The Libertarian State Central Committee of Maryland met at the home of Doris Gordon in Wheaton, Maryland. The meeting was called to order at 3:40 pm by vice chairman Shannon McMenamin. Prior to the meeting, the following were distributed: the minutes of the 27 October 2001 Central Committee meeting; a meeting agenda; and the treasurer's report.

Attendance: the Credentials Committee consisted of: Robert Glaser; Chip Spangler; and Steve Boone. It validated that 19 Central Committee members were in attendance for the meeting. Additionally, seven proxies were represented. The Central Committee rolls consist of 68 members. Four others (not Central Committee members) were present.

Minutes: The minutes were accepted as distributed.

Treasurer's report: Joe Miller presented the report for the Committee; he verbally noted that there is an $837.90 Printworks bill for the January newsletter which is not shown. Upon inquiry, he said that the Fall Convention cost us about $100 more than was received. The report was accepted without dissent.

Vice Chair's report: Shannon McMenamin reported that Chip Spangler is performing media coordination duties. Nick Sarwark has been appearing on the radio, and is on call as a libertarian guest; as a result of the radio stint, we were contacted by Cardinal Gibbons high school; and Lorenzo Gaztañaga will be speaking to two government and politics classes there on February 8. The website is being redesigned with new logos, a youth outreach section, plus possibly an online membership renewal ability. There is a target date of April 27 for the Spring Convention.

Court of Special Appeals case: Susan Gaztañaga reported that there has been no decision as of yet; at the hearing, the judges seemed quite concerned about voters being invalidated by the Board of Elections because of not having voted recently; and why signing a petition does not immediately reinstate a voter's status with the Board. A finding is expected 2-6 months from the first week of December 2001.

LNC Report: Lorenzo Gaztañaga reported that since he was elected to the LNC in 2000, he has spent a great deal of effort and energy to it. He is on the Platform Committee for the next convention, and is the "champion" for the rewritten platform: he wants it to provide both direction and destination. In the past two years, he has not had enough time to work on running for elective office. He doesn't want to run as a paper candidate, so is not planning on running at this time due to time constraints.

Candidate Nominations: Steve Boone gave a nominating speech and nominated Spear Lancaster for Governor; Wendy Jones added to Steve's speech; and Joe Miller seconded the nomination. Bill Buzzell nominated Lauren Hill for Lieutenant Governor, and Steve Boone seconded the nomination. Spear Lancaster said a few words and stated that one of his goals would be to eliminate 85% of the laws on the books. There were no other nominations for those offices; there was no objection to election by acclamation; the vote for Governor/Lieutenant Governor was unanimous for Spear Lancaster and Lauren Hill.

Steve Boone nominated David Sten for the House of Delegates, District 36. That district encompasses several counties, only one of which has an organized county Central Committee, so the State Central Committee has the responsibility for candidate nominations in that district. Susan Gaztañaga seconded the nomination; the vote was unanimous for David Sten.

Proposed Abortion Plank for the National LP Platform: Doris Gordon proposed the following, which had been approved at the 9 May 1998 MdLP Central Committee meeting:

The Libertarian Party opposes forced abortion and tax-funding of abortion. There is principled disagreement among Libertarians about whether or not abortion is a form of aggression when done with the mother's consent. Therefore, the Libertarian Party takes no position concerning to what extent consensual abortion should be regulated by law and leaves the question to each of its members and candidates for their conscientious consideration.

There was discussion; on a voice vote, it was tabled to the next Central Committee meeting.

Finance Committee: Shannon McMenamin appointed Joe Miller, Chip Spangler, and Susan Gaztañaga to the standing committee.

Announcements: Lauren Hill will be on the Pat McDonough show on WCBM (680 AM) on Saturday, 2 February at 9:00 - 11:00 pm. Glenn Howard is looking for February and March outreach activities.

Adjournment: the Central Committee meeting adjourned at 6:26 pm.

-- Robert E. Glaser