AUSTIN, TX (5/12/13) – Florida IT consultant Matt Nye of Melbourne, FL was elected National Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC). He will serve through 2015.

The RLC is the nation’s oldest grassroots organization of the Liberty Republican wing of the GOP. State chapters from Alaska to Florida and from California to Maine gathered at the biennial national convention in Austin, Texas to elect new national officers, participate in activist training workshops and to hear major Liberty Republican speakers like Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX).

“Our nation’s founding principles of individual rights, personal liberty and free markets are under assault as never before,” said Nye. “The RLC has a long track record of advocating for these ideas from within the Republican Party, and I look forward to working with the new board to capitalize on the popularity of the liberty message to grow our ranks and get pro-liberty candidates elected.”

Nye is a relative newcomer to politics, but has made his presence felt at all levels. In 2009 he organized the Brevard Tea Parties, the largest of which drew almost 4,000 people to the Space Coast Stadium on the July 4th holiday. In 2011 he was elected Chair of the RLC of Florida. Nye assumes the National Chair position after serving for the last two years as National Treasurer. He takes over from Dale Nalle of Texas who was National Chair from 1999-2013.

Also elected at the convention were Vice Chair Ed Lopez of Connecticut, Secretary Laura Ebke of Nebraska and Treasurer Norann Dillon of Minnesota. The four elected officers are automatic members of the RLC National Board which coordinates with the state chapters for the all-volunteer organization. Elected as at-large National Board members were Matt Dubin and Sandi Belzer, both of Washington State, and Levi Lippincott of Nebraska.

Portland, Maine was selected as the site for the 2015 RLC National Convention.

Thank you for participating in our first ever online convention. The purpose of this convention will be to vote on three proposed bylaws amendments. The text of these amendments can be found here: http://www.rlc.org/delegate-apportionment-proposals/

In order to make the online convention run as smooth as possible, please read the following instructions carefully:

1) If you have an amendment to proffer on any of the proposals please send it to treasurer@rlc.org no later than 5pm Friday, February 8th, so we can put it into the software for presentation ahead of time (we encountered too many computer/software variables when an individual tries to screen share on the fly).

2) At 3:45pm Sunday February 10th log on to the web site with the credentials you were given vie email.

3) Call in using your landline or cell phone (offers best audio quality) and – IMPORTANT! – enter the audio pin provided (this links your phone to you online meeting session). You will NOT be able to vote on floor amendments if you’re only using the audio portion of the conference bridge.

4) All attendees will be muted at the beginning of the call. If you wish to speak you will use the mood button to raise your hand and be recognized. The Chair will give you the floor and unmute you. You can then turn on your webcam if you wish. Once you’ve finished speaking you would turn off your web cam and change your mood to “I’m good” (lowers your hand). The Chair will then move on to the next person.

5) We will use the software’s polling feature to vote on amendments (remember, amendments must be submitted to treasurer@rlc.org by 5pm, Friday, February 8th. The final vote will be taken via a separate voting service called ElectionBuddy through email. The ballots will have a lifespan of 24 hours, so even if you’re unable to make the call you’ll still be able to vote on the finalized amendments.

As this is the first time we’ve tried something of this magnitude, we expect some bumps along the way. Please be patient.

On February 10th, 2013 we will be conducting a special online convention for the sole purpose of voting on proposed bylaw amendments some of the membership would like to see enacted before the bi-annual National Convention in May.

This afternoon at 4pm we will be doing a trial run of the presentation software and election software we will use to run the online convention.

There are three proposals that will be presented. Each will get a three minute intro, with a round of discussion specific to each proposal, and a final round of discussion relative to all proposals. When the meeting begins at 4pm, email ballots will be distributed

The text of each can be found on the National web site here: http://www.rlc.org/category/caucus-business/

To keep the chaos involved with having so many people on a conference call down, we will rely heavily on the system’s chat function. A tutorial can be found here: http://support.anymeeting.com/index.php?/AnyMeeting/Knowledgebase/Article/View/226/98/how-to-use-text-chat

At the commencement of the conference, an email ballot will be sent to the same email address the conference invitation was sent to. This email ballot will have a url at which you will cast your votes. The url is good for 24 hours, and only people who received the email will be able to vote there.

These three proposals for proportional delegate representation at the RLC National Convention will be considered and voted on by members at a special teleconference at 4pm on Sunday, February 10th.

Proposal 1:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws  to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at convention by a Delegation consisting of one voting Delegate, plus a number of voting Delegates based on the number of Regular RLC members who reside in that state as of 90 days prior to the convention. Each state shall receive one additional delegate, and one alternate delegate, for every 20 members in the state charter. These Delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be appointed by their respective Charters, according to whatever rules the Charter may adopt for that purpose, and certified as Delegates by the chairs of their Charters.

In addition, each officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled. Any Regular member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the Convention shall be qualified to be appointed as Delegates or Alternate Delegates.

Proposal 2:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at the national RLC convention by a number of delegates based on the number of Regular Members who reside in that state.

90 days prior to the national convention, the Secretary shall determine the number of delegates assigned to each state by dividing the total national membership of the RLC by 100 and then dividing that result into the number of Regular Members in each state, rounded up and plus one. Each state Charter may also appoint any number of alternate delegates who may serve in place of absent delegates from their state at the discretion of the convention Chairman.

All delegates and alternate delegates shall be selected by whatever rules their state Charter shall determine and certified as delegates by the chairs of their Charters. Any Regular Member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the convention shall be qualified to be appointed as a delegate or alternate delegate. Alternate delegates will be eligible to serve in place of absent delegates in an order determined by their state chapter when they are appointed.

In addition, each national officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state or his or her designee may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled.

Proposal 3:

To amend Article VI, Section 3 of the RLC National Bylaws to read as follows:

Section 3. Each chartered state shall be entitled to be represented at the national RLC convention by a number of delegates based on the number of Regular Members who reside in that state.

90 days prior to the national convention, the Secretary shall determine the number of delegates assigned to each state by dividing the total number of Regular Members in that state by 4, rounding up. Each Charter shall also be entitled to any number of alternate delegates who may serve in place of absent delegates from their state.

These Delegates and Alternate Delegates shall be elected by their respective Charters, according to whatever rules the Charter may adopt for that purpose, and certified as Delegates by the chairs of their Charters. In addition, each officer, regional director, and at-large director of the Caucus; the chair of each Charter or his or her designee; and the coordinator of each non-chartered state may serve as an ex officio Delegate; these ex officio Delegates shall not be counted against the number of delegates to which each Charter is entitled. Any Regular member certified by the Treasurer as having paid current dues at least thirty days prior to the Convention shall be qualified to be appointed as Delegates or Alternate Delegates.

At the National RLC Convention each state Charter shall vote its full delegate strength, even if fewer than the full number of delegates to which that state is entitled are present at the convention. The full strength for each Charter includes both the number of Delegates which it is authorized to elect based on its state membership and also any ex officio Delegates who are members of that Charter.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) National Committee has voted unanimously to endorse Mark Willis of Maine for Chairman of the Republican Party.

“We’re proud that one of our RLC members has stepped forward to challenge the inept management of the national GOP under the reign of Reince Priebus. But this endorsement is not just because he is one of our own, it is because he is eminently qualified to lead the resurgence of the national Republican Party,” said RLC National Chair Dave Nalle.

Willis is the Republican National Committeeman from Maine and a member of the Maine Republican Liberty Caucus. He is one of the elected delegates from Maine who were unseated by the RNC Credentials Committee at the Republican National Convention in Tampa under the watch of Priebus. He said he saw how the heavy-handed tactics of the national party organization impacted the morale of grassroots which helped lead to the defeat of Priebus’ hand-picked presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“In the case of Maine, we came home heroes due to the fact that we never gave in as a delegation and even though half our duly-elected delegation was unseated, we refused to take the deals that were offered. We stood up for what is right and never wavered,” Willis said.

Willis said delegates from throughout the country were “outraged” at the fast gavel tactics endorsed by Priebus that enacted rule changes which take control of the 2016 presidential nomination process away from the state parties and the grassroots and put it under top-down control by party insiders.

Rule 12 gives unprecedented power to the RNC to change party rules without input or approval of state parties and Rule 16 removes the rights of states to choose their own delegates, forcing all state parties to allocate and bind the state’s delegation to the Republican National Convention based on presidential preference polls.

Willis said his first act as national GOP Chair would be to repeal the rules adopted at the 2012 Republican National Convention and “apologize to the GOP grassroots for being overzealous and promise that such behavior will never happen again.”

Willis said the GOP can regain regain the confidence of the voters if its top management listens to the grassroots.

“If we are truly the party of liberty, equality and favoritism for none, then let’s start acting like it by embracing the grassroots once and for all! Welcome them, don’t push them away, discourage them and then expect their vote in November,” Willis said.

Nalle said the national Republican Liberty Caucus had been one of the first GOP organizations to condemn the rules changes and Willis shows courage by taking a stand for the grassroots members of the party.

“No one came forward to challenge these rules until state committees started passing resolutions from the grassroots. Mark Willis is demonstrating leadership by stating upfront that hard working local party members should have a strong voice in guiding the party instead of a handful of Establishment elitists trying to shove decisions from the top down,” Nalle said.

Willis holds a Bachelors Degree in International Relations and a Doctor of Law degree from George Mason University. He also has a Masters in Information Technology from Bowie State University. He was a U.S. Army counterintelligence agent in Haiti and Bosnia and was a senior software engineer at the U.S. Army Security and Intelligence Command (INSCOM) and was INSCOM liaison to the National Security Agency. He is currently Applications Security Manager for a Fortune 100 corporation and runs a family Icelandic sheep farm in a small town in eastern Maine, where he is also serves on the local Board of Education.

The Republican Liberty Caucus is offering two student internships for the Spring of 2012. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited four-year college or have graduated within the last two years. Applicants should have good writing, organizational and internet skills and a familiarity with social media. An ability to work on your own and to complete projects on a deadline is essential.

Qualifications

• Current college student or recent graduate.
• Hard-working, self-motivated, and eager to learn.
• A belief in advancing liberty within the political system.
• Outstanding academic record.
• Strong technical and communications skills.
• Ability to work independently and with others.

Interns are expected to work 12 hours a week for 16 weeks during the Spring semester. There is no salary, but some expenses will be paid if needed. Interns will be supervised by a RLC board or staff member, but will be expected to work independently on specific assignments most of the time. They will not be expected to relocate and can remain enrolled and taking classes during the internship. Most of the work will be assigned and overseen online as a virtual internship.

Benefits

• Gain experience in political activism and advocacy.
• Learn technical and organizational skills.
• Can work while still attending classes.
• No need to relocate.
• Helping one of the fastest growing organizations in the Liberty Movement.

Interns will gain experience with administrative aspects of a nationwide advocacy organization, including activism initiatives, publicity and promotions, member support services, database maintenance, social media, working with party organizations and campaigns and event planning and management. This will be a valuable opportunity to gain experience, add to your political resume and advance the cause of liberty.

Application Deadline: Jan 20th, 2012
Start Date: January 30th, 2012
End Date: May 18, 2012
Location: Flexible
For Information Email chairman@rlc.org

If you are interested, please fill out the application form below:

Like Governor Rick Perry I was a cheerleader, and I’m excited about the opportunities to lead the growth in the liberty movement during the coming election year.  So I sent out a letter to our state chapters to stir things up a bit and get us rolling as we go into this new season of amazing possibilities – DN

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Virginia hosted its 2011 State Convention this Saturday in Arlington. The Convention featured three speakers: Delegate Rich Anderson, U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner, U.S. House candidate Ken Vaughn, and State Senate candidate Robert Sarvis.

Each of the candidates talked about their campaigns and Del. Anderson talked about his work in the legislature.

About 30 people attended the event, which was held in northern Virginia. At the business session, members elected the following officers and board members:

George Primbs, Chairman
Steven Latimer, Vice Chair
Robert Kenyon, Secretary
Cliff Dunn, Treasurer
Nick Cote, Rick Sincere, Mitchell Bemos (At-Large Board members)
Eric Brescia, Shelby McCurnin (Alternate Board members)

Thank you to the RLCVA speakers and to our newly elected RLCVA Board!

A draft of the new RLCVA website can be found online and photos of the event follow.

U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner spoke to RLCVA members.

Virginia RLC members look on.

Delegate Rich Anderson of the Woodbridge area spoke to RLC members

Aaron with Tim Donner.