LPM Online

October 23, 2001

Contents

  1. Upcoming Events
  2. Liberty Watch
  3. BARC Update

  1. Upcoming Events

    October 24, 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 Restaurant, 4033 W. 12 Mile Rd, Berkley. Sila's is 2 blocks west of Greenfield on Twelve Mile Road.
    Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: LpocChairChris@aol.com

    October 25, 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

    November 5, 2001 - 8:30 PM
    Meeting of the Andy LeCureaux for Hazel Park City Council Campaign.
    Location: LPM HQ, 619 East Nine Mile Rd., Hazel Park
    Contact: Dave Collver Phone: (248) 542-9274 E-mail: DCCollver@aol.com

    November 6, 2001 - 8:00 PM
    Andy LeCureaux for Hazel Park City Council Victory Party. All are invited to attend.
    Location: LPM HQ, 619 East Nine Mile Rd., Hazel Park
    Contact: Dave Collver Phone: (248) 542-9274 E-mail: DCCollver@aol.com

    November 13, 2001 - 7:30 PM
    LP of Oakland County Executive Committee Meeting. All dues-paying members are welcome. Business begins at 7:30pm.
    Location: LPM Headquarters, 619 East Nine Mile in Hazel Park, just east of I-75.
    Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: LpocChairChris@aol.com

    November 14, 2001 - 6:30 PM
    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

    November 18, 2001 - 6:30 AM
    Dinner at 6:30 PM with our Regularly Scheduled Business Meeting to occur at 7:00 PM. Topics to be discussed Tri-City Freedom Fighters Banquet, Gun Raffle, and Membership Drive for 2002.
    Location: Howard Johnson Restaruant off of I-75 at the M-84 Exit. In Saginaw, MI.
    Contact: Stephen M. Townsend Phone: (989) 631-4853 E-mail: president@makingfreedomring.com

    November 21, 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

    November 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 Restaurant, 4033 W. 12 Mile Rd, Berkley. Sila's is 2 blocks west of Greenfield on Twelve Mile Road.
    Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (249) 373-9411 E-mail: LpocChairChris@aol.com

    December 11, 2001 - 7:30 PM
    LP of Oakland County Executive Committee Meeting. All dues-paying members are welcome. Business begins at 7:30pm.
    Location: LPM Headquarters, 619 East Nine Mile in Hazel Park, just east of I-75.
    Contact: Chris Pellerito Phone: (248) 373-9411 E-mail: LpocChairChris@aol.com

    More
    For more events, see the online calendar at:
    http://www.michiganlp.org/lpmonline/events.php

  2. Liberty Watch by Stephen M. Townsend

    According to current polling data, over 60% of Americans want more than just two choices on the election ballot. However, Michigan has one of the toughest ballot access laws in the country. This keeps third parties from competing on a level playing field.

    According to Michigan law each political party must achieve an arbitrary number of votes by their 'Top off Ticket' candidate. Due to the heavily contested Presidential election last year the Libertarian Candidate, Harry Browne, was unable to get enough votes despite every other statewide candidates achieving the number of votes required.

    This has cost the Libertarian Party of Michigan more than $30,000.00 to run a ballot access drive. Republicans and Democrats already have a significant advantage when it comes to money they are able to spend on the election process and this law makes it worse.

    For example, Republicans and Democrats are raising Millions of dollars. The Libertarian Party of Michigan in a $30,000.00 hole before the election process even starts.

    This not only affects every third party in the State of Michigan, it goes directly against the overwhelming desires of the citizens of Michigan. Although not a perfect solution, a step in the right direction is House Bill 5237 introduced by Leon Drolet. This Bill will allow any statewide candidate to meet the 'Top of Ticket' requirement by Michigan State Law.

    For an explanation courtesy of www.michiganvotes.org. House Bill 5237 was introduced to revise the 'principle candidate' standard which determines minor party status for third parties. The 'principle candidate' would mean whichever candidate of a party receives the largest number of votes, rather than candidate who appears highest on the ballot.

    What can you do? Go to http://www.michiganvotes.org/bill.asp?ID=6687 and contact your State Senator and State Representative. Let them know how you feel about having choices on the Ballot and ask them to support this bill. Your voice does make a difference.

    Subscribe to Liberty Watch and see freedom in your lifetime. Go to www.makingfreedomring.com and sign up for Liberty Watch.

    Back to Contents

  3. BARC Update by Nancy O'Brien

    Well, the ballot access petition drive is officially over and as of the October 20 deadline we have a whopping 43,702 signatures! That is better than 30% more than the number of valid signatures needed to regain our position on the ballot as a legally recognized political party! And this isn’t even the final number. A couple of people sent their final batch of signatures to my home address. So there are still some signatures that need to be checked and entered into the database. Plus, we left an extra week of time before the petitions must be submitted to the state to allow for procrastinators and an unreliable federal postal system. We expect petitions to still make there way in next week. And we will continue to add these to our cushion right up until we file with the Secretary of State. Even so, based on the number we have in hand as of this writing, we are already confident that our place on the 2002 ballot is pretty much assured.

    I would like to take this opportunity to say a special thanks to the committee who did the behind the scenes work that kept the whole drive running smoothly over the course of a grueling six months:

    · Al Titran – Who entered every petition received into the database, opened all of the mail, personally petitioned his heart out, and dug deep in his pocket besides.
    · Rosemary Racchi – Who surface checked every volunteer petition that came into the office, looked up the membership numbers to insure that every volunteer got credit for their signatures, and provided invaluable support to Al.
    · Ben Bachrach – Who created the database for checking signature validity and along with Jerry Bloom, set up the database for keeping track of signatures collected.
    · Jerry Bloom – Who kept the volunteer database straight, kept a running budget, provided the weekly reports you see in this e-newsletter, and collected over 1,000 signatures besides.
    · Leonard Schwartz – Who provided invaluable advice on the law governing petition drives, attended every meeting and mailing, acted as liaison to the state, and collected over 2,000 signatures.
    · Erin Stahl – Who typeset the petitions and will see to it that every volunteer who earned incentive prizes gets their reward.
    · Tim O’Brien – Who acted as liaison with the national party, wrote all fundraising letters, designed the lapel pin, supervised the mailings, ordered the supplies, and kept me going when I didn’t think I would make it.
    · Greg Dirasian – Who owns the online newsletter which is bringing you this information, who found solutions to database problems no one else could figure out, and who provided logistical support for our paid petitioners over the past five weeks – including opening his home to allow some of them to stay with him, thus saving us a lot of expense money.
    · Heather Pauli – Who stepped up to the plate and issued a metro-affiliates challenge to pay for a post card mailing when BARC ran low on money, and has helped with every mailing and in-house project for the petition drive.
    · Dianne Szabla – Who kept the BARC bank account in perfect order.
    · Sara Sjoberg; Jim Allison; Katie Byrne; Karin Corliss; George A. Weiss; Al Titran; Theresa Bora; and Don Eichstaedt – Who performed the thankless, mind-numbing task of doing qualified voter file checks on well over 4, 000 signatures.

    These are the unsung heroes of this campaign. I never could have gotten through this without their support.

    Our top twenty signature collectors as of today:

    
    F. Name	L. Name	Sigs.
    Leonard C.	Schwartz	2295
    Albert J	Titran	1907
    Ben	Steele	1222
    Jerry E	Bloom	1010
    Richard E	Jozwiak	603
    Greg	Dirasian	548
    Violet	Steele	500
    Trafton	Jean	500
    Benjamin	Steele	450
    Mickey	Hall	398
    Paul	Hitch	341
    Constance	Catalfio	321
    Charles	Goodman	306
    William	White	296
    Stephen	Townsend	296
    Bill	Gelineau	294
    James B.	Parker	291
    Tom	Quinn	290
    Fred	Collins	287
    
    Please take a careful look at all of the names listed above. In fact, print them off and save them. The next time you have to decide which candidates most deserve your time and money, remember these people. The next time you have to decide who your party leadership should be at every level, remember these names. These are the people who made sure you had a party to belong to. These are the people who have earned your support.

    Following is the current status of each affiliate in terms of meeting its “fair share” goals. Each affiliate’s fair share was determined by multiplying the number of members in the affiliate by 27. That is the number each would need to collect for the LPM’s (original) 50,000 signature target to meet the state’s requirement. The first list is the signatures only. The second list includes both signatures and monetary contributions.
    
    	Affiliate	Sigs. Collected	Goal	% Of Goal
    Allegan 	98	   560	17.5
    Berrien 	250	   560	44.6
    Branch-Hillsdale 	343	   351	97.7
    Clare-Gladwin 	269	   320	84.1
    Ionia	27	   240	11.3
    Kalamazoo 	510	   1013	50.3
    Lapeer-Genesee	825	   1413	58.4
    Livingston	308	   1732	17.8
    Macomb 	2655	   5784	46.0
    Mid-Michigan	793	   2852	27.8
    Midwest Michigan	308	   560	55.0
    Oakland 	6663	   10688	62.3
    Ottawa 	138	   800	17.3
    South Central Michigan	45	   1652	2.7
    Shiawassee 	2822	   293	963.1
    Saint Clair 	13	   693	1.9
    Traverse Bay	24	   773	3.1
    Tri-Cities	1178	   1173	100.4
    Upper Peninsula	73	   1119	6.5
    Van Buren 	384	   426	90.1
    Washtenaw 	1425	   2799	50.9
    Wayne 	1776	   8422	14.0
    West Michigan	867	   2799	31.0
    
    
    	Affiliate	$$ + Sigs.	Goal	  % 0f Goal
    Allegan 	198	   560	35.4
    Berrien 	458	   560	81.8
    Branch-Hillsdale 	569	   351	162.1
    Clare-Gladwin 	269	   320	84.1
    Ionia	27	   240	11.3
    Kalamazoo 	583	   1013	57.6
    Lapeer-Genesee	1590	   1413	112.5
    Livingston	1210	   1732	69.9
    Macomb 	4686	   5784	81.0
    Mid-Michigan	1263	   2852	44.3
    Midwest Michigan	452	   560	80.7
    Oakland 	14130	   10688	132.2
    Ottawa 	141	   800	17.6
    South Central Michigan	80	   1652	4.8
    Shiawassee 	2872	   293	980.2
    Saint Clair 	43	   693	6.2
    Traverse Bay	87	   773	11.3
    Tri-Cities	1706	   1173	145.4
    Upper Peninsula	433	   1119	38.7
    Van Buren 	482	   426	113.1
    Washtenaw 	2845	   2799	101.6
    Wayne 	3863	   8422	45.9
    West Michigan	2426	   2799	86.7
    
    Congratulations to the Branch – Hillsdale, Van Buren and Washtenaw affiliates for surpassing 100% of your share of the petition drive. The party thanks you as well.

    What a way to finish!

    You undoubtedly recall that we ran into a major problem just as our drive was coming into the home stretch. As we all know, some vengeance-seeking suicide bombers destroyed the World Trade Center on September 11. One of the many consequences of that catastrophe is that fundraising by the national LP collapsed along with the twin towers. That in turn meant that financial support from national for the paid portion of our effort was not forthcoming.

    But, just when things were looking bleakest, good things started happening. Like Paul Revere raising the alarm, Bill Shotey went to our major contributors, explained our plight, and was able to raise several thousand dollars to meet the emergency and keep our paid petitioners working. That kept us going for another couple of weeks.

    Plus, Greg Dirasian suggested that our HQ landlords (the law firm of Paul Clark and Paul Schoenberg) had a sufficient interest in the continuing existence of the LPM that they might be persuaded to pitch in. Bill stayed on the Pauls until they agreed to contribute one month’s rent (in two half-month installments during November and December) to the BARC effort!

    Then national’s fundraising made enough of a recovery that they were able to come through with an additional $5,000.

    Now for the best news.

    As noted at convention, the ballot access drive was funded through our campaign account rather than our general fund. This means that any money left over at the end of the petition drive will automatically be earmarked exclusively and entirely for future campaign support. It was with this outcome in mind that we continually urged our members to give us their best possible volunteer effort. Now that our major contributors, the national LP, and our landlords have all come through with substantial donations, we can be certain that the drive will finish “in the black.” And that means we will have a significant residual fund to use in ways that will more effectively promote libertarian ideas to the voters than paying petitioners to gather signatures.

    And I can’t think of a better postscript to a successful petition drive!
    Back to Contents

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