Nomination caucus to be held September 15

Meeting will determine official Libertarian nominations for Year 2000 elections within San Mateo County
by Christopher Schmidt

The nomination caucus of the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County will be held on Wednesday, September 15 at 7:30pm, at Hobee's Restaurant, 1111 Shoreway Road, Belmont; just off Ralston, on the bay side of Highway 101. Candidates will be nominated for the legislative races to be held in November of 2000, so if you're interested in running for office in 2000 (or 2002!) or want to find out the financial, time and energy commitments of candidacy, please drop on by!

Before the nominations begin, join us for unstructured conversation and dinner from 6:00­7:30pm in the "alcove." Dues-paying members may stay (or arrive) for the caucus in the same place 7:30­8:45. The LPSM will circulate petitions for the winners of the September 1999 caucus in October 1999 to place them on the government's primary ballot in March 2000, winners of which will appear on the November 2000 general election ballot.

There may be an open race, so if you've ever thought you could make a difference in a campaign, by all means attend!

Steve Marsland: liberty with distinction

Second in a series of mini-bios of LPSM officers and other members
by Robert Giedt

This is the second in an onrunning series of articles about the officers and other members of the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County. If you have a suggestion for a profile or would like to be profiled yourself, please let the editor know at spaceman@best.com.

Steve was born in March of 1955 and raised in Greene, New York, an hour south of Rochester. He was raised as one of four children of a weekly newspaper publisher in upstate New York and graduated valedictorian of his high school, Green Central School. His education has led him to the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell, Keio University in Tokyo, Japan and Harvard Business School where he majored in Finance and graduated with high distinction. In the 1990s, Steve took additional engineering and advanced mathematics classes at San Jose State University.

Throughout his career, Steve has excelled at whatever job he has undertaken. After graduating from college, Steve returned to the family business and founded a weekly newspaper within the communities of Roscoe and Livingston Manor, New York which became profitable from the first week it was published. In 1980, after he graduated from Harvard, he went to work for Raychem Corporation and wore a number of hats during his eight-year tenure there. He then went on to a vice-presidency position at Apogee Enterprises in Chicago and gained valuable knowledge working with a unionized workforce. Raychem then recruited Steve back in 1990 where he continues to work today.

Within the community, Steve is involved with the Pacifica American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) as a coach and referee, and maintains a Fellowship Chair in the Pacifica Rotary Club. He volunteers time for public schools and serves as an advisor to College Kids--an organization dedicated to assisting underprivileged elementary students realize their dream of attending college. Steve is also actively involved with setting up an internet web site for Oceana High School to promote volunteers and volunteer organizations in Pacifica.

Steve is the author of several technical articles and a book, The Birth of the Japanese Labor Movement, published by the University of Hawaii press in 1989. His articles include many business-related topics written for and with the Harvard Business School.

Steve's involvement with the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County began in 1997, where he actively attended meetings and volunteered to become Publicity Chair and Fundraising Chair. In January, 1998, he was elected LPSM Chair and holds that position to this day. Recently, he ran for State Assembly in 1998 and is considering a local or statewide position in the year 2000.

Petition mailing party October 9--volunteers wanted!

by Robert Giedt

As we gear up for the 1999 fall elections, it's time to prepare for another candidate petition mailing party. This event will be held on Saturday, October 9 at 10:00am at Amy Guthrie's offices in Palo Alto at 853 Middlefield Road, #4 (just off Middlefield Road, a couple blocks south of University Avenue).

What goes on at these "parties" and what are they used for? Every primary candidate requires a number of signatures this Fall from registered Libertarians in order to appear on the March ballot. Instead of canvassing neighborhoods searching for these (sometimes) elusive Libertarians, we gather their names from the county's database (where we get names for this newsletter!) and mail them a petition to sign to get our candidates on the ballot. At these mailing parties, all the volunteers get together to fold, stamp and package envelopes to send out to the registered Libertarians on the Peninsula. Since there are so many names and a fair amount of manual, yet easy, labor to perform, we could use as many able-bodied people as possible.

So, if you're interested in helping, by all means drop by and attend. The more people that show up, the quicker the process will be. Hands-on for liberty!

David Friedman and George H. Smith debate on September 18 19

by Jeanie Kennedy

Free Exchange, a forum for learning and discussing the ideas of liberty presents an informal debate with two famous anarcho-capitalists: David Friedman (author of The Machinery of Freedomand George H. Smith, author of Atheism: The Case Against God on Saturday Sunday, September 18 19 at 8:00pm. A potluck social will precede the event at 6:30pm.

The topic for this debate is "Which is the Better Foundation for Libertarianism: Ethics or Economics?" The definitional boundaries between ethics and economics provides an interesting topic in its own right. Both David and George at the outset will define, or at least describe, how they view the respective disciplines of ethics and economics, to get working definitions and ascertain precisely where they do and do not agree. They will also briefly define their respective conceptions of "libertarianism." After that, the sky's the limit, followed by a Question and Answer session. Don't miss this!

Reservations for this event are necessary (and filling up fast!). E-mail jeaniekennedy@ hotmail.com or call Jeanie at 415/970-0400 for a reservation. Below are the details:

August meeting notes

by Christopher Schmidt

Owing to vacations, illness, etc., the August meeting at Hobee's was attended by four officers only, plus a returning guest.

Margret Schmidt's candidacy

We voted unanimously to endorse Margret Schmidt's candidacy for the county community college district's board of trustees.

Arguments against community college bond measure

Margret, Christopher, and Jack have been crafting the arguments against the $148 million district bond and property tax surcharge on the November ballot. And our argument and rebuttal were, in fact, chosen to appear in the county voter pamphlet. Both Margret and Jack were quoted (albeit misquoted in Jack's case) and pictured in the Independent Newspaper Group papers, citing their reasons for opposing the bond.

Jack Hickey's candidacy

Our bylaws require endorsement of candidates we materially support. In Jack's case, the Executive Committee voted between the July and August meetings to contribute $100 to the cost of placing his candidate statement in the voter pamphlet (7 ayes, no other votes cast, via e-mail). We took this unusual step because of the unusually good prospects for electing libertarians to county-wide office in this case. Some years ago, libertarian fellow traveler Jim Warren was elected to the same board, after purchasing a statement in the pamphlet.

Additional candidates on the November ballot

Two other local Libertarians are seeking office this November: Matt Grocott and Ray Mac Bell (for San Carlos city council and Sequoia Union High School District board, respectively).

Endorsements in non-partisan races

We decided to defer discussion of other endorsements to e-mail. An unresolved issue is whether we should make endorsements in non-partisan races when we are not required by our bylaws to do so. Additional endorsements may be made at the September caucus.

Meeting time change begins in October

We voted to change our regular meeting night (for supper club and central committee and executive committee business) to the third Thursday of each month, starting with the October 21 meeting. At some point in the near future, J.R. will start hosting the supper club on a still different night.

Research mailing approved

We approved a 450 piece research mailing to gauge the potential for recruitment in various populations of other parties.

"Veto the Governor" referendum endorsed

We endorsed the Veto the Governor referendum (of recent state gun confiscation legislation) and authorized Jack Hickey to act as an official LPSM distribution point for petitions.

Next meeting of the LP of San Mateo County:

Wednesday, September 15
Hobee's Restaurant (Directions to Hobee's)
1111 Shoreway Road, Belmont; just off Ralston, on the bay side of Highway 101
Dinner and informal discussion (optional): 6:00--7:30pm in the reserved dining room
Business meeting/nomination caucus: 7:30--8:45pm in the dining room alcove.

Agenda:

1. Year 2000 nomination caucus for legislative races to be held in November 2000.
2. Planning for petition mailing in October.
3. Other business as necessary.