FCLPO Central Committee Candidate Endorsement

The Franklin County Libertarian Party has an opportunity to endorse candidates in our backyard and across the state.
Please be aware this is notice of special meeting for the Franklin County Libertarian Central Committee on Tuesday, Sept 22nd at 7pm.
We are starting the process to endorse candidates at the county party level.
Voting by email will be open _immediately_ and close at 8pm, Sept 22nd. You can vote by email or attend in person to vote during the meeting.
We will be scheduling interview opportunities so all County Central Committee members can speak with the candidates and become informed. Feel free to send along questions in writing as well, and they will be forwarded to the candidates.

John Stewart for US Congress OH District 12

https://www.electjohnstewart.com/

Robert Leist for OH Assembly Representative District 72

https://www.leistforohio.com

Oscar Herrera for OH Assembly Representative District 96

https://electoscarherrera.com/about

https://www.fclpo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/FranklinCountyBylaws_rev20150924.pdf
Bylaw I – EndorsementsSection 3. The endorsement of candidates for public office shall be approved only in a special meeting of the Central Committee called for that purpose. The Chair with the aid of the Secretary shall provide notice of the meeting and must request endorsements of each candidate in writing in the notice. The agenda shall include an opportunity for any member of the Central Committee to request endorsement of a candidate from the floor. The Central Committee shall be careful to ensure that all information presented by the member from the floor has been verified and vetted, or should vote to not endorse the candidate. After the Special Meeting, but prior to the appropriate election, the Executive Committee may remove the endorsement of any candidate for sufficient cause without the necessity of calling for a special meeting of the Central Committee.

FCLPO Election Results

The following individuals were successfully elected for the following roles.

Central Committee

Chair – John Stewart

Vice Chair – Chad Harris

Secretary – Michael Sweeney

Treasurer – Jordan Bertke

Executive Committee

Chair – Christopher Gill

Vice Chair – Drake Lundstrom

Secretary – Ken Holpp

Treasurer – Pat Hoffman

At-Large
Michael Sweeney
John Stewart

Congratulations on a successful election and eyes on the future.

Learn about Chris Gill…

Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?

Libertarian since 2009. Ran as a Libertarian for state rep same year.
I’ve been on the Franklin County Central and Executive committees, as well as the Ohio Central and Executive Committees at various times through 2016.
I have been a delegate to the Libertarian National Convention since 2010, and severed as the Delegation Chair in 2016.
I was in SC as a high school science teacher 2017-2019. I was active in the SCLP, although I was not an officer.

County Party Appointed Roles

There are also roles that are open for appointment. Directors and coordinators are appointed by the Executive Committee Chair, with input from the full Executive Committee, but not requiring a full vote. These roles do not need to be members of the County Central Committee or even members of the Libertarian Party (it would just be preferred). Each of these roles has an important part to play in a functioning county party.

Communications Director – Coordinate monthly email newsletter, update county party website, develop social media strategy with Social Media Coordinator.

Finance Director – Coordinate fundraising and outreach, develop and executive strategy for growing party funds

Political Director – Reach out to recruit local and countywide candidates, develop strategies for supporting candidates and issue campaigns, write and submit press releases for local and statewide news media

Legislative Committee Director – Solicit, research, compose, propose and seek endorsement for local and statewide issues campaigns.

Social Media Coordinator – Coordinate strategy for growing social media reach and exploring new platforms.

Events / Volunteer Coordinator – Work with Communications Director for outreach and develop volunteers for local, county and statewide events and volunteer to grow party membership and audience.

Information Technology Coordinator – Manage technology platforms, website, contact relationship manager, phone banking, video/phone conference, electronic voting and any other technology needs to support the county party members.

Learn about Drake Lundstrom

Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?

My name is Drake, and i am a relatively young libertarian at 24. I have been involved with the liberty movement since 2014, and from 2014-2018, I was a member of a Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Cincinnati. I spent 1 of those 4 years as treasurer, and 2 as president, and brought a club that was on the verge of collapse with roughly 4 remaining members to over 15 members regularly attending meetings, hosting the largest political debate on campus every semester, and with an email list of hundreds of other students.
Since graduating, I have stayed in the liberty movement mostly by moonlighting as a researcher for the libertarian infotainment channel freedom toons, and I occasionally contribute article or am interviewed on libertarian podcast as a policy expert. I have done a small amount of volunteer work for the Franklin county libertarian party, tabling at a few different fairs and the gay pride parade, and am hoping to get more involved in the party in a position where I can make the most impact in pushing liberty forwards.
Other relevant leadership experience that I have had would be being the president of the UC kendo club for 2 years, UC marching band section leader for 2 years, and since graduating, I have been the rotary 6690 district outbound chair for youth exchange, and this last year joined the the executive committee of my local rotary club as a social media and youth services chair.
Please let me know if you have any question, and I would be happy to send links to interviews i have done if you want to hear about my positions on libertarainism in some more depth, and i have attached a photo of me, a photo of the YAL club I was part of at a state convention, and a photo of me with a few YAL friends at a Mises institute event, just to prove my libertarian street cred.
Thank you for your time,

Candidates for Central Committee and Executive Committee Roles

What are the Organizing Roles for Party Committees?

There are 4 roles open for the County Central Committee, and 7 roles open for the County Executive Committee. These roles are explained in the FCLPO By-Laws. Each of these roles has an important part to play in conducting party business.

Central Committee role candidates

Chair

Michael Sweeney

Vice Chair

Chad Harris

Secretary

Drake Lundstrom

Treasurer

Zachary Williams

Executive Committee role candidates

Chair

Vice Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

Pat Hoffman

At-Large

Michael Sweeney

John Stewart

Learn about Michael Sweeney

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.

Learn about Ken Holpp

Do you have any experience you feel would suit you to this role?

I’ve been the Executive Committee Secretary for the past several years and I’d like to think I’ve done a good job at it.

Would you share any details about your background, philosophy or interests that might appeal to your fellow County Central Committee members?

I attended OU where I got a degree in Journalism. My wife and I are both Libertarians and both lean towards the Anarchist end of the spectrum.

Urgent Party Business – County Central Committee Organization Meeting

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 30^th, 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 30^th, 2020 at LPO Office

Voting for Executive Committee Roles

In-Person Secret Ballot – 9am to 12pm, May 30^th, 2020 at LPO Office

Election Tally – 1pm, May 30^th, 2020 at LPO Office

LPO Office

6230 Busch Blvd, Suite 102
Columbus, OH 43229

Map

How will voting happen?

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.)

Write-In “John Stewart” for District 12!

OH District 12 Libertarians!

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.

Not sure what district you live in?
Look up your Sample Ballot!
https://vote.franklincountyohio.gov/search-polling-locations

It will look similar to this!