[Note that this document was converted from a .pdf file – as a result the format has suffered]

 

ccclp@ca.lp.org

Business Meeting Minutes

Meeting Purpose:

A meeting to conduct business for the Libertarian Party of Contra Costa County (LPCCC), and (because of proper previous notice given by Mr. Malagon) discuss and vote on the proposed Bylaws Amendment.

Date & Time:

Monday, February 28, 2022 at 7:00PM.

Location:

Virtual Meeting via Zoom (Notice Given at the Annual Meeting).

Recording:

Available here: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ZIxTkOMemtsucc4voGGtEeQeoCg4-xgpBGKO1rWp3sm8NFABeBwHP0euDZxrjYxs.Lmq2vjC-WS03wXZW. Passcode: g2=0Jwe%

County Central Committee Members:

Mr. Adrian F Malagon (Chair)

Ms. Alexandria Hatch (Vice-Chair)

Ms. Meredith Hays (Secretary)

Mr. Roberto Nuñez (Treasurer)

Ms. Jessica Porter

Mr. Maximiliano Jimenez

Ms. Belinda Ochoa

Mr. George Chan

Mr. Stephan Ginochio

Ms. Maria Lavenant

Ms. Celine Torrano

Mr. Daniel McDunn

Mr. Marc Joffe

Ms. Sandra Kallander

Ms. Janice Mackenzie-Fast

Mr. Richard Fast

Mr. Graham Brown

Mr. Casey Johnson

Guests:

Mr. Theodore Gercken (Alameda County)

Ms. Elizabeth Stump (Alameda County)

Mr. Loren Dean (Riverside County)

Ms. Jessica Tewksbury (Riverside County)

Mr. Anthony Strauss (Kern County)

Agenda (As Submitted by the Chair)

Call to Order

Roll Call/Credentialing Report

Acknowledgement and Introduction of Guests

Adoption of the Agenda (5 minutes)

Adoption of the Annual Meeting Minutes (5 minutes)

Public Comment (10 minutes)

Reports of the Party Officers

   Chair’s Report (10 minutes)

   Vice-Chair’s Report (5 minutes)

   Secretary’s Report (5 minutes)

   Treasurer’s Report (5 minutes)

Bylaws Amendment Proposal (10 minutes)

   Motion to adopt the proposed Bylaws amendment formally presented at the Annual Meeting by Mr. Malagon. (Text provided in person, and via email.)

Local Issues (15 minutes)

   Walnut Creek’s Tax Increase Proposal

      Nextdoor Thread: https://nextdoor.com/login/?next=/news_feed/%3Fpost%3D213166677 [requires login]

      Substack https://denisekalm.substack.com/p/local-tax-proposals?utm_source=url

Advocacy Opportunities (10 minutes)

Scheduling of a March Social Meet & Greet (5 Minutes)

Adjourn

Call to Order, Roll Call/Credentialing Report, Acknowledgement & Intro of Guests

Mr. Malagon called the meeting to order at 7:03PM.

Ms. Hays called the roll, credentialed present members for later voting, and noted the guests.

17 credentialed members were discovered to be present (9 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 12 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

Mr. Fast asked Mr. Malagon if he could be credentialed. Mr. Malagon asked Mr. Fast if he was in fact the Chair Pro-Tem of San Joaquin County (as a flyer being passed out at the LPCA Convention only a week before had explicitly stated) and reminded him that the LPCA Bylaws explicitly prohibit County Central Committee members from being affiliated with multiple counties simultaneously. Mr. Fast claimed that the aforementioned flyer contained a “typo.” Mr. Fast’s continued insistence that he was not the Chair Pro-Tem of San Joaquin County, in addition to his affiliation in Neon showing as Contra Costa Costa [sic] County, gave Mr. Malagon cause to allow Ms. Hays to credential him.

18 credentialed members were now present (10 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 12 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

Ms. Kallander raised a point of order, and asked if the 30 days notice for the vote on the Bylaws amendment had been met per the current Bylaws. Mr. Malagon reminded Ms. Kallander that verbal notice had been given at the Annual Meeting, which took place exactly 30 days from the time of the current Business Meeting. He also made mention that several reminders via email had been sent before, and since then.

Motion—Ms. Kallander moved, and Mr. Fast seconded that the meeting be recorded. As there was no objection, the Chair began recording the meeting at 7:13PM.

Mr. Kurt Schulz [sic] joined the meeting at 7:05PM and was credentialed. Mr. Kevin Moore joined the meeting at 7:14PM and was credentialed.

20 credentialed members were now present (11 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 14 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

Ms. Kallander requested that everyone introduce themselves and Mr. Fast concurred. Mr. Malagon invited anyone who wished to introduce themselves to do so, but made it clear that he would not force anyone.

Adoption of the Agenda (5 minutes)

Motion—Mr. Malagon moved to adopt the agenda and asked if there were any objections.

Ms. Kallander objected because she had not read the agenda prior to the meeting. Mr. Malagon read the agenda aloud.

The agenda was adopted unanimously, without objection.

After the fact, Ms. Kallander, Mr. Fast, and Mr. Schulz [sic] objected to the adoption of the agenda because they wished to instead have the record reflect that they expressly abstained from its adoption.

As the agenda was already adopted unanimously, the objections above were noted only for the record.

Mr. Spencer von Glahn joined the meeting at 7:21PM and was credentialed.

21 credentialed members were now present (11 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 14 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

Mr. Malagon asked Ms. Tewksbury if she would agree to be the timekeeper for the remainder of the meeting. She accepted and Mr. Malagon appointed her as timekeeper.

Adoption of the Annual Meeting Minutes (5 minutes)

Motion—Mr. Malagon moved to adopt the minutes of the Annual Meeting, held on January 30, 2022 and asked if there were any objections.

Ms. Mackenzie-Fast objected, noting that her name was misspelled throughout the minutes. Mr Malagon ruled that the minutes could be adopted, with her requested corrections.

Mr. Schulz [sic] then objected on the grounds that he believed that Business Meetings could not be conducted via Zoom. Mr. Malagon ruled that his objection had no merit for any number of reasons, and that continued discussion on the subject was dilatory. Mr. Fast joined in Mr. Schultz’s [sic] objection.

Mr. Schultz, Mr. Fast, Ms. Mackenzie-Fast, and Ms. Kallander objected to the meeting minutes being adopted.

The minutes from the Annual Meeting were adopted, with expressed abstentions from the four objecting members noted above.

Mr. Michael Lema and Mr. Robert Cesar Bovero-Spina joined the meeting as guests at 7:31PM.

Public Comment (10 minutes)

Mr. Joffe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lema, Mr. Fast, Mr. Jimenez, and Ms. Kallander all made public comments.

Ms. Victoria Lapacek joined the meeting as a guest at 7:42PM.

Reports of the Party Officers

Chair’s Report:

Mr. Malagon was elected as Northern Area Coordinator at the 2022 LPCA Convention and as such, he retains a position on the LPCA Executive Committee. He spoke about his vision for the LPCCC and the rest of the North. He intends to have all of the Northern affiliates work together, especially neighboring ones, to share resources and learn from each other’s successes and failures. Mr. Malagon also intends on encouraging affiliates in the North to follow the LPCCC proposed model of separating business (and hosting it in a virtual capacity), socials (in-person) and advocacy (hybrid participation) not only for productivity’s sake, but to allow members to get as involved with what they so choose, as they so choose, in an effort to increase membership and overall engagement. He also has a meeting scheduled with Mayor of Concord on Monday, March 7th, and is working on scheduling a meeting with former Senate Majority Leader of CA State Assembly.

Mr. Schulz [sic] left the meeting at 7:49PM.

20 credentialed members were now present (11 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 14 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

Vice-Chair’s Report:

Ms. Hatch is working on updating the LPCCC logo for social media presence and the new soon-to come website. She reached out to Daniel (AKA TopLobsta) who agreed to make the artwork for free. After doing a fair amount of research on a P.O. Box for the Party, the best option is a private one, which is cheaper and offers more services. Postal Annex offered the Party a 25% discount for a year’s subscription. Annual prices are: $240.00 for a small box, $312.00 for a medium box, and $360.00 for a large box (before the aforementioned discount).

Secretary’s Report:

Ms. Hays still lacks access to Neon. She also recently had a podcast appearance with the Libertarian Institute. The episode can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KXllFXzDE .

Treasurer’s Report:

Mr. Nuñez appears to have been locked out of the Party bank account, and will need to investigate the issue. He noted that no expenses have been approved and no withdrawals or payments made, meaning that the account balance should be the same it was at the time of his last report (just shy of $2,000). Mr. Nuñez expects checks to come in from the LPCA for him to deposit, once the post box is purchased and set up.

Bylaws Amendment Proposal (10 minutes)

Motion—Mr. Malagon moved and Ms. Hatch seconded that:

The proposed Bylaws amendment formally presented at the Annual Meeting 30 days earlier (text provided in person, and via email) be adopted.

Mr. Malagon spoke in favor of the motion. Ms. Kallander spoke against the motion.

Ms. Mackenzie-Fast and Mr. Fast left the meeting at 8:03pm.

18 credentialed members were now present (10 votes would constitute a simple majority, and 12 votes would constitute a two-thirds majority).

The motion passed on a 16-1-1-0 vote (Aye - Nay - Expressed Abstention - Not Voting).

    - Aye: Ms. Hatch, Ms. Hays, Mr. Nunez, Ms. Porter, Mr. Jimenez, Ms. Ochoa, Mr. Chan, Mr. Ginochio, Mr. von Glahn, Ms. Lavenant, Ms. Torrano, Mr. Brown, Mr. Johnson, Mr. McDunn, Mr. Joffe, Mr. Malagon

    - Nay: Ms. Kallander

    - Expressed Abstention: Mr. Moore

    - Not Voting: None.

Ms. Porter left the meeting at 8:05pm.

Local Issues (15 minutes)

Mr. Joffe spoke about the specifics concerning the Walnut Creek sales tax hike, in addition to the importance of using Nextdoor as a tool for reaching out to local residents on these important issues. He also encouraged participation and public comment in Walnut Creek City Council meetings from residents and those from neighbouring [sic] cities, citing examples where that has appeared to make a difference. Mr. Joffe provided the CDTFA website link where the rates can be found and ended by informing the Party that he’s a board member of the Contra Costa County Tax Payer’s Association.

Mr. Malagon made mention about other towns and cities in the Bay Area facing a similar fate, and the importance of banding together to build awareness and opposition.

Advocacy Opportunities (10 minutes)

Mr. McDunn spoke about mandate lawsuits taking place in local Bay Area schools. He offered to set up a time for Mr. Malagon to meet with the person spearheading a particular lawsuit against a local school board.

The Chair mentioned the Michael Lema for Hayward Fundraiser taking place in Hayward after the LPCA Executive Committee Meeting taking place on March 19, 2022. Information about the event can be found here: [as of 3/28/2023, the link is broken].

Mr. Lema said “Ukaine” as opposed to “Ukraine” in a failed attempt at humor while speaking to his event, and was mocked by Mr. Malagon.

Scheduling of a March Social Meet & Greet (5 minutes)

Mr. Ginochio agreed to speak with Mr. Malagon offline to discuss a good date to host an event at a gun club he has access to.

Adjourn

The Chair adjourned the Business Meeting at 8:31 PM PST without objection.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Ms. Meredith Hays

Secretary, Libertarian Party of Contra Costa County

 

Editorial Notes:

1)     The first two Editorial Notes from the Minutes of the ExCom Meeting of Feb. 10, 2022 are reproduced here, since they apply to this meeting as well.

“1) At the date and time of this meeting, Adrian still did not have (according to Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised) the authority to propose changes to the CCCLP’s Constitution and Bylaws.  When he claimed that power, he was exceeding his authority.  The matter was still being actively handled by the duly-appointed Bylaws Committee; as a result, the permission for any CCCLP Member to propose amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws was superseded by, and subordinate to, the authority of the Bylaws Committee.  When I officially notified Adrian that his actions were in violation of RONR, he justified his actions with claims that turned out to be false.  As a result, Adrian’s claims that the County Central Committee had a new set of Bylaws was a fraud that he perpetrated against not only the County Central Committee, but because they were reported to the California State LP as being the “official” bylaws, he perpetrated fraud against the state LP as well.  This is a clear violation of the Non-Agression Principle, and grounds for expulsion from the Party.

2)     As a result of his failure to appropriately implement amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws, his implementation of virtual meetings for the purpose of conducting Business fails to comply with the guidelines set in RONR.  Adrian was present, as Vice-Chair, of the meeting on January 30, 2022, when the Parliamentarian informed the Chair of this restriction under RONR, so Adrian acted this way willfully, and not by accident.”

 

This means that this meeting was not an official Business Meeting.

 

                The seventh Editorial Note from the Minutes of the ExCom Meeting of Feb. 10, 2022 is also reproduced here, since it applies to this meeting as well.

“7)  RONR is quite clear that a Member or Officer of an organization can get into trouble if they refer to others in the organization by name (instead of by title), while addressing the body.  The Secretary repeatedly refers to “Mr. Malagon” when she is supposed to be referring to “the Chair”; there were other violations of this same principal as well.  These actions are sufficient cause for the Secretary to be removed from a meeting.”

                In this case, how people voted is not supposed to be reported, only what the total votes were in each category.

2)      Under “Meeting Purpose”, the statement “proper previous notice given by Mr. Malagon” is a misstatement of fact; Mr. Malagon had no authority to present the previous notice, so the presentation was, in fact, improper.

3)      It is interesting to note that during the introductions, Mr. Stephan Ginochio claimed that he was a member of the Contra Costa County LP in 1990 or 1991.  The organization did not exist then.  It makes me wonder why he made such an odd claim.

4)      Motion to adopt the proposed Bylaws amendment formally presented at the Annual Meeting by Mr. Malagon. (Text provided in person, and via email.)  This statement is misleading: while it may have been “formally presented”, it was presented without sufficient authority to be valid.  Also, the proposed text of the Amendment was not fully distributed to all of the Members of the CCC, which means that some of the Members were asked to vote on something that they hadn’t seen.

5)      Mr. Malagon reminded Ms. Kallander that verbal notice had been given at the Annual Meeting…  As per the California State LP bylaws, verbal notice is insufficient. 

6)      As the agenda was already adopted unanimously…” This was not the case; instead of being adopted “unanimously”, it was adopted by the majority, with several abstentions.

7)      Mr. Schulz [sic] then objected on the grounds that he believed that Business Meetings could not be conducted via Zoom. Mr. Malagon ruled that his objection had no merit for any number of reasons, and that continued discussion on the subject was dilatory.  This is a violation of the guidelines published in RONR.  The previous business meeting was conducted as a part-in-person and a part-zoom hybrid because the Chair specifically acted (via an RONR-approved action) to allow for it; for this meeting, the new Chair ignored the “in-person” requirement completely, even though he had heard the Parliamentarian express the restriction at the previous Business Meeting on January 30, 2022.  Calling it an objection without merit is fraud.  Considering that the objection was sincere, calling it “dilatory” is also a fraud – according to RONR, the matter should have been discussed by the Members that were concerned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Kurt Schultz

Chairman of the CCCLP Bylaws Committee