Labor Party Winter 2015 National Convention in Buffalo, NY

[Gass3268]

Yes, it's weird that the Politburo consists of only two members. I'll be introducing an amendment to the bylaws shortly that will include five Regional Secretaries in the Politburo.

We had Regional Coordinators as an unofficial position under Section V.1.f. for a while, but it fell apart due to lack of interest. When I wrote up the original by-laws a couple years ago, my goal was to try to keep things simple and allow for flexibility, but having more regional representation would not be an awful idea.

[Lief 🗽]

Here are my suggested amended bylaws. A few things:

-All references to the General Secretary are removed.
-Regional secretaries are created. I did not give these offices term limits, because it may be harder to find active and willing party members to fill these positions, so there is no need to kick out those members who want to continue acting in the role.
-Fixed the endorsement procedure for at large seats.

If there are no objections within 24 hours, these amendments will be automatically approved.

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[Adam Griffin]

Yes, up through the last convention, the Politburo consisted of:

• Chair
• Vice-Chair
• General Secretary
• Attorney-at-Law
• Regional Co-Ordinators

The Regional Co-Ordinator position was never really successful (it is essentially the same as what has been proposed with Regional Secretary), which was disappointing - even when we had the Five Region Strategy at its height, filling all positions and keeping them active was nigh impossible. The Attorney-at-Law position was essentially a position created especially for BK as the Party's legal representative, and no interest was demonstrated in filling it by the members when it went vacant early last year. The General Secretary position was always useful in some degree or another.

I personally disagreed with eliminating the Gen Sec and AAL positions, even though the latter had fallen into disuse. However, I know that the Party needs to have the leeway to try new things and not always have me objecting to this or supporting that. I do think adding back the Regional Secretary may be redundant, if only because these positions can be appointed under the Other Officeholders provision (even when we had them before, we appointed them due to the general lack of interest in running in elections for them). 

[Barnes]

With respect to Adam's comments, I think that the provisions of V-4 are flexible enough to allow for the re-recreation of those positions if the moment requires.

I think having Regional Secretaries is a good idea that will increase activity among members - especially newer members.  However, as others have said, there is the problem of inactivity among the officeholders.

Might it be pertinent to allow for a party member to hold the position for two regions - say the Southeast and the Pacific?  Both have very small registration figures for our party.  I believe the by-laws would not expressly prevent that from occurring. 

[Barnes]

Needless to say, the by-laws stand approved. The last general business will be the party platform. I will try to have the platform up in a day or two.

[Talleyrand]

I would be fine with having one individual in charge of the Southeast and Pacific; our presence there is small enough that there's really no point in having one for each region. There's definitely enough interest in the three northern regions for us to put in a coordinator in them all.

[Lief 🗽]

Regional secretaries, I think, will be a good way for members of the party to be more active in its affairs. We can re-evaluate them at our next convention. And I have no problem with the Southeast Secretary being in charge of the Pacific or vice versa if we cannot find two people for these positions.

On that note, anyone who would like to serve in these roles should now apply. Perks include your own office in the Labor Party Headquarters, as well as one (1) paid staffer.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Hope it's not too late!


X Fuzzy

[Barnes]

Hope it's not too late!


X Fuzzy

It is never too late!  So glad to have you back here, Fuzzy!



Cake for everyone!

[Fuzzybigfoot]

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I missed it, didn't I?  The convention is over, no?

[Adam Griffin]

I missed it, didn't I?  The convention is over, no?

We still have a platform debate ahead of us, if I recall correctly. Welcome!

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I hope we have some planks passed that express support for a tax system that truly helps the poor get ahead (if we don't have that already).

[Barnes]

I've been delayed in posting the platform because of my nomination as SoIA and our focus on the special election over this weekend.  On that note, many congratulations to Griffin!

I would like for us to finish up the work of the convention shortly so that we can all get out of Buffalo.   Therefor, I lay the October 2014 platform Toward An Atlasian Renaissance before the convention unamended.

The process is the same as approving the by-laws.  Party members have 24 hours to object to any section of the platform.  If there are no objections, the platform will stand approved; if there are, there will be 24 hours for members to propose amendments, followed by a 72 hour vote to approve or reject the platform.

[Barnes]

With no objections the platform stands approved.

I move that the convention do now adjourn. Members have 24 hours to object.

[Barnes]

No objections being heard, I hereby declare the Winter 2015 National Convention of the Atlasian Labor Party to be adjourned.

The party will reconvene for the Spring National Convention to be held in Ely, Minnesota, in June.  Until then, any member wishing to bring something to the attention of the party may do so in the Standing Committee.

See you in Ely, Comrades!