means that over 1/4 of the people who
showed up to the polls showed up to vote for me. If an
18-year-old libertarian candidate who developed a reputation
as a liberal can convince 1/4 of the voters to support him,
imagine what older, more experienced candidates can do.
The Libertarian Victory Fund played a huge roll in this
campaign. The 6000 pieces of direct mail the LVF sent out
made a difference on its own but also enhanced every other
part of the campaign. While this campaign was a defeat, it
shows the potential the organization has as more and better
candidates step forward to run for local offices.
This campaign also says something important for the
Libertarian Party in West Michigan. It shows that we can
run a large campaign with thousands of dollars and dozens of
volunteers. This is the biggest campaign that's ever been
run in Michigan's second congressional district; and it
won't be the last.
On a final note, we did make a difference for Hudsonville.
Voter turnout in this election was 5 times the voter turnout
in the last school board election. So many people showed up
that they ran out of ballots and had to make photocopies to
be hand counted. This was the first real contested election
in the school district's history. Once again, it won't be
the last.
Back to Contents
- Time Running Out!
by Ben Steele III
The deadline for the 2001 LPM Affiliate Contest is July
1st! So far, only four affiliates have announced goals (and
therefore entered the contest).
In May, the Libertarian Party of Shiawassee County
announced the goal of collecting 5,000 signatures for the
ballot drive, and is on its way with a little over 800
signatures as of this writing. Three more affiliates have
now announced goals.
The Libertarian Party of Lapeer/Genesee Counties plans
to have no less than 25 people from their area circulating
ballot drive petitions.
The Clare-Gladwin Libertarian Party intends to
participate in several specific events: A St. Patrick's Day
Parade, 4th of July Parades in Clare and Harrison, manning a
fair booth, and hosting "Freedom Banquet 2001."
The Libertarian Party of West Michigan will work to
double their 2000 membership growth rate (they have yet to
finalize the numbers, but Chair Jeff Steinport believes that
their membership increased by 10-12% in 2000; this means
they'll have to increase it by about 20% this year).
Wow! What great goals; challenging, yet acheivable.
Has your Affiliate set its goal yet? I don't see any
reason why every Affiliate should not enter this year's
contest... we've leveled the playing field! Every affiliate
has an equal shot at the prize, but the real reward is in
challenging ourselves and working toward worthwile goals.
Shouldn't we be doing that anyway?
I want to remind everyone that you will not be judged
on the "merits" of your goal! You should tailor your goal to
your unique set of circumstances. All Affiliates which meet
their goals will be entered into a drawing for the $150
Advocates for Self Government gift certificate.
So... What's Your Goal?
Remember: Please report your goals to me by July 1st!
Contact me at: bsteele1@tir.com or 989-288-5616.
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