2024 LPRI Convention Minutes

LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF RHODE ISLAND ANNUAL CONVENTION MINUTES

August 11, 2024, 4:00 PM

Shannon View Inn, 1901 Post Rd, Warwick, RI 02886

Present:
William Hunt, Chair
*Larry Davis, Treasurer
Theresa Markey, Secretary
Thomas Markey, At-Large
Pat Ford
Elijah Gizzarelli
Duane Horton
Edouard Latortue
Amy Long
*Evan Morgan
Meghan Potter
Adam Tuchman
*Keelan Zenion

Meeting called to order by Chairman Hunt at 3:56 PM

Credentials Report

• 10 LPRI members were present and certified as being eligible to vote at the start of the meeting. Per LPRI bylaws, quorum for the annual convention is 10. 
• 13 people were present at the meeting. New members welcomed to the event.
• Motion to suspend the rules to extend voting eligibility to the three LPRI members indicated (*) above, who did not meet the requirements of Section 2. Voter Eligibility of ARTICLE VIII Conventions of the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island by Pat Ford seconded by Elijah Gizzarelli. Accepted by unanimous voice vote.
• Credentials Report amended to 13 LPRI members eligible to vote.`

Opening Remarks/Annual Report – William Hunt, Chair

• Thomas Markey acknowledged as the longest active membership.
• Reviewed efforts to get needed number of signatures to get Elijah Grizzarelli on the ballot for governor. 
• Membership numbers were down but efforts to revive the numbers included reducing membership dues from $40 to $10 annually.
• Reviewed situation where our website was hacked with $1.00 donations. The problem was solved and the donations list corrected.
• Urged Members to run for positions open on the Executive Committee 

Executive Committee Annual Reports

Larry Davis, Treasurer

• Reviewed current balance in the bank as of today which was $2,694.54.
• Balance reflects total before paying today’s expenses for convention.
• All required reporting to the State of Rhode Island is currently up to date.

Terry Markey, Secretary

• Reviewed events related to clean-up of the Liberty Alliance assigned area of the Veterans Parkway in East Providence, Rhode Island.
• LPRI helped campaign of Elijah Grizzarelli for Governor of Rhode Island by getting signatures and running fundraisers during the political season.
• Members from LPRI met with Chase Oliver, National Libertarian Presidential candidate in Westerly when he visited Rhode Island.
• The Executive Committee met monthly throughout the year arranging RI representation for RI at the Libertarian National Conference. 3 delegates attended the conference in Washington D.C.
• Strong effort to get ballot access for the Libertarian Party on the state ballot. A member of the group from Maine that successfully got the Maine Libertarian party on the Maine ballot visited us and helped us set up a plan for Rhode Island.

Thomas Markey, At-Large Committee Member

• Efforts made to encourage the Latino vote for libertarian candidates in Rhode Island and nationally.
• Urged members to take a position on the Executive Committee and have a voice.

Pat Ford, LP National Region 6 Director

• Spoke about the Party Chairman’s position and how Bill Hunt stepped in during a leadership crisis and has done so well with it.
• Explained the efforts he, Bill and the gentleman from Maine did to write a ballot access strategy and legislation language to be presented to the State of RI House and Senate bodies. Need 1,000 signatures to get things started. Urged members to help get the required signatures on forms he has available. Success doing this in the next 2 weeks is crucial,
• Hearings must be held to present position. 
• RI legislators are being contacted and some support is starting to be realized.
• He saluted the military and support of a bill protecting our National Guard from being sent overseas unless there is a declaration of war. 
• Spoke about support of a Constitutional Convention with 1 delegate elected from each state. The Libertarian Party takes on issues other political parties do not.
• Introduced our guest speaker, Mike ter Maat.

Mike ter Maat, Libertarian Candidate for Vice President of the United States

• The campaign is not about him or Chase Oliver, it is about making people aware of the things going on in government that they do not know.
• Instead of taking our money and resources and sending it around the world, keep it here to benefit our country.
• People currently running the government are not making values different. 
• For the people. They do not care about us or our interests.
• Spoke about the Libertarian Candidate for Governor from West Virginia, who is a woman. Both democrats and Republicans love her. She has a force commitment that made people go out and campaign for her.
• Commitment to the party and a cause is important to all of us,
• Spoke about potential for United States fundamentals collapsing in the next 25 years. We are on a potential collision course to war with China over micro-chips and also Russia and we need to make changes to avoid this.
• We need to get the government to listen to us and not let them make all the decisions for us. Get our voices heard!

Mike Fitch, Northeast Regional Director of the Chase Oliver Campaign

• Spoke about getting signatures. Use companies like Market Basket and Walmart to get to the public. New Hampshire has succeeded with Ballot Access.
• Support efforts to get Mike and Chase on the RI ballot. Also think about the future candidates.
• Work to give voters more choices on the ballot.

ADDITIONAL SPEAKER: Elijah Grizzarelli, 2022 RI Gubernatorial candidate

• Gave Bill Hunt credit for the effort made to get him on the ballot when he ran. 1974 was the last time RI had a libertarian candidate on the ballot until he ran in 2022.
• Gave some pointers on how to collect signatures. Keep it short and get the information as to what it is for AFTER they have the pen in hand.
• Urged members to get involved, here, today.
• Told us about LPHAPPYHOUR.com website that has a discussion time at 5 pm EST. A ZOOM link is provided to participate. Urged members to investigate it.

Motion to Accept the Agenda as proposed by Pat Ford seconded by Larry Davis. Accepted by unanimous voice vote.

Nominations from the floor for executive committee positions.

1. Vice-Chair
   • Pat Ford by Meghan Potter seconded by Larry Davis. Accepted by unanimous voice vote.
2. Nominations for Treasurer.
   • Larry Davis by Pat Ford seconded by Theresa Markey. Accepted by unanimous voice vote.
3. Nominations for at-large member.
   • Meghan Potter by Elijah Gizzarelli seconded by Thomas Markey.
   • Edouard Latortue by Thomas Markey seconded by Pat Ford.
   • Amy Long by Pat Ford seconded by Thomas Markey.

Motion to suspend the rules and amend the Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island (as follows) by Elijah Gizzarelli seconded by Pat Ford.

1. ARTICLE V Executive Committee, Section 1. Composition. “…and one At-Large member shall..” to be replaced by “…and three At-Large member shall..”
2. ARTICLE V Executive Committee, Section 2.At-Large Member, to be made plural to read: “Section 2.At-Large Members, Three At-Large members will be nominated and elected at the annual convention to serve a term of one year. The At-Large nominees must be an LPRI members eligible to vote at the convention. The At-Large members shall assist any of the officers in performing their duties when required.”
3. ARTICLE VI Meetings, Section 4. Quorum, “A quorum shall be three (3) members of the Executive Committee.” to be replaced by “A quorum shall be four (4) members of the Executive Committee.”
4. DISCUSSION: Chairman Hunt pointed out that there are plenty of positions within the LPRI that the two other members could do rather than expanding the Executive committee.
5. CALL THE QUESTION: All opposed: two (2) All in favor: eleven (11), MOTION PASSES

Motion to elect the slate of three nominated candidates for the At-Large position by Elijah Grizzarelli seconded by Pat Ford. Accepted by unanimous voice vote.

The Executive committee now has 7 seats.

Motion to adjourn at 5:07 PM.