LPM OnlineFebruary 19, 2002 |
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Thinking about running for office? Then, join us at the
fabulous Crown Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. On March 9 the
Libertarian Party of West Michigan will host our annual
"Leadership Conference". This year will be the best yet!
Come & learn everything you need to know about campaigning &
building party membership . Workshops and presenters will be
--The Libertarian Party National Director Steve Dasbach: "A
Strategic Plan for Successful Party Building", Expert
Campaign Manager Barb Goushaw: "Making Sense of Voter Data
or Don't Irk The Clerk", State Chairman/Liberty Leadership
Council Founder Ghazey Aleck "Campaign Paperwork Made
Simple" and Liberty Leadership Council President Stephen
Townsend 'Practical Campaigning'.
SpeakOutMichigan.org -- End the Top-of-Ticket Rule
A political party loses its ballot status, under current Michigan law, if its top-of-ticket candidate (the one whose name appears nearest the top of the ballot) gets less than one percent of the votes cast for the successful candidate for secretary of state.
The Libertarian Party of Michigan had nine statewide candidates in 2000. All but one of them got more than enough votes for LPM to retain its ballot status. Unfortunate the one candidate who failed to get enough votes was our top-of-ticket candidate -- our candidate for president.
To regain ballot status, LPM had to conduct a petition drive, which was time-consuming and expensive. It used up resources that we would rather use to get our message across.
House Bill 5237 would make it easier for small political parties to stay on the ballot. It would allow a party to retain its ballot status if any of its statewide candidates got at least one percent of the votes cast for the successful candidate for secretary of state.
Please ask your state senator and representative to support House Bill 5237.
SpeakOutMichigan provides an easy way for you to send e-mail to them. It provides a prewritten letter, to which you can add personal comments. Type in your zip code and SpeakOutMichigan will determine who your state legislators are and send them the letter. It takes only a minute or two.
Please include your street address. This will clearly indicate that you live in their district. Legislators are mainly concerned with the opinions of their constituents.
SpeakOutMichigan also provides an easy way for you to send e-mail to your friends so that you can ask them to contact their state legislators. Again there is a prewritten letter, which you can edit.
SpeakOutMichigan is sponsored by the Libertarian Party of Michigan. Either go to www.michiganlp.org and click SpeakOutMichigan or go to www.SpeakOutMichigan.org.
A better way to lobby for HB 5237 is to send snail mail letters to your legislators. They probably consider constituents who take the time and money to send snail mail more important than those who use e-mail. You can copy the prewritten letter from SpeakOutMichigan and paste it into a snail mail letter.
The Libertarian Party of Michigan is steadily becoming a political force in Michigan politics. We can do one of two things with this. We can embrace growth and try to make a political difference by promoting growth or we can become protective and clubby by guarding bits of turf and stunt the growth. I am for promoting growth. If you are for growth, three goals must be accomplished and made the centerpiece of both the local and State parties. We must become 1)inclusive in every way possible, 2) practice open and fair disclosure and 3) put the party first. To be inclusive in every way, we must avoid anything that would exclude or chase off members and volunteers. We want to encourage volunteerism and membership alike. We must allow for dissent even from the inactive members--this is called tolerance (to allow, to respect, to put up with). Membership means to belong. In order for people to feel like they belong, they must feel comfortable in participating and comfortable with the idea that they can participate whenever they want. The process must be open to everyone. Statements like, "unless you contribute $100 or 100 hours, you have no right to complain" promotes exclusion and I would prefer and suggest instead, " Thank you for your comments and interests. We will take them into account. Right now, those who have been involved in the project, feel this is the best course of action and majority rules. You are, however, welcome to come and participate and try to convince us of a better way." To engage in open and fair disclosure, means that all committees, parties and party officers must let people know what is going on all the time and invite particpation whenever possible. This also helps to include. The biggest problem in any organization and with interpersonal relationships is the inability or failure to communicate correctly. People assume the worst unless they have been honestly communicated with. While important strategies requiring some secrecy cannot be immediately disclosed openly, all matters of the party must be open and fully disclosed. Important matters of strategies can be delayed but must also be ultimately disclosed at the earliest opportunity. Putting the party first holds everything together. Promote with the members that even if they dissent unsuccessfully, that's politics. You win some and you lose some. You may lose today but win tomorrow. We must embrace the process. We must put the party first and move on. There is no better political party to belong to even with our warts or misconceptions. The point is to stick with the party and make it better. These 3 goals must be implemented to promote growth. These are my goals and I hope all of the party leadership can see their way clear to adopt them as well.
An LPM Organizational Plan Work Session, will be held at LPM Headquarters on Sunday, March 24, starting at 1:00 pm. Those interested in participating, please download the plan (www.michiganlp.org/orgplan/), read it, and bring a copy with you to the meeting. Emily and Stacy will facilitate and lead the discussion. We'll start by explaining the plan and its finer points, and then we will facilitate the work (any motions) that result. This is intended to be exactly what it's called--A Work Session. So anyone prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to work is welcome! Location: LPM HQ 619 E Nine Mile Rd Hazel Park MI 48030 Contact: Emily Salvette Phone: (248) 591-3733 E-mail: salvette@ameritech.net
News Release for Immediate Release Contact: Ghazey Aleck 1-800-608-7375
Attempt to Impose Death Penalty Offends Michigan Constitution According to Libertarian Party
The Libertarian party sympathizes with the family of Rachel Timmerman. Her killer should be punished to the fullest extent of Michigan law. However, the Libertarian Party of Michigan does not believe that our federal government should circumvent the Michigan Constitution by attempting to impose the death penalty for a crime that occurs in Michigan. Marvin Charles Gabrion II, who is charged with the death of the 19 year old Rachel Timmerman, should not be charged with the death penalty. The voters of Michigan have chosen not to have a death penalty. To have the federal government come in here and run rough shot over our state constitution is unconscionable and intolerable. In 1846, just 9 years after becoming a state, Michigan became the first English speaking government in the world to outlaw capital punishment for all crimes except treason against the state. Federal prosecutors are going to face a huge uphill battle to even prove this murder occurred in the Manistee National forest in the first place. So while federal prosecutors waste taxpayer dollars because they think this murder occurred within a federal jurisdiction, we do know it happened in Michigan. The Libertarian Party of Michigan is demanding that Governor John Engler do what he was elected to do. Uphold the Michigan Constitution and represent the citizens who elected him. Stand up to your friend, President George W. Bush, and remind him that this is Michigan, not Texas. According to Libertarian Party of Michigan Chairman Ghazey Aleck, "It doesn't matter what side of the death penalty debate you come down on. Governor John Engler must uphold the Constitution of the State of Michigan and thereby represent the will of Michigan voters by ensuring that there is no death penalty in this case."
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