Minutes of the America First National Committee

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, pursuant to the Resolution of the Operating Committee adopted on September 16, 2003.

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members.

Present:

• Tim Lohrmann of Idaho
• Joseph Hoffman of Illinois
• L. Thomas White of Massachusetts
• Nancy Blankenship of Missouri
• Trey Golmon of Mississippi
• Romelle Winters and Francis Winters of New Hampshire
• Sam Cross, George Stryker, and David Thomas of Pennsylvania
• Frank Hackl of Wisconsin
• Maureen McHugh of Illinois, National Treasurer
• John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, National Secretary

Absent:

• Larry Carroll of Colorado
• Michael Beckham of Illinois
• Jon Hill of Massachusetts
• Greg Roberts of Missouri
• Ward Chorpenning and Jim Bunosky of Ohio

John Francis of Ohio and Brad Maurer of New York joined the meeting after the roll call had been taken.

A Quorum being present, the Secretary called the meeting to order.

The National Committee meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Hey delivered the invocation.

Mrs. Winters made a motion to elect John Hey to chair this meeting. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Stryker. Mr. Hey was elected to chair the meeting by unanimous consent.

The Secretary reported receiving notice of the resignation of Michael Beckham of Illinois from the National Committee. The Secretary related that Mr. Beckham's business commitments prohibited him from attending the national committee meetings. Mr. Hey moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to strike Mr. Beckham from the list. His amendment was seconded by Mr. White and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reported receiving notice of the presentation of Mr. Jonathan Hill and Mr. L. Thomas White as National Committee members from the America First Party of Massachusetts Committee. He explained that the two gentlemen desired to be re-credentialed due to the filing of a new committee name with the state election officials in Massachusetts. The actual organization and membership will remain the same. Mrs. Winters moved the amendment of the Certified List of National Committee members to show Mr. Hill and Mr. White as National Committee members from Massachusetts. Her amendment was seconded by Mrs. McHugh and adopted by unanimous vote.

Mrs. Winters moved the adoption of the Agenda as distributed by the Secretary. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Hackl and adopted by unanimous vote.

The Secretary reminded the members that he had previously circulated draft minutes of the August 12th meeting of the National Committee for consideration and adoption. Mrs. Winters moved the approval of the minutes. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Maurer and adopted by unanimous vote.

The National Treasurer delivered her report. The August ending balance is $3,694.94. Two thirds of the Convention Debt has been retired, and the final payment is scheduled for the first week of October.

The Treasurer urged the members to complete payment of the convention debt assessment as quickly as possible.

The Treasurer reported that John and Virginia Clark have filed a demand against our credit card processor to refund the $70 they paid for the Dinner Tickets. The party had previously issued a refund check to the Clarks for the $70, and the Clarks have already cashed the refund check for $70 in the middle of August. The Treasurer is compiling the necessary paperwork to recover the duplicate payment that has already been refunded to the Clarks and to which they are not entitled.

The committee next took up the issue of the Dinner to be held on Saturday evening, October 25 at the end of the in-person National Committee meeting. Mrs. McHugh described two proposals, one from the "Black Ram" and the other from the "Gracie!" restaurant. After some discussion, the committee selected the "Gracie!" proposal by unanimous vote.

Mrs. McHugh brought up the possibility of a speaker at the Dinner. She has entered into discussions to invite Thomas Fleming of the Rockford Institute to address the committee on Saturday evening. After some discussion, Mrs. Winters moved that the National Committee authorize Mrs. McHugh to engage Mr. Fleming, and set a limit of $250 on the honorarium. Her motion was seconded by Mr. Francis and adopted by unanimous vote, with Mr. White abstaining.

The Secretary led the members in a lengthy discussion of party building and the organization of members and volunteers. The party building committee will meet this weekend to iron out some new and exciting proposals to jump-start volunteer efforts in the states.

There being no further business, on motion made by Mr. Hackl, seconded by Mr. White, and adopted by unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned.

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