No. 2
Summer 1999
|
LPQC News | Vol. 5 No. 2 Summer 1999 |
In This Issue:
Convention View from Long Island: Audrey in Bohemialand
Thank You!
1999-2000 LPQC Officer Contact List
From the Chair: Lets Know New York
John Clifton's School Board Race Increases Visibility for Reform
This was my fourth LP convention in as many months, having attended LPMA (Massachusetts) state convention, LPNY State convention, Nassau/Suffolk convention. The Queens con at Bohemian Hall is right up there with the best of them. After a business meeting at which a new slate of officers was elected and a sumptuous buffet luncheon, Jim Strawhorn as master of ceremonies convened the afternoon program of speakers. (Toast-masters is paying off for Jim and would be a valuable experience for other Libertarians to improve public speaking skills and abilities.) Inspirational words from Dave Harnett, Chair LPNY, were followed by a talk by Mark Edgerton, LPNJ gubernatorial candidate, on taking back our constitution. Mark introduced Roy Innis, CORE and NRA.
Roy is planning to form an "exploratory committee" to consider a run for mayor of NYC. You can be sure LPNY will be represented on it. Muni Savyon, Nat/Com Rep. from New England, and Carla Howell, Past Chair LPMA and LP Candidate for State Auditor, spoke on strategies for waking up the "sleeping giant"—NY State. Together they conducted an informal workshop.
We can learn a lesson from LPMA. Their convention attracted 250 people—the most well attended in the country to date. They have secured permanent ballot status, have thirteen statewide candidates, attracted media attention and have and will continue to share their knowledge. We can learn from them and from each other in running campaigns. For this is what political parties do.
At the risk of mistakenly leaving someone out, many thanks to everyone
who worked to make our June convention a great success—Brad Arter, John Clifton,
Robert Goodman, Bob Knipe, Siegie Kress, John and Clarisse Procida, Gene Stewart, Ed
Velez, Michelle Yaskel, and AltonYee—and to our many generous contributors!
Many thanks also to our hosts at Bohemian Hall,
and to our speakers—Mark Edgerton, Roy Innis, Carla Howell, and Muni Savyon—for
sharing not only their time and energy but also their vision, knowledge,and expertise to
help us move up to new levels of activity!
May we build on what they've taught us!
We're Number Three, so we have to do even more than try harder. We have to try smarter.
We have a lot to learn—about politics in general, but also about New York City and how politics works here.
Fortunately, many helpful resources are available to us. Here are a few:
We can use these (and other) resources to educate ourselves, to gather the facts we need to draw the blueprints for a libertarian New York City. Let's try harder and smarter. Let's know New York City, inside and out!
As your newly elected Chair, I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me. I see this as a reflection of the confidence I have in every one of you—in your love for liberty and your commitment to working intelligently, energetically, and harmoniously to achieve it. And I pledge to do my best to lead us in working together toward that goal.
The suspense over the outcome of the LPQC's first candidacy—John Clifton running for a seat on the Community School Board in District 28—ended on June 10 when the unofficial tally was released to the press. The results indicated that Clifton did not receive enough total or apportioned ("spill") votes to be elected to the nine-member board, which represents the neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, and Jamaica.
John ran on a slate with three other
independent candidates from the Jamaica area, including incumbent board
member Clifton Stanley Diaz, who was re-elected. The slate members endeavored to pool
their political bases to produce a
cross-coattail effect. To John's surprise, he found that the other members of his slate
were receptive to his libertarian
views. He distributed campaign literature throughout the district, but, as usually happens
in School Board elections,
only die-hard voters turned out, and most cast their ballots for the "PTA slate"
candidates in Forest Hills.
Jamaica voters were split between John's slate and another headed by incumbent Shirley Huntley (also re-elected). "I kept my campaign honest and positive," said Clifton, "but it taught me that even local races need to be extensively organized and planned."
Mr. Diaz and others noted instances of dirty tricks and loophole tactics practiced by some opponents, including negative allegations about Clifton's slate members released to the media on May 17, the day before the election. And a Rego Park supporter of Clifton's slate observed that the law against posting campaign literature on public utility poles or school property was cleverly circumvented: On election day, a banner promoting the Forest Hills slate was draped across two tree branches, near the entrance of a school voting place!
Clifton made numerous candidates' night
appearances during the race, including one at a League of Women Voters forum
in St. Albans a week before the election. Running on libertarian themes and positions
without invoking the "L" word itself, he
campaigned on a platform of decentralizing the Board of Education and restoring control of
schools to parents and local boards. He also discussed innovative, non-coercive methods of
addressing school overcrowding and teacher shortages.
Clifton vows to better prepare for any future
campaign he undertakes, and to better target potential voting blocs. "I
will also re-think the 'stealth' strategy of not emphasizing the Party while proposing
pro-liberty views," he said. "I thank all
the LP members who advised and encouraged me throughout the race, particularly Elliott
Werner and Jim Strawhorn, who
developed my platform themes and flyers."
As a guest speaker at the LP of Nassau County's June meeting, Clifton recounted his experiences as a candidate. He was surprised to discover that the LPNC's press release for his talk was published as an article in the Community Journal, a local Nassau County paper. His campaign also received attention in the Jamaica Times, the Western Queens Gazette, and other Queens newspapers. Mr. Clifton has thus begun to improve the visibility of libertarian ideas in our area. Future candidates can benefit from what he has learned and can build on his experience.
LPQC News
John Clifton, Editor
Ed Velez, Web Site Editor
LPQC News is published quarterly by the Libertarian Party of Queens County. Subscriptions: included free with $10 LPQC membership;$6/year to non-members. Deadline for articles is the second Saturday of the month preceding publication. Opinions expressed in LPQC News are not necessarily official positions of the membership or the officers of the LPQC. Please direct all correspondence to LPQC News, c/o Procida Realty Corp., 161-09 29th. Ave.,Flushing, NY11358
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