Fourteen LNC Members File Joint Response to Judicial Committee Appeal
Fourteen members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) on July 28 submitted their response to the appeal filed by the Wes Wagner group claiming to lead the Libertarian Party of Oregon (LPO).
The June 19 appeal by the Wagner group claims that the LNC Executive Committee’s recognition of the Reeves group on June 18 was a constructive disaffiliation and should have required a three-quarters vote of the entire LNC.
The nearly 70-page set of documents (Document 1 of Response by LNC) (Document 2 of Response by LNC) (Appendix Assembly of Response by LNC) submitted by Chairman Mark Hinkle – and signed by a broad cross section exceeding three-fourths of the eighteen-member governing board – denies that Wes Wagner could be a party to an appeal because Wagner has not been the chair of the LPO since May 21 and states that no disaffiliation took place.
The LNC response describes its actions as necessary to protect the autonomy of its Oregon affiliate from a “rogue board of directors.”
The comprehensive submission provides a timeline of events, along with a number of arguments and documentation in support of its conclusions that
- There exists a distinction between disaffiliation and recognizing legitimate officers
- There are numerous reasons as to why the LNC needs to ascertain the identity of officers of affiliates to remain in compliance with its bylaws
- Acknowledging legitimate officers elected by LPO members in accordance with their bylaws is not a violation of affiliate autonomy
- Wagner’s own public statements reveal he believes his board does not have the authority to amend the bylaws
- There exists a clear rationale for why LPO’s bylaws must lead one to conclude that the group of officers led by Tim Reeves are the legitimate officers of the LPO
- Wagner’s position is at odds with the very state law he claims as justification
- Not recognizing the officers led by Tim Reeves would have been equivalent to disaffiliating the long-standing LPO – without the required ¾ vote – and affiliating with a newly created organization, with a different set of bylaws and different set of members
