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March 2019 Minutes NWMLP

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Minutes of the

Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP) Business Meeting

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

West End Tavern, Traverse City

  1. Call Meeting to Order- Chairperson Gundle-Krieg called the meeting to order at 6:35PM

New membership forms were passed out and collected, to ensure that everyone had the ability to vote.

  1. Roll Call- Present- Chairperson: Donna Gundle-Krieg, Vice-Chair: Ben Boren, Officers: Ben Schultz, David Holmer Members Jim Krantz, Kristen Olson, John Boonstra, Robert Clark. Absent: Secretary Peter Biskupski
  2. Approval of Minutes- David Holmer moved to approve the January minutes, Ben Schultz seconded. Motion passed 8-0.
  3. Reports
    Chair:Two bylaw changes were proposed. Ben Schultz moved to approve the bylaw changes, Ben Boren seconded the motion. Motion passed 8-0. Modified bylaws are below and on the website.A delegate list was proposed for the upcoming state convention, and the following delegates were named: Donna Gundle-Krieg, Ben Boren, David Holmer, Kristen Olson, John Boonstra, Robert Clark and Destiny Twitchell. Ben Schultz and Peter Biskupski were named as alternates. David Holmer moved to approve the delegate list. Ben Schulz seconded. Motion carried 8-0.The chair’s first column was published this week in the Northern Express. It will allow us to present our Libertarian view every few weeks

    Vice Chair Ben Boren discussed how happy he was to see new members and delegates, and the importance of the upcoming convention. Northern Michigan will have more representation than ever, and Ben is running for Vice-Chair of the state party which will give us even more say.

    Political Director David Holmer announced that he has 10 candidates running in 2020. He discussed the need to decide whether we will approve our candidates by convention or caucus. Ben Schulz made a motion that we approve candidates via caucus, which gives us more flexibility. Ben Boren seconded the motion. Motion carried 8-0.

    Outreach and Membership Director Ben Schulz combined his report with David’s since the two of them are speaking to the Manistee Tea Party Thursday March 21st at the Bungalow Inn. An informal discussion about their speeches will follow the business meeting.

4. Old Business- Since Joseph Hartman moved, we have had an opening for a Treasurer. Even though we currently do not have dues, we hope to develop funds in the future and we need another member of the Executive Committee. Kristen Olson volunteered to take over the position. Ben Schultz moved to approve Kristen Olson as Treasurer, and Jim Krantz seconded the motion. Motion carried 8-0. Welcome Kristen!!

5. New Business Ben Boren moved to put the minutes on our website. David Holmer seconded the motion. Motion carried, 8-0. The next meeting will be online and will focus on the upcoming convention as well as a discussion of a long-term meeting plan. The meeting will be Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30. As always, the link will be published online and on the Facebook page.

6. Adjournment- Chairperson Gundle-Krieg adjourned the meeting at 7:27 PM

APPENDIX

Bylaw Revisions

  1. Membership A. Anyone residing in the service area, or in any adjacent county shall be eligible for NWMLP membership. The service area encompasses Charlevoix, Antrim, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Benzie, Manistee, Wexford, and Missaukee Counties.
  • Executive Committee A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of 60% of its members. A majority of those members present shall rule, except as otherwise provided in these Bylaws.

 

Libertarian Northern Michigan: A Primer

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This article was written by the Northwest Michigan Chairperson Donna Gundle-Krieg, and originally published in the Guest Opinion Column in the Northern Express.  Libertarian Party of Michigan

Libertarian Northern Michigan: A Primer
Many people in this country are fed up with the two-party system, and the division and problems that this system has created. Nothing ever seems to change.

Recently, two separate groups of people in northern Michigan decided to do something about this. Simultaneously, these two groups decided to form official affiliates for the Libertarian Party of Michigan. Bylaws were drawn up, officers were elected, and a few candidates ran in local elections with very good results.

The energy has been contagious. With all of the interest we’ve found up here, I guarantee that you’ll be hearing a lot more from the libertarian Party — the third largest party since the 1980’s, and one that held primary party status at the last election.

Libertarian party principles revolve around freedom and limited government, both in terms of government power and government spending. Basically, this means that a Libertarian is someone who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

The first new northern Michigan Libertarian group to form is called the Straits Area Libertarian Party(SALP)and covers Cheboygan, Emmet, Otsego, and Presque Isle counties.

The second group, the Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party(NWMLP), covers Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Antrim, Charlevoix, Wexford, Manistee, and Missaukee counties.
Both affiliates have the purpose of nominating and campaigning for candidates for political office, initiating and/or supporting ballot proposals, lobbying elected officials, and engaging in educational and other informational activities.

The Libertarian party is growing quickly because young people and many others do not like what they see in the other two parties. Right now, our national debt is over $22 trillion, or $67,000 per person, according to the United States Treasury. Republicans, who used to boast about being financially conservative, are running up the debt more quickly than the Democrats.

Veterans also make up a large part of our membership. They have seen and experienced firsthand the destruction caused by our country’s foreign policies of interfering in other countries’ affairs and conflicts.

Libertarians sign an oath to the “Non-Aggression Principle.” Simply put, most people live their lives and follow the non-aggression principle in their interactions. Libertarians take this further, and apply this principle to group actions, including government and military actions.
We are conservative fiscally, but liberal on most social issues. For example, our party’s platform states that “sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration, or military service laws.”

Local issues are very important to Libertarians, as citizens can often have more impact on local issues than they can on national issues. As a real estate broker in Mancelona, I run across many issues in northern Michigan involving property rights. I plan to expand on these issues in future columns.

For example, Libertarians believe that the ever-increasing number of zoning regulations are slowly eroding our freedoms. These restraints on land use stem from well-intentioned efforts to promote public safety, environmental objectives, and aesthetic goals for development. However, according to a study by the Cato Institute, in addition to taking away our liberties, “a major side effect of this growing volume of zoning rules has been to deter construction and reduce the supply of housing, including multifamily and low-income housing.”

Other local Libertarian issues involving property rights include vacation property rules, eminent domain, and the government benefitting from property tax foreclosures. Eminent domain in particular is currently being debated across the country, as Trump’s declaration of a so-called national emergency enables the government to take private property for the building of a wall.

In addition to real estate issues, Libertarians will also be watching other local issues, such as the proposed new Antrim County jail and similar expensive government projects. We will be watching how the state and local governments implement the new recreational marijuana law. We have already impacted changes in civil forfeiture, as it is wrong for the state to seize personal property before a person has been found guilty.

In addition to affecting local policy, our new groups’ purposes involve running as many local candidates as possible in the upcoming elections. In the last election, local Libertarian candidates did very well. Robert Clark, who ran for Arcadia Township Supervisor, earned 47.2 percent of the vote, which is the highest ever for a Libertarian candidate in Michigan.

David Holmer of Manistee and Dana Carver of Onaway also received respectable percentages as candidates in County Commissioner races. Holmer is the NWMLP’s new political director and is currently seeking Libertarians who want to help us run a full slate of local candidates in the 2020 election.

Donna Gundle-Krieg, owner and broker of DEK Realty, is the District 1 representative for the Libertarian Party for Michigan, and chairperson of the newly formed Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP). She writes from Mancelona. dokrieg@gmail.com

January 2019 Minutes NWMLP

Northwest Michigan Libertarians Posted on by

Minutes of the Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP) Business Meeting

Tuesday, January 9, 2018 @ 6:30PM  

Online Zoom Meeting

  1. Call Meeting to Order- Chairperson Gundle-Krieg called the meeting to order at 6:37PM.
  2. Roll Call- Mr. Biskupski called roll for the business meeting.

Present- Chairperson: Donna Gundle-Krieg, Vice-Chair: Ben Boren, Officers: Ben Schultz (joined @ 7:10), David Holmer and  Peter Biskupski.

Absent: None.

Others: None

  1. Announcements- None.
  2. Approval of Minutes- Motion to Approve by Vice-Chair Boren, Seconded by David Holmer, motion passes 4-0
  3. Reports
    1. Chair
      1. Minutes on Website
        1. Ask LEC for their opinion
      2. Website Changes
      3. Feedback on Northern Express article
    2. Vice Chair- None.
    3. Political Director
      1. Potential Candidates
        1. 4 people running
        2. Chairperson Gundle-Kreig recommends anyone who is interested in running, get contact info and forward to Political Director
      2. 2020 Races
        1. Candidates can’t file until January 1, 2020
        2. Chairperson Gundle-Kreig wants to get a jump start and get some publicizing early
      3. Twitter
        1. 65 Followers
        2. Expand following
        3. Chairperson Gundle-Kreig thought we should post on Facebook to follow Twitter account
      4. ACA Icebreaker
    4. Outreach and Membership Director
      1. Chairperson Gundle-Kreig suggested membership meetings
        1. Shoot to have first meeting in Spring 2019
      2. Ways to Volunteer during Government Shutdown
        1. Pete Biskupski suggested doing a Food Drive, Ben Schultz to do research
        2. Vice-Chair Boren to look into cleaning Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park
    5. Secretary- None.
    6. Treasurer- None.
  4. Old Business
    1. Consideration of contacting local groups with similar ideas and messaging
  1. New Business
    1. Consideration of vacant Treasurer position
      1. Motion to table by Vice-Chair Boren, seconded by David Holmer, Motion passes 5-0
  2. Comments
    1. Pete Biskupski suggested mentioning the Ron Paul Curriculum to the local homeschooling groups
    2. Pete Biskupski suggested adding the U.S. Debt Clock to the website

Adjournment- Motion to adjourn by Vice-Chair Boren, seconded by David Holmer, Motion passes 5-0 Chairperson Gundle-Krieg adjourned the meeting

December Minutes NWMLP

Northwest Michigan Libertarians Posted on by

Minutes of the Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP) Business Meeting  

Tuesday, December 11, 2018 @ 6:30PM
Toy Town, 122 S. Mitchell St. Cadillac, MI 49601

  1. Call Meeting to Order- Chairperson Gundle-Krieg called the meeting to order at 6:45PM.
  2. Roll Call- Mr. Biskupski called roll for the business meeting.

Present- Chairperson: Donna Gundle-Krieg, Vice-Chair: Ben Boren, Officers: Ben Schultz, David Holmer, Peter Biskupski and Joseph Hartman.

Absent: None.

Others: None

  1. Announcements- None.
  2. Approval of Minutes- None.
  3. Old Business- None.
  4. New Business
    1. Mr. Holmer motioned to form a Standing Committee for Candidate Outreach (Moved by Mr. Schultz, Seconded by Mr. Biskupski)
      1. Mrs. Gundle-Krieg brought up issues with qualified candidate and leadership
      2. Mr. Schultz thought maybe a small Questionnaire would help verify qualifications
      3. Call to Question; Motion passed 5-0 with Mr. Boren abstaining
    2. Consideration of increasing and retaining membership
      1. Moved to Outreach Director Report
    3. Consideration of contacting Young American for Liberty Northwest Michigan Chapter
      1. Informally okay to contact
  5. Reports
    1. Chair
      1. Emails are formalized
      2. Facebook Messenger for communication
      3. 3 or 4 Articles per month for newsletter
        1. Articles about Candidates
        2. Northern Express rotation column
      4. Meeting Place
        1. Business meeting separate from social or outreach meetings
        2. Motion to vote on location of next meeting at current business meeting (Moved by Mr. Schultz, Seconded by Mr. Biskupski)
        3. Call to Question; Motion passed unanimously
    2. Vice Chair
      1. Emphasize Outreach
      2. Obtaining Donations
    3. Political Director
      1. Emailed contact list
      2. Cory Dean interested in running for Blair Township Trustee in Grand Traverse County
      3. Three open seats for Manistee County Commissioner
    4. Outreach and Membership Director
      1. Building on Success
      2. Creating a list of groups that might be responsive to NWMLP
      3. Social Media
      4. Looking for Liberty Minded Groups
    5. Secretary
      1. Add the Non Aggression Principle to the contact/sign-up sheet
    6. Treasurer- None.
  6. Comments- None.

Adjournment- Chairperson Gundle-Krieg adjourned the meeting at 8:20P

NW Michigan Libertarians Select Treasurer, Delegates for State Convention

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The Northwest Michigan Libertarians held a very successful local convention on Tuesday March 12 at the West End Tavern in Traverse City. We elected Kristen Kuhn from Traverse City as a new Treasurer, and voted in seven delegates to represent our area at the April 13th state convention in Bay City.

New Treasurer 
Kristen Kuhn is a very welcome and qualified addition to our Executive Committee! She works as a Registered Nurse at the Grand Traverse Women’s Clinic. She has a passion for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—which she finds through travel, being on/near bodies of water and ‘introverting’.

Kristen believes in individual responsibility and has followed Dave Ramsey’s common sense financial plan for 10+ years. She is very concerned with our soaring national debt, gun rights and big government. Her favorite quote is from Captain America: “This isn’t freedom. We’re holding a gun to every citizens head and calling it security.”

Delegates to State Convention
In addition to electing a new officer, seven members of our local party were elected to represent our area in the upcoming state convention. These delegates will be voting on important state party business, including new leadership. Everyone is welcome at the state convention, but only the delegates are able to vote on business issues.

The delegates selected are Donna Gundle-Krieg, Ben Boren, David Holmer, Kristen Kuhn, John Boonstra, Robert Clark and Destiny Twitchell. Ben Schultz and Peter Biskupski are the alternates.

April Meeting
Our April Business meeting will held on line on Tuesday, April 9th at 6:30 pm. We will discuss the state convention, as well as ideas for our future monthly meetings. Everyone is welcome to join us! For more information about how to connect, click here. 

Northwest Michigan Libertarians Will Meet in April to Discuss State Convention

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Northwest Michigan Libertarians (NWMLP) will hold an online meeting at 6:30 on Tuesday April, March 9. The public is welcome to join this meeting. To join Respectable Debatethe online meeting, please click here. 

The main topic of this meeting will be the upcoming state convention, as seven delegates have been chosen to represent Northwest Michigan at this convention. Anyone can attend the April 13th convention to be held in Bay City. However, only delegates can vote on Party business, which will include electing new state leadership.

At this April 9th meeting, we will also discuss ideas for future meetings. Meeting online was nice during the winter, but we would like to choose a central meeting place so that we can meet in person, and enjoy the fellowship of other Libertarians.

We would also like to continue to grow our local party and welcome new members! To be a member of the NWMLP, you need to reside in the Charlevoix, Antrim, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Benzie, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee or adjacent counties. Members simply must affirm the statement: “I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.”

For more information, contact nwmichiganlibertarians@gmail.com. 

 

Local Libertarian Chairperson to Pen Guest Column for Northern Express

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Donna Gundle-Krieg, the Chairperson of the Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party, has been appointed as a regular “Guest Columnist” for the Northern Express, which reaches 90,000 readers in 13 northern Michigan counties. The full page opinion columns rotate among different writers each week.

Gundle-Krieg, a Real Estate Broker in Mancelona, plans to write about many local property rights issues such as zoning regulations, vacation property rules, eminent domain, and the government benefitting from property tax foreclosures.

In addition to real estate issues, Libertarians will also be watching other local issues such as expensive government projects, implementation of the new recreational marijuana law, and civil forfeiture.

“This is an awesome opportunity for our party, as this publication is interested in the Libertarian viewpoint and believes in giving third parties a voice,” stated Gundle-Krieg, who has a Journalism degree and many years of writing experience downstate.  

 

Local Libertarians to Speak at Manistee Area Tea Party Event

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The Manistee Area Tea Party (MATP) will host members of the Northwest Michigan Libertarian Party (NWMLP) at their monthly meeting on Thursday, March 21st at the Bungalow Inn on US 31 south of Manistee.

David Holmer, Political Director, and Ben Schultz, Membership Director, will be the speakers for the NWMLP. The meeting will center on a presentation of the Libertarian Party’s mission statement, and their positions on the major issues facing voters today.

Libertarians just recently formed a new affiliate in the northwest Michigan area, and leaders and members are reaching out to various groups, hoping to find common ground and experience positive dialogue.

“Our country is currently going through a lot of political turmoil, misunderstanding, and an inability to listen to opposing ideas.” according to the press release put out by the Tea Party.

“This meeting will be an opportunity for attendees to meet with another political group and exchange ideas to get a better understanding of each others positions. Hopefully after this meeting everyone will walk away realizing that we have some positions in common, and can agree to disagree on other positions.”

For those wishing to come for dinner and conversation we will begin at 5:30 PM. The program will start at 6:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the banquet room at the Bungalow Inn on US 31 south of Manistee. The MATP meetings are open to the public at no charge.

Important Membership Meeting for Northwest Michigan Libertarians

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Northwest Michigan Libertarians (NWMLP) will meet at 6:30 on Tuesday, March 12, at the West End Tavern in Traverse City to take care of several important business items. The tavern is located at 12719 S West Bay Shore Drive in Traverse City.  

This meeting is the official “convention” for the newly formed NWMLP affiliate. At this convention, the newly elected officers will provide applications for new members of the local affiliate, and we hope to meet some of the people who have stepped up to run as Libertarian candidates in 2020.

Members present will select up to seven delegates to represent our area at the April 13th convention to be held in Bay City.

In order to be elected as a delegate for NWMLP, you must join the Libertarian Party of Michigan (LPM) as a dues-paying member by March 14. Click here to join the state party in time to be a delegate.

To be a delegate, you must be also a member of the NWMLP. Anyone residing in the Charlevoix, Antrim, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Benzie, Manistee, Wexford, and Missaukee Counties is eligible for membership. They simply must affirm the statement: “I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.”

Anyone can attend the state convention, but only delegates can vote on convention business, which will include electing new state leadership. There will also be a dinner banquet and “libertyfest” after the business meeting.

For more information, contact nwmichiganlibertarians@gmail.com.

Libertarians Across Michigan to Come Together for Convention, Party Business

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Libertarians from across Michigan will assemble for their 2019 Spring Convention and Libertyfest on Saturday, April  13th at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, 2 East Main Street, Bay City, Michigan.

While anyone can attend the conference, only delegates can vote on convention business.

The convention business session will feature proposed amendments to our Bylaws, reports from current state party officers, and the election of state party officers and congressional district representatives.

The LPM’s annual LibertyFest banquet will follow the convention business session.  At the banquet, we will present Defender of Liberty awards.

You can reserve your package at https://michiganlp.org/2019-libertarian-party-of-michigan-convention/.

We have reserved a block of rooms at $119/night (plus taxes, etc.) for single or double occupancy at the convention hotel.  To reserve a room, go to this special webpage and book by March 22nd for special rates.

For more information, please email nwmichiganlibertarians@gmail.com.