.
The workshop convened at 9:40 AM at the Harborview Quality
Inn. In attendance were three members of the Executive Committee, representatives
from seven states, and nine guest from the local area. The states represented
were California, Colorado, Arizona, Illinois, New York, Florida, and New
Jersey.
Ron Barthel made the first presentation on the ARP Constitution and Bylaws. He noted that we have three models to work from: the constitution that was adopted at the 1997 convention, the constitution prepared by Howard Johnson, and the Patriot Party constitution. Ron's recommendation, as chair of the constitution committee, is that the members of that committee be prepared to complete their work in 30 days. Members of the committee, in addition to Barthel, are Dave Ketchum, Howard Johnson, Jay Stern and Kathleen Hopkins.
Ron explained that the ARP organization was set up with three tiers of control. The National Convention is the ruling body. The National Committee, composed of members from all the states, is second in authority. The Executive Committee, composed of the elected officers, has authority to see to the day-to-day operations of the party but cannot set policy. The discussion was then opened for participants to make recommendations of changes that needed to be made to the constitution. Many participants had spent time studying the three documents the night before.
There was a general feeling that it would be easier to fix the current document rather than starting over. It was acknowledged that it takes a tremendous amount of work to make sure that language is consistent throughout a constitution. It was also acknowledged that there is no need to fix the problem of identifying the members of the National Committee, as we are already beyond that problem. The National Committee came into being by the majority of the founding states meeting and declaring that they were members of the NC.
Issues brought forward for the committee to consider
were:
Donald Murray, retired general counsel of the Illinois Banking Association, gave a presentation on NOTA (None Of The Above)--a ballot initiative which gives voters the opportunity to note NO when no candidate represents the voters' interests. Mr. Murray has written a book entitled, "Why You Can't Say No to Politics as Usual." Participants were very interested in this proposal as one way to increase citizen participation. NOTA is already part of the ARP platform.
Dave Ketchum opened the next discussion on platform. Don Torgersen gave a history of how the 6 planks came to be included. Don had sent out a survey to all reform party members. There were 13 that scored high. At Schaumburg II, the delegates voted to include six as platform planks. Don feels that we may need to add education and health care to the planks. Dave and Ron pointed out that a party's platform must be fluid and evolving. It was pointed out that many of our original planks have been addressed (albeit, untruthfully) by the Republicrats. We should be paying attention to issues that are being ignored. Charles Riggs suggested focusing on these orphan issues. Ron Barthel pointed out that our platform is what we use to sell ourselves--it identifies who we are.
Other participants noted that environment, health care and education are all important and should be included in the planks. It was further noted that we should not steer so clear of moral issues that we don't take a stand when we should. Immigration, entitlements, trade, particularly fast-track, public finance were discussed. All agreed that they should be left on the platform. It was noted that we have no international plank. The platform committee has already begun work with a tentative deadline of 30 days. Dave is setting up a reflector for the purpose of continuing the platform discussions.
Following lunch, Charles Riggs presented his congressional strategy. He proposes that the ARP decide whether we will only support our own candidates or if we are going to endorse Republicrats in races where we do not have an ARP candidate. The consensus among participants is that we should endorse if a candidate is aligned with ARP platform issues.
In his study, Charles looked first at states that had given Perot an above average vote in 1992 and 1996 and that show a higher tendency to vote independently. He identified 23 states in this category. He has done an analysis of each of these states and presented this impressive 96-page draft for consideration and discussion. Charles is the chair of the newly appointed Congressional Strategy Special Committee. Members from Colorado and Florida have joined this committee and will continue to refine this document.
Nancy Couperus introduced the next section on Outreach, Communications and membership. She described for the participants the packet that she sends out to all new members. Don Torgersen talked about the newsletter, "American Political Reform." He brought copies of the latest edition. Participants agreed that the newsletter is one of the most vital tools we have, and we must help to make sure of its continuance.
Roy Downing described his work with the web site. It has been tremendously successful with many new members finding us from their internet searches. Roy also supports the two reflectors. Kathleen Hopkins discussed the use of the reflectors for communications. She emphasized the need for all members to become familiar with internet relay chat so that all members can participate in the internet meetings.
The afternoon concluded with a presentation by Santa Clara County (CA) Public Defender, Tom Spielbauer. He discussed the pros and cons of that office being appointive rather than elective.
Saturday, following dinner, the participants discussed free trade versus fair trade. The point was made that we can't place the blame for a trade imbalance on just one country, such as China. Trade is not so much a "one-on-one" but is geometric.
The Sunday session began with Charles Riggs leading a hands-on class in internet chat. Participating on the other end was Chester Gillings in Colorado. Several participants received instruction in logging on to mIRC, a program used for the internet meetings.
Nancy Couperus continued the discussion of adding an environment plank to the platform. She presented some information on a proposal to allow holders of grazing permits to retire those permits without losing their base properties, at the same time making some money on the sale of the permits. Nancy also updated the group on the status of the Yellowstone bison.
Charles Riggs introduced the topic of nomination of a presidential candidate for the year 2000 election. There was much discussion as to whether the ARP should make a decision not to back any candidate, or to consider backing the Reform candidate, provided Perot doesn't run and the candidate is someone we can support, or to consider choosing the lesser of two evils between the Democrat and Republican candidates.
The weekend workshop was invigorating and informative. Several committees were "powered up," and members of those committees have been working hard in the week since the workshop. It was a terrific beginning to the year. Participants are looking forward to a lot of work being accomplished before the national convention in October.
San Diego, California played host to the American Reform Party Workshop
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