[LPL Board of Directors] Moving Forward and Putting Our House in Order

Thu May 9 19:19:11 CDT 2013

Hope this letter finds everyone doing well, and enjoying life to its  
fullest.  As most of you are aware of, Ive had some commitments over  
the last few weeks that have consumed most of my time and attention.   
However, that situation is now once again under control, so Im trying  
to get some Party business wrapped up.

Caleb, glad to hear you survived your exams intact.  If it is at all  
possible would you please provide us with another update as to the  
issues surrounding the status of the SCC gaining access to financial  
information and accounts that we so desperately need to have control  
over?

Also, we (or perhaps the Caleb) need to address the issue of where we  
want the LPL mail directed to.  With our new Treasurer residing in  
Orleans, close to the parish line with Jefferson, perhaps we could  
obtain a PO Box that is convenient to both Caleb, and Wendy?  Either  
way, we need to move on getting an official address (checks could be  
waiting).

Our most urgent financial reporting need, in order to resolve some  
pressing business matters that require our immediate attention, is to  
have reporting on the following:

Current Liabilities
Recurring Liabilities

Current Assets
Recurring Contributions

Respectfully,

James Madison
Vice-Chairman
State Central Committee
Libertarian Party of Louisiana

Quoting Caleb Trotter <treasurer at lplouisiana.org>:

> All, I am finally finished with finals and can turn my full  
> attention to getting the finances organized.
>
> 1. I am still waiting on access to the bank account at Chase. The  
> last update I got from Reed was on April 30 and the bank had  
> requested a change in some document he was then sending them. I have  
> asked him for a status update today.
>
> 2. I now have access to the Piryx account, which is where online  
> donations are processed through. I've updated all the contact info  
> and passwords.
>
> 3. Until I can see the bank account I cannot verify income and  
> expenses. That being said, the monthly pledge program is going well.  
> $1162 is currently pledged on a monthly basis.
>
> 4. Donations by check/money order can be sent to me at 7446B Hurst  
> St, New Orleans, LA 70118.
>
> That's about all I can report for now.
>
> -- 
> Caleb Trotter
> Treasurer,
> Libertarian Party of Louisiana State Central Committee
> 504-810-9787
>
>
> On 2013-05-05 11:15, Daniel Hayes wrote:
>> Things have been very silent here for a while. Inactivity creates
>> complacency. Lack of communication creates inactivity. Inactivity
>> leads to atrophy. One thing I realized is that many people are just
>> assuming that since things are quiet that all is well.  Everyone
>> assumes that "Someone" must be taking care of things. Usually, that
>> someone is our currently contractless and unpaid Executive Director,
>> even though most of what needs taking care of does not fall into the
>> realm of her duties.
>> In the meantime..we still do not have our bank accounts transferred.
>> Mr Trotter informed me that he thinks it will be completed soon,
>> however, he is at the mercy of other parties. Where do we even bank? I
>> think that should be something every member of the SCC should know.  I
>> expect our current Treasurer will get a grip on this eventually.  I am
>> certainly sympathetic to Mr Trotter's situation having been handed an
>> abject mess, an "electronic shoebox" of notices and links, in no
>> certain cronological or categorical order.  All this dropped in his
>> lap during the lead up to his law school finals which end Monday, May
>> 6th, as I believe.  I have full confidence that once he is able to
>> direct his attentions to the matter he can get it sorted out.  That
>> said, its a shame things were left in that state.  We need to insure
>> it never happens like that again. I am sure Mr. Trotter will set the
>> bar and the example of how these records should be kept going forward
>> for his future successors.
>>
>> There are still numerous references to the former leadership all over
>> the websites and elsewhere. Mr. Thompson has removed the ones I have
>> noticed as I have pointed them out, but it would be nice if we could
>> get all our eyes on the matter to get it straight. While it may seem
>> trivial and I agree in most cases it is..there are those ones such as
>> this that I came across just last night.
>>
>> "If you would prefer to mail in your payment, please send it to:
>> ATTN: LPL Treasurer
>> 9340 Davidson road
>> Shreveport, La. 71129"
>>
>> http://www.lplouisiana.org/contribute/donation.php
>>
>> Our money is still being directed to the former Treasurer. THAT is
>> highly disturbing.  Larger donations would likely come in check form.
>> And while I expect those funds would be turned over eventually,I
>> concern over when. When there is this much of a lag in the transfer on
>> the bank accounts, and that former acting treasurer was so busy that
>> they had to resign the day before our SCC meeting, even though doing
>> so potentially left us unable to have a quorum and conduct business.
>>
>> Another thing of concern is relative to the filings of our PECs with
>> the Secretary of State. Who is doing that? How is that being done?  I
>> am thinking of speaking with my PEC about contracting Mr. Richard
>> Brown to handle the matter for us.  Richard was the professional
>> parlimentarian that attended the SCC Quarterly meeting with me.  It
>> struck me the other day that he would be the ideal person to undertake
>> the task. Any problems arising from the formatting of the Minutes or
>> By Laws or other matters would be things he could address on the spot
>> or come back with a plan of action for us laid out. The only downside
>> is, he is a professional and would have to be paid.  I know for my
>> PEC, that isn't a problem as they have full confidence in him. He
>> helped us correct and revise our by laws and guided us through their
>> adoption.  Our members have found his experience worth every penny.
>> In my life, I have found it very costly in the long wrong, to attempt
>> to handle matters requiring professional attention.  I suspect that if
>> multiple PECs did it together, it would result in some shared costs
>> for the research,etc.  I suspect I already know that nobody else
>> really knows how we are supposed to be doing this because the former
>> Chairman seemed to be not so forthcoming with others on how and why
>> things are being done.  I could be wrong as much of that was before my
>> time. If someone DOES have a good grasp on the process..please forward
>> it to me as at the least it will save on some research costs. All that
>> said, if Mr Brown is willing to undertake this task for my parish, at
>> the very least I intend to contract him to make sure it was done
>> properly. I will be contacting the other parishes to see if they want
>> his assistance as well.
>>
>> On another matter, I think that the calling things what they are has
>> been settled and we are going back to calling things what they are.  I
>> suggest everyone amend their own personal address book here to reflect
>> the mailing list for the State Central Committee and/or Mr. Thompson
>> take care of that here for us.
>> Here is another two that reflect the improper naming of our SCC.
>> Funny, I thought it was supposed to be for internal purposes only..yet
>> this is a public website..and I saw the SCC referred to in the recent
>> LNP newspaper as the Board.
>>
>> http://www.lplouisiana.org/events/calendar/calendar.php
>> http://www.lplouisiana.org/events/calendar/sccCalendar.php
>>
>>
>> Also, our organization needs money with which to grow. I know many of
>> you already have, but I encourage every member of the SCC to become a
>> recurring monthly donor. It gives us fairly predictable cash flow
>> going forward and will allow us to budget for expenses such as a
>> suitable contract pay for our Executive Director.  It doesn't need to
>> be such generous amounts as some of our members have put forward. It
>> needs to be an amount that you can safely fit in your budget each
>> month and not feel a noticeable strain. While I certainly would like
>> more, I think the 1776 Club is a great level for donation. It sets you
>> up to pay $17.76/month to the LPL. I am trying to encourage every PEC
>> member to do this.. Assuming an average of 10 members per PEC..thats
>> 640 members once the state is completed.  That would put us at over
>> $11,000/month for our cash flow. That's starting to get in a realm
>> where we can ACTUALLY do something, especially if we are frugal with
>> it and don't act like politicians and spend it before we get it. I
>> understand that some people are students and some people may be
>> unemployed or underemployed, but everyone needs to decide how
>> important this is to them and check their budget. I have the link
>> below for your cut and paste convenience. Thanks to everyone that
>> already has gotten on the donation wagon. Its hard to expect the PECs
>> to do it if the SCC doesnt set the example.
>>
>> "Elections are coming, the politicians are getting fat.
>> Won't you please put $17.76/month in the Libertarian hat.
>> If you don't have $17.76/month , Ten Dollars will do.
>> If you don't have Ten Dollars, then may God bless you."
>>
>>
>> https://secure.piryx.com/donate/3rejnkrb/Libertarian-Party-of-Louisiana/MonthlyPledge
>>
>> This brings up, who is in charge of the Piryx account? Has it been
>> switched? It still shows the Former Chair and Acting Treasurer as
>> being the contact people for it. I am pretty sure this is one Mr.
>> Thompson can't address. Hopefully, Mr Trotter can get it covered next
>> week.
>>
>> I will end this here, I don't want it to turn into a 13 page memo on
>> why I don't like Jelly with my peanut butter on my sandwiches.  I just
>> want to bring to everyone's attention that things are not where they
>> need to be.  Having spoken to more than a few people, I have learned
>> that everyone thinks everything is fine but are not aware of what
>> needs to be done much less who would be handling the matter.  This
>> email is not intended to just be a big gripe.  This is a call to
>> action.  We have matters to address and its up to us to address it.
>> Even if it's "not your job"..go out of your way to look for things
>> that need to be put in order such as the unchanged donation address
>> and bring it to the proper person's attention.
>> Before we can make an impact on this state, we must put our on house
>> in order and not assume someone else is doing it. We need to take
>> "Personal Responsibility".
>>
>>
>> Daniel Hayes
>> Jefferson Parish Representative to the LSCC
>> Membership Officer for the Jefferson Parish LPEC
>> LPL Finance Committee Member
>> Unoffical Rabble Rouser and Cage Rattler
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SCC mailing list
>> SCC at lplouisiana.org
>> http://lplouisiana.org/mailman/listinfo/scc_lplouisiana.org
>
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