1999 State Convention
5/1/1999 – 5/2/1999
Ramada – Southfield, International Hotel & Convention Center
17017 West Nine Mile Road, Southfield
SOUTHFIELD. The Libertarian Party of Michigan held its annual convention at the Ramada in Southfield the weekend of May 1 and 2.
Michigan’s largest “minor” party elected Ms. Stacy Van Oast from Richmond it’s new Chair.
“I’m looking forward to helping advance the cause of returning our country to its libertarian roots,” said the former two-term LPM Vice Chair. “The party is beginning to gain some real momentum and I feel privileged to take up the cause from the dedicated Libertarians who preceded me and who persevered through more than a quarter century of painstaking progress.”
Teresa Pollock of Brighton was chosen Vice Chair. Keith Edwards of St. Clair Shores was elected Secretary. David Nagy of Livonia was re-elected to the Treasurer post. In addition, Mark Heil of Harrison Township, Doug MacDonald of Livonia, Nancy O’Brien of Allen Park, Bruce Hoepner of Southfield, and Dan LaFavers of Ypsilanti were elected as At-large Directors
The new Chair of the country’s fifth largest state affiliate of the Libertarian Party outlined an ambitious plan for accelerating the growth of the 1500 member Michigan organization.
“My first official act,” said Van Oast, “was to appoint my immediate predecessor in this office, Tim O’Brien, to a newly created position of Executive Director.”
Mr. O’Brien served as party chair from May of 1997 until last weekend when he did not seek re-election to that position. His two-term tenure saw party membership rise by more than 40% and the party budget more than double. He also began a monthly op-ed column which now runs regularly in the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press as well as numerous other papers throughout the state.
“Tim has given us a much higher profile and taken us to a new level of professionalism,” said Van Oast. “Making him Executive Director along with assembling this kind of Executive Committee team was the next logical step. We intend,” she concluded, “to make the Libertarian Party a force to be reckoned with in campaign 2000…and into the next millennium.”
