Opening: The Libertarian State Central Committee of Maryland met at Timbuktu's Restaurant in Hanover, Maryland. The meeting was called to order at 12:05 pm by chairman Nick Sarwark. Prior to the meeting, the following were distributed: the minutes of the 27 January 2002 Central Committee meeting; a meeting agenda; the treasurer's report; the Proposed Libertarian Party of Maryland Program; and a proposal for an amendment to the WR&A section of the National LP Platform.

Attendance: the Credentials Committee consisted of: Robert Glaser; Chip Spangler; and Steve Boone. It validated that 32 Central Committee members were in attendance for the meeting. Additionally, two full proxies and one proxy specifying a vote for the WR&A proposal were represented. The Central Committee rolls consist of 67 members.

WR&A Amendment: James Keifer offered the following:

BE IT RESOLVED,

-- THAT the following amendment to the "Women's Rights and Abortion" plank (I. Individual Rights and Civil Order, #20) is affirmed and recommended for replacement of this plank's second and third paragraphs. It says:

"We oppose forced abortion and tax-funding of abortion. Since there is principled disagreement among Libertarians about whether or not abortion is consistent with libertarian philosophy, the Libertarian Party therefore takes no position concerning to what extent abortion should be regulated by law and leaves the question to each of its members and candidates for their conscientious consideration."

-- AND THAT the Secretary shall communicate by letter and email in a timely manner the recommendation, including the text of the proposed amendment, to the National LP Platform Committee,

-- AND THAT the Secretary shall request from the Platform Committee a report of the disposition of the proposal, and

-- AND THAT the Secretary shall report the result to the Central Committee.

The resolution passed by voice vote.

Discussion of the Proposed Libertarian Party of Maryland Program: A committee consisting of Susan Gaztañaga, Lorenzo Gaztañaga, Glenn Howard, and Chip Spangler worked on this revision. The current program has the "Education," "Job and Wealth Creation, not Corporate Welfare," "Sprawl, Transportation, and the Environment," and "Crime and Public Safety" sections; the "Secure Property Rights" and "Open and Responsible Government" sections are new. It was voted to debate the new and old sections separately. On the "Open and Responsible Government" section it was voted to add "at the state and local levels" after "districts" in the first bullet. It was then voted to table the discussion of the entire State Party Program to the next Central Committee meeting.

Delegates to the National LP Convention: the MdLP has 24 national delegate slots to the convention in Indianapolis July 3-7. The following were voted as delegates: Nick Sarwark; Chip Spangler; Shannon McMenamin; Spear Lancaster; Dee Lancaster; Stuart Simms; Trevor Reid; Dean Ahmad; Steve Wilson; Jean Wilson; Doris Gordon; Jeremy Keil; David Margolis; Steve Boone; Troy Zinderman; Susan Gaztañaga; Lorenzo Gaztañaga; Evette Matthews; and Zachary Simms. It was voted to fill the delegation with the following five: Glenn Howard; Mike Linder; Larry Powers; Hadassah Aaronson; and Tony Spezio. The following were voted as alternates: all remaining Central Committee members; Todd Metcalf; Dennis Lucey; and Derek Pomery.

Treasurer's report: Joe Miller presented the report for the Committee; he verbally noted that the website income is processed through Aristotle -- he does not include that income in the report until the funds are actually transferred to our bank (which is done at intervals to keep the transaction costs down). There are nearly $400/month in recurring donations now. The report was accepted.

Minutes: The minutes were accepted as distributed.

Election of Officers: All positions are open. Dean Ahmad moved to renominate the incumbents; it was agreed, and nominations were closed. In a voice vote indicating that more than 3/5 of those present agreed, the current slate was reelected.

Adjournment: the Central Committee meeting adjourned at 1:13 pm.

--Robert E. Glaser