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Minutes of the America First National Committee

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, pursuant to the Resolution of the Operating Committee of April 8, 2003.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman at 9:07 p.m. EDT.

The National Committee meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Spooner delivered the invocation.

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members.

Present:

  • John Spooner of California
  • Wanda Weatherford of Colorado
  • Helen Leka of Connecticut
  • Martin McClellan and Gaurav Ahuja of Florida
  • Diane Lovell of Georgia
  • Dave Doyle of Iowa
  • James Cox of Idaho
  • John Clark and Virginia Clark of Maryland
  • Ryan Law of Minnesota
  • Nancy Blankenship of Missouri
  • Francis Winters of New Hampshire
  • Michael Illions and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey
  • Maureen Flannery and Jim Arft of New York
  • John Francis of Ohio
  • Karen Faye Wilson and Patrick Wilson of Oregon
  • George Stryker and David Thomas of Pennsylvania
  • Warren Baldwin of Tennessee
  • George Pangborn of Texas
  • Patricia Owens and Frank Hackl of Wisconsin
  • Trey Golmon of Mississippi, Ballot Access Committee Chairman
  • Mike O'Brian of Michigan, Platform Committee Chairman
  • James D. Jones of Tennessee, Party Building Chairman
  • James Edwards of Tennessee, Candidates Committee Chairman
  • Romelle Winters, Public Relations Committee Chairman
  • Maureen McHugh of Illinois, Treasurer
  • John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary
  • Gene Lovell of Georgia, Vice-chairman
  • Dan Charles of Colorado, Chairman

Absent:

  • John Verser of Arkansas
  • Ron Teal and Vincent Wallgren of California
  • Larry Carroll of Colorado
  • Floyd Atchley and George Radzwillas of Connecticut
  • Phil Anderson of Georgia
  • Jim Monagan of Iowa
  • Tim Lohrmann and Miles Cunningham of Idaho
  • Cleve Pate, Jeff Plott, and Norman Kent of North Carolina
  • Allen Finger of New Jersey
  • Bradley Maurer of New York
  • James Bunosky of Ohio
  • Melvin Johnson of Oregon
  • Sam Cross of Pennsylvania
  • Rick Besanko and Chris Wenzel of Virginia
  • Scott Trindl of Wisconsin
  • Jonathan Hill of Massachusetts, Finance Committee Chairman

Ward Chorpenning of Ohio, Daniel Morrison of Michigan, Marcel Dietze of Colorado, and Tom White of Massachusetts, joined the meeting after the roll call had been taken.

Melanie Wooten of Iowa, Greg Roberts of Missouri, Dan Gahn of Washington, Larry Lamb of Washington, Roland Donohue of Washington, John Newhouse of South Carolina, Ron Arnold of Alabama, and Keri Gray of Alabama were present, first as guests, and then as members of the National Committee.

A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order by the Chairman.

The Secretary reported receiving notice of the resignations of Floyd Atchley of Connecticut, Cleve Pate of North Carolina, and Christopher Wenzel of Virginia. The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to strike Atchley, Pate, and Wenzel from the list. His motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reported receiving notice from the Chairman of the America First Party of Iowa of the election of Melanie Wooten to the National Committee. The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add Melanie Wooten as a National Committee member from the state of Iowa. His motion was seconded by Mr. O'Brian and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reported receiving notice from the America First Party of Missouri of the election of Greg Roberts and Don Griffin to the National Committee. The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add Roberts and Griffin as National Committee members from the state of Missouri. His motion was seconded by Mr. Morrison and adopted by majority vote.

The Secretary reported receiving a petition of affiliation from the America First Party of Washington, chaired by Mr. Dan Gahn. The petition reported that Mr. Gahn, Mr. Roland Donohue, and Mr. Larry Lamb had been elected as National Committee members for Washington.

The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add Dan Gahn, Roland Donohue, and Larry Lamb as National Committee members from Washington. His motion was seconded by Diane Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reported receiving a petition of affiliation from the America First Party of South Carolina, chaired by Mr. John Newhouse. The petition reported that Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Bill Hunt, and Mr. James Aldridge had been elected as National Committee members for South Carolina.

The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add John Newhouse, Bill Hunt, and James Aldridge as National Committee members from South Carolina. His motion was seconded by Mr. Jones and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reported receiving a petition of affiliation from the America First Party of Alabama, chaired by Mr. Ron Arnold. The petition reported that Mr. Arnold, Mr. Tony Sheppard, and Ms. Keri Gray had been elected as National Committee members for Alabama.

The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add John Newhouse, Bill Hunt, and James Aldridge as National Committee members from Alabama. His motion was seconded by Mr. O'Brian and adopted by unanimous vote.

There being no further credentialing matters, Mrs. Lovell moved the adoption of the Certified List of National Committee members as amended in its entirety. Her motion was seconded by Mr. White and adopted by unanimous vote of the National Committee.

The Secretary reported that the National Committee now consists of 70 members, 47 of which were then present on the call.

Mr. Jones moved the adoption of the Agenda as previously circulated by the Chairman. His motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell, and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Chairman commented that this was the one year anniversary of the founding of the Party. Much progress has been made, but there is a great deal of work left to accomplish if we are to succeed in our goal to take back our country.

The Secretary reported that he had no minutes to present to the committee at this time. He is still awaiting copies of notes for a portion of the last meeting that were taken down by others.

The Treasurer reminded the members that she had previously posted a full accounting of the party's treasury on the reflectors and the agenda web page. The bank balance as of the end of March was $7,468.35. The amount set aside for party building and conventions is $3,685.50, leaving available funds of $3,782.85.

Mr. Lovell presented a report from the Convention Committee. The National Committee had previously been provided with detailed proposals for convention sites from New Jersey and Tennessee. It was now up to the Committee to select the venue for the 2003 national convention.

Mr. Hey moved that the selection be conducted by means of election, and that advocates of the two convention sites be provided with six minutes each to speak on behalf of their proposals. His motion was seconded by Mrs. McHugh and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Illions and others from New Jersey spoke on behalf of the proposal they had submitted. Mr. Jones and others from Tennessee spoke on behalf of their proposal.

After a time of questions, the question was called, and the election held by roll call vote:

For the New Jersey convention site: Mrs. Winters, Leka, Ahuja, White, Clark, Mrs. Clark, Morrison, Law, Winters, Rossillo, Illions, Flannery, Arft, Francis, Chorpenning, Wilson, and Mrs. Wilson.

For the Tennessee convention site: Hey, McHugh, Jones, Edwards, Arnold, Gray, Weatherford, Dietze, McClellan, Mrs. Lovell, Doyle, Wooten, Blankenship, Roberts, Cross, Stryker, Thomas, Newhouse, Baldwin, Lamb, Donohue, Hackl, and Owens.

Present and not voting: Charles, Lovell, Spooner, Pangborn, and O'Brian.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Chairman cast no vote.

Therefore, 23 votes being cast for the Tennessee convention site, 17 votes for the New Jersey convention site, and 5 members present and not voting, the Tennessee Convention site was selected for the 2003 Party National Convention.

Mrs. Winters delivered the Public Relations Committee report. The Logo contest has now been concluded, and the top three vote-getters were the Liberty proposal, the Minuteman proposal, and the Lower 48 proposal.

The Chairman stated that, in accordance with the prior resolution of the National Committee, the National Committee would select a logo for the party by election, with the three logo proposals reported by the Public Relations Committee being placed into nomination.

Mr. Roberts nominated a logo consisting of a shield with an American Flag. His proposal was seconded by Mr. Ahuja.

Mr. Ahuja nominated the Apple logo. The nomination was seconded by Mr. Roberts.

After some discussion, and there being no further logo nominations, Mr. Lovell moved that nominations be closed. His motion was seconded by Mr. White and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Lovell moved that supporters of each nomination be allowed three minutes to speak in favor of their nominee. His motion was seconded by Mr. White and adopted by unanimous vote.

Various members spoke in favor of the proposed logos they supported.

The Election was held by roll-call vote.

For the Minuteman logo: McHugh, Golmon, Mrs. Winters, Jones, O'Brian, Weatherford, Dietze, Leka, McClellan, Wooten, Cox, Clark, Mrs. Clark, Morrison, Law, Winters, Flannery, Francis, Cross, Stryker, Newhouse, Baldwin, Pangborn, Lamb, and Donohue.

For the Liberty logo: Lovell, Hey, Mrs. Lovell, White, Rossillo, Arft, Mrs. Wilson, and Hackl.

For the Lower 48 logo: Arnold, Spooner, Doyle, and Wilson.

For the Apple logo: Ahuja, Roberts, and Blankenship.

For the Shield logo: Edwards.

Present and not voting: Charles, Gray, Chorpenning, and Thomas.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Chairman cast no vote.

There being 25 votes cast for the Minuteman logo, 8 votes for the Liberty logo, 4 votes for the Lower 48 logo, 3 votes for the Apple logo, 1 vote for the Shield logo, and 4 members present and not voting, the Minuteman logo was selected as the Party logo.

Mr. Edwards moved that the meeting be extended by one hour. His motion was seconded by Mr. O'Brian and adopted by majority vote.

Mr. O'Brian moved to Commit to the Operating Committee his resolution regarding Reaffirmation of the Platform and Reflector Rules. His motion was seconded by Mr. Chorpenning and adopted by majority vote.

The Chairman introduced a discussion of the full page ad which was to appear in the American Free Press. He reported that the ad had been rejected because of a long standing policy of the newspaper not to publish advertisements which ask for contributions.

Mr. Lamb moved that the ad be changed and re-submitted. His motion was seconded by Mr. Clark. The chairman ruled the motion out of order at this time, due to the fact that it conflicted with a prior resolution of the National Committee which had never been rescinded.

After more discussion, Mr. Clark moved that the authorizing resolution previously adopted by the National Committee be amended to strike the language requiring the inclusion of a request for donations, and that the advertisement be resubmitted to the Public Relations and Operating Committees for final action as previously provided for in the prior resolution. His motion was seconded by Mr. Doyle and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Jones nominated Mr. Eric Thomas as Chairman of the Rules Committee. His nomination was seconded by Mr. O'Brian. After some discussion, Mr. Thomas was elected chairman of the Rules Committee by majority vote.

There being no further business, on motion made by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Mrs. McHugh, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
______________________
John Pittman Hey
National Secretary
America First National Committee

 
 
   
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