Minutes of the America First National Committee
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, pursuant to the Resolution of the National Committee of September 29, 2002.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 9:15 p.m. EDT.
The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members:
Present:
- John Spooner of California
- Wanda Weatherford and Marcel Dietze of Colorado
- Helen Leka, Floyd Atchley, and George Radzwillas of Connecticut
- Gaurav Ahuja of Florida
- Phil Anderson and Diane Lovell of Georgia
- Dave Doyle and Jim Monagan of Iowa
- Guadalupe Lynch of Illinois
- L. Thomas White of Massachusetts
- Michael O'Brian of Michigan
- Ryan Law and Leo Daley of Minnesota
- Nancy Blankenship of Missouri
- Trey Golmon of Mississippi
- Cleve Pate of North Carolina
- Francis Winters of New Hampshire
- Gary Grella and Maureen Flannery of New York
- John Francis of Ohio
- Karen Faye Wilson and Patrick Wilson of Oregon
- George Stryker and Sam Cross of Pennsylvania
- George Pangborn of Texas
- Romelle Winters of New Hampshire, Public Relations Chairman
- Jon Hill of Massachusetts, Finance Committee Chairman
- Ed Moses of Iowa, Rules Committee Chairman
- James D. Jones of Tennessee, Party Building Chairman
- John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary
- Gene Lovell of Georgia, Vice-chairman
- Dan Charles of Colorado, Chairman
Absent:
- John Verser, Billie Deeter and Jess Bonds of Arkansas
- Ron Teal and Richard Horowitz of California
- Larry Carroll of Colorado
- George Bashure of Florida
- Brendan McCrudden of Illinois
- John Clark and Virginia Clark of Maryland
- Gerald Duncan of Michigan
- Clinton Muskopf of Minnesota
- Ray Cherry and Dennis Carriger of Missouri
- Ryan Walters and Candice Schmidt of Mississippi
- Norman Kent and Gordon Ipock of North Carolina
- Ted Maravelias of New Hampshire
- Jim Arft of New York
- Jim Bunosky and Ward Chorpenning of Ohio
- Melvin Johnson of Oregon
- David Thomas of Pennsylvania
- Wes Anderson and Blake Buffington of Texas
- Rick Besanko, Linda Muller, and Chris Wenzel of Virginia
- James Edwards of Tennessee, Candidates Committee Chairman
- Roger Simmermaker of Florida, Platform Committee Chairman
- Maureen McHugh of Illinois, Treasurer
Mr. McClellan of Florida joined the meeting after the roll call had been taken.
Mr. Philip White attended, first as a guest, and then as a member of the National Committee from Michigan.
A quorum being present, the National Committee meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. The Secretary delivered the invocation.
The Secretary reported receiving notice of the election of Philip White of Michigan to the National Committee. The Secretary moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to add Philip White of Michigan. His motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.
A question was raised as to whether Mr. Anderson of Texas had resigned from the National Committee. The matter was referred to Mr. Pangborn, Chairman of the Texas state party, for clarification.
Mr. Doyle moved the adoption of the Certified List of National Committee members as amended. His motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.
Mr. O'Brian moved the adoption of the Agenda that had been previously circulated. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote.
The Chairman gave his report. The bumper stickers have been received by the Secretary and are ready for shipping. The prices, which were set by the Finance Committee per the National Committee's instruction, are $5 each, three for $10 including shipping. However, state parties and candidates can obtain bumper stickers at the reduced rate of $28.85 per hundred including shipping.
The Chairman described the proposals he had obtained for on-line processing of credit card contributions. Two companies, Capital Merchant Solutions, Inc. of Chicago, and US Merchant Systems of Boulder, have provided preliminary proposals. However, final contracts have not been received from both companies.
Mrs. Lovell moved that the Operating Committee be authorized to enter into a contract with either of the two companies after making the final determination which proposal is in the best interests of the party. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Stryker.
Messrs. Moses and Pate moved to table the motion. The motion to table failed.
Mr. McClellan moved to amend the motion to submit the matter to the National Committee for action by written consent (a vote by mail) after both final contracts have been received. His amendment was seconded by Mr. Law. The amendment failed.
Finally, on the main question of whether to submit the matter to the Operating Committee for final disposition, the motion was adopted by unanimous vote of the National Committee.
The Chairman reported on his attendance at the immigration forum. He encouraged the party members to focus on support for the party's candidates during the final three weeks before the election.
Mr. Francis provided an update on the Traficant campaign and the rally scheduled for October 26th at the Allenwood prison facility in Pennsylvania.
The Vice-chairman reported on his trips to Memphis to assist Mr. Edwards in his campaign for the state House of Representatives. Several party members from out of state intend to assist on the ground on election day.
The Secretary delivered his report. He reminded the members that he had previously circulated draft minutes of three National Committee meetings.
Mr. Hey moved the approval of the minutes of the August 8, 2002 meeting of the National Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ahuja and adopted by unanimous vote.
Mr. Hey moved the approval of the minutes of the August 25, 2002 meeting of the National Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Doyle and adopted by unanimous vote.
Mr. Hey moved the approval of the minutes of the September 5, 2002 meeting of the National Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lovell and adopted by unanimous vote, with Mr. McClellan abstaining.
The Secretary reported more progress on creating the Party Building web site infrastructure, including the addition of statistical reporting. He mentioned briefly some of the figures regarding the number of contacts the party has received and the performance of the party building committee members in recording interactions with those contacts. The detailed statistical reports are being provided to the Party Building Committee chairman for his use in managing the activities of the committee.
The Secretary reported on the increased traffic on the party web site. The month of October will set a record for hits and visits if the current trend continues.
The Chairman delivered a very brief Treasurer's report in the absence of the Treasurer. Since the last report, donations of $220 have been received, and $58 has been expended.
Mr. Lovell moved that the Treasurer reimburse Mr. Charles for the cost of the bumperstickers in the amount of $599. The motion was seconded by Mr. O'Brian and adopted by unanimous vote.
The Chairman reported a balance of $3267 in the party bank account.
Mrs. Winters delivered the Public Relations Committee report. The logo contest is being organized and the proposals will be circulated for the voting/bidding process.
The newsletter is almost ready to send to the printer. A discussion was held regarding efforts to obtain and exploit "free" media such as talk radio and cable access programming.
There being no further business, upon motion made by Mr. Pangborn, seconded by Mrs. Weatherford, and adopted by unanimous vote, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________
John Pittman Hey
National Secretary
America First National Committee
