By Siebert Ickler
The Doña Ana County Libertarian Party held it's first (at least in the 21st century) Convention in the Dresp Room at the Branigan Library. Approximately 20 local Libertarians or those interested in the party met from noon until a little after 3:30 pm. I called the convention to order at 12:30 and introduced the members of the County Central Committee.
The first speaker was Bruce Bush who updated us on state initiatives including the upcoming convention in April. He gave us some useful suggestions from his experiences on campaigning and on getting publicity. He updated us on Richard Winger's lawsuit against the unreasonable demand that we both certify the party via petitions and then have to recertify each candidate. (Even though New Mexico is one of the worst states there are others throughout the country and more information can be obtained from Ballot Access News.) There is also a New Mexico house bill, HB331, introduced by Brian K. Moore to eliminate the petition process. He reinforced the use of the quiz as an educational tool, noted that education was just as important as running candidates at this point in the party's existence and that we ought to focus on incrementalism rather than demanding perfect solutions. What can each Libertarian do? Speak the truth!
Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundation, a libertarian leaning think tank in Albuquerque, with whom I have partenered on op-ed pieces in the Sun News, spoke about the activities of his foundation and how they relate to ours. Some of their proposals are tax increase limits like those that have helped Colorado prosper, opposing the Real ID, encouraging restrictions on emminent domain. He takes credit for stopping the Albuquerque trolley boondoggle and they are gearing up to fight an Albuquerque arena and the spaceport tax subsidy. The three key items upon which they focus are: Taxes and Spending, Liberties and School Choice. As one who depends upon donors he has had to learn when to hold them and when to fold them, his example being the war in Iraq that is favored by many of his supporters necessitating his silence in that area. He closed by recommending the upcoming movie Amazing Grace.
My apologies to everyone that attended for the many technical difficulties, which we can hopefully avoid in the future, such as being unable to show Paul's Powerpoint Slides and during the business meeting we had planned to show the highly recomended movie America Freedom to Facism but the remote was lost. Chris of Ocotillo Roasters, one of our neighbors at the downtown Farmer's Market, had graciously donated coffee for the event but I hadn't noticed that it needed grinding so we did not get to use it. On the bright side, our committee members, particularly Donna Venersky, outdid themselves in the refreshment department. I doubt that even the Democrats could have matched our spread.
After break we had our business meeting, the highlight of which was the discovery of a potential NMSU campus coordinator. We then had an informal forum on ways to increase our exposure including some sort of phone campaign, taking our display table to the Mesilla Plaza, handing out information on how to be a good and fully informed juror at the opening of the new federal courthouse and contacting local High School Social Studies Departments and offering to speak on the constitution, the LP or any related topic. We adjourned at about 3:30 pm.
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