news

More “honest mistakes”: Oregon’s Elections Division this week found a discrepancy of over $6100 in LPO Treasurer Christiana Mayer’s financial reports. The standard fine (yet to be assessed) would equal the amount of the discrepancy, and additional penalties are possible. The Treasurer (who is also Chairperson Adam Mayer’s wife) is personally liable for any fines under Oregon election law. The Mayers have been part of Burke’s inner circle since joining the LPO a decade ago.

Expect another recall petition with many additional signatures to be submitted at the next LPO State Committee meeting Saturday, October 21.

Under LPO Bylaws recall petitions must include valid signatures numbering at least 15% of current members as of the petition’s official submission (which occurred today). The State Committee has no specific written procedure to validate recall petition signatures, but will attempt to do so anyway.

Asked how many members he thinks the party actually has now, Burke declined to be specific but said, “I can’t imagine the number being over 400.” Interestingly, 46 is less than 15% of any number much over 300.

As I type this afternoon, Burke is expected to be arguing to the LPO Judicial Committee that as Executive Director he is not a “director” under LPO governing documents, and should therefore be exempt from recall.

Stay tuned for more “honest mistakes” by Burke and his apologists.

Burke was also running the party in 1995 when the very first LPO recall petition was submitted. His (and his hand picked officers’) refusal to conduct the recall split the party into competing State Committees, led to a series of contentious judicial hearings with contradictory outcomes, and resulted in his faction’s ouster at the ‘96 business convention. Members’ outrage also produced a special bylaws convention in January ‘97 which adopted measures designed to ensure that future officers could not ignore recall petitions.

Burke regained control of the LPO in ‘99 and has run it ever since. Since July of that year, paid membership has declined 75%.

I am a longtime activist with a 4-digit national membership number, a 3-time unanimous congressional nominee, a former state secretary and chair, and one of many Oregon libertarians who will not give a dime to any organization which employs Richard Burke.

I hope the truth prevails and the faulty party ceases their ability to cause problems in the future.