Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?
I have worked with the Franklin County Libertarians for the last 3 years, first as Vice Chair and then as Chair on the Executive Committee. I have also served on the Central Committee as Secretary.
Would you share any details about your background, philosophy or interests that might appeal to your fellow County Central Committee members?
My focus over the last three years has been on outreach, and growing our county party to better support local and state wide candidates for public office. Points of pride over the last three years include creation of a Legislative Committee to research, draft, propose and endorse issues based legislative campaigns, building a home grown outreach platform for phone banking and texting and keeping Franklin County Libertarians informed about local, county and statewide concerns.
In accordance with the By-Laws of the Franklin County Libertarian Party (FCLPO), the Constitution of the Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) and the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), the current County Central Committee members have scheduled our upcoming organizational meeting and County Convention for Saturday, May 30th, between 9am and 2pm, with possible party business as late as 5pm.
Voting for Central Committee Roles
In-Person Secret Ballot – 9am to 12pm, May 30th, 2020 at LPO Office
Voting for Executive Committee Roles
In-Person Secret Ballot – 9am to 12pm, May 30th, 2020 at LPO Office
Election Tally – 1pm, May 30th, 2020 at LPO Office
The organizational meeting will include limited in-person voting to satisfy the need for a secret ballot, per FCLPO By-Laws.
There will be an election of Central Committee roles, election of Executive Committee roles, and then members are welcome to stay at LPO Office to participate in-person or go home and participate electronically.
In-person voting for Central Committee and Executive Committee roles will happen concurrently with two ballot boxes, supervised by a witness. Once the two election results have been tallied, they will be reported to all members.
As a courtesy for our new Central Committee members we will be splitting the entrances to the LPO Office, one dedicated for access to a private space for in-person voting, and the other door providing access to the main LPO Office space for participating in presentations and meetings. These will be marked clearly on arrival.
After all Committee Members have been contacted with the results from the two elections, the new Executive Committee Chair may decide, at their own discretion, if it is reasonable to hold a meeting of the new Executive Committee immediately or wait until a future time. If you are planning to run for election to the FCLPO Executive Committee we do ask that you plan to be available until 5pm, either in-person or electronically. (A quorum of 60% is required to conduct business, so if the new Chair finds at least that many newly elected members are available they can proceed with an official party meeting. A meeting without quorum cannot ratify official party business, but discussion of future business is certainly always welcome anytime.)
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”
– Milton Friedman
It sounds reasonable at first. Create “working groups” to gather experts in different industries, such as restaurants, salons, and gyms, to form customized plans that best protect workers and customers.
Sounds good? Right?
The problem is, these are all heavily regulated businesses, some with hundreds of hours of required training and safety requirements. Each of these businesses are licensed by the state in multiple different ways, each held hostage at this time by an arbitrary and unlawful designation as “non-essential” from the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Governor, disallowed to be open, generate revenue to pay employees, bills, rent or income.
It cannot be overstated the tremendous amount of influence the ODH and Governor’s office hold over these Ohioans and their future ability to run their business without harassment, interference and corruption.
These working groups are simply not needed, the ODH and county health departments have already shown a willingness and zeal for creating and enforcing “social distancing” rules, mask requirements, and surely more regulations to come in time. Local police have shown a willingness to enforce these rules, and businesses are already forcing them on employees and customers alike.
In any temporary emergency, this arrangement makes sense. Over time the additional safety burdens will naturally relax on their own, as the public perception of danger decreases well behind the curve of actual danger. The public will be the first to stop adhering so strictly to the safety guidelines, police will grow tired of enforcing unpopular rules that show less and less benefit and eventually the health departments will relax their stance when they find themselves without easy enforcement. (This is how a free people manage themselves.)
These working groups serve three purposes, first they empower member business owners above their peers and grant political rewards for cooperation with unlawful govt influence, the second is to place an emotional and practical distance from the real source of the rule-making and enforcement, along with finger pointing and blame, and the third, most importantly to Mr DeWine and Mr Husted, this incentivises future donors to contribute to their political ambitions and those of their surrogates.
While proposed for crafting “non-binding” recommendations anyone familiar with the scope creep of govt committees knows how quickly these become mandates backed with govt force. Even if they tried to poll all possible members of an industry they can’t account for all concerns or business structures, and will naturally favor their own “expertise” from their own businesses over non-participants. Over time such groups wander from their original intention and begin pushing pet policies that benefit their individual members and place burdens on current and future competitors. Needless to say, while self-regulation is the goal of any open market, a regulation committee that is openly backed by obvious political influence cannot operate properly as a moderating mechanism for any market. The politicians, and opportunist business persons, will always lean heavily on the levers to favor their own agenda.
If this sounds sinister or paranoid look at recent events, look at history, look at the donor lists and “working group” members and decide for yourself. There are plenty of examples of “good intentions” that go horribly wrong, where even seemingly benign “advisory” groups create new bizarre burdens on small business. There are many more examples of politically motivated committees designed to carve power out of lucrative industries.
Our political masters have seized on an opportunity to flip our world upside-down, re-write the rules of our society and they are taking full advantage. Make no mistake, while the coronavirus may have precipitated a health care crisis, the Governor and his cronies are creating an economic and political disaster to elevate their own interests long after this virus has been defeated.
Over 1 million Ohioans have been forced out of work, left to a broken unemployment system, without income for 4 or more weeks and forced to choose between food and rent, begging for help. These are our neighbors, friends and family. This might be you. They are increasingly desperate. They may agree to any govt condition that lets us get back to work and avoid being evicted, foreclosure or going hungry.
The coronavirus has not sickened or caused the death of enough Ohioans to cause this second calamity. This second disaster is entirely man-made, and crafted as a power play writ large against our entire state.
I call on all liberty minded Ohioans to stand against obvious and subtle power grabs, wrapped in the guise of public safety.
If you cannot protest in public, protest online.
If you cannot take time away from work or family, write a letter to the local newspaper pointing out this abuse of power and trust.
If you can afford it, donate, if you have the time, volunteer, if you have the will Run for Office.
We cannot sit back and hope for the best, we must take action, even if only to prevent our family and neighbors from needless additional suffering.
Please be aware, our own John Stewart, long time Libertarian activist, is running as write-in for District 12. In addition to pulling a Libertarian Primary ballot you must write-in “John Stewart” for the District 12 US Congress election.
Remember you MUST ASK for a Libertarian ballot, do not just accept what is handed to you.
If you are told that is not possible or the poll worker acts confused contact LPO or FCLPO IMMEDIATELY. All poll workers should be trained to know and not impose their own bias on the process.
Franklin County Voters go to: FRANKLIN COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
We’ve fielded a few questions about why it is important to have a vibrant and diverse County Central Committee. Beyond the vital roles CentCom provides for electing the Executive Committee, endorsing candidates and approving By-Law amendments, it also functions as a reliable pool of Libertarian Party affiliated electors for candidate and issue petitions.
Anyone that has spent any time collecting signatures for petition knows the unique struggle the process involves. Asking, getting a yes, checking a person is eligible, getting a valid signature, filling out the form, all steps that could cause trouble down the road.
As the Franklin County Libertarian Party grows and flexes is political abilities, we will benefit from more hands pushing and eyes watching for opportunity.
Growing our Central Committee is crucial to growing a strong and dynamic Libertarian Party.
We cannot do this without you and thank you sincerely for your effort. It is appreciated. #VoteLibertarian
– Michael Sweeney
Chair, Executive Committee
Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio
We are pleased to report that the Franklin County Board of Elections has accepted our plan to be included in the March 17th, 2020 Ohio primary election.
Seven years, $250 thousand dollars, hundreds of volunteer hours and 102 thousand signatures from liberty minded Ohioans. This is what it has taken for the Libertarian Party of Ohio to be recognized and allowed to participate in Ohio public elections again.
We have pushed this as far as we can. We need you to take the next step and lead the Franklin County Libertarians to success.
I am inviting you to get involved and submit the linked Declaration of Candidacy to become a member of the Franklin County Libertarian Party Central Committee. Print out the form, fill it out, put it in an envelope, add a stamp and place it in the mail before Dec 18th. You do not need any signatures beyond your own! When your declaration is received by the Board of Elections you will show them that Libertarians are more then arm-chair activists; we are in our communities, contributing and working.
What does it mean to be a Central Committee Member?
Partisan Duties & Responsibilities
Here is a list of opportunities for every township or ward committee member.
Represent the Township or Ward to the Party
Attend meetings of the Libertarian Central Committee to organize and supervise the County Libertarian Party operations and to endorse candidates (3 or 4 a year).
Vote in the election of local Libertarian Township or Ward Leaders.
Participate in local and county meetings and events.
Local Non-Partisan Leadership
As a Central Committee Member in your ward or township, you are a leader in your neighborhood regardless of the strength of our party in your community. You will find that candidates and public officials of all parties will be interested in your ideas as to what needs to be done in your community.
We have little time for this crucial next step. The filing deadline, Dec 18th, is fast approaching. We need as many Libertarians as possible to make their voices heard and loudly show the establishment that we will not be silenced or held back.
We are counting on you to move the Franklin County Libertarian Party forward again.
Thanks in advance.
Your colleague in liberty,
Michael Sweeney
Chair, Executive Committee
Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio
The Franklin County Libertarian Party of Ohio Central Committee is organized around wards or township.
If you live in a city such as Columbus, Dublin, Gahanna, Westerville, Grove City, etc, you will fill in the line:
• Ward ________ City or Village of __________
If you do not live in a city, but an unincorpo- rated area of a township then fill in the line:
• Township of __________
Not sure what ward or township you live in? Look it up.
Volunteer Appreciation Party, Dec 13th 7pm The FCLP will be holding our monthly social and celebrate our wonderful volunteers and candidates at Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse, 3055 Indianola Ave, Columbus. Celebrate our fantastic volunteers with food, drinks, door prizes and raffle! A years worth of hard work, knocking on doors, spreading liberty and getting it done! Stay till 11pm and catch The Killer Raccoons 2 movie!
