Opening: The Libertarian State Central Committee of Maryland met in Savage Park, in Howard County, Maryland. The meeting was called to order at 2:18 pm by chairman Chip Spangler. Prior to the meeting, the following were distributed: the minutes of the 26 April 2003 Central Committee meeting; the Treasurer's report; an agenda; the Libertarian Party of Maryland Program; Constitutional Amendment Proposals 1-9; and Bylaw Proposal 1.

Attendance: the Credentials Committee consisted of: Robert Glaser; Nick Sarwark; and Glenn Howard. It validated that 22 Central Committee members were in attendance for the meeting. Additionally, one proxy and one proxy vote were represented. The Central Committee rolls consist of 67 members.

Minutes: The reading of the minutes was waived; the minutes as corrected were accepted.

Treasurer's report: There was a question as to what the breakdown was between honorarium and expenses for the Advocates for Self Government line item expense of $300; Joe Miller was not present to explain, but Chip Spangler indicated that the honorarium was $200 and the travel expenses were $100. A request was made to have a separate convention report prepared for future reference; Nick Sarwark stated that the convention made a small amount of money; and Chip Spangler stated that a convention accounting report will be prepared. A request was made for an explanation of what the $33 "adjustment from previous report" meant; since the treasurer was not present, this will be included in the minutes [the previous balance was just wrong]. Lorenzo Gaztañaga requested that the minutes include the following statement: "Joe Miller is one of the best darn Treasurers in the country." The report was accepted.

Report of the Chairman: Chip Spangler thanked Katie Marshall for her work on the April convention and the picnic. There are various upcoming fairs, and he requested volunteers sign up to help at the booths. Chip thanked Jim McLaughlin and Nick Sarwark for taking the Chair positions of the Prince George's and Montgomery county affiliates, respectively; and he thanked Nick Sarwark for his state Chair duties. He said that we are looking for candidates for the 2004 elections.

Report of the Vice-Chairman: Roy J. Meyers III reported that so far we have collected 5332 petition signatures to recertify the party. We need 10,000 validated.

Constitutional Amendments:

The following be added at the end of Article V, section 4D (Vacancies):

Prior to the next Central Committee meeting, the Chairman will appoint a new member to the Executive Board to fill any vacancy. The specific appointment is subject to a positive vote of all the Executive Board.

Passed by a voice vote; Lorenzo Gaztañaga abstained; there was some question as to whether a simple majority vote or unanimous consent is required by the Executive Board; in the Chair's opinion, the current language requires unanimous consent.

The following new Section 7 be added to Article VI (Local Central Committees):

Each local Secretary shall maintain a current list of local committee members and forward such list to the Secretary of the state committee within 30 days in advance of each state Central Committee meeting.

The following new Section 8 be added to Article VI (Local Central Committees):

The local committee Treasurer shall have the authority to collect dues for national and/or state dues on behalf of the state committee. The local Treasurer shall deduct the local dues amount from the collected payments and forward the monies to the state party in a reasonably prompt time period.

It was agreed to vote on the above amendments #2 and #3 together; in the Chair's opinion, the provisions of both can be done by the Executive Board without Constitutional amendments. Both amendment proposals #2 and #3 failed on a voice vote. Chip Spangler noted that the Board is working on a Standard Operating Procedures document.

Libertarian Party of Maryland Program: tabled from the last central committee meeting, Dave Margolis had proposed the following change: replace the next-to-last sentence, "Permit the carrying of firearms with training and a background check" with "Recognize the right of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms." The vote was: 10 for; 9 against; and the Chair voted against, resulting in 10 for and 10 against; the motion failed. A motion to reconsider failed by voice vote.

Proposed Constitutional Amendments:

Proposals #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, and #9 passed unmodified on voice votes. Proposal #4 was modified by replacing "if the assembly wishes to do so" with ", with two-thirds approval of the assembly"; it passed on a voice vote. Proposal #7 was modified by replacing "Section 2. Central Committee Membership" Parts A and B text with the following:

Any Maryland resident who is either a Youth Member, General Member or Pledge Member who wishes to become a voting member of the resident's Local Central Committee (referred to in Article VI) or State Central Committee (referred to in Article V) may do so provided that: the member certifies agreement with the principle set forth in Article II; the member is registered as a Libertarian, unless registration as a Libertarian is not permitted; and is not currently registered as affiliated with any other political party. A member may choose to be a member of either Central Committee, or both, or neither one.

The modified Proposal #7 passed on a voice vote. Proposal #8 was modified by inserting "of the State Central Committee" in front of "may appoint" in Section 7A1, and passed on a voice vote.

In Article V, Section 6C, strike the words "as shown on the records of the Election Board of the County in which she is a voter." Proposal #10 passed on a voice vote.

Bylaw Proposal #1: passed as submitted on a voice vote.

Announcements: Chip Spangler noted that due to the late hour, the planned Outreach 101 program will be postponed to another time. He requested volunteers to sign up for the various county fairs.

Adjournment: the Central Committee meeting adjourned at 5:03 pm.

--Robert E. Glaser