ANNOUNCEMENTS

As of this writing, we have 29 libertarians confirmed for lunch at our convention. Why don't you be the 30th? The more the merrier definitely works for this type of thing. The convention is set for 10am to 5pm Saturday, March 8 at the Smyrna Fire House Social Hall, 103 W. Commerce, Smyrna (opposite 1st Presbyterian Church). We will start at 10am with coffee, and finish up with our county caucuses at ~4:15pm. For those of you only interested in the business portion of the meeting, it will be first at 10:30am. The business meeting is free, of course. The price for the day including lunch and the speakers is $25/person and $40/couple. The convention is supposed to be self funding, but unless we have an exceptional turnout, we will lose money at these prices. Please make an effort to come out! Call Terri Lewis (302.653.4550) with your reservation, so we know how much food to order.

The program was published here last month and in the paper newsletter. See the web site for the program if you can't find a previous copy.

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In other news, so to speak, the next 'Libertarian Discussion Group' will be 11am Sunday March 9th at 'A Piece of Ireland' (enter through the door facing Rt 4 to find us most easily). The topic will be 'Home Schooling and Education'. We will also continue discussion of the best format for these meetings. Incidentally, the restaurant has a good breakfast buffet for only $11, so feel free to come hungry!

"It's called 'soft dictatorship' - government's attempt to control every aspect of American life for your own good or for the good of the children. The ultimate issue is power. This week's example: government's assault

(at all levels) on the home-school movement, which now includes threats to send home-school parents to jail. Government's great fear in this matter is not that the kids are being short-changed or abused - it's that they might be getting a better education than the government-educrat de facto monopoly can provide and that the word might get out."

- Dr. Michael Arnold Glueck & Dr. Robert J. Cihak, WorldNetDaily.com, 12/12/02

By the way, the February meeting discussed Libertarian positions on the pending war with Iraq. You may be interested in Harry Browne's arguments against this involvement (http://www/TruthAboutWar.org)

LP DE IN THE NEWS

Did you make news this month? Let me know. Send any 'Letters to the Editor' (LTTE) or articles you have published to Tom Uffner (tom@uffner.com) to post on the web site. Include where and when, and copy me to be listed here.

John Colgan: LTTE in the Brandywine Community News 2/22: "Time to Legalize Marijuna"

Bill Morris: 3 LTTE in the Delaware State News: 'Environmental overkill by Delaware' (2/10/03); "Let's get rid of the income tax, IRS" (02/11); "In favor of legal marijuana" (2/26). He had one in the Community News also. Way to go Bill!

George Smith was interviewed on CN8 (Comcast Cable News) about the Free State Project on 2/4.

HELP WANTED

John Reda is running for the 6th City Council seat in Elsmere this April. Volunteers are needed for about one hour of door-to-door work. The first scheduled outing is Saturday, March 29th (rain date is Sunday, March 30th). We will be going to approximately 225 houses. This will simply involve hanging bags with fortune cookies (you have to see these) and refrigerator magnets on the doors and moving on to the next house. You do not have to knock on the door or talk to people. The second outreach is scheduled for Saturday April 12th (rain date is Sunday April 13th). We will again be targeting likely voters with door hangers.

Finally, poll watchers will be needed on election day, April 26.

This should all be fun! Contact Jim Holliday to volunteer (J.M.Holliday@verizon.net).

John's budget is a quite modest $750, of which $150 has been raised so far. This is a winnable race. Please chip in and help John. Make checks out to John Reda, and mail them to Jim Holliday (19 Wheatfield Rd, Wilmington, DE 19810) or bring them to the convention. Even $10 will help.

CANDIDATE TIPS

20 Months to the next general election!

Hopefully you are thinking about offices to run for; whether or not you would really want the office in a winnable race; the point you want to make in a bigger race where the odds are against you; attending relevant meetings; talking to the incumbents, etc.

While you continue to reflect on and do all that I want to add appointed offices to the mix of possibilities. For this issue, I am simply appending an article that came my way recently. Later, I'll share some lists of appointments, and some comments on appointments by NCC Councilman Robert Weiner.

CALENDAR

The Libertarian Party of Delaware state board meetings are open to the

public, as are all of the county monthly meetings. As things are always

subject to change, please email the indicated party before attending.

State Board: 2pm Sunday March 30th (last Sunday), South Smynra

Email Jim Conk: jconk4@comcast.net

NC County: 6pm Sunday March 16 (third Sunday), downtown Wilmington

Email Jim Holliday: j.m.holliday@verizon.net

NCC Discussion Group:

11am Sunday March 9th (second Sunday), A Piece of Ireland

(Chesmar Plaza, Newark). Email John Colgan: colgan@snip.net

Kent County: 7pm Tuesday March 18 (third Tuesday), Dover

Email Jim Conk: jconk4@comcast.net

Sussex County: 7pm Tuesday March 25 (fourth Tuesday), Bella Capri Restaurant, Georgetown

Email John Elliot: tyre@dmv.com

LPD Convention 10am Saturday March 8, Smyrna Fire House Social Hall, 103 W. Commerce, Smyrna

Next issue of First State Libertarian deadline for editorial content: March 28th

Join the Libertarian Party of Delaware or contribute. Visit our web site at www.de.lp.org

Thanks to Tim Young and 123clickit.com for making

libertarian@123clickit.com available to us.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw

ADDENDUM

How To Get Appointed To Local Office

by Chris Azzaro, Director, Libertarian Victory Fund, 1306 West Craig Road #158, North Las Vegas, NV 89032

(phone 702-657-6573) www.LibertarianVictoryFund.com

Most Libertarians know me for my work as a campaign manager, or as the current executive director of the Libertarian Victory Fund. And as one might guess, my main focus is usually on getting more Libertarians

*elected* to office. That's what I'm all about.

But there is another, sometimes easier, way to get more Libertarians in public office ... and that is by winning *appointment* to local offices. I use the phase "winning appointment" because this is something that requires

a campaign of it's own. And although it may not be as tough as winning elections, getting appointed to a significant office can be challenging. However, with a good plan and some persistence, it definitely can be

done.

And being appointed to public office can really pay off. Serving in these positions can be a great way to bolster your political resume, get involved in your community, and build credibility for a future run for office.

Many local advisory boards and commissions have vast powers in their communities which have been delegated to them from city and county officials. This presents some great opportunities to make a difference for freedom.

I happen to know a little bit about the difference we Libertarians can make in appointed positions. I am currently the Vice Chairman of the City of North Las Vegas Citizens Advisory Board, which is in charge of

distributing community development block grant (CDBG) money. North Las Vegas, NV is a city of over 135,000 residents with a $1.3 million dollar a year CDBG budget.

In just my first year in office, I was able to convince my fellow board members to block a $200,000 a year boondoggle to harass low-income homeowners for "code violations." And now that I know the ropes a bit better, I think I can be even more effective in promoting liberty in my next three years in office.

As you can see, this is an area where we can really make a difference. There are currently several hundred appointed Libertarians throughout the country. This gives our party some much-needed credibility. But we can do more. Just think if we started winning *thousands* of appointments around the country. Think of the impact we could make!

This is something we all need to get in on. But like I said before, it takes a plan and some work to make it happen. These appointments must be *earned.* So I thought it might be beneficial to share with you the strategy

that I was able to use successfully to win appointment to my local office.

I started working for an appointment in September of 1999. I had not been attending city council meetings, I had no connections in city government, and I did not know any of the city council members. The city clerk had

received literally hundreds of applications for the various boards from all kinds of community activists. And because these positions have been used as stepping stones to higher office in the past, there can be lots of

competition for the more important boards. I certainly had my work cut out for me.

But I had a plan! And you know what they say ... no one can stop a man with a plan, because no one has a plan to stop him!

Here's a step-by-step summery of how I lobbied for my appointment.

1) I started by going to the city clerk's office and picking up an application, along with specific information on all the appointed boards. I also familiarized myself with the appointment process. In North Las Vegas,

appointees must be nominated and seconded by members of the city council and then approved by the entire council.

2) I then called my city councilwoman. But this first call had nothing to do with being appointed to any boards. I called to introduce myself as the State Director of the Nevada LP (which I was at that time) and to invite

her to appear on our weekly talk radio show. I also mentioned that there were over 700 registered Libertarians in our city, and that we planned to get more involved in municipal government. By doing this, I did three things:

a) I stroked her ego, b) I made her aware of the fact that I represented hundreds of voters in her city, and c) I established myself as someone who was a leader of that constituency. I spent about an hour on the phone with

her and we got on very friendly terms.

3) A few weeks later I called her again to ask about the various appointed boards, and the appointment process itself. People love to be asked for help and advice (stroking that ego again) and she ended up being quite

cooperative. She gave me tips on filling out the application, and how to lobby the other council members. She even said she would look out for my application and make sure that it was considered.

4) Next, I filled out the application neatly and professionally. I sent it to the city clerk, and sent copies to each council member.

5) I followed up with a personal letter to each council member letting them know my some of my background, qualifications, and explaining why I wanted the appointment.

6) Then I made phone calls to every council member basically just reiterating the points I made in the letter. This is where some of my homework paid off. When I was asked specific questions about the board I was seeking, I had the answers on the tip of my tongue.

7) Unfortunately, I did not get the appointment at that time. So I checked the schedule with the city clerk to see when the next round of appointments would be, and planned accordingly.

8) About three weeks before the next round of appointments, I sent another letter to the council members letting them know that I was still interested in serving on the board. And I was sure to point out my experience and

qualifications again.

9) Then I made another round of follow up calls. But this time it was easier. I wasn't some stranger calling out of the blue. They knew who I was, and they were ready to give me a shot. I made sure that I got firm

commitments from each council member to vote for me.

10) Finally, about 6 months after I started working on this project, the council meeting came up where I expected to be appointed. I showed up in suit and tie, and made sure I spoke with a few of the council members in

person just before the meeting. Things went as planned. The council voted unanimously to appoint me to the Citizens Advisory Board. And I'm proud to say that I was selected over 32 other applicants

Now, I am one year into a four-year term. And in addition to the success I had last year in stopping the increased code enforcement, I've already made a lot of really good connections in my local community -- connections that will pay dividends in the future.

Although it took a while to get the appointment, it really wasn't that much work at all. I'm sure glad that I went for it. I strongly advise anyone who is considering running for local office to seek an appointed position.

It's fun. It's rewarding. And it's relatively easy.

Just make sure that you have a plan, and do your homework. Don't be afraid to write letters and make those phone calls. Be assertive.

Now let's get busy winning elections ... and winning appointments!