June 19, 2023 Regular Business Meeting Minutes

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Libertarian Party of Brevard County – Regular Business Meeting Minutes

DRAFT MINUTES – subject to approval by voting membership

Meeting held on June 19, 2023 at

Cape Royal Professional Business Center

1980 N Atlantic Ave 2nd Floor

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

Electronic Participation: Facebook live chat

Sign-in

Meet and Greet

  1. Call to Order at 6:33pm
  2. Officer Roll Call
    • Attendance
      • Executive Committee Present: Nathan Slusher (Chair), Thai Heiler (Vice-Chair), Greg Peele (Secretary-Treasurer)
      • Voting Members Present: Brian Fleming, Mari Peele
      • Associate Members Present: none
      • Guests Present: Ruth Kaufhold
    • Determination of Quroum (75% of Executive Committee or 25% of all voting members)
      • 3 of 4 (75%) Executive Committee present (quorum met)
      • 5 of 9 (55%) voting members present (quorum met)
  3. Adoption of Agenda
    • Motion: Adopt Published Agenda
      • Mover: Brian Fleming, second by Mari Peele
      • Amendment: Move to add Motion 2023-14 “Fund LPBC Zoom Pro Level Account” at the end of New Business
        • Mover: Brian Fleming, second by Mari Peele
        • Disposition: Amendment passed by unanimous consent
      • Disposition: Agenda adopted as amended by unanimous consent
  4. Approval of Minutes
    • Skipped
  5. Officer Reports
    • Chair Report – presented by Nathan Slusher
      • Making phone calls to recruit candidates
    • Motion: Postpone approval of May 29, 2023 minutes to next regular meeting
      • Mover: Mari Peele, second by Greg Peele
      • Disposition: Passed by unanimous consent
    • Vice-Chair Report – skipped
    • Secretary Report – presented by Greg Peele
      • Received all handover materials and credentials from previous Secretary
      • Learned how to publish agendas, minutes, and other materials to website
      • Learned how to maintain membership records
      • Reported 9 voting members, 6 active associate members, 15 inactive associate members
    • Treasurer Report – presented by Greg Peele
      • Assets $5,015.46, income $476.99, spent $49.05, net income $427.94
      • Written report posted on Google Drive
      • 2023 Q2 report due on July 10
      • Started featured merchandise posts on social media, some reactions but no purchases
    • Director At-Large report – no report presented
    • Vice-Chair Report – presented by Thai Heiler
      • Events status – July 4th parade in Melbourne canceled by sponsor, will investigate other options
  6. Libertarian Party of Florida Report
    • Presented by Nathan Slusher, Brian Fleming, and Greg Peele
      • LPF voted against holding a Presidential Preference Primary in 2024
      • LPF approved committee budgets for Affiliate Support, Candidate, Fundraising, Membership
  7. Committee Reports
    • Outreach – presented by Mari Peele
      • Worked on postcard design, printed more envelopes for letter campaign
      • Planned website support for Gala for advertisement and sponsors
      • Increased LPF voter registration in Brevard per June voter disc
      • Planned to start text campaign
    • Events – waived by Thai Heiler
      • Already presented during Vice-Chair report
    • Gala – presented by Nathan Slusher
      • Gala meeting conducted on Discord to plan Gala and identify necessary expenses
  8. Old Business
    • None
  9. New Business
    • Motion 2023-12: Amend Outreach Budget
      • Mover: Greg Peele, second Brian Fleming
      • Passed by unanimous consent
    • Motion 2023-13: Fund 2023 Golden Liberty Gala
      • Mover: Greg Peele, second Mari Peele
      • Passed by unanimous consent
    • Motion 2023-14: Fund LPBC Zoom Pro Level Account
      • Mover: Brian Fleming, second by Greg Peele
      • Passed by unanimous consent
  10. Public Comment
    • Ruth Kaufhold presented as Director of Brevard Citizens Defending Freedom
      • Local nonpartisan not-for-profit advocating constitutional government from the local level up
      • “All parties are broken and need to be fixed”
    • Brian Fleming presented as Vice-Chair of the Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District
      • Working on improving contact list for local famers to notify about relevant issues
      • Interest in improving agricultural education in local schools
      • Discussed potential use of drones to improve fertilizer efficiency and reduce lagoon runoff
      • Exploring ideas for local government such as tax breaks for controlling invasive species
      • Brevard Soil and Water is funded by percentage of revenue paid on St. Johns Water Management District land, interested in exploring fundraising by providing equipment leases
      • Avoid duplication with UF IFAS work already being done
      • Looking into working with Future Farmers of America, discussed potential outreach to homeschool co-ops
    • Nathan Slusher presented as a candidate Brevard County Commissioner District 1
      • Strategy session at Brix on Sunday, June 25, 2023
      • Participating in debate at the Brevard Democratic Women’s Club at La Marimba in Titusville on Thursday, June 29, 2023
  11. Next Meeting: July 17, 2023 / Next Social: TBD
  12. Adjourned at 7:54pm

Addendum 1 – Motions

Motion 2023-12: Amend Outreach Budget

Original Mover: Greg Peele

I move to amend previously adopted Motion 2023-06 to reduce the budget authorization of the Outreach Committee from $3,000 to $1,500.

Rationale Submitted by Mover:

The original Outreach budget adopted was ambitious based on projected fundraising. Given our current financial position and Outreach Committee goals, a more modest budget of $1,500 would still achieve the immediate Outreach goals for reaching every Brevard Libertarian and maintaining our Mailchimp service while freeing up funds to be reallocated to other needs and maintain a balanced budget.

This motion is intended to offset the proposed motion to authorize funding the minimum expenses for the 2023 Golden Liberty Gala, but should be considered separately.

Motion 2023-13: Fund 2023 Golden Liberty Gala

Original Mover: Greg Peele

I move to authorize the Gala Committee to expend up to $1,000 on the minimum venue expenses needed to conduct the 2023 Golden Liberty Gala.

Rationale Submitted by Mover:

If we are going to conduct the 2023 Golden Liberty Gala, we will need to commit to a minimum baseline of expenses for the Brevard Zoo venue:

  • $450 for the second half of the venue rental fee (we already paid $450 deposit)
  • $175 for the animal encounter fee
  • $250 for a single cash bar at the event
  • Incidental fees, taxes, materials etc. associated with these three costs

This list totals $875, but rounding up to $1,000 allows this authorization to cover any unexpected taxes, fees, item rentals, event materials, and so on.

If we are not willing to commit to this expense, then our options are either to cancel the Gala and forfeit the $450 deposit we have already paid, or to defer the decision to July or August to see fundraising results.

If we successfully fundraise for the Gala via sponsors or other methods to cover this expense, we can revisit and consider options above the baseline expenses to achieve the full scale of the envisioned event, or realign additional funds to Outreach or Events.

Motion 2023-14: Fund LPBC Zoom Pro Level Account

Original Mover: Brian Fleming

I move to authorize the spending of $150 on a Professional level LPBC Zoom account.

Rationale Submitted by Mover:

With the price of the meeting room at our current location set to increase soon, we should start having meetings on Zoom instead of in-person until we either find a new business meeting location or continue to meet on Zoom.  This cost is less expensive and is more flexible for all attendees and may increase meeting attendance.

Cost:  $149.90