Minutes of Libertarian Party of West Virginia

Executive Committee Meeting

October 25, 1997

4:00 P.M.

Tamarack Center

Beckley, West Virginia

Present: John Brown, Dr. Wallace Johnson, John Welbourne, Dr. Joseph Whelan, Bill Clem, Karl Swisher, Vicki Shelton, Alan Handleman, Trampas Robinson, Travis Raines, John Sturgeon.

The Meeting was called to order by State Chair John Brown.

In order to save time, copies of the minutes of the July 26, 1997 Executive Committee meeting were distributed to those present and approved as read.

Officers Reports:

Vice Chair: Dr. Richard Kerr was unable to attend.

Sectretary/Treasurer: John Sturgeon reported that the LPWV had a balance of $1609.04 in the cash account. Karl Swisher was recognized for donating $1000, making him a Life Member of the LPWV. Dr. Wallace Johnson donated the $168 cost of renting the meeting room at Tamarack.

1st District: David Wolfe was unable to attend due to business committments.

2nd District: Bill Clem reported that he has obtained brochures which he will disrtibute to colleges in his district.

3rd District: Dr. Wallace Johnson reported that the $10 fee for the LPWV Candidate Conference held earlier in the day had been waived, allowing everyone to attend free of charge. He praised the high quality of the speakers and rated the conference a success. Dr. Johnson announced that he will run for a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1998, declaring the 27th District to be a winnable race.

VP-Campaigns: Dr. Joseph Whelan reported that he will be available to work on campaign strategy with any LPWV candidate in the state who wants his help. He has already sent copies of AMA Campaign School tapes to some members who have indicated a likelihood of running. Dr. Whelan intends to run against Representative Nick Rahall and will file early in 1998. He is also working on getting a candidate in Wyoming County to run for House of Delegates.

VP-Membership: Karl Swisher reported that the LPWV now has 121 members. There have been 32 inquiries on the Internet. Advertisments are placed in the campus newspapers at Bethany College, West Virginia Tech, Shepherd College, West Virginia Weslyan and Fairmont State College.

A motion was made to make Travis Raines Vice President-Public Relations. The motion was seconded and passed.

VP-Public Relations: Travis Raines distributed a report on the LPWV Shadow Government project, including several press releases and a list of recipients. The cost of the releases was $33.52, for which the Executive Committee agreed to reimburse Mr. Raines.

Old Business:

Membership: The goal was 200 members by 12/31/97. The LPWV is currently Number One in membership growth among all state LP's.

1998 Convention: Set for May 9, 1998 at the Charleston House Holiday Inn. The keynote speaker will be Jacob Hornberger.

New Business:

Executive Committee Meetings: Meetings are now held once in every quarter. It may become necessary to hold them more often, possibly every other month. The Committee was asked to think about it.

Unified Membership Plan: Under this arrangement with the national party, the LPWV would be paid $1 per member per month beginning six months after membership commences. State chair John Brown and vice-chair Dr. Richard Kerr are in favor of this. Implementation would not be until after the current offer of free membership for one year expires on December 31.

State Investment Board: In keeping with the Shadow Government project, John Brown pointed out a conflict of interest: one member of the board is an employee of another member. This would seem to give the employer influence on any votes by his employee. It was decided to contact Governor Underwood first before issuing a press release calling for the employee's resignation from the board.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned, the next meeting to be on January 10, 1998 at 1:00 P.M. in the offices of Ferris, Baker Watts in Laidley Towers, Charleston, West Virginia.