Minutes of the America First National Committee

Tuesday, February 18, 2003
continued Tuesday, February 25, 2003

BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, pursuant to the Resolution of the Operating Committee of February 7, 2003.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman at 9:01 p.m. EST.

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

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members at 9:20 p.m.

Present:

• John Spooner of California
• Wanda Weatherford and Larry Carroll of Colorado
• Martin McClellan and Gaurav Ahuja of Florida
• Diane Lovell of Georgia
• James Cox of Idaho
• John Clark and Virginia Clark of Maryland
• Daniel Morrison and William Lowry of Michigan
• Ryan Law of Minnesota
• Nancy Blankenship of Missouri
• Cleve Pate and Jeff Plott of North Carolina
• Francis Winters of New Hampshire
• Michael Illions, Allen Finger, and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey
• Maureen Flannery of New York
• Ward Chorpenning of Ohio
• George Stryker, Sam Cross and David Thomas of Pennsylvania
• Warren Baldwin of Tennessee
• George Pangborn of Texas
• Patricia Owens of Wisconsin
• Trey Golmon of Mississippi, Ballot Access Committee Chairman
• Mike O'Brian of Michigan, Platform Committee Chairman
• Jon Hill of Massachusetts, Finance 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
• Marcel Dietze of Colorado
• Floyd Atchley, Helen Leka and George Radzwillas of Connecticut
• George Bashure of Florida
• Phil Anderson of Georgia
• Dave Doyle and Jim Monagan of Iowa
• Tim Lohrmann and Miles Cunningham of Idaho
• Tom White of Massachusetts
• Leo Daley and Clint Muskopf of Minnesota
• Norman Kent of North Carolina
• Ted Maravelias of New Hampshire
• Gary Grella of New York
• John Francis and James Bunosky of Ohio
• Karen Faye Wilson, Patrick Wilson, and Melvin Johnson of Oregon
• Wes Anderson and Blake Buffington of Texas
• Chris Wenzel, Linda Muller and Rick Besanko of Virginia
• Frank Hackl and Scott Trindl of Wisconsin

James Arft of New York joined the meeting after the roll call was taken.

Harrison Mullendore, Shauna Mullendore, and Heath Torstveit were present, first as guests, and then as National Committee members from Utah.

A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order at 9:20 by the Chairman.

The Secretary reported receiving a petition of affiliation from the America First Party of Utah, chaired by Mr. Harrison Mullendore. The petition reported that Mr. Mullendore, Mrs. Shauna Mullendore, and Mr. Heath Torstveit had been selected as National Committee members for Utah.

The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add Harrison Mullendore, Shauna Mullendore, and Heath Torstveit as National Committee members from Utah. His motion was seconded by Mr. Jones and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Lovell moved the adoption of the Certified List of National Committee members as amended in its entirety. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Winters and adopted by unanimous vote of the National Committee.

The Secretary reported that the National Committee now consists of 72 members, 41 of which were then present on the call.

Mr. O'Brian moved the adoption of the Agenda as previously circulated by the Chairman. His motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell.

A friendly amendment was accepted to move Old Business above Committee Resolutions.

A friendly amendment was accepted to strike the Chairman's and Treasurer's reports from the Agenda.

A friendly amendment was accepted to add, under New Business, a resolution reported out of the Finance Committee.

The Agenda, as amended, was adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reminded the members that he had previously circulated draft minutes of the February 4 meeting of the National Committee for consideration and adoption. The Secretary moved the approval of the minutes. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Winters and adopted by unanimous vote, Mr. McClellan abstaining.

Mr. Baldwin moved the adoption of a resolution regarding a full page advertisement in the American Free Press. Mr. Arft seconded the resolution.

Mr. Hey moved that the resolution be committed to the Public Relations Committee for study. Mr. Hill seconded the motion. After short debate, Mr. Hey and Mr. Hill withdrew the motion to commit.

Mr. Pangborn moved the amendment of the Resolution by substitution of text he had previously circulated. His amendment was seconded by Mr. Clark.

Mr. Hey renewed his motion to commit the Resolution to the Public Relations Committee. Mr. Carroll seconded the motion.

After some debate, Mr. Clark and Mr. O'Brian proposed to amend the Motion to Commit so as to commit the motion to the Operating Committee; their amendment was accepted as friendly by Messrs. Hey and Hill.

On a point of order, the Chairman ruled that Motions to Commit may be amended.

Mr. Pangborn appealed the ruling of the chair. The Chair's ruling was upheld by majority vote.

The friendly amendment was opposed by Mr. Arft. After more debate, the friendly amendment was adopted by majority vote.

There being no further debate, the Chairman asked for a roll-call vote on the Motion to Commit to the Operating Committee. The roll-call vote disclosed a loss of quorum.

Mr. O'Brian moved that the committee recess until Tuesday evening, February 25 at 9 p.m. EST. The Chairman declared the National Committee in recess until 9 p.m. February 25, 2003.

The National Committee reconvened at 9:04 p.m. on February 25, 2003.

The Chairman led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mr. Finger delivered the Invocation.

The Secretary called the roll:

Present:

• John Spooner and Vincent Wallgren of California
• Wanda Weatherford of Colorado
• Helen Leka, George Radzwillas, and Floyd Atchley of Connecticut
• Martin McClellan of Florida
• Diane Lovell of Georgia
• James Cox of Idaho
• Tom White of Massachusetts
• Clint Muskopf and Ryan Law of Minnesota
• Nancy Blankenship of Missouri
• Cleve Pate and Jeff Plott of North Carolina
• Francis Winters of New Hampshire
• Michael Illions, Allen Finger, and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey
• James Arft of New York
• Patrick Wilson and Karen Faye Wilson of Oregon
• George Stryker, Sam Cross and David Thomas of Pennsylvania
• Warren Baldwin of Tennessee
• George Pangborn of Texas
• Rick Besanko of Virginia
• Frank Hankl and Patricia Owens of Wisconsin
• Trey Golmon of Mississippi, Ballot Access Committee Chairman
• Jon Hill of Massachusetts, Finance 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 of California
• Larry Carroll and Marcel Dietze of Colorado
• Gaurav Ahuja and George Bashure of Florida
• Phil Anderson of Georgia
• Dave Doyle and Jim Monagan of Iowa
• Tim Lohrmann and Miles Cunningham of Idaho
• John Clark and Virginia Clark of Maryland
• Daniel Morrison and Richard Lowry of Michigan
• Leo Daley of Minnesota
• Norman Kent of North Carolina
• Ted Maravelias of New Hampshire
• Maureen Flannery and Gary Grella of New York
• Ward Chorpenning, John Francis and James Bunosky of Ohio
• Melvin Johnson of Oregon
• Wes Anderson and Blake Buffington of Texas
• Harrison Mullendore, Shauna Mullendore, and Heath Torstveit of Utah
• Chris Wenzel and Linda Muller of Virginia
• Scott Trindl of Wisconsin
• Mike O'Brian of Michigan, Platform Committee Chairman

The meeting came to order at 9:20 p.m.

The Chairman renewed the question on the still-pending Motion to Commit the Baldwin/Pangborn resolution.

The vote was taken by roll call.

Voting for the Motion to Commit:

John Spooner, Vincent Wallgren, Wanda Weatherford, Helen Leka, George Radzwillas, Floyd Atchley, Martin McClellan, Diane Lovell, James Cox, Tom White, Clint Muskopf, Nancy Blankenship, Cleve Pate, Jeff Plott, Francis Winters, Allen Finger, Richard Rossillo, Patrick Wilson, Karen Faye Wilson, George Stryker, Sam Cross, David Thomas, Warren Baldwin, Rick Besanko, Frank Hankl, Patricia Owens, Trey Golmon, Jon Hill, James D. Jones, Romelle Winters, Maureen McHugh, John Pittman Hey, and Gene Lovell.

Voting against the Motion to Commit:

Michael Illions, Ryan Law, James Arft, George Pangborn, and James Edwards.

The Motion to Commit therefore was adopted.

Mr. Lovell moved a Resolution regarding approval of Advertisements by the National Committee. His Resolution was seconded by Mr. Pate.

A point of order was raised as to whether the Resolution creates a "parliamentary rule" which restricts the rights of National Committee members to prohibit them from proposing amendments to future Resolutions approving the text of advertisements. The Chairman ruled that because such amendments are prohibited by this Resolution, the Resolution qualifies as a "parliamentary rule" which requires a two-thirds vote for passage.

Mr. White moved an amendment to add the words "assisting in" before the phrase "saving our nation". His amendment died for lack of a second.

Mr. Hey proposed an amendment to clarify the language on non-amendability of resolutions approving ad text. His amendment was seconded by Mr. White and accepted as friendly by the entire body.

Mr. Hey proposed an amendment to clarify the language that protects resolutions that authorize the creation of advertisements. Mrs. Winters seconded the amendment, and it was accepted as friendly by the entire body.

The Resolution, as amended, reads as follows:

RESOLUTION REGARDING NATIONAL COMMITTEE APPROVAL OF ALL PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE WORK PRODUCT, EXCLUDING PRESS RELEASES

Whereas, the America First Party was structured per the Constitution with the National Committee made up of duly elected affiliated State representatives as a self governing body possessing all power and control in the conduct of Party business thereby eliminating the concentration of power and influence, either in one or a few people, which has been proven to be a most destructive force in other third parties resulting in those parties becoming misguided and/or ineffective and,

Whereas, any National Committee Member or Standing Committee may introduce resolutions to the National Committee for consideration which further prevents potentially destructive concentrations of power and influence within the Party and,

Whereas, the creation and publication of paid advertisement of the America First Party is crucially instrumental in how the public may view the Party and, thereby, has direct impact upon the Party's ability to grow and flourish in order to effectively accomplish the Party's ultimate mission of saving our Nation and,

Whereas, it has become evident that clarification is required concerning the role of the National Committee in regards to their authority to control paid public advertising,

Be it resolved by the America First Party National Committee that,

The text of all advertising matter funded by the National Committee, not including press releases which have minimal monetary impact and require immediate action, must first be approved by resolution of the National Committee before publication, such resolution not being subject to amendment before passage; and

Failure of the National Committee to approve said text shall not nullify the Resolution authorizing the creation and/or funding of the advertising matter; and

This resolution supersedes all previous National Committee resolutions pertaining to any authority, implied or explicit, granted concerning paid public advertisement of the America First Party National Committee.

After some debate, the Chairman called the vote. Because the Resolution institutes a parliamentary rule restricting future debate and amendment of certain future resolutions, a two-thirds vote is required for passage. The Chairman announced that the Resolution failed.

The Chairman's ruling was appealed, and a roll-call vote was taken.

Voting For the Resolution:

Mr. Lovell, Mrs. McHugh, Mr. Jones, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Spooner, Mr. Wallgren, Mrs. Weatherford, Mrs. Leka, Mrs. Lovell, Mr. Pate, Mr. Plott, Mr. Finger, Mr. Rossillo, Mr. Illions, Mr. Arft, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, Dr. Cross, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Pangborn, Mr. Hackl, and Mrs. Owens.

Voting Against the Resolution:

Mr. Hey, Mr. Golmon, Mrs. Winters, Mr. Hill, Mr. McClellan, Mr. Cox, Mr. Muskopf, Mr. Law, Mrs. Blankenship, Mr. Winters, Mr. Stryker, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Besanko.

Abstaining: Mr. White

The Chairman declared that with 22 members voting in favor, 13 against, and 1 abstention, the Resolution falls short of the required two-thirds vote, and thus fails.

Mr. Lovell moved the adoption of the Resolution referred by the Convention Committee. The Resolution was seconded by Mr. Edwards.

The Resolution reads as follows:

RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE SPECIFIC DATES OF THE 2003 NATIONAL CONVENTION

Whereas, the previous National Committee resolution establishing the dates of July 24 - 27, 2003 for the 2003 America First Party National Convention was initially intended to determine the weekend of the National Convention and not necessarily the actual dates or duration of the 2003 National Convention, and

Whereas, the Convention Committee by unanimous vote on 2/8/03 has recommended that the 2003 National Convention be only two days in length including a National Committee Meeting,

Be it resolved by the America First Party National Committee:

That the 2003 National Convention including a National Committee Meeting be held on Friday, July 25, 2003 and Saturday, July 26, 2003, and

That this resolution supersedes all previous National Committee resolutions pertaining to the date of the 2003 National Convention.

The Resolution was adopted by majority vote, all members casting 'yea' votes save Mr. White, who cast the lone 'no' vote.

Mr. Hill moved the adoption of a Resolution referred by the Finance Committee regarding the acceptance of donations for copies of the party's new brochure. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Winters.

After some discussion by the members, Mr. Lovell noted a problem with the monetary requirement for providing brochures to party organizing committees. Mr. Hey moved the amendment of the Resolution to allow organizing committees to receive brochures at cost. His amendment was seconded by Mr. Lovell and accepted by the entire body.

The Resolution, as amended, reads as follows:

RESOLUTION REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF PAMPHLETS IN EXCHANGE FOR DONATIONS

Resolved by the America First National Committee:

That, pamphlets produced by the America First National Committee be offered in exchange for donations from the Affiliated State Party organizations or Organizing Committees recognized by the Party Building Committee in lots of 500 at a rate equal to the per unit cost of production, rounded up to the nearest whole dollar; and,

That, the per unit cost of production shall be computed by the Finance Chairman and distributed on the Party's Leaders reflector whenever availability of pamphlets is announced or upon request by a member of the America First National Committee; and,

That, the cost of postage or delivery of the pamphlets to the Affiliated State Parties shall be born by the affiliated state parties and shall be as worked out with the National Secretary; and,

That, pamphlets produced by the America First National Committee be offered in exchange for donations to the general public or individual party members in lots of 25 at a cost of $10, including standard first class postage.

The Resolution was adopted by unanimous vote.

Mrs. Winters moved that the Agenda be opened to permit the addition of a Resolution on the Logo Contest. Her motion was seconded by Mr. McClellan and adopted by unanimous consent.

Mrs. Winters moved that the National Committee close the Logo Contest on March 31, 2003 so that the National Committee may select the official party logo during early April. Mr. White seconded the motion, and it was adopted by unanimous vote.

A short time of questions was entertained by the members of the Operating Committee.

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

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