Samuel Spence Saunders, SDLP Chair

Tony Ryan speaks about LEAP

Bob Newland on self-ownership

BetteRose Ryan speaks for
Johnson/Gray presidential ticket.

Russell Clarke

Brad Omland

Minutes of the SDLP Executive Committee meeting

Friday, July 13, 8:00 pm CDT
Banquet room at Pro's Bar and Grill, Vermillion SD

Present: Nathan Barton, Tony Ryan, BetteRose Ryan, Samuel Saunders, Bob Newland

Meeting called to order by Chairman Saunders

Reading of Minutes from last meeting was waived.

Old Business: None to discuss

New Business:

1. Motion made, seconded, to waive 2012 & 2013 dues for BR Ryan, Tony Ryan and Samuel Saunders and accept their expenses incurred for party business in lieu of the dues.
Motion carried unanimously.

2. Discussion held on cleaning up SDLP mail list to make it useable as a contact and fundraising vehicle. BetteRose has been sending postcards using the list and has experienced an unacceptably high rate of bad addresses. No suggestions were made that appeared to solve that problem other than to keep attempting to update the list as bad addresses are discovered.

3. Discussion held on possible issues around which to coalesce a base group to advance LP in South Dakota. Suggestions included:

a. Education
b. Prohibition
c. Hyperion (oil refinery)

4. Discussion held on goal of identifying and nominating a candidate for governor at 2013 SDLP convention. Consensus was to present idea at open convention the next day.

At 9:30 pm, all business apparently disposed of, a motion was made, seconded and carried to adjourn.

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Minutes
SDLP Convention Open Session
July 14, 2012
Pro's Bar and Grill Banquet Room
Vermillion SD

Chairman Saunders called the meeting to order at 10 am CDT.

Present
Samuel Saunders, SDLP Chairman
Tony Ryan, vice-Chair
Nathan Barton, Treasurer
Bob Newland, Secretary
BetteRose Ryan, at-large Representative
Brad Omland, Univ. So. Dak. Libertarians, host of the convention

During the course of the day, a number of other folks attended portions of the convention.

Chairman Saunders introduced Tony Ryan as the first speaker. Ryan is an officer of and national speaker for LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. His talk outlined how Prohibition has weakened the domestic and international effort to stifle crime.

After Ryan's presentation, Chairman Saunders introduced the officers of the SDLP and the attendees introduced themselves. Saunders gave a brief rundown of SDLP efforts in recent elections, then opened the first business session of the day.

First order of business was a report of the ExComm meeting from the previous evening. Those minutes were approved.

Treasurer Barton reported that the SDLP has $652.56 in its bank account. Barton also presented action that must be taken to transact business, which included the necessity for each current officer to have a signature on file with the SDLP's bank.

Motion made, seconded to empower Barton to send blank cards to each officer, which are to be signed and returned to Barton for filing with the bank. Motion carried.

Motion made, seconded, carried: SDLP adopts Bill of Rights as its platform, and endorses the national LP platform as a secondary platform.

Chairman Saunders opened nominations for officers and executive committee. BetteRose Ryan mentioned that she and Tony were hoping to move out of state and that it would be good to have replacements for them. Russell Clarke said he
would be willing to be on the executive committee. Executive committee nominations were brought up again in the second business session, with no additions. BetteRose said she would like to resign in favor of Russell Clarke and there was a motion to approve the current executive committee with Russell Clarke in place of BetteRose Ryan, which was seconded and passed unanimously.

Chairman Saunders opened discussion on nomination of electors for president of the USA. Three electors were nominated, and the assembly approved the choices of Newland, Tony Ryan, and Saunders to be electors for LP nominees for president and vice-president, Gary Johnson and James Gray.

Saunders opened discussion on the subject of PUC candidates. The Public Utilities Commission has three seats, two of which are open for election in November. The seats contested are currently held by Chris Nelson and Kristie Fiegen. Candidates for PUC are chosen in convention by political parties recognized in South Dakota.

A short discussion ensued, during which the mechanics of the PUC election and possible campaign were laid out. Russell Clarke expressed interest in running for one of the seats. Motion made, seconded, carried: Defer further discussion to afternoon business session.

Saunders opened discussion on the topic of 2014 statewide election candidates. Of prime importance is the fact that the SDLP's candidate for governor must garner 2.5% of the vote in order to maintain "recognized" party status for the SDLP. A vote total less than 2.5% in that race means that the SDLP must petition the electorate to obtain signatures in the amount equal to 2.5% of the vote for governor in 2014, in order to have "recognized" status for the 2016 and 2018 elections.

After discussion, a motion was made, seconded and carried to find and endorse a candidate for governor, for the 2014 election, at the 2013 SDLP convention. Further discussion resulted in a motion, second and approval to attempt to announce a full slate of candidates for the 2014 election at the 2013 convention. Candidates for governor, US representative, and US senator must expose themselves to a primary race in early 2014. Several other statewide officers are nominated in convention.

Saunders opened discussion on outreach to the Native American community in So. Dak. Consensus among SDLP members is that the votes in Indian Country are largely written off by the Republicans and taken for granted by the Democrats.

That discussion led to a suggestion that the SDLP also attempt outreach to other minority communities in So. Dak., such as the Hutterites and Mennonites. Brad Omland said his college contacts had some resources that might be available for outreach.

Saunders adjourned the convention for lunch at about noon. At about 12:30, Saunders introduced Bob Newland, who presented a short talk about the basis of libertarianism, the concept of self-ownership, and how Prohibition makes a mockery of the concept. A fairly lengthy discussion on possible tacks to take to end Prohibition followed.

Saunders opened the afternoon business session about 1:30 by re-introducing the PUC race. Nomination, second and approval for Russell Clarke to challenge Kristie Fiegen at the polls in 2012 followed.

Discussion: Venue for 2013 convention. Possibilities and reasons for various locations were tossed about. Decided to continue to discuss via email and other communications before taking a decision on a location.

Discussion: Promotion of Johnson/Gray ticket in So. Dak. No particular resolution.

Discussion: Possibilities for nominee for governor 2014.

Discussion: Hot-button issues on which to promote libertarian solutions during the 2014 campaign. Education, gun-owners' rights, and property-owners' rights dominated. Education, especially, drew much discussion. The principal points were the fact that small communities are losing schools to consolidation, and that most believe that South Dakotans are not receiving proper value for money spent.

BetteRose Ryan presented a campaign speech on behalf of the Johnson/Gray presidential ticket.

Brad Omland presented a talk on his efforts as leader of the USD Libertarians.

At about 4:30, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn. Carried.