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News & Updates

LP Delaware State Convention Still Convening

Dear Fellow Delaware Libertarians and Friends,
     Good evening. Despite what is going on with COVID-19 here in our fair state, the Libertarian Party of Delaware (LPD) has decided to press forward and hold our annual state convention as planned on Saturday, March 14th, 2020, deeming it necessary to do so.
     We ask that all of you reading this use good judgement in regards to your own health and the health of others. If you are sick or prone to illness, please stay home. Otherwise, come out and join us. There will be hand sanitizer and soap and water, along with other precautions made. Just practice good hygiene when you join us and everything should be fine. We hope to see you at the convention tomorrow from 12pm to 5pm.

Very Respectfully,
Dayl Thomas
LPD Secretary
NCCLP Secretary

NCCLP 2nd Thursday Social on March 12th, 2020

Dear All,
     Greetings and salutations! If you have the time and inclination, the New Castle County Libertarian Party (NCCLP) will be holding its next monthly 2nd Thursday Social (a.k.a. The Libertarian Drinking and Debating Society) on Thursday, March 12th, at Jessop's Tavern in New Castle (114 Delaware St, New Castle, DE 19720), from 7pm to 9pm. If you can, please come and join us. Our 2nd Thursday Socials are great for people new to the Libertarian philosophy and want to learn more by talking to actual Libertarians! Hope to see you at the social!

Very Respectfully,
Dayl Thomas
LPD Secretary
NCCLP Secretary

LPD Q4 November 2019 Meeting Minutes

LPD Q4 November 2019 Meeting Minutes
11/23/19 
Attendance: Sean, Brad, Dayl, Mary Pat, Nadine, Will, Jesse, Vern, Bill Hinds (NCCLP Vice Chair, guest)
Absent: John, Jimmy
  1. Approval of agenda: Meeting called to order at 17:20 EST. Will 1st, Mary Pat 2nd to adopt the agenda. Passed 7-0-0.
  2. Reading and approval of minutes from previous meeting: Jesse and Will McVay 1st, Vern 2nd to waive the reading of the minutes and approve the minutes. Passed 7-0-0.
  3. Treasurer’s Report
    1. PayPal: $2136.57
    2. Bank: $2550.18
    3. Total: $4686.75
  4. NCC Report: No Elsmere Parade, as they are only allowing elected officials for Elsmere to participate. We will watch the parade to see that we are not discriminated against (i.e. they allow another political party to participate). Bob Wilson handed off the NCC voter list to Nadine to make calls. We have have a complete list of places to have our monthly socials. We are sorting food for the Sunday Breakfast Mission on Dec. 7th and Dec. 28th. We are also looking into supporting the Westside Coalition in Wilmington hand out food and toys to families and kids respectively on Dec. 18th. Discussion had on what exactly is done and how big a deal it is. Our future outreach events and how we prepare for them (a pocket calendar) discussed, as it provides continuity for future leadership.
  5. Kent Report: Membership really down. Outreach needs to be done. Will is thinking of finding a consistent position on the Dover and Kent County hotel taxes to galvanize people. The elections next year may be a cataylist to get people involved. Discussion had on this, specifically how Senator Trey Paradee took a lot of the blame for the Kent County tax. Invite Trey to a meeting to share his case and attract folks to the meeting. Nadine suggested a postcard campaign.
  6. Sussex Report: Two people at the last Adopt-a-Hwy (Jimmy and Rob). As discussed in our Facebook Messenger log, Sussex County LP thinking of paying for drinks to all folks who participate in Adopt-a-Hwy to get people out. Apple Scrapple went really well, need to follow up on sign-up list.
  7. SMM Committee Report: Dayl suggested that the members meet before the next LPD quarterly meeting.
  8. Old Business
    1. Voter Outreach: September 1725/1733 (+8)
      1. NCCo: 1034/1043 (+9)
      2. KCCo: 319/321 (+2)
      3. SusCo: 372/369 (-3)
    2. Beer Settlement
      1. NCCo was given $20 to NCCLP Chair Nadine Frost for having the most new member sign-ups in the quarter.
    3. Data and Tech Committee
      1. Will suggested making himself official Web Master for the LPD since he has all of the passwords anyway. Sean then suggested having a back-up, like the LPD Secretary, in case something were to happen Will, for safety's sake. There is a system maintained on the LPD's behalf for e-mail for all board members that we can update and use as safety back-ups. Bill suggested establishing a procedure and sharing it with the counties and membership state wide via the PPG. Will 1st, Mary Pat 2nd, to make Will official LPD Web Master. Passed 7-0-0.
    4. Municipal Elections (42): Sean realized as he was talking about this that the 42 elections below may include both 2019 and 2020 elections. Will suggested having all of the county chairs confirm which elections are coming up in their counties and verify them below so the 2019 elections below can be eliminated from the list below.
      1. Delaware City (April)
      2. Elsmere (April/File by end of Jan)
      3. Middletown (March)
      4. New Castle (April/File by February)
      5. Newark (April)
      6. Newport (April)
      7. Odessa (April)
      8. Townsend (May)
      9. Camden (January)
      10. Cheswold (March)
      11. Clayton (April)
      12. Dover (April)
      13. Farmington (March)
      14. Felton (March)
      15. Frederica (March)
      16. Harrington (May)
      17. Hartly (April)
      18. Houston (March)
      19. Leipsic (March)
      20. Little Creek (March)
      21. Magnolia (January/File early November)
      22. Milford (April/File February)
      23. Smyrna (April)
      24. Viola (March)
      25. Woodside (March)
      26. Wyoming (February)
      27. Bethel (February)
      28. Blades (April)
      29. Bridgeville (March)
      30. Dagsboro (December)
      31. Ellendale (January)
      32. Frankford (February)
      33. Georgetown (May)
      34. Greenwood (January)
      35. Laurel (March)
      36. Lewes (May)
      37. Millville (March)
      38. Milton (March)
      39. Seaford (April)
      40. Selbyville (March)
      41. South Bethany (May)
      42. School Boards State Wide (May)
    5. General Election Recruitment Status: The districts
        1. RD 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 27, 35, 37, 39, 40
        2. SD (2016) 9, 12, 13, 15, 19
    6. Outreach followup: Mostly covered in the county reports above. We really want to get reusable bags with our logos on it to hand out/sell as swag so that the LPD logo (or other catchy logos) goes all over. There are a lot options. Will made an action item to see if it is available to sell on the LPD online store. We need to find out how much they cost and maybe get a fundraiser going to get the bags going.
    7. PPG Status: Not much progress made on this. CFRS portion needs to be done by January 20th , according to state laws, which Mary Pat has been working on and will have done in time. Bill brought up recording ourselves on how to do the CFRS work for training and Will mentioned the recording software “OBS”, which is free and is widely used, in order to accomplish that. Sean will reach out to other state chairs to see if they have PPGs and CFRS guides and if they would share them. Discussion had on candidates filing CFRS paperwork and how to avoid past pitfalls.
    8. Candidate Guide Status: Mrs. Cara Schultz sent Sean the National LP guide for getting candidates ready. We need to have candidates do their CFRS paperwork properly and make sure to support them all the way.
  9. New Business:
    1. 87 Libertarian Wins Nationwide in 2019!
      1. Getting Candidates: Briefly discussed. Let people know how many wins we had in 2019 and get people excited about running.
      2. Membership Mailer: Discussion had on the prices below Sean found, mainly by Nadine and Mary Pat, who have had experience mailing multiple items and postcards in bulk. We can also make phone calls for free, or having the county parties chip in based on their share of registered voters. Vern left at this time (18:32 EST). “We are not ready to do this” was the general consensus. Bill asked how we know we got nine new people, which the answer is through the Commissioner of Elections. Bill then asked if we know who those folks are, which the answer was we we need to check the voter registration. Action Item: Will and Sean to get the latest voter registration and highlight who is new, who is not, and find a better way to reach out to Libertarians on the voter registration list to come out , join us, and run for elections.
        1. Color copies: $0.14x1733=$242.62
        2. Envelopes: $756/2,000
        3. Addressee labels: Need pricing
    2. Ad Hoc Business Review: Sean to follow up with LPPA Chair Steve Sheetz to see if LPMD would like to join LPPA, LPD, and LPNJ join us in setting up the debate (see directly below).
      1. Mid Atlantic Debate
        1. Resolution passed 8-0-1-1 to co-host
        2. 7 March 2020 at Renaissance Philadelphia Airport
          1. LPD Annual Convention on 14 March 2020.
            1. We are still looking for potential speakers. LNC At Large Member Josh Smith not available. Looking for other speakers, like Dr. Jim Lark or Mr. Bob Johnson.
        3. Tickets are $20/each
        4. More details forthcoming
    3. 2020 Convention
      1. 14 March 2020, KC Theatre Guild
      2. Lunch/Social Hour at Noon, Business at 1
      3. Speaker(s)
      4. PotUS Candidates
        1. We can still invite presidential candidates to come to our convention if they are willing to stay in the area for a week.
      5. Declared Delaware Candidates: Nadine Frost – US Senate
      6. Prospectives: LPD Chair Sean Gower and all three county chairs will follow up with former candidates to see if they want to run again.
        1. Scott Gesty
          1. Nadine will contact Scott about running again.
        2. Bill Hinds
          1. Bill shared that he has had Republicans approached him to run for them. They are not willing to help until he pays in first (“have skin in the game”). It was suggested that Bill have them pay his filing fee first to see if they will meet him halfway, as the Libertarian Party of Delaware will put him on their voter line for free. Bill can show them that he has “skin in the game” with the money he has saved and all the work he has done. If Bill runs as a republican, it would take ¾ of the LPD state board to keep him as an official LPD member. As long as Bill is a LP National member, he is still a Libertarian. Jesse brought up that the republicans had trouble getting Lee Murphy elected over Scott Walker in the U.S. Rep. primary in 2018, so the republicans may not be able to really help Bill. Will suggested making sure Bill is the LPD nominee first and the filing deadline passes, the county parties can appoint a nominee (a two-tier nomination) without collecting a filing fee. For the record, Bill is already a declared candidate for RD 27.
        3. Amy Merlino
          1. Nadine will contact Amy about running again.
        4. Jimmy Brittingham
          1. Sean will contact Jimmy about running again.
        5. Rob Smouse
          1. Sean will contact Rob about running again.
        6. Cody McNutt
          1. Nadine will contact Cody about running again.
    4. University of Delaware Debates: Dayl brought up his discussion with the lady in charge of the debates and how he was shut down because of their criteria. Nadine then went on to explain her experience as a U of D book store owner and how she and the book store legally proved that the U of D is a public school to have access to textbooks. Sean then brought up what has already happened legally with Gary Johnson and the debates. It was suggested that we research their criteria for debate access and be prepared to go to court if necessary.
    5. Next Meeting: Tentative 8 February. Dayl called John Machurek to get his input. Couldn't get a hold of him, so Will made a motion, Nadine 2nd, to have the next meeting on February 8th at 17:00, February 2nd the alternative , if John Machurek can make it, otherwise have the meeting on February 8th at 17:00. Passed 5-0-1.
  10. Adjournment: Will 1st, Mary Pat 2nd to adjourn. Passed 6-0-0. Meeting adjourned at 19:28 EST.

LPD Q3 September 2019 Meeting Minutes


Libertarian Party of Delaware (LPD) 3rd Quarterly Meeting
9/14/19
Attendance: Sean, Brad, Dayl, Mary Pat, Nadine (by phone), John, Will, Jesse, Marjorie Ramsey (guest)
Absent: Vern
1.       Approval of agenda: Meeting called to order at 17:19. Will 1st, Mary Pat 2nd to adopt the agenda. Passed 8-0-0.
2.       Reading and approval of minutes from previous meeting: Will 1st, Mary Pat 2nd to not read the previous minutes, as Dayl sent them out promptly, and to approve them. Passed 8-0-0.
3.       Treasurer’s Report: Given (See below); we have two recurring PayPal donators!
a.       Paypal: $1933.87
b.       Bank:    $2508.18
c.       Total:    $4442.05
4.       NCC Report: July 20th social, Blue Rocks game, Arden Fair, Newark Community Day tomorrow.
5.       Kent Report: Attendance is up, meeting was too long due to Dayl adding to the agenda. However, it was a great meeting for discussion.
6.       Sussex Report: Attendance has been so-so, but attendance at the Adopt-a-Hwy has doubled from 2 to 4 people! Apple Scrapple coming up on Oct. 12th. Last Adopt-a-Hwy clean-up on Nov. 2nd. Dayl asked if there was anything we could bring, which Jimmy said was up to our discretion. Mary Pat will give the LPD banner back to Jimmy today. Candidates welcome to come and get an early start!
7.       SMM Committee Report: Dayl added to the group on June 27th of this year. Last activity on May 31st, 2018. We will encourage people to get on it.
8.       Old Business:
a.       Voter Outreach: March 1767/1725 (NC)
                                                               i.      NCCo: 1039/1034 (-5)
                                                             ii.      KCCo: 310/319 (9)
                                                           iii.      SusCo: 376/372 (-4)
b.       Beer Settlement: Sean to pay for the beer this coming Monday at the KCLP monthly meeting.
c.       Data and Tech Committee/MailChimp Follow-up:
                                                               i.      Dayl set up a MailChimp account, but has had trouble implementing it. Will work on getting it up and running, along with updating the LPD website, after this meeting.
d.       Municipal Elections: All Sussex. If anyone wants to run, please let Sean know.
                                                               i.      Dagsboro
                                                             ii.      Delmar
                                                           iii.      Ellendale
                                                           iv.      Greenwood
                                                             v.      General Election Recruitment Status: All districts listed are primary because they only had one major party candidate running
1.       RD 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 27, 35, 37, 39, 40
2.       SD (2016) 9, 12, 13, 15, 19
e.       Outreach Follow-up: NCC doing a lot, SC doing well with Adopt-a-Hwy and Apple Scrapple, KC increasing in numbers. Outreach ideas like the free LPD bags with our emblem on it, the South Carolina LP dad bodies calendar, and, in jest, free plastic straws and free AR-15s for distribution. Around this time we lost Nadine via telephone when her reception cut out.
f.        PPG Follow-up: Sean said we need to focus on this during this next quarter. Sean to work with Vern on getting the PPG up and running. Mary Pat will also continue to work on the Campaign Finance Reporting System (CFRS) so candidates avoid trouble and have it ready for inclusion in the PPG as a demo.
9.       New Business:
a.       At the last KCLP monthly meeting, Tim Spong asked if volunteers are being taught that there are only Ds, Rs, and unaffiliated, not actual party names like Libertarians, Greens, IPOD, Blue Enigma, etc. We need a FOIA report and people to go undercover, preferably non-Libertarians who are friendly to us, to become voting booth volunteers. Dayl's wife, John's girlfriend, etc.
b.       Some of the banners the LPD are using, including the NCCLP banner, has old contact info that need to be updated. Discussion had on how to make the NCCLP banner more stable when putting it up. Nadine called back in at 17:55.
c.       Caryn Ann Harlos, LP Secretary, asked the LPD to update our info on LPedia. Will, Dayl, and John to look at it after this meeting.
d.       Dayl brought up the 2020 LPD convention because LP presidential nominees have started to contact us on when we will have our own convention. The sooner we can do it, the better for us, LP residential nominees, and our own LPD candidates. We're thinking early March. Mary Pat will contact the folks at the Kent County Theater Guild to set aside a date. We can vote on a date through our Facebook discussion group, hopefully before our next meeting (Q4). Discussion had on people who want to run for us that aren't LPD members, as there are laws that constrain us. National primaries are in April.
e.       Next meeting (Q4) discussed. Next meeting will be Nov. 23rd at 17:00, which is a Saturday. Sean asked that we hold off on deciding the 2020 Q1 meeting, but to discuss the date before the next meeting (Q4 2019) so we can have it ready to discuss. We also want to find a speaker, like an LNC officer, early too. We can get press as well by having LP presidential nominees at our next convention. Dayl brought up using Skype, or something similar, for candidates like John McAfee and others who can't/won't travel. We have precedent with this, as we had Gary Johnson call-in in 2012.
10.   Adjournment: Adjournment motion made by Mary Pat, 2nd by Will and John. Passed 8-0-0. Meeting adjourned at 18:21.

LPD Q2 June 2019 Meeting Minutes


Libertarian Party of Delaware (LPD) 2nd Quarterly Meeting
6/22/19

Attendance: Sean, Brad, Dayl, Mary Pat, Nadine, John (by phone), Will, Jesse, Jimmy, Vern (all ten people accounted for)

1. Called to order at 12:52 EDT, due to accommodating some folks who need to leave early.
2. Will 1st, Jimmy 2nd to approve agenda. Passed 8-2-0.
3. $4087.00 total in LPD funds.
4. NCC Report:
- Nadine got a copy of the New Castle County (NCC) voter registration on 6/10/19, which she shared with Dayl, who shared it with Sean.
- Nadine and Dayl discussed the New Castle County Libertarian Party (NCCLP) outreach events from March to June.
- NCCLP formed the Data and Tech. Committee to help make an NCCLP website and save previous agendas, minutes, etc. for future generations. Also, NCCLP is looking into Monday.com to help NCCLP delegate activities. Nadine suggested having the state and the Kent County Libertarian Party (KCLP) and Sussex County Libertarian Party (SCLP) join in. Sean then suggested that NCCLP try it and let the LPD Board know how it is going. Will suggested looking into apps that would do the same thing for free. Will also suggested opening the Monday.com free trail to the whole state so we can figure out how we want to go forward.
- Blue Rocks group game - $27 per person, need a minimum of 25 people, $8 per person for deposit. LPD count for going: nine people. Will asked if LPD chair Sean Goward if he had "balls" under his kilt because he would have to stand up to his wife to miss his daughter's birthday if he were to go to the Blue Rocks game on Aug. 24th. A good laugh was had by all.
- NCCLP also looking at using MailChimp to e-mail folks. Will again suggested sharing this with LPD, KCLP, and SCLP.
5. KC Report: Paying for the beer. Voted against doing the Wyoming Peach Festival due to lack of help/support and that it is an off year for elections. Attendance is still low and not as organized as NCC (KCLP Chair Will McVay's words).
6. SC Report: Rob Smouse did the Memorial Day wreath placement for the SCLP. Adopt-a-Highway was done on June 8th, done by Rob Smouse and Matt Martel. Quiet otherwise due to being an off year for elections.
7. Social Media and Marketing (SMM) Committee Report: John has been posting a lot of memes for NCCLP on Facebook and other places. Will brought up the length of John's tenure as chair of the SMM Committee. The committee is made up of one elected chair (in this case, John Machurek), the LPD Secretary (Dayl Thomas), and the three county chairs (Nadine Frost, Will McVay, and Jimmy Brittingham). Will 1st, Vern 2nd to add the two items of “Outreach” and “Process and Procedures Guide (PPG)“ to the agenda. It passed 9-1-0.
8. Old Business
                a. Voter Registration down by 42 people (1767 to 1725). Will suggested that the numbers have gone down due to natural ebb and flow of life.
                b. Beer Settlement: We all lost folks, so this will be hashed out later.
                c. 2019 State Convention Recap: Welcome to new members (Vern, Jimmy, and Dayl) and a welcome back to returning members. Dayl brought up secretarial duties, with both Dayl and Will mentioning who controls the LPD website. Sean suggested this wait until New Business. We moved on to discussing how we quickly communicate through the LPD Facebook Messenger feed. Responsibilities came up again, with talk of developing a policies and procedures guide (PPG). Vern asked about the AoA and what the national LP can do and can't do with what we want to do. LPD is pretty free to do what we want with immunity. Getting back to the PPG, it's most important that things are written down for the LPD treasurer due to the fact that a mistake as treasurer could get the LPD in a lot of trouble with the state.
                d. Development of Legislative Committee: We are behind on current legislation, except for the current HB110. We need to keep Libertarians state wide updated on what is going on in Dover, especially with the PPG.
9. New Business
                a. Fundraising - Access to PayPal: PayPal button on the LPD website works well (Dayl tested), but we need to check the LPD Facebook page PayPal button. Brad and Nadine gave guidance through their experience. Will to follow up on checking the LPD Facebook page PayPal button.
                b. Candidate Support Committee: We want to develop this. There was discussion on it at the LPD state convention with input from NCCLP Vice Chair Bill Hinds. Bill suggested and the LPD endorses making a pamphlet to help future candidates (especially with dealing with CFRS), make videos, and candidate training workshops. The LPD wants this pamphlet in place before the 2020 election cycle. Will volunteered for that committee. Nadine made a point of information on who could join this new committee, and it was agreed that anyone involved with the LPD or any of the county parties could join the committee. We will also need to decide if we want to make it a permeant committee. The LPD will ask Bill Hinds of NCCLP and Wendy Jones of SCLP to see if they are interested in joining the committee. Will mentioned that Wendy's expertise would be best later on in the election process.  The committee may also look at how candidates debate, etc. This is now an unofficial committee that will be made official once the LPD sets up the PPG. Maybe put something on monday.com to let candidates know when things are due.
                c. Municipal Elections: Mainly for KCLP and SCLP, as the NCCLP doesn't have any elections coming up. The elections are as follows: Bowers (file by 6/28/19, Kent), Henlopen Acres (file by 7/12/19, Sussex), Bethany Beach (file by 7/24/19, Sussex), Rehoboth (file by 7/26/19, Sussex), Dewey Beach (file by 8/22/19, Sussex), and Dagsboro (file by 11/15/19, Sussex). LPD will look into setting up a program to streamline updating voter registration with the NCCLP data and tech committee, and members from KCLP and SCLP chipping in too. Sean mentioned that we also need to protect member data and encode it in the forthcoming PPG. Vern brought up that he knows a fellow in Dagsboro who is tired of the Republicans, which he is a member, and will try to get him to switch to the LPD and run for us. Will mentioned that in every municipality except Wilmington, it doesn't matter what party you belong to, but what people are willing to do. If they want to support liberty, we can work with them.
                d. 2020 General Election Recruitment: Sean passed out election maps to the county chairs for elections in 2020. 1st priority is reaching out to all municipality seats, with 2nd priority being uncontested state rep and state senate seats. Both Vern and Nadine shared stories about how people made it difficult for them to vote as libertarians at the polling stations.
                f. Outreach: Nadine suggested having more of a coordinated effort between the three county parties to share info so we can help each other. We also need to get more Libertarians active to help share the workload. We as a state board need to make more of an effort to get these people out (those who are unregistered and those who are registered Libertarian). Sean asked that he and Will be incorporated into the NCCLP monday.com test.
                g. Process and Procedures Guide (PPG): Sean explained who did what, and stated that we need to codify it all in a PPG. The PPG would be like a continuity book. Future adjustments would be welcomed as necessary. Vern, who is a former corporate lawyer and has expertise, volunteered to work on the PPG along with the executive committee (i.e. the LPD's main board members). Input from other members welcome.
                h. Sean gave a recap of the meeting. Will 1st, Dayl 2nd to adjourn. Meeting adjourn at 14:28 EDT.