FSP Welcome Letter Mailing Procedures
by Kate Rick, 5/24/04
Mailer establishes a weekly cut-off time with the database manager, and
establishes a deadline for mailing.
Current mailer is: Kate Rick [THIS NEEDS UPDATING!]
Current cut-off is: Friday, midnight
Current mailing deadline is: Saturday, Post Office, close of business.
ASAP the next day, the database manager provides the list of new members
for most recent period (ex. Saturday midnight to Saturday midnight) in a format
that is easily manipulable for label printing.
Currently, WordPerfect is the best program for label printing from our database.
Currently, Adam hands me the list. Email is advisable for less convenient
situations.
Based on the week's numbers, the Mailer makes sufficient copies of the
welcome letter, and prints return addresses on the corresponding number of
envelopes.
This is advisable for a number of reasons, chief being that FSP
information may change and MUST be current when the letter goes out.
(Personnel, address, etc.)
I'm using my mother-in-law's copier, so consider printing free.
Mailer folds, stuffs, stamps, and mails.
For reimbursement purposes, I'm purchasing books of stamps and keeping the
receipts. I'll subtract any that are unused.
Local group guidelines for membership database
Niklas Ludwig – Revised 4/5/06
Local group leaders will now receive the portion of the membership database
relevant to their particular region. To receive the database for your area,
please send an email to
Nik Ludwig clearly signifying that you understand the five conditions
below and agree to abide by them. I will send you your segment in the form of
a sortable Excel spreadsheet.
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Local group leaders may not send more than one mass email to the
members in their respective area per calendar month, without the express
approval of the Local Groups Coordinator.
NOTE: when you send out a mass e-mail, you must send it out
"bcc" or "blind carbon copy" to protect our participants' e-mail addresses from
getting in the wrong hands. – Amanda
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The only appropriate use of member information is to inform them of
upcoming local events, and to ask them for their participation.
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The FSP will not share the information of members who elected to
not be contacted.
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Local Group Leaders may only contact those members in their
respective region, as defined by the local group map on the FSP site.
-
Inappropriate use or frequency of member information will result in
the loss of any leadership position.
Dover (NH) Election Report
by Dave Mincin · 11/14/05
Foster's Daily Democrat, November 9, 2005, (special election edition):
- "Region votes for change"
- "Larochelle wins mayor's race in Rochester upset"
- "Watman wins Somersworth mayoral race"
- "New faces to take the reins in Portsmouth"
and my very, very, favorite:
- "Scott takes Mayberry's seat" (Dover chooses tax fighter over incumbent).
I was recently asked to write a little report on the elections in NH.
Truthfully, I wanted to defer, because for the last five weeks I have had but
one goal and that was to do my best to get elected to City Council here in
Dover. Well, I lost my bid to a lifelong resident and two term incumbent
209-164, but for sure, the good guys won in an big way, and Dover has begun the
process of bringing power back to the folks.
To get the true magnitude of our success, a little history is in order.
First, Dover has long been considered one of the centers of power for those who
believe "government knows best"; Sheehan was a Senator here. Spending is out
of control, and land taxes and debt are rising at a frightening rate. We had a
City Manager who ran Dover as his little serfdom, and secrecy was the norm.
About a year and a half ago David Scott sued the city to open up the books
per the freedom in government law RSA 91A, requesting salaries of municipal
employees. Of course the City Manager refused, saying the information was not
available, and would be too costly to provide if it was available.
I joined David's little group of concerned Dover folks last November when
we were working on getting our people elected to the Charter Commission.
Unfortunately we were only able to get 3 of 9 members elected and the final
recommendations were not very encouraging.
Our next mission was to go after the City Manager, who finally under a
cloud took a job in Arizona.
So what does the City Council do? It pulls a fast one and cuts a secret
deal with the assistant City Manager to give him the job, at a higher salary
than the governor has. Well, we papered the city with the truth, a number of
Free Staters and friends helped with this too. We packed City Council the day
of the vote. According to insiders we brought more folks to city hall that
night that can be remembered, I even did my first testimony before Council
against hiring the assistant. We lost the vote, but receiving 3 Council votes
was a victory of sort. What we really didn't notice at the time was that the
politicos in Dover were beginning to take notice, and get a little riled!
Next we began meeting weekly and David began recruiting folks to run for
Council. In a way we were kind of like the FSP, from different backgrounds and
differing political views, but we all agreed spending was out of control, taxes
increases must stop, and the folks have a right to know what's going on.
Personally I had no intention of running for anything this early in my NH
life, but when I was asked by David, one of the NH folks, I just figured if
they have enough faith in me, then I must give it my best effort. Truth is we
had no one else to run in Ward 1 either.
We were able to contest 4 seats, David and I against incumbents, and
Catherine, and Harvey against competition for open seats. Make no mistake,
folks knew my task was a large one. Ward 1 had the highest union population,
most city employees, and least number of homeowners, not to mention my opponent
was a former city employee as well as former president of the Municipal
Employees Union.
I was just overwhelmed by the help from the folks: Dover folks, NH freedom
folks, and Free Staters too! We had a total of twenty-seven folks who helped,
some more that others, but all helped in some way and can honestly say that
each had something unique and important to add to our effort. We also had ten
donors and one PAC help cover our costs.
Unfortunately we came up a little short 164-209, but by no means do I
consider our effort a loss. Three of four of our candidates were elected, and
we received a commitment from my opponent to not vote for any tax or spending
increases. All of us learned so much about running for office, working
together, and using our varying talents for a common goal.
I guess you might say for me, that this truly sealed the deal about NH and
me. After the election many of us went to David's house for a victory
celebration. A good number of the folks who have been working to get it done
in the Seacoast were there. Lots of smiles, hand shakes, and "good job"s
floating around. I couldn't help but feel humbled!
I expect none of can say for sure about much other than our own thoughts,
but I believe after rubbing elbows with so many of the folks who get it done in
Strafford County, that I have been accepted as just one of the local folks who
cares about freedom.
New Hampshire is now my home, and I thank all you folks for never making me
doubt my move for a moment. I think this coming year is going to be a great
one for freedom in New Hampshire!
FSP mentioned in Ruwart book
The Free State Project is mentioned in Mary Ruwart's book Healing Our
World - In an Age of Agression. In Chapter 22, "How to Get There from
Here", page 376, she writes:
Some activists are trying to set that example on a statewide
basis. The Free State Project is gathering Good Neighbors together for a move
to one of the the less populated states. Once there, they hope to persuade
others of the value of non-aggression. They seek to elect Libertarians to roll
back aggression-through-government. As the Free State prospers, others will
see the value of becoming Good Neighbors themselves and imitate the Free
State's success. [footnote pointing to FSP website]
Healing Our World (third Edition, 2003) is available from Amazon and Laissez Faire Books. Mary Ruwart is a
highly respected freedom writer.
Report from the LP Minnesota Convention
by Amanda Phillips • 4/11/05
Amanda Phillips is the
FSP President and was a featured speaker at the Libertarian Party of Minnesota
convention, held 4/9/05 in St Paul, MN.
LPMN went very well. I was flattered when a couple of the LPMN guys told me
that I gave the best speech of the convention. (Other speakers were Michael
Badnarik, James Bovard, Vin Suprynowicz, a few other big names.) I did get the
best audience reaction... they laughed a lot, and many said they were going to
seriously consider NH after hearing what I had to say. There was a lot of
excitement and goodwill toward the FSP. The LPMN is a wonderful group...
probably the best state LP that I've had the pleasure of visiting.
3/17/06 Update: See the newly available video of
Amanda's interview on The Libertarian Alternative cable show with
host Mark Selzer.
NEWS RELEASE
NJ Governor "Recognizes and Commends"
Writer of Letter to Ayn Rand
Contact: Evan F.
Nappen, Esq.
Phone: 732-389-8888
May 18, 2005 – Lawrenceville,
New Jersey. Lucille Davy, Special Counsel to the Acting Governor of New
Jersey, Richard J. Codey, presented a Governor's Proclamation to Ethan
Nappen, State Finalist in the national reading-writing contest sponsored by
the Library of Congress, Center for the Book. The contest is called Letters
About Literature. After reading Anthem by Ayn Rand, Ethan composed a
letter to the author as required by the contest rules. The Library of Congress
received and judged over 50,000 entries. There were over 2,300 entries
submitted from students across New Jersey. Ethan, who is in eighth grade, was
one of 34 Level II (7th-8th grade) finalists.
New Jersey, which was just named the third most-indebted state in the U.S.,
is infamous for its overregulation of business, political corruption, erosion
of personal freedom, distain for individual rights, aggressive enforcement of
Malum Prohibitum laws, legal embrace of political correctness, and high
taxation. Rand's Anthem deals with a future society in which
collectivism and the good of the State reign supreme over the individual and
even the concept of individuality. It is therefore quite ironic that the
Acting Governor of New Jersey "recognizes and commends" Ethan for an essay in
praise of Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism.
Here are:
-
The winning essay written by Ethan Nappen
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The Governor's Proclamation given to
Ethan Nappen
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A photo of Ethan Nappen receiving
Governor's Proclamation from Lucille Davy, Special Counsel to the Governor at
the Letters about Literature Awards Reception May 18, 2005
# # #
Equality 7-2521
1200 West Park Avenue
Ocean, New Jersey 07712
Dear Ms. Ayn Rand,
We are reading your book, Anthem, after discovering it in the great
tunnel below the ground. It somehow must have escaped the great book burnings
of the unmentionable times. Although we commit a sin by reading your book and
by writing this letter, we find it fascinating as it espouses concepts never
before encountered by us in the Home of the Students. After completing our
experiments with the copper wire and the glass box, we will resume writing this
letter on paper made thousands of years ago. Tomorrow, we intend to show the
glass box to the World Counsel of Scholars and give it to mankind as our gift.
We are hiding in the great tunnel below the ground. We long for the Golden
One, but we are afraid that all is lost because the World Counsel of Scholars
has proclaimed that Equality 7-2521 has broken all laws and that we shall be
burned at the stake for thinking that our mind held greater wisdom than the
collective mind of the World Counsel of Scholars. We must flee into the
uncharted forest where death surely awaits us. We expect to be devoured by
vicious animals, but our only regret is that we will never again see the Golden
One. We probably will not be able to finish this letter or finish reading your
book, but we are bringing them with us on our perilous flight into the
uncharted forest. The book and the letter provides us with a peculiar comfort.
We are the happiest we have ever been because the Golden One and we are
together. We are gathering our own food. We are getting further away from the
City and from the air that touches upon it. Ahead of our trail we have spotted
a white flame among the trees. We do not know what it is, but we will climb up
to see it. We must stop writing for now as the climb awaits us.
I have finished reading your book, and I have read many other books as
well. I have learned much, but there still is much to learn. I understand the
meaning of the sacred word. I will never live my life for another. I now have a
new name for myself, and I am Ethan Nappen.
I Remain,
Ethan Nappen
Report from the Hamilton County LP meeting
by Keith Carlsen • 6/9/05
Keith Carlsen is the FSP-TN Local Group Leader and was the
featured speaker at the June Hamilton County Libertarian Party meeting, held
6/7/05 in Chattanooga, TN.
On Tuesday June 7th, I gave a Free State Project presentation to the Hamilton County Libertarian Party. The meeting
was attended by 25 people, which is great considering that Trevor Southerland
(the HCLP Chair) told me that about ten of the regulars did not attend the
meeting.
Trevor talked about the FSP on WGOW Talk Radio 102.3's "FRED the Show" on
Tuesday morning. www.FreeStateProject.org was made the Website of
the Day and mentioned throughout the day.
Both Trevor and myself appeared on "FRED the Show" on Wednesday morning.
The show was broadcast live over the Internet. The FSP website was placed on
the FRED the Show website.
Respectfully,
Keith Carlsen
Participants
in New Hampshire
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