Sunday, March 10, 2013

Libertarian Party of Nevada 2013 State Convention

By Elmer Whittaker




On Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9am – 5pm the Libertarian Party of Nevada holds its convention at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino at 9090 Alta Drive in Las Vegas, NV 89145
 
 

A luncheon is scheduled from 1pm-3pm with the guest keynote speaker Katie Kieffer 

In spite of the lack of an official agenda for the convention, it is known that aside from the aforementioned luncheon several proposals of revisions to the bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (LPN) are up for vote, as well as the new or re-election of the party’s 5 position Executive Committee which includes a chairman, a vice-chair, a treasurer, a secretary and an at large representative.    

Although I am one of the obviously very few due paying members, I have not received an official notification about the convention neither by regular mail nor email. There are also no official notifications posted on either the LPN Meet-Up group nor the LPN Facebook group. I cannot imagine and it does not appear that the LPN convention has been advertised in any newspaper or other news media.
As the participation in the LPN convention costs between $65-$125 and requires an official NV State ID for delegates many people have speculated the current Executive Committee does not want a widespread participation of the current and former membership in the convention out of fear that a big membership participation might lead to the Executive Committee being voted out of office and replaced.
After the few experiences and interactions I had with the current Executive Committee (ExComm), other members and general insights, that I personally had as a new member, I can only conclude that the fears of the ExComm of being out-voted and shunned by a large membership and supporter participation in the LPN convention might not only be fully justified but might indeed be necessary for the LPN to play any kind of prominent role in Nevada’s political landscape.
An inquiry of mine with LPN Secretary Jared Thomas Lord about the current number of due paying members resulted in a referral to LPN Treasurer Kurt Brackob whom I contacted via email. Kurt Brackop however claims that he does not know the exact due paying membership count because “numbers are always changing” but that the due paying membership is “usually around 30-35”.
From Kurt Brackop’s answer and conversations I had with other prominent LPN members, I can only conclude that the membership nowadays is at an all-time low and unless many of the former LPN members decide to renew their membership immediately and make sure they are registered voters in Nevada, participation and voting for an Executive Committee at the LPN convention on April 27, will also be at an all-time low.
Treasurer Kurt Brackop also stated that there will be a report at the convention about the membership numbers. I wonder if there will also be some sort of an explanation or even just an educated speculation about the reasons why a State Chapter of the Libertarian Party, the third largest party in the country, only has "usually" 30-35 dues paying members, although the state party has been in existence for many years. 

As the current ExComm is obviously unwilling to properly advertise and promote new and renewing memberships and the upcoming LPN convention it is left to the LPN members and supporters to spread the word, encourage and promote due paying membership and participate in the LPN convention.
If the current membership of the LPN really wants a, what I perceive with my limited LPN experience, badly needed change in leadership, candidates to challenge the current ExComm members need to step forward, advertise and campaign and hold their own events so the rest of the membership can get to know them.

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