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Fr: Robert Kraus
To: lnc-board@lp.org
Please note I fully expect to be removed from the COC but wanted to express my thanks for placing me on this committee & that it was an honor to serve.
Several LNC Members have reached out to me to ask me to express the following to all of you:
a) I hope the new appointment is someone who has experience working national conventions previously;y – as this is really needed right now.
b) Please ask & seek answers to the tough ?’s which include:
1) Why is current package sales data is not being shared with COC Members nor the LNC – in past years this was shared weekly by the Ops Director to the COC & Monthly to the LNC
2) What is the current room pickup & why is this too not being shared with at least the COC?
3) How does the above compare to 2022 & esp 2020? If sales of both are behind (or way behind) then what is being done to mitigate risk to the LNC? Has the room block been decreased? Have steps been taken to minimize F&B & A/V expenses?
4) Convention is considered a “special event” per the policiy manual – thus the revenue from such must be held in a separate segregated bank account & recorded as a liability. Is this being accounted for correctly? If not why not?
5) One reason noted for my being replaced is my donation to a particular caucus (I’ve made donations to several caucuses BTW). Some board members of the LNC & other LNC Committees have also donated to the caucus in question. Does that mean they should be removed too? Also how about delegates to the convention – if they donate to the “wrong” caucus are you going to use that as an excuse to remove their voting rights?
Please note my time on the COC was used to advise how to make the convention successful by raising the most money & reducing costs – as promised at the LNC Meeting where I was appointed. Some of my advise was taken, others were not. Some votes of the COC have also been overruled by the COC Chair. That is NOT how a committee should work. I hope the COC will function more collaboratively going forward. I am sorry this did not work out.
I have personally waived all privacy concerning the matter of removing me & hope the email thread from the COC list is shared to anyone who wants to review it. I’ve suggested this be on the “private” list since some members of the COC do not want to be transparent. Please feel free to distribute this email as you wish publicly.
Thanks again & Happy New Year!
Robert Kraus
Question, because of what is occurring at the California state convention as it relates to the presidential candidates’ debate if there is going to be a presidential candidates debate at the national convention what is the criteria to decide which candidates will participate in the debate?
The current LNC and the COC appear to be allergic to success, competency, and teamwork. The longest employed staffer, Robert Kraus, was a wealth of knowledge and skills that he earned as Director of Operations. No one did it better.
Letting him go was a fatal mistake. He was worth every penny we paid him and then some. I can only conclude that the Mises Caucus wants the LNC to fail. Action speaks louder than words. When you replace a seasoned pro with an amateur, you’re not looking to win.
By every metric, save voter registration, the LP is shrinking; membership = down, fund raising = down, activities = down, etc.
If an outside force wanted to cripple the Libertarian Party, would they have done anything differently from what McArdle and company have done?
Thank you for all you did to try to help make the convention a success, Robert. It is a great loss to the party to remove such a knowledgable professional from the COC.
Robert Kraus is a consummate professional, focusing on the success of the convention even as he was being summarily removed from the Convention Oversight Committee for having exactly that focus on the success of the convention.