• State Convention results
• From the Chair:
  New Libertarian Executive Committee
• Michigan Sovereignty legislation (Scotty Boman)
• Volunteers needed at
  gay/lesbian street festival (Raymond Warner)
• Send Anna to Washington (Mark Hiselman)
• May 5 election results (Bill Hall)
• Reporter Diane Bukovski escapes jail time
• LPM Convention Writeup (Brian Wright)
• Calendar

State Convention results

 Emily Salvette of Ann Arbor was elected  state chair.  This is her second stint as
 State Chair, having served in that position  from 1995-97. Dan Johnson of Jenison  was elected vice chair, Erin Stahl of St.  Clair Shores won the race for treasurer,  and Tom Bagwell of Ypsilanti was chosen  as secretary.  At-large Directors on the  Libertarian Executive Committee are former state chair Bill Hall, Greg Creswell, Andy LeCureaux, Greg Stempfle and Brian Wright.  Bill Gelineau, Keith Edwards and Daniel Grow make up the Judicial Committee.

Congratulations to those elected and thank you for your willingness to serve the Libertarian Party of Michigan.  At the evening banquet, Mark Heiselman was able to raise over $1,300 from the crowd for the LPM. Thank you, donors, and good job, Mark! If you weren't able to come to the convention and want to help the LPM bring liberty to Michigan, please make a donation today at our web site, www. michiganlp.org.

From the Chair:
New Libertarian Executive Committee ready to work

By Emily Salvette

The new LEC met at the convention and began planning for the coming year.  It is a dynamic, talented group of people whom
I'm privileged to have on my team. The first week has already seen important strides.  Dan Johnson got right to work as our new Affiliates Director. His job is to help affiliates grow and be successful.  Affiliate leaders, please use Dan as your first contact to the state party.  Contact him at affiliates@michiganlp.org. I'm also pleased to report that Bill Hall has agreed to serve as our Political Director. 

Bill will be responsible for our campaign activities in the 2009 and 2010 elections.  If you're thinking of running for office or would like to help on campaigns, please contact Bill at politics@michiganlp.org.  Greg Stempfle has agreed to continue in the very important role of newsletter editor.  The LEC is seriously considering changing our newsletter to an online format, and Greg, I'm sure, will ably manage that transition.  Contact Greg at newsletter@michiganlp.org.  Our treasurer, Erin Stahl, is busy getting records changed and our bookkeeping transitioned for her tenure.  But she is not too busy to thank our wonderful members and donors who support the LPM.  Con tact her at treasurer@michiganlp.org. 

And Webmaster Brian Wright with Scotty Boman's help has been making all the changes on our web site and setting up our new mail accounts. Contact Brian at webmaster@michiganlp.org. We are still looking for a membership director and fundraising director.  If you're interested in these positions, or volunteering in some other way, please contact me at chair@michiganlp.org.

The next LEC meeting will be on Saturday, June 27 at 4:30 p.m. at our office in Troy (see calendar below).  LEC meetings are always open to all LPM members. 

Michigan Sovereignty legislation endorsed by Libertarians

Volunteers needed to promote libertarianism at
gay/lesbian street festival in Detroit

Your help is needed to staff a Libertarian outreach booth at Motor City Pride, Michigan´s largest outdoor gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender outdoor street festival, held Sunday afternoon, June 7, 2009. The annual event is being held once again in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale. You can arrive as early as 11:00 AM to help set up. The event itself begins at noon and runs until evening.
 
The location is on Nine Mile Road, just west of Woodward Avenue. Free shuttle busses are available for those who take advantage of the ample parking at the nearby State Fair Grounds (Woodward and Eight Mile Road, enter just south of Eight Mile on the east side of Woodward. Our booth is called Libertarians for Gay and Lesbian Concerns.
 
Call Raymond Warner (313-598-3666, 313-361-2522) or James Hudler (734-475-9792) to volunteer or for information. The D´s think they own the Gay/Lesbian demographic, and the R´s wrote off gay people a long time ago. The time is ripe for the LP to find voters, volunteers and activists among these folk, who have participated in the LP since its inception.

Help Send Anna to Washington

Anna received an offer from the Libertarian Party national headquarters in Washington DC to intern in a research position, delivering the group´s legislative analyses to senators, representatives, and their staff members, I contacted the www.michiganlp.org to enquire about funds to defray her expenses.

Anna is only the second collegian to intern at www.lp.org from the state and the first from University of Michigan. To support her endeavor, and to perpetually fund future interns I formed www.LPInternSupport.org PAC. Her opportunity cost due to lost wages and additional living expense will be $5000. I assume future interns will need a similar scholarship, so our goal is to raise $100,000 over the next 5 years.

Please contribute $25 or more. (A political contribution of up to $200 is deductible on your Michigan Income Tax form for 2009. Consult your tax advisor for current rules.) Send your donation via PayPal.com to treasurer@LPInternSupport.org.  Small rudders turn large ships! Help Anna access Washington.

Michigan Messenger police-abuse reporter escapes jail time

In an apparent Detroit police-state aggression case,
a reporter for The Michigan Messenger-Diane Bukovsky-avoided jail time after being convicted earlier this month for ´police obstruction.

"Diane Bukowski, a reporter for the African-American owned Michigan Citizen newspaper, was given one year of probation, 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay $4,000 in fines Monday morning after being convicted of two felony counts of police obstruction last month.

"Bukowski was arrested at the scene of a fatal high-speed police chase crash in northeast Detroit last November. Her conviction has been seen as a political attack from the office of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy because of Bukowski's dogged reporting of police brutality and related justice issues in Detroit. Bukowksi has criticized the Wayne County prosecutor's office for not responding to these incidents or investigating police officers who were accused of violence and rape.

"Early during the sentencing, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hathaway said he would not give Bukowski jail time. Seconds before announcing his sentence, Hathaway said he was being fair: ´I'm very comfortable with the result of this case and with the sentence that I am about to impose,´ he said." [article in MM]

Ms. Bukowski´s case is consistent with numerous other incidents where the police do not want their aggressive behavior to be exposed. The police in the Bukowski case destroyed her photographs, but have not been charged or prosecuted for that criminal behavior.

LPM Online has learned that a bill (HB312) in the Free State (New Hampshire) legislature would make it legal to audiotape and videotape any police action in the course of official duties by any citizen or reporter. While some of the facts remain unclear in the Bukovski case, that the police destroyed her property with impunity is "troublesome." Legislation to enable citizens and reporters to cover abusive police behavior would go a long way to curbing such abuses.

"Support Your Local Libertarian Party"
Personal perspective occasioned by LPM 2009 Convention - excerpt:

[column from the Coffee Coaster]

 ...Well, as I continue on my walk  around the community center, I  recall the obnoxious ´Clickit or  Ticket´ banner across  the street  from our meeting room. It´s  unfurled in  front of the Jackson  Police  Department.   Our defiant  ´Enough is  Enough´ guy has  finally  found a perfect  message to  lampoon.  No doubt the seat  belt enforcement zones  are enough to drive  your normal libertarian  radical to drink, or at least to throw up his hands in disgust: ´Enough is definitely enough! Whose life is it, anyway?´

So, if I ever run into the criminal who posted these ´Enough is Enough´ signs, I will buy him a drink... and of course warn him he´s probably violating some major felony ordinances in the city of Jackson, Michigan. Defacing government property? Maybe one count per every motorist that drives by to see it... which fortunately for the perp is maybe three cars today.

Professor Harry

The banquet* features accomplished Austrian economist, scholar, and former businessman Harry Veryser as speaker. Harry and I go back to the late 1960s Michigan Young Republicans that preceded the Libertarian Party.... [more]

* The convention committee went on a cost-cutting mission this year, which is fine with me, but no salt and pepper, no butter, no coffee (I sweet talked the poor, perspiring, overworked solo girl to at least rounding these up and putting them on the buffet table), and no vegetarian option?
...

For the remainder of the reminiscence and some old-new-guard editorial opinion, please refer to the this link at Wright´s Web commentary and review site: The Coffee Coaster.

More...
For more events, see the online calendar.
Another Important Link.
The current Michigan Libertarian is available online.
LPM ONLINE.
is distributed on the first of each month. Send calendar events and news articles by the 25th of the prior month to Emily Salvette.