Operation Breakthrough 2.0Make a Difference.

Run for Office!

Elected OfficialSaratoga’s John Mehaffey

2002 LPCConvention Review

having D.A.’s like Norm Vroman? I sure can!

Operation Breakthrough 2.0In 2000, I designed Operation Breakthrough –– and a break-

through it was! The concept is simple. Years ago, I noticed many electiveoffices in the state are so low profile that there aren’t enough candidatesto fill them. The local county board of supervisors cancels the electionand appoints someone. If we could only get enough Libertarians to runfor these seats, some would win by default.

We compiled information on “special district” (water boards,park districts, etc.) elections in November 2000. We created a list of10,000 registered Libertarians who live in those districts and mailed aprofessionally designed letter to each, asking them to run. We followedup with phone calls using a professional telemarketing operation, eventu-ally reaching around half of our prospects. Over 500 expressed interest inrunning. From then until the filing deadline, the LPC staff followed upwith each of them, answering their questions and encouraging each to file.

We hoped 100 people would file for office and five would win.Over 160 people filed, with six Libertarians winning by default

and eight beating another candidate in November: 14 winners in all!In 2001, we did it again. However, there aren’t as many elections

in an odd year –– we sent a letter to half as many as our first Operation.The result: 86 candidates, seven winners: five of them by

default; two beating other candidates.The cost: $125 per candidate or $1,500 per Libertarian victory.Operation Breakthrough 2.0 will build upon the success of the

last two years. We can scale this project up to contact 35,000 registeredLibertarians, find 500 candidates and elect 40 new officeholders this year.This depends on you. It’s all about money. Your donation is our budget.We can spend $75,000 on this project before we experience significantlydiminishing returns. We could spend a lot less, but we wouldn’t have asmany victories.

I lose sleep trying to figure out who can help fund this worth-while project. Maybe that person is you.

Every $125 spent gave us one more candidate and every $1,500brought us one more elected Libertarian. Your contribution may be thereason why we elect our next Norm Vroman. Or our next ten Norms. Themore Libertarians we elect this year, the closer we will be to a Libertariancountry. It’s up to you. How fast do you want to get there?

Do you believe in building upon success? Do you believe ingetting results for the money you put into this movement? Do you believeelecting Libertarians is what our party should be doing? If so, stop whatyou’re doing right now. I’m serious. Don’t read anything else in thisnewspaper. Right this minute, send me an e-mail or give me a call. Let’stalk about how many newly elected Libertarians you’re willing to fund.

Page 2 LPC Monthly April 2002

From the Chair

S

Aaron Starr

LPC

OPERATIONBREAKTHROUGH 2.0

t’s time. Time to stand. Time toact. Time to run.

Run in place? RunIamok? Nope, none of those. Runfor office. Participate in the mostsuccessful Libertarian electionproject in the nation – OperationBreakthrough.

What is it?Elective offices are either

partisan – we run candidates underthe Libertarian Party name, or non-partisan – candidates do not rununder a party name. OperationBreakthrough is a project to runnon-partisan candidates for office,and win.

There are about 10,000non-partisan elective offices inCalifornia. They include parkdistricts, fire districts, hospitaldistricts. It costs nothing to file fornon-partisan office, and can costno money to run. In 2000, KateO’Brien ran for Simi Valley Parkand Rec office. She spent zerodollars. Her opponent spent

The cost: about $125 tofind each candidate, and $1,500per winning candidate.

Would you pay $1,500 fora winning candidate?

Operation Breakthrough 1.0winners:Kern County, Teri Kahn, Directorof the Tehachapi Valley HealthCare District; Placer County, ErikHenrikson, Director Tahoe CityPublic Utility District; Sacra-mento County, Joseph Corey, GaltFire Protection District; Sacra-mento County, MichaelMcFarland, Fulton-El Camino Rec& Park District; San DiegoCounty, Linda Strom, LakesideCommunity Planning Area board;San Diego County, Robert R.Mendez, Vista Irrigation District;Santa Barbara County, Greg D.Flores, Santa Maria Water Conser-vation District; Ventura County,Kate O’Brien, Simi Rec & ParkDistrict, won by three votes;Orange County, Geoff Braun,Placentia Library District; SantaClara County, Gilbert Carroll,Guadalupe Conservation District;Santa Clara County, Gary Molle,Guadalupe Conservation District;Sonoma County, John Dennison,Alexander Valley Unified SchoolDistrict; San Diego County, RayEnglish, Descanso PlanningDistrict; San Mateo County, KellyMcKnight, La Honda UnifiedSchool District

Operation Breakthrough 1.5Originally, Aaron Starr

was not going to run OperationBreakthrough in 2001 (not as manyelective offices are available in oddyears). However, the ExecutiveCommittee and Aaron decided tomove forward anyway. Theydubbed the effort OperationBreakthrough 1.5. Historically theLibertarian Party of California runssix or eight candidates in odd yearelections. Last year, directly due toOperation Breakthrough 1.5, weran eight-six candidates! Sevencandidates won.

Conclusion: the Opera-tion Breakthrough system isextraordinarily successful.

NOW: Operation Breakthrough2.0

Libertarians want to

expand and enhance this project.We want to run 400-500 non-partisan candidates. This will bethe first Libertarian project of thismagnitude nationwide. If success-ful, we will elect thirty to fortyLibertarians to office. Followingthe same successful formula, wewill need to send a letter to 35,000registered Libertarians and followup with phone calls.

Operation Breakthrough2.0 will cost: $75,000 ($150 tofind each candidate * 500 candi-dates).

How Can I Help?First, run for office.

Please contact me now. Moderntechnology….I’m only an email orphone call away. Contact DavidMolony 818-782-8400; emaildirector@ca.lp.org. It is importantfor the party, and for freedom.Decide to run. Today. Now. Takethat first step by contacting me.

Second, if you cannot run,contribute financially. It takes timeand money. Your time to run foroffice. Your contribution to helpfind others to run for office.

If you have never run foroffice, and want to, now is thetime. Many Libertarians’ biggestfear - you won’t have enough time.However, you can put as much oras little time in as you wish. Asillustrated above, Kate O’Brienspent no money, no time, and won.We need you to file. At least halfof all races are won because no onefiles to run - you win automatically.In Humbolt county alone, therewere close to 10 seats that had noone file. The county board ofsupervisors appoint people to thosepositions. Most positions onlyrequire one or two meetings permonth.

Many of these uncon-tested offices have multimilliondollar budgets and affect livesdramatically. So run.

However, if you cannotrun, please help fund our efforts.One Libertarian donated $500towards the effort last week. Whatcan YOU contribute?

If you can afford $25,000,please send it in today. If you canafford $500, please send it in. Forthose that can afford it, I call on allLibertarians to send in $100 today.

Kate O’Brien$30,000. Kate won.

While Kate’s campaigncost her nothing, OperationBreakthrough does requirefinancial resources.

Operation Breakthrough 1.0In 2000, current LPC

Chair Aaron Starr began OperationBreakthrough. On his own initia-tive, Aaron raised $20,000. Hearranged to send out a letter toregistered Libertarians and afollow-up phone call by a hiredcalling center.. The result: 182non-partisan candidates. The finalresult: 14 non-partisan candidateselected.

uccessful organizations focus on influencing the outside world.Unsuccessful organizations focus on internal issues.

If you weren’t at the convention this year, you missedout. We’re becoming successful.

In previous years, we spent every day of our convention focus-ing on internal housekeeping, such as changing the bylaws and updatingthe platform. This year was different. We brought in professionals to

teach Libertarians how to communicate our ideas andhow to win local elections –– it was a hit.

A highlight of this convention was ourbanquet speaker, Mendocino County DistrictAttorney Norm Vroman, an elected Libertarian whoprosecutes real criminals and refuses to take legalaction against victimless criminals, such as medicalmarijuana patients. The man spent time in prison forrefusing to file an income tax return and the votersstill elected him. Can you imagine all 58 counties

Aaron Starr, CPAChairmanLibertarian Party of Californiastarrcpa@pacbell.net805-583-3308 home

(continued page 6)

Page 3LPC MonthlyApril 2002

PublisherLibertarian Party of California

EditorDavid Molony

Associate EditorJoe Dehn

ContributorsBarry Benintende

Joe DehnMichael FoleyBill Holmes

David MolonyAaron StarrZach Vowell

PhotographerColin Delmore

Mailing Address14547 Titus Street, Suite 214

Panorama City, CA 91402818.782.8400

Online Editionwww.ca.lp.org/lpcm

Email: director@ca.lp.org

Only email submissions will be accepted.

LPC Monthly is the official newsletter ofthe Libertarian Party of California.Opinions contained herein do not

necessariliy represent official partypositions unless indicated. All submissions

are subject to editing.

Deadline: 1st day of every month.

LPC Monthly

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Executive Director ReportAll You Want To KnowBy David Molony

E

(continued page 6)

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or the past couple of years,not only has LibertarianJohn Mehaffey served on

John MehaffeySaratoga City Council MemberBy Zach Vowell

FSaratoga’s City Council, but he hasalso been the mayor.

Saratoga’s local govern-

ment prescribes that the councilitself vote for the top city office,and without the usual partisanwrangling that normally detractsfrom Libertarian causes, it isencouraging to see those Libertar-ian principles gain trust within thecommunity. The result: Mehaffeyhas consistently applied thoseLibertarian ideas to concreteissues, and bettered his city formany years to come.

Even though the council

John Mehaffey

recently voted in a new mayor,Mehaffey has come a long waysince his first term in public office.“It was eye-opening how easy it isto spend other people’s money”, hesaid. Of course, this easy accessi-bility to public funds was not whatnurtured Mehaffey’s politicalaction. Rather, it was in responseto a lawsuit from the city overpollution in the Saratoga Creek.He helped others campaign againstthe lawsuit and other similarmeasures that would convertcommercially zoned land near thecreek to residential land. Once inoffice, he advocated a slow growthinitiative titled Measure G. Thisproposal, which passed in the 2000November elections, placed amoratorium on any zoning conver-sions until 2002.

He has tackled otherissues in his tenure, such as the“easy” ones like eminent domain.But he doesn’t try to be too pro-active when it comes to wieldinggovernment power. As with issueslike eminent domain, he is moreinterested, as are all Libertarians, inreigning in those powers. And helikes the way things are set up: “It’s

interesting how hard it is to getthings accomplished. You’rehemmed in on all sides— but thenagain, that’s a good thing”.

And in this context, wherethere is a “long process” toaccomplish anything, Mehaffeyrecognizes that a Libertarian mustcampaign on solid, concreteconcerns for the community. Notcold, abstract ideas like “smallergovernment”. “I have never beenthe type of guy who will say ‘I’m aLibertarian and government is bad:kick everyone out and return thetaxes’”. He appreciates the non-partisan atmosphere in theSaratoga City Council that makes“Libertarianism” a label thatdoesn’t cost him politically.

Mehaffey holds a master’sdegree in computer science fromStanford. After working forHewlett-Packard for fifteen years,he started his own consultingcompany in Saratoga Village calledGedanken. After these privateachievements, Mehaffey decided itwas time for a public accomplish-ment; and like his more youthfulfeats, he knew that it would taketime.

(continued page 4)

David Molony

xcitement. Activity.Accomplishment. Success.Focus. These are the words

that describe what’s happening atthe LPC office in Panorama City,

California. Let me explain.Since the second week of

January, volunteers have beenpouring into our office suite. Atleast 30 people have volunteered atour office.

These Libertarians arevolunteering an extremely generouscontribution of time. As a result, anincredible amount of work isaccomplished. Their dedication andhard work requiresacknowledgement and credit.

Bryan Lackey, RodgerRosie, Kent Fowler, ColinDelmore, Marie Bertles, DavidLarkin, Jeremy Murphy, ZachVowell, Toby Cryns, Rose Weber,Michael Foley, Ken Jones, PhyllisSherman Raschke, Lance Keating,Hal Chipren, Thomas St. Thomasare a few of the many people whoare helping. They have donated248 hours of time, or 6.2 full-timeweeks of work.

They have helped in everyarea and every aspect of ourorganization. They have helpedforward hundreds of Letters ofMarque and Reprisal petitions toUS Congress and US Senate. They

have done data entry of thousandsof records. Rodger Rosie com-pletely updated Los Angelesmembership records. He updatedhundreds of bad or changedaddresses. They have calledhundreds of registered Libertariansinviting them to become members.David Larkin has added hundredsof records to our elective officedatabase. This is an incrediblyimportant project to keep track ofall elective offices in California.He is also doing fundraisingresearch (specific names andaddresses) of people likely to fundLibertarian projects.

Zach Vowell, JeremyMurphy, and Michael Fowleyhave written letters to the editor forour Adopt-a-Newspaper project.

Colin Delmore has madefundraising calls, membershipcalls. He was also the photographer

Page 4 LPC Monthly April 2002

FREEMANa novel byJAMES RUSHING

Letters to the EditorWar On Drugs

— Bill Holmes

Cocaine and heroin sell for 20 to 40 times what they would ifthere were no Drug War. Drug prohibition provides an income stream toarmed thugs, including bin Laden’s gang. While the bulk of our federalforces were preoccupied with pot heads and medical marijuana, terroristslearned how to fly transport jets into buildings. Our federal forces were soincompetent with regard to their primary duty to protect life, liberty andproperty, they didn’t even react in time to deal with the third off-courseaircraft. Like the myriad of bureaucratic bungles and failed programsbefore, the U.S. Congress rewarded those who performed badly withmore money and power, neither of which will make us more secure. FromMcVeigh to Laden, the primary thing the federal government does isenrage people at the expense of your life, liberty and property.

Waging the War on Drugs in conjunction with the War onTerrorism is counterproductive, but I suspect this particular stupidity istemporary. Like all prohibitions before it, the War on Drugs has failed.No matter. It served its purpose. It provided a bridge War from the hotand Cold Wars and the failed War on Poverty to the new War on Terror-ism — terrorism instigated by the federal government (McDonalds andPlayboy created few terrorists). As in the book “1984”, War provides anexcuse for the continual expansion of federal power over you, me, theStates and the world.

The Bush administration’s steel tariffs are a sad step backwardfor free trade. Tariffs hurt the economy by increasing prices for raw steeland all subsequent manufactured goods. They help a small group ofpeople (steel companies) at the expense of everyone else (you and me!).

If you thought the Republicans were defenders of free trade,think again. The GOP openly espouses protectionist trade restrictions inits party platform! Republicans cannot be trusted to uphold free trade anymore than Democrats.

No economists advocate protectionist tariffs. They are simply away for governments to bestow favors upon particular lobbies. TheLibertarian Party is the only one with enough principle to explicitlydenounce tariffs in its party platform. When will the other parties developthe same integrity?

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He initially campaignedfor Stan Bogosian and Jim Shaw inprotest against the city’s lawsuitover the Saratoga Creek. Anyonewho is considering running forpolitical office, especially as aLibertarian, should realize thenecessity of laying this ground-work. From his own experience,Mehaffey learned that “you musthave the support base from a priorcampaign. I couldn’t have done itwithout that support: letters to theeditor, mailers, signatures”.

Once in office, Mehaffeyput his extensive knowledge and

pragmatic philosophy to work.Besides battling the city overcommercial zoning and eminentdomain, he has tried to attackconcrete issues that will likely havelong-term impact. And eventhough he laments that “you end upwith your nose to the grindstonedealing with day to day things”, hisforesight has enabled him to loosenthe restraints of those grindings.With his technical expertise, he hasadvocated the establishment ofwider technological equipment andtraining for city workers, an

upgraded website designed to givethe public easier access to publicmeetings and information, andbusing systems for schoolchildrenin order to alleviate traffic.

Mehaffey has said thatafter his political career has run outof steam, he wouldn’t mind gettinginto political consulting. Hope-fully, his career will last longenough for him to be considered apolitical expert, not just a consult-ant. Meanwhile, the citizens ofSaratoga will enjoy a city govern-ment free from wasteful ambitionsand misguided meddling.

John Mehaffey - Saratogo City Council (continued from page 3)

LPC

Wowwed the CrowdBy David Molony

T2002 LPC Convention Review

his year’s convention was ablast. We had food, festivityand fun. What more could a

Libertarian want? It was a greattime to meet old friends and makenew ones. Over a hundred Liber-tarians in one room at times.

One comment from a longtime Libertarian was there weremany more “new faces” in thecrowd than ever before. YoungLibertarians were found every-where.

Convention HappeningsMany of you might

wonder what goes on at a Libertar-ian function. Here’s the recap:

FRIDAYOn Friday, Platform and

Bylaw committees got together andworked out wording for newproposed Platform and Bylawchanges to be voted on by alldelegates in the following days.

SATURDAYOn Saturday, the officers

of the Libertarian Party of Califor-

the delegates voted on platformand bylaw changes as outlined byJoe Dehn (on page 7).

Saturday night GrandBanquet: über-Libertarian NormVroman (Mendocino DistrictAttorney) stood and delivered. Hehad the dinner crowd (sold out;turned people away at the door!)cheering! I personally was ex-tremely happy he attended. His re-election was on March 5. He wonand is D.A. for another 4 years!

SUNDAYOver the years, Libertar-

ians have expressed the desire fortop-level training. To help fill thisdesire, we flew trainers from allover the United States into SantaMaria. We spent an entire day on

LPC Executive Director David Molony andCongressman Ron Paul

(continued page 5)

nia gave their reports.State Chair Aaron Starr,Northern Vice ChairRodney Austin, SouthernVice Chair Mark Selzer,Treasurer LoriAdasiewicz (see herreport on page 5),Secretary Sandi Webb,and Executive DirectorDavid Molony reportedon the prior year’sactivities, and the goalsand directions they aremoving towards in thisnew year. FollowingOfficer Reports, Con-gressman Ron Paul, M.D.gave the keynote address.(Ron Paul was the 1988Libertarian Presidentialcandidate. He is currentlya Republican congress-man from Texas). We laughed andhad a great time listening to amember of Congress. Paul hadmany serious comments regardingthe government and the aftermathof the 9/11 attacks.

Following a buffet lunch,

Pleasurable dining experiences!

well documented by the interna-tional, national and Californiapress.

Gardner Osborne won theSamuel Adams Society’s presti-gious 2002 Karl Bray Award.Every first Monday of the month,Gardner has been staging End theDrug War Rally from 3-7 p.m. infront of the San Diego FederalCourthouse. Congratulations on theaward, Gardner!

Next TimeFor those of you who did

not make it to our convention thisyear: I’m sorry. You missed a greattime.

However, plan on it fornext year. The convention:February 15 - 17, 2003. Two anda half days (Saturday through 1pmMonday) of action. Next year’sconvention will be a great experi-ence. Food. Fun. Freedom. I hopeto see you there!

Page 5LPC MonthlyApril 2002

LPC

($20,000)

($15,000)

($10,000)

($5,000)

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

All Funds Balance (Less Convention Loan)General Fund Balance (Less Convention Loan)

Libertarian Party of CaliforniaTreasurer’s Report

WFISCAL YEAR 2001

LPC Treasurer Lori Adasiewicz

By Lori Adasiewicz

LPC Monthly Financial Balance

(continued page 7)

candidate and activist training. Thetrainers, Bob Burg, Paul Pelletier,Julie Griffeths, and NancyBocskor, are “world-class”trainers. All four gave participatingLibertarians fantastic, “real world”information.

What did people say about thetraining?“I loved it. I want more!” Kristi Stone Membership Chair, San Diego Candidate, Assembly District 74

“The training wasn’t long enough.It was so great I wish there was

MONDAYThe final day. Monday’s mainevent was the Samuel AdamsLunch. Ward Connerly was thespeaker at the annual event.Connerly first burst on the scene asa UC Regent and for leading thefight for equal opportunity. WardConnerly serves as chairman of theCalifornia Civil Rights Initiativecampaign. Connerly has gainednational respect as an outspokenadvocate of equal opportunity foreveryone, regardless of race or sex.Connerly’s views on preferences,set-asides and quotas have been

2002 LPC Convention Review (continued from page 4)

time for more! This training isessential for the future of theparty.” Brian Lee Cross Past Chair, LP Orange County California LPC Executive

Committee Candidate, Assembly District 72

“The training was the highlight ofthe convention. Conducted byprofessionals experienced andknowledgable about what they do.They provided us with valuableinformation.” Rodger Rosie Chair, Los Angeles County

(LPLAC)

“The Candidate Training sessionswere extremely useful. The localactivist, networking, andfundraising seminars werevaluable for political activity at mylevel.” Chris Maden Chair, LP San Francisco Candidate, Assembly District 13

Über-Libertarian Norm Vroman (Mendocino District Attorney)

hen I was elected toserve as your Treasurerat the 2001 convention,

one of the promises I made to thedelegation was more communica-

tion, more details in our financialreports. Toward that end, I ampresenting in this issue of the LPCMonthly a summary of ourfinancial situation through thefiscal year 2001.

In February 2001, thecurrent administration was elected.Several weeks later, I obtained thefinancial records from the formerTreasurer. The Chair and theExecutive Director transferred thebookkeeping function in-house,and switched accounting softwarefrom QuickBooks to MYOB. Thenew software provides for a betteraudit trail, and in-house bookkeep-ing will ensure consistency in thefinancial statements from term toterm.

During the conversion, wediscovered two things: (1) a $2,000overstatement in our financialposition as of December 2000; and(2) a series of unauthorized

payments made by the formerTreasurer to the 2001 conventioncontractor. These payments, whichtotaled more than $7,000, put theLPC in the red, and made the LPCan unwilling creditor of thecontractor.

Throughout much of theyear it appeared doubtful that thesefunds would be recovered, soassuming that the LPC would haveto take a loss on the entire balancedue, obligations in Februaryexceeded assets by over $7,000and, worse, the general fund’sobligations exceeded general fundassets by over $15,000.

In March and early April,the LPC was at risk of defaulting tothe regions and closing down theLPC headquarters. Fortunately,this problem was averted in April,

when the LPC raised $12,500 inpersonally solicited gifts, liftingfund balances into the black for thefirst time last year. The LPCcollected an additional $3,000 inpersonally solicited gifts in June.

In July, the LPC took a

big risk and realized a tremendoussuccess. The Santa Clara and SanDiego regions loaned the LPC$9,000 so that we could afford tosimultaneously do both a member-ship recruitment mailing andOperation Breakthrough 1.5.Financially, this effort broke evenover the next 90 days, brought ushundreds of new members, 86candidates and seven electoralvictories. These loans have beenrepaid in full to Santa Clara andSan Diego.

In August, formerExecutive Director Juan Ros leftthe LPC to accept a position with anon-profit organization that offeredhim a better career opportunity andmore money than the LPC couldpossibly afford to pay him. Laterthat month, San Francisco Chair-

man David Molony was hired tothe position of Executive Director.Upon Juan Ros’s departure, he waspaid accrued vacation owed to him,eating significantly into our cashposition. To prevent the closing ofthe office, the current Executive

Director deferred salaryearned by him and residedrent-free at the Chair’sresidence.

Less than threeweeks later, September11th happened andcontributions all butceased. The recessionaryeconomic environment,compounded by the eventsof September, promptedthe Chair and ExecutiveDirector to focus on costcutting measures, includ-ing the elimination of theneed for outside services

from YOU?You can reach 6,000

dedicated Libertarians in the LPCMonthly. If you have a product orservice to advertise, call me at 818-782-8400 or email me atdirector@ca.lp.org.

As a business owner, youcan write off this advertising as abusiness expense – something youcould not do if you donated themoney to the party.

!!! BREAKING NEWS !!!Today, as I write this at deadline,the LPC just received two majordonations for Operation Break-through. One donation: $6,000,and one for $500 PLUS a $50 permonth pledge. Our total: we nowhave $17,000 in donations forOperation Breakthrough. Pleasehelp us elect 30 - 40 Libertariansthis November. Call, write, or faxyour contribution today.

inroads by finding those peoplewho are staying home on electionday. In my 18 years as a member ofthe Libertarian Party, I’ve seen ourranks grow, but never catch the firewe all predict. Perhaps it is timewe all target one friend or neighborand get them to convert. I’ve seenthat philosophy work well for myChristian friends who go out andwitness to their neighborhood. Wecould all be Johnny Appleseeds,dropping Libertarian ideas into theheads of those close to us. Wecould all convince one person toleave the tax-fattened jackals of theDemocrat and Republican partiesand urge them to turn to us, ratherthan a different third party. But weshould encourage everyone weknow to at least consider any thirdparty as an option favorable to thebig two.

I doubt I’d ever vote for acandidate from the Pajama Party,though I do find their solution toevery problem amusing: Sleep for20 hours a day. And some of thebest ideas brought up have comefrom the Bull Moose Party, theLibertarian Party, the Reform Partyand any number of lesser lights inthe political galaxy. I doubt thatmom had any idea that draggingme to all those RepublicanWomen’s club meetings andleaving copies of Ayn Rand novelslaying about the house would havethis effect on her youngest son.

Barry Benintende is the Execu-tive Editor of the La Jolla Light,a 90 year-old weekly paper inthe San Diego area. He won a2000 Lights of Liberty Award forhis editorial writing.

Page 6 LPC Monthly April 2002

Early Primary, Late for Dinner

T

LPC

Executive Director Report (continued from page 3)

here’s a picture of me, as ababy, getting kissed by mynamesake, Barry Goldwater.

My mom and dad were tirelesscampaigners for the doomedpresidential candidate back in1964, an honest man with asnowball’s chance in hell of gettingelected. I have fond memories ofmom pushing me up and down the

streetsof ElCajon,cam-paign-ing,some-timesinvain,forpeople

she believed in – I guess myparents’ love of politics and thefutility of backing an under-funded, unknown candidate,rubbed off on me.

But with mom and dad theyears of frustration paid off when“Little Petey Wilson” (mom’sterm) got elected governor. Myfrustration, finishing dead last inmy lone run for elective office inlast year’s cycle, is just beginning.That is part of the thrill of being amember of an underdog party, athird party, an alternative party; welack the funds, the name recogni-tion and in many cases the ballotaccess for a fair fight. So what is itthat leads third party candidates onthe Sisyphusian struggle to pushthat boulder uphill for eternity?Who knows, I sure don’t.

For me, it was the urgent

By Barry Benintende

Barry Benintende

LPC

We have included a form on thelast page.

How Do I Run for Office?1. Make sure you are registered tovote.2. Call your local county electionboard and ask what offices areavailable. Fire Districts, WaterDistricts, Park and RecreationDistricts, Hospital Districts, etc.3. Inform David Molony at 818-782-8400, or emaildirector@ca.lp.org.

Operation Breakthrough 2.0 (continued from page 2)

Aaron Starr exclaims“This can be as big as we want it tobe, but your donation is ourbudget. If you want to get candi-dates elected, help us with this.”

Remember, one of theseLibertarians may be elected inYOUR district. Who do you wantin your district. A Republican?Democrat? Green? Or a Libertar-ian? The choice is yours. Run forour cause. Contribute to ourwinning efforts.

LPC

at our State Convention. Weappreciate his coming to ourconvention and taking the photo-graphs in this newspaper.

Call me if you wish tojoin the excitement.

VOLUNTEER OF THEMONTH - KENT FOWLERKent is very active in his commu-nity: a scout leader, active in his

When that time comes, I‘m sure wewill return the generousity he isshowing the party right now, andwe will help him win that race.Kent is definitely a hero of mineand is an inspiration to the party.

Business OwnersBusiness owners: did you

realize many Libertarians will goout of their way to find and BUY

need to fix a system I felt was/isbroken, that elections havedegenerated to who has the mostcoin, the most-polished image andthe best spin doctors. It too oftenbecomes a question of militaryservice in Viet Nam, did you ordidn’t you smoke marijuana inyour youth or are you pro-choiceor pro-life?

All those questions maybe valid, but aren’t the questions ofindividual liberty, a tax-freesociety, an over-hauled or elimi-nated social security system, anopen or closed border, a return tothe Bill of Rights, etc. just asimportant? Republicans andDemocrats seem bogged down inflag burning amendments andprayer in school while the leader-ship of our great nation – currentevents and the president’s awe-some calming effect on our nationnot withstanding – seems to ride anexpress train to hell.

There are many candi-dates from so-called “fringe”parties that do fight the good fight,that run when they have no chanceof winning. They do so becausethey, like our founding fathers,have a burning desire to changeour nation for the better. Whetheror not a national healthcare plan orsealed-off border will in factimprove our nation is semi-relevant. The fact that we live in anation where a multi-party, not atwo party system, exists is relevant.The just-completed primaryelection saw a turn out of aboutone third of the registered voters,and that is not counting those folksthat are not registered. ClearlyLibertarians can make our biggest

localpolicereserves,and asuperLibertarianvolunteer.Fundraisingcalls,envelopeaddress-ing,member-ship calls,copying.Kent does whatever ittakes.

For our successful CulverCity Operation: Energy TaxRevolt!, Kent assembled theclipboards, walking lists, and mapsWithout Kent’s help, the 40volunteers who came out thatSaturday would not have been ableto work. Of course, Kent alsogathered signatures at that event.

Kent volunteered for theentire convention weekend. He didlast minute copying at Kinkos,helped bring in LP materials intothe hotel.

He is doing all this, ANDpreparing for his April wedding.Wow!

Eventually, in the nextfew years, Kent plans on moving toOroville. He told me he plans torun for mayor. And win. I amabsolutely sure he will win whenhe runs. No question in my mind.

Norm Vroman and Kent Fowler

recovering from its recession, and2002 is an election year, whenmore money is historically raised.We started the year by receiving anunrestricted donation of $10,000from a private donor. If the yearprogresses as anticipated, the LPCstands a good chance of going intothe black while increasing ouractivities for the year. In addition,the national office is budgetingsignificant moneys in 2002 formembership recruitment, whichshould increase the number ofmembers and the amount ofrevenue sharing from the nationalparty.

The LPC’s General Fundbudget for 2002 is conservative inpredicting an 11% increase inrevenues. The Chair is veryoptimistic in budgeting substantialrestricted donations for OperationBreakthrough and the Question-naire Project. If revenues do notmeet expectations for theseprojects, those activities will bereduced accordingly.

Over all, the LPC ispoised for growth in 2002. Nowthat we have trimmed one of ourlargest expenses and stabilized theamount spent on administration, allnew revenue can be allocated intoprograms such as campaigns andelections, membership develop-ment, and voter registration.Freedom cannot be bought for the$25 a year we pay in membershipdues. You can help these projectsto bear fruit for the LPC by takingan active role in volunteering,submitting proposals for projectsto the Executive Committee, andbecoming a monthly pledger. Ifeach of our 5,000 memberspledged only $5 per month, wewould have $25,000 per month, ifwe each pledged $10 per month,we would have $50,000 per month.Imagine what we could accomplishtogether . . .

The delegates elected fivemembers to serve in the at-largepositions of the state ExecutiveCommittee: Ted Brown, DonnaNowland, Shree Rajan, DougScribner, and Jonathan Zwickel,along with two alternates: BruceDovner and Dan Wiener. At-largemembers are elected for one-yearterms and serve on the EC alongwith representatives of the fivelargest regions, plus the fiveofficers who are elected in odd-numbered years and are currently inthe middle of their two-year terms.

Elected to serve on theJudicial Committee for the comingyear were Kim Goldsworthy,Chris Maden, Jennille Smith,Ray Strong, and Bob Weber.

Joe Dehn was re-electedas representative to the LibertarianNational Committee; Mark Hinkleand Scott Lieberman were electedto serve as alternates.

About 100 members wereelected to serve as delegates to thenational convention coming up inJuly. This is only about half thenumber of delegate positionsallocated to California. Libertariansfrom California who attend thenational convention and who werenot elected as delegates in Februarywill have a second chance, as thedelegation is empowered to addmore members when they meet inIndianapolis.

Wayne Nygren waselected as the California representa-tive to the national conventionPlatform Committee, with LauraStewart as the alternate. RayAcosta was elected as the Califor-nia representative to the nationalconvention Credentials Committee.

In an unusual move, thedelegates endorsed two Libertariansrunning for Governor: GaryCopeland, whose name appearedon the March primary ballot, andArt Olivier, who was running as awrite-in candidate. The delegatesalso endorsed all the other Libertar-ians on the ballot for partisanoffices.

The convention alsoadopted resolutions concerningalternative voting systems, Opera-tion: Energy Tax Revolt, andAmtrak.

For details of the variouscommittee elections and wording ofthe Bylaws and Platform amend-ments, see http://www.ca.lp.org/conv/2002/.

Page 7LPC MonthlyApril 2002

LPC

LPC

ITreasurer’s Report (continued from page 5)

n official convention businessconducted on Saturday andMonday, delegates made rela-

CONVENTION BUSINESS SUMMARYBy Joe Dehn

tively minor changes to the Bylawsand Platform, elected partyofficials, and endorsed candidates.

2001 LPC IncomeFour proposals were

brought to the convention by theBylaws Committee; all four wereadopted without modification. Themost significant was the creation ofa procedure for formally declaringa region “inactive” to allow for areorganization. The ExecutiveCommittee (EC) was given theauthority to reinstate membershipspreviously terminated by action ofthe EC. Changes in wording weremade to clarify the authority of theEC to provide mailing lists and todeal with the fact that electionofficials have different titles indifferent counties.

Three changes were madeto the LPC Platform. In the Healthand Medicine plank, wording wasadded to call for the repeal of lawsmandating non-voluntary relation-ships between health care provid-ers and patients. The Right to Keepand Bear Arms plank was amendedto add support for the right ofairlines and other common carriersto decide their own weaponspolicies. The first sentence of theDiscrimination plank was re-worded.

Three other changesproposed by the Platform Commit-tee, relating to alternative votingsystems, marriage, and capitalpunishment, were debated but notadopted. Five additional proposalsfrom the Platform Committee werenot considered due to lack of time.

The first attempt to adopta party Program, intended to focuson interim measures and practicalpolicies concerning issues ofcurrent concern to Californiavoters, was unsuccessful. Thedelegates were unable to agree onany of the proposed planks.

Joe Dehn

Have Something to Say?Say it in the

LPC Monthly.Submissions:

Right now.director@ca.lp.org

by moving in-house all credit cardprocessing and ending the mediaclipping service. The mostdramatic result of their efforts tosave LPC dollars was the conver-

sion of our bi-monthly newsletterinto a monthly wrap-aroundnewspaper mailed with the nationalLP News. This move saves theLPC nearly $20,000 annually whiledoubling the number of printednewsletters. As the decrease in thenewsletter expense took place nearthe end of the year, the full benefitsof this new format will be recog-nized in 2002.

In December, aftersuspending the previousTreasurer’s membership for oneyear, expelling from the party the2001 convention contractor, andinitiating legal action against her,the LPC was able to collect in fullthe monies owed to it. At this pointthe LPC paid the deferred salary toour Executive Director, and he wasable to move into a home of hisown.

In 2001, the LPC devel-oped some new sources of revenue,namely a contract with Labels &Lists and the national LP member-ship development program. In2001, these new sources generatedover $12,000. The most efficientsource of revenue to the LPC is the

monthly pledge program, whichhas become the LPC’s largestsource of revenue. In 2001, themonthly pledge program generated$54,200, or 38% of our revenues.

Despite these newsources, revenues for the year metonly 80% of budgeted expecta-tions, due mostly to the recession,causing fund raising expenses as aportion of revenues to increase. Inaddition, membership nationwidefell 16%, while California’smembership fell 17%, reducing therevenue sharing that Nationalsends to the LPC. Many member-ship renewals that were submittedcould not be processed at thenational headquarters as a result ofbusiness reply mail being lost orheld by the post office for manyweeks due to the Anthrax scare.This cash shortage almost causedthe national party to limit thepayment of dues sharing (alsoknown as UMP monies) to onlythose states that receive paymentby electronic transfer. Coinciden-tally, the Executive Director hadrequested Direct Deposit inSeptember, which permittedCalifornia and its regions to bepaid without interruption.

Fiscal year 2002 shouldbring a better environment for theLPC. The economy appears to be

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

Atlanta, GAPermit #3592

Libertarian Party of California14547 Titus Street, Suite 214Panorama City, CA 91402-4935

CONTRIBUTION CORNERLibertarians - Are you seeking ways to help our cause of Liberty? Hereare ways to help:

Volunteer TimeLPC Headquarters (San Fernando Valley, California)

Data EntryTelephone helpPress releasesNewspaper layoutBookkeepingGraphic Artists

In-Kind (Materials) Printers/Printing Services Mail House (folding/stuffing envelopes) Office Space (San Fernando Valley, Malibu) Laser printer (HP 4100 for PC) Laser printer (any) Digital Camera

Financial$10,000 Operation Breakthrough

Help 500 candidates run for office in California in 2002$ 2,000 Operation: Energy Tax Revolt!

Reduce energy taxes in 170+ California cities$ 500 Scholarship Fund

Please contact Executive Director David Molony at director@ca.lp.org orcall him directly at 818-782-8400.

We all need to offer liberty a helping hand.

LPC

PPPPPAIDAIDAIDAIDAID

If a DEMOCRAT has two cows, he sits by contentedly when the government he voted for taxes us to support people in other coun-tries who have cows which were a gift from our government.

If a REPUBLICAN has two cows and his neighbor has none, that’s ok. If the neighbors have a child and come to him for milk, aRepublican response is to raise the price if he can.

But a MARKETING MANAGER might not raise the price. More likely he will make the milk container opaque and put less inwithout changing the price.

A LIBERAL: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty. You beg your representative to tax cow owners. Thegovernment uses your money to buy an over-priced cow and give it to your neighbor. He knows nothing about cows and it dies. Youfeel close to God when Barbara Streisand (on CD) sings at the celebration of its life.

US GOVERNMENT FARM POLICY: You have two cows. The government rules you can have only one, buys the other, shoots it,pays you for milk, pours it down the drain, and pleads to Congress for a larger budget.

If a LIBERTARIAN has two cows and his neighbor has none, the Libertarian response is: So what?

NEW AGE X GENERATION: You have two cows. You ask: “What’s a cow?” You give them guitars but they do not learn to play.You buy their CD just the same.

holy cow

ELECT MORE LIBERTARIANS TO OFFICE!

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