LNC in Chaos over Credentials Committee (Part 2)

Last updated on May 16, 2024

The LNC has having a vigorous debate over the Credentials Committee.  The debate is on multiple threads. The debate is on the LNC Public list, which can be difficult to follow because all metadata is displayed.  I am presenting the debate without the metadata.

Tuniewicz objected to the motions:
Point of order, Madam Chair.
Mr. Malagon’s motions are out of order
Article 11, Section 4, Subsection a of our bylaws require that the LNC representatives to the Credentials Committee be chosen no later than six months prior to convention.
It is a violation of the bylaws to remove an already selected LNC member and for the LNC to choose its members of that committee within the six months leading to convention, let alone within two weeks.
With best wishes Mark Tuniewicz Region 6 Representative
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Harlos responded:
That refers to initial choosing same with the affiliates who may be removed and replaced.
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Tuniewicz answered:
I respectfully disagree Madam Secretary.
Not only is this motion out of order but it’s just a bad idea to make such changes so close to the convention, for the reasons stated previously. It gives the impression that the LNC is trying to stack the deck on the credentials committee to achieve some sort of partisan outcome at convention. It also provides additional fodder for the pending lawsuit against us.
With best wishes Mark Tuniewicz Region 6 Representative
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Harlos said
It does not and I disagree. The committee is not functional and it’s our job through our appointees to make it so. Unlike others I have gone and passed f attention.

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[Editor: The ‘not functional’ claim is vigorously denied by the Credentials Committee.] See Below.
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Angela McArdle wrote: I’m sorry, I just saw this point of order. I will rule on it today asap.  [Editor: Whe rules against the Point of Order.  We will post the Ruling when we find it.

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Nekhaila wrote: Presented Credentials Committee Concerns Made to Me

Josh Hlavka, Credentials Committee Chair, wrote:

Mr. Nekhaila,

To follow up from our discussion earlier, here is a short bullet point list of some of the concerns being presented surrounding my committee.

– “Mr. Pirece (TX Rep) has been very rude and disrespectful towards members of the committee and LNC members who have tried to assist the committee with advise”

I have not had anyone on the committee, formally or informally, lodge a serious complaint against Mr. Pierce until after last night’s meeting. I have discussed with Mr. Pierce numerous times about the need to utilize the “Raise Hand” feature in meetings, instead of shouting out to speak, but this has not impacted meetings in any meaningful way. I have also advised Billy to not react to what he perceives as negative stimuli, and that if he does not what to be party to something, especially after committee meetings, to just log off and enjoy his night. Mr. Pierce is well aware of his actions last night having a negative impact on this committee.

– “Hands were being unilaterally put down of those wishing to speak”

This was unfortunately a truthful statement, and as everyone of the committee members had this ability, I can not discern for certain who on the committee, although I have my suspicions. That said, the members of the committee know they had the right to motion to allow someone to be recognized from the gallery to speak before the committee. I intend to set up our next call differently to disallow anyone but myself to
control hand drops.

– “You should be holding meetings everyday this close to convention.”

This, while well meaning, is a little unrealistic. All of our committee members are preparing to travel various distances next week to DC. All of us have professional and personal lives that we must attend to. Meeting every night just to meet is redundant at best, a waste of time at worst. If there is something THAT pressing, we can always call a meeting on 24 hours notice, but otherwise I don’t find it prudent. We had meetings to meet last term on the committee like that, and they ended up being more of a social event than a working meeting.

– “You are not making rulings on challenges fast enough”

Challenges to delegations are a sensitive matter, and not to be taken lightly. This whole committee wants to make sure we can make the best decisions possible with regards to rulings on delegate challenges. New information may give us a reason to pause and consider further. I know I was ready to personally vote on at lest three matters, just to have ample evidence presented to pause for consideration. The committee is taking a “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” approach to these, because we are more concerned with getting it right, than being right here.

– “You are misrepresenting my challenges”

Unfortunately we are having several challenges coming in on the same matter in some cases. I do apologize if members feel they have been misrepresented, as that is not the intention of myself or anyone on the committee. We simply want to make sure what we are looking at and how we can properly address the matter. We plan to address this going forward by screen sharing the challenge for all to see, so no confusion.

– “No discussion on logistics. The committee has not discussed travel itineraries of committee members, nor schedules on availability for manning the check-in booth”

This was a correct assertion, but one I find easily correctable. I have already reached out to the committee  with regard to travel plans, and we all are aware we will be needing to man the check-in booth throughout the convention. We were intending to wait to a closer meeting to sort this out, but being that there is concern on the matter, we can execute sooner.

– “Will we know how will state lists be displayed and do we know which states are ranked delegates, and which are lot delegate?”

We will be utilizing a shared Google Sheet for this, that will have 51  tabs to account for all states and DC. One of our committee members is already working to make this happen. This will allow us to present states as needed, without the grind of scrolling a very long list. We will also made a point to take the advise that we need to consider noting which delegations are ranked vs. lot.

– “How will arrivals, departures, and substitutions for delegates be noted?”

We intend to have columns for the shared sheet, mentioned above, that will allow us to record date and times for member check-ins, check-outs, and substitutions. This matter is pretty simple to account for, and was already a know item to make sure we had prepared in advance of credentials check-in for May 23 at 2pm. We also plan to remind delegation chairs during the report to make sure to report substitutions of delegates with alternates at our table.

– “You are still having discussions on the duties of the committee 10 days out. This is alarming”

This is not as bad as it sounds. This was a good discussion on why the role of the committee is so important to the party, and why is is vital that we get things right the first time. This was framed as a wasted of 15 minutes by those not on the committee, but at no time did anyone on the committee call for Orders of the Day, or request for me to move things along as chair. This is a team effort, so we need coordinate to make sure everyone is one the same page, as we all have to answer for one another. I am sorry if I wasted any non-committee member’s time, but they also were there of their own volition.

I once again want to assure you and the LNC that this committee is absolutely functioning as needed, and that we will be prepared to execute our duties at the 2024 National Convention. I think the fact that we went from private, member only meetings to one with a public gallery the size of a state convention lead my committee to be more tense than normal. I’ll also take ownership of the failure to wrangle in my own people when they break decorum; this is an area of opportunity I am working on as a presiding officer. The  committee is already discussing methods to alleviate these issues going into our next meeting.

– Josh Hlavka