The Libertarian National Committee met 8-9 December 2001 in Washington, DC.
The Chair commented briefly on current events and thanked various activists for their efforts.
The Treasurer presented an analysis of recent trends with respect to the reserve, revenue levels, and membership levels. New language was adopted for policies relating to budgeting, limits on accounts payable, and the new definition for the reserve (replacing the previous reserve policy).
Regional representatives gave brief reports on the states in their regions.
The Director provided updates on finances, membership, and fundraising. and explained the structure of the proposed budget.
The Political Director reported on topics relating to campaigns, including recent election successes, ballot access, and candidate recruiting. New policy language was adopted clarifying the job of the Political Director and modifying the conditions under which staff can be involved in supporting candidates.
The Communications Director reported on media activity, especially relating to the terrorism/war issue, and on some possible improvements in LP News. The Press Secretary reported on interesting interactions with the media.
Appointments were made to the Bylaws Committee and the Platform Committee for the 2002 convention. Mark Nelson was appointed interim chair of the Bylaws Committee. Mike Dixon was appointed interim chair of the Platform Committee. Appointment of members of the Credentials Committee was postponed to the next meeting.
An adjustment was made to the policy relating to publication of contact information in LP News. The policy prohibiting LNC members from being registered with another party was repealed.
The General Counsel was reappointed for another year.
The minutes of the August and October meetings were approved with some corrections.
The staff was directed to study a possible revision to the Unified Membership Program, with elements including an increase of the minimum dues to $29, increased payout to the affiliates for renewing members, and differing payouts for new members depending on whether the affiliate brings in the initial dues. Other issues to be studied include household memberships, student memberships, and direct funding of affiliate support activities in place of the higher payouts to affiliates for larger contributors.
There was extensive discussion of the strategic plan, including apparent differences in priorities as seen by the LNC vs. the general membership. After some adjustments to the list of "metrics" and "monitors", the final plan was adopted by a vote of 11 to 3. The "champions" of various strategies and metrics spoke briefly about their plans.
There was extensive discussion of the 2002 budget, topics including whether revenue estimates are too optimistic, the possibility of adopting a 3-month budget, and the priorities of various spending plans. In the end, the budget as proposed by staff was adopted with minor modifications. The budget anticipates total revenue of about $3.4 million, and spending about $550,000 on direct mail prospecting, $200,000 on the "drug war focus" strategy, and $75,000 on the "branding" strategy.
Other items briefly discussed included: the possibility of making better use of subcommittees, questions about rental of the mailing list by the Browne campaign in 1996, renewal programs, better statistics relating to membership retention for members recruited in different ways, a review of office "customer service" functions, online access to the database by affiliates, possible changes to the structure and/or rules of the Executive Committee, and offering budget information to contributors. A resolution supporting a foreign policy of non-intervention was proposed but not adopted.
The next meeting is scheduled for 16-17 March 2002 in the Denver area.
Note: This is only a summary of the meeting, and is not intended to be relied upon as a complete record of business.