The Libertarian State Central Committee of Maryland met on the grounds of Dave Sten's home in North East, Maryland. The meeting was called to order at 1:52 pm by chairman Nick Sarwark. Prior to the meeting, the following were distributed: the meeting agenda; the minutes of the 29 April 2001 Central Committee meeting; proposed constitutional amendments #1-#2; and the treasurer's report.

Attendance: the Credentials Committee consisted of: Robert Glaser; Steve Sass; and Steve Boone. It validated that 32 Central Committee members were in attendance for the meeting. Additionally, four proxies plus two constitutional amendment votes were received. The Central Committee rolls consist of 67 members.

Minutes: The Secretary read the minutes; the word "factions" was changed to "constituencies." The minutes were accepted as revised.

Treasurer's report: Joe Miller, not present, provided the report for the Committee, which was accepted without dissent.

Chair's report: Nick Sarwark accepted the honor of being the Party's Chairman. He specifically thanked Steve Boone for ably handling the duties as his predecessor; Dave Sten for offering the location for the picnic and meeting, and cooking; Tony Spezio for successful petitioning and assuming the Prince George's county LP chair; Charlie Hardman for organizing the Leonardtown Criterium; Valerie McGlothlin for organizing Cecil county; Kevin & Deborah Wolf for organizing Carroll & Howard counties; Gail Mangum for her Adopt-a-Highway efforts; Mike Linder for handling the Tawes outing; and Renee Sten for putting up with us.

We are looking for a Volunteer Coordinator for the state; future plans include more youth outreach.

Election of Board Vacancies: Two Executive Board positions are open due to the resignations of Spear Lancaster to run for governor, and Steve Boone to be Spear's campaign manager. Both resignations were made to prevent any potential conflicts of interest. Chip Spangler and Earle Pearce were nominated and seconded. Because there were only two candidates for two positions, a voice vote approved both unanimously. Subsequently, Earle Pearce resigned from the Board. Shannon McMenamin, who joined the MdLP and the Central Committee on the spot, was nominated, seconded, and unanimously approved to replace Earle on the Board in a voice vote.

Constitutional Amendments: These are as follows: words removed [words added]

Article V, Section 4B. Election of the Executive Board: The members of the Executive Board shall be elected at the regular fall meeting of the Central Committee. Election shall be to a two [one] year term with 3 positions being elected in odd-numbered years and 4 in even-numbered years [for all positions].

Note: This was listed as Proposed Amendment #1 on the distributed agenda.

Discussion: those in favor felt that with all seven Board members elected at once, and with our proportional voting method, a return to simultaneous one-year terms would open the door to potentially smaller constituencies within the Party for Board representation; and that the proportional voting method protects us from a large outside group coming in and taking over the Party. It was suggested that this could prevent the type of debacle that has occurred in Arizona. Those opposed thought that the staggered terms offered additional protection.

Vote: 23 yes, 10 no; the amendment is DEFEATED.

After additional discussion, Steve Boone requested that Amendment #2 be reconsidered; a verbal vote unanimously agreed.

Revote: 27 yes, 5 no; the amendment PASSES.

Article V, Section 4B. Election of the Executive Board: The [Beginning in 2002, the] members of the Executive Board shall be elected at the regular fall [spring] meeting of the Central Committee...

Article V, Section 6. Meetings A. The Central Committee shall hold at least two meetings per year: one in spring (if practical, in May) and one in fall (if practical, in October.) The fall [spring] meeting may be known as the Convention for all statutory purposes, and it shall include on the agenda the election of the Executive Board.

Note: This was listed as Proposed Amendment #2 on the distributed agenda.

Discussion: It was generally believed that it would be preferable to elect officers in the spring rather than the fall, because in election years the MdLP and its officers are busy with candidate assistance and election matters.

Vote: 31 yes, 2 no; the amendment PASSES.

Bylaw Change: Tony Spezio prepared a bylaw change:

Append the following to the Bylaw on Alternates to the National Convention:

After the initial delegation has been selected for the national convention, additional delegates may be selected at the convention provided that they meet the following criteria: (1) The candidate must be an active dues-paying member of the national party and/or a state or local affiliate of the LP; (2) The state Chairman must approve the candidate; and (3) No less than four-fifths of the present delegation must approve the candidate. An emergency meeting may be held to discuss such a matter.

Keith Halderman presented an amendment to restrict delegates to those living in Maryland; it was defeated. Steve Boone presented an amendment to change the 4/5 ratio to 3/4; it passed. After additional discussion, it was voted to table the bylaw change until the next Central Committee meeting, because the issue will not come up until after that time, and this will offer members time to deliberate on the matter. The Secretary will include written notice of the proposal in the next Central Committee meeting announcement.

Gubernatorial Campaign Update: Steve Boone has been in constant communication with SABEL, and it has been determined that the petitions to get Spear on the ballot must include a Lieutenant Governor candidate as well. The nominee may be changed at a later date. Lauren Hill has volunteered to fill that position. As a result, all of the petition signatures received so far are invalid, and will be destroyed. A new signature collection campaign will begin with the corrected forms, which were distributed, and are also available on the MdLP website.

Spear thanked Valerie McGlothlin, Banner Seagraves, Dave Sten, Don Kempel, and Tony Spezio for getting signatures at the county fairs. He went to a candidate workshop and found it helpful. He is in the process of preparing 100 press kits, and the website www.Spear2002.com is nearing activation.

Announcements: Glenn Howard requests helpers for the Montgomery County fair on August 10-18. Lorenzo Gaztanaga reported from the LNC that they are completing a strategic national plan; there are six goals plus several hundred strategies; there is an opportunity to do what we need to do, such as youth outreach; he believes that we will have a supermarket of ideas, so that state and local LP chapters will be able to select the methods that best fit their area. There will be a Baltimore City CC meeting following the state meeting. There is going to be a march through all of the state capitals, we are encouraged to assist with Maryland and Virginia [info?] Charles [?] invited us to consider the Rainbow Family of Living Light at www.WelcomeHome.org. Robert Glaser requested submissions for the September issue of the Free? State Libertarian.

Adjournment: the Central Committee meeting adjourned at 3:48 pm.

--Robert E. Glaser