Minutes of the Operating Committee of the America First Party
Thursday, February 20, 2003
BE IT REMEMBERED that the Operating Committee of the America First Party met on Thursday, February 20, 2003 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, pursuant to the emergency call of the Chairman earlier that day.
The Secretary called the roll of Operating Committee members:
Present:
- Dan Charles of Colorado, Chairman
- John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary
- Maureen McHugh of Illinois, Treasurer
- Jon Hill of Massachusetts, Finance Committee Chairman
- Romelle Winters of New Hampshire, Public Relations Committee Chairman
- James D. Jones of Tennessee, Party Building Chairman
- Michael O'Brian of Michigan, Platform Committee Chairman
- Trey Golmon of Mississippi, Ballot Access Committee Chairman
- James Edwards of Tennessee, Candidates Committee Chairman
Absent:
- Gene Lovell of Georgia, Vice-chairman
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 8:35 p.m. EST.
The Chairman led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Secretary gave the invocation.
The Treasurer reports that the FEC has informed her that the party's ads cannot contain any hint of request for donations without the insertion of the "best efforts" boilerplate language. The question has been raised whether the language in the ad that has been submitted to the American Free Press should be changed to remove the donation language. The party could suffer possible large fines if its ads run afoul of the FEC regulations.
Mr. Golmon moved that the Operating Committee instruct the Chairman to ask the American Free Press to pull the donation language from the advertisement. His motion was seconded by Mr. Hill.
There was discussion of various options. It was the consensus that to pull the ad entirely would place too great a hardship upon the American Free Press. In addition, one member pointed out that the "best efforts" language can be included in larger format ads.
After some discussion, the motion was approved by unanimous vote.
There being no further business, upon motion made by Mrs. Winters, seconded by Mr. O'Brian, and adopted by unanimous vote, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________
John Pittman Hey
National Secretary
America First National Committee
