I'm going to have to address these piecemeal. There's a lot of ground covered in your post Sandy!
With respect to meeting minutes, there are brief by design. They are first and foremost a corporate legal requirement. Secondly, the actual conversations leading to decisions generally happen over email and other venues in advance of the actual meeting. Finally, the conversations are most unhindered if they are private. If people worry about curbing their discussion due to it being public that could be a bad thing.
Elections didn't work out very well. Very few people voted overall which showed an overall lack of interest. Drawing in people who have shown dedication and good judgment seemed to work best.
The money *is* being put to use. As Jason pointed out we're talking to a couple of PR firms and expect to spend the funds that way. Being slow to spend it is a bit of a problem but we are actively working on that.
Neil and I *have* moved to New Hampshire. We are pleased to be here. And while not everyone values my/our contributions to the FSP we care deeply about liberty in our lifetime and have committed thousands of dollars to help achieve it not including our move costs.
With respect to neutrality ... that's a difficult stance I know. The problem is, as much as we all care about liberty, we all care about it differently. One early issue was the highway cleanup signs. The fact is , not everyone wants to support the state by cleaning their highways. Yes, it's a nice piece of roadway advertising and it is generally considered a nice community volunteer effort. But not everyone feels that way. Are we helping our enemy? These issues are not trivial. Every "position" we could take could be vilified by folks on the other side. Every time someone does something remotely controversial we hear from people who didn't like it.
One of the reasons we seem to end up arguing, imo, is that we all have different ideas about how to achieve liberty and how to make FSP work best. Those ideas are not always in sync ... actually they're rarely in sync. Somehow there ends up being sniping and complaining. And, I guess that's the way of many volunteer organizations. But I continue to put many hours a week into the FSP. Getting more movers to the Granite State is a worthy goal.
Jean
Thanks, Jean, for taking the time to respond in detail and with courtesy, both here and by email. I understand what you're saying about wanting the leadership to feel free to speak their mind. At the same time, I have been involved with plenty of organizations that didn't handle it that way. And due to the unusual nature of this particular organization, I think the current secrecy-based model is particularly inappropriate. The FSP asks a LOT of its membership. Yet not only are members not allowed to attend (virtually speaking) Board meetings, they're not allowed to know what was said at them after or before the fact. And they have absolutely no say in the makeup of the body itself. If things were going great, it would be a waste of all our time even having this discussion. But unfortunately, they're not. Perhaps a change in staffing would help. More openness would certainly help morale for some members, and would be ignored by those who don't care.
I think it's depressing that the FSP had low voter participation in Board elections. Perhaps those numbers are a more accurate indication of our true membership than the count of how many people have ever stopped to fill out the sign-up form. In any case, I see no connection between voter turnout and the goodness/badness of the decision to have elections.
I'm very glad to hear you and Jason say that you are going with a PR firm. Hopefully soon!!
I know you and your family have moved to New Hampshire. Congratulations, and welcome to the Free State! I'm sure we will be bumping into each other; Porcupines tend to congregate.
Yes, the issue of neutrality is a very difficult one. Some people will always disagree on that subject. Rather than debating theory, let's talk efficacy. Maybe ending neutrality would increase recruitment? Granted, some people will be turned off by certain publicity stunts. But others will be attracted. I'm of the "all publicity is good publicity" school.
Yes, libertarians do tend to argue. A lot. My time is limited, like yours and everyone else's, and I do *not* enjoy arguing. I'm looking for solutions here. I don't intend to be dragged into a mudslinging flame war with anyone.
