Opening: The Libertarian State Central Committee of Maryland met at Squires Restaurant in Dundalk, Maryland. The meeting was called to order at 3:19 pm by chairman Bob Johnston.

Attendance: the Credentials Committee consisted of: Robert Glaser; Mark Grannis; and Tony Spezio. It validated that 19 Central Committee members were in attendance for the meeting. No proxies were represented. The Central Committee rolls consist of 25 members.

Minutes: The minutes of the 28 July 2012 Central Committee meeting was accepted as submitted.

Treasurer's report: was remanded for revision until the numbers add up; when the Executive Board approves the revision it will be emailed to Central Committee members.

Chair's Report: Bob Johnston reports that we have 67 members, many renewing right now; we have 11,675 registered voters as of 12/31/2012. Two statewide candidates got over 30,000 votes; two got over 11,000. As a party we have run 22/24 of U.S. House candidates in the last three Congressional elections; only two states did better, though some states have much worse ballot access requirements. Plus we had four candidates in the Balto. City 2011 election, and 8 state/local candidates in 2010. Our goal is to run another full slate of candidates again. The Central Committee thanked all candidates present.

Program Committee's Report: the Program Committee made eight recommendations (see attachment). Votes: 1=unanimous on a voice vote; 2=unanimous on a voice vote; 3=unanimous on a voice vote; 4=unanimous on a voice vote; 5=unanimous on a voice vote; 6=passes on a voice vote; 7=(heading typo) passes on a voice vote; 8=passes on a voice vote.

Officer Elections: the following were nominated as officers: Robert S. Johnston III, Mark Grannis, Michael Linder, Robert Glaser, Eric Blitz, Stuart Simms, Tim Sutton. As there were no more than seven nominations and there were no objections, the nominations were voted upon as a slate; a unanimous voice vote approved the slate.

Motion: Tim Sutton proposed a motion to instruct the Executive Board to invite the Young Libertarians of Maryland (YLM) Director to Executive Board meetings as an observer. Passed on a voice vote.

Announcements: YLM members are present. Volunteer Coordinator Eric Blitz has organized Working Groups in preparation for campaigns, including entertainment fundraisers; see Eric to assist. Mark Grannis was elected to the LNC Platform Committee, Arvin Vohra and Scott Spencer are attending LNC meetings. Robert Glaser has MdLP caps for sale.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment: Dean Ahmad proposed that an appropriate section be amended by adding: "Except when meeting in a closed executive session, the Executive Board may not exclude any Central Committee member from attending to observe its deliberations." The Investigating Committee is Bob Johnston, Dean Ahmad, Stuart Simms, Lorenzo Gaztaņaga, and Scott Spencer.

Adjournment: the Central Committee thanks Bob Johnston for arranging the convention; the meeting adjourned at 4:53 pm.

At the April 6, 2013 meeting of the Maryland Libertarian Party, the following amendment was proposed to be added as a new paragraph K to section 6, article V:

"Except when meeting in a closed executive session, the Executive Board may not exclude any Central Committee member from attending to observe its deliberations."

The committee finds that the proposal gives strength to the ability of the Executive Board to be open and yet maintain its integrity and that open governance is consistent with our advocacy of open government. The committee notes that concern has been expressed that an observer who doesn't like a hard decision and could make a deal about it before the central committee, but we see this as a virtue not a flaw. As to concerns as to whether the amendment would impose new notice requirements, we do not see that this is the case, but the time and place of EB meetings should be given to Central Committee members who ask.

We unanimously recommend the passage of the amendment.