Fellow LNC Members, I am writing to you this evening to inform you that as a cosponsor of the meeting which has been called for this Saturday, I am withdrawing my support for the call. It is my understanding that others will also be dropping their call later this evening but I wanted to share my specific thoughts. The last several weeks and months have been ugly for our party. The pandemic and associated government overreach at unprecedented levels affected each and everyone of us. This issue has both brought us together in many ways like never before and driven us apart in ways I could have never imagined. The LNC has done its best to navigate the complicated waters while weighing the important input from volunteers, candidates, and supporters. Clear divisions have been made in the party and it is saddening. It must be healed. I originally sponsored the motion to have a meeting and debate the question of suspending Nick Sarwark as chair of the Libertarian Party for two primary reasons. The first was that I believe every motion and call should be sponsored, debated, and voted on so that membership has a clear understanding of their representatives views and policies. I hold this view as a matter of respect for delegates who want to hear debate on a topic but would otherwise be unable. I also do it as a courtesy to you all, my fellow LNC members, because I want to be there to support your project or idea enough to at least hear some debate and consider it. I know not everybody agrees with my thoughts on this and I respectfully agree to disagree. In this case, I find that the distraction to the party far outweighs my general principle. We need to focus on our candidates and prepare for the next phase of our convention. There are so many more important things in the liberty movement that we should be excited about rather than tearing each other's heads off. The second reason I sponsored the motion was because I perceived there to be real potential violations by Mr. Sarwark in respect to our party's bylaws and the LNC's policy manual. I viewed his intention to not chair the upcoming second sitting of the convention in Orlando as a violation of Art 6.3 of our bylaws which states that it is his duty to chair conventions. I wrestled with this and sought input from many in this party on their thoughts on this. It was pointed out to me after much passionate debate for days, by Tim Hagan, in a very logical way, that 6.4 allows the chair to prescribe duties to the Vice Chair and that, despite the clear indication in the 6.3, Nick is choosing to exercise his prerogative to prescribe that duty to Alex Merced who is actively working to prepare for the upcoming convention. I also was of the opinion that Mr. Sarwark had violated the policy manual by appointing someone to the committee without waiting for an appeal of the chair to voted on. I have since reflected on that bylaw and recognize that there was some ambiguity. There was so much ambiguity that the LNC voted to change the policy manual to make it clearer in the future. I cannot fault Nick for having a different perspective than me on an issue that was not clear. I apologize for having done such. People can disagree on things and still be civil and I approached my accusations too strongly. As far as the contract: I believe Nick has the best interest of this party at heart. I really and truly do. I do not think Nick would purposefully do anything to harm this party in any way. What kind of person who serves as chair for 6 years would do that? I do believe that there was a lot of frustration around the contract, the econvention, COVID, personalities, etc, etc, which polarized viewpoints and clouded judgements; especially when it came to communicating "across enemy lines." I'm done with it. I apologize to all the members of our party for any perception that I was on any side of this issue. I had concerns and I feel that they have been addressed. I will be in Orlando. I had planned to be in Austin if needed. I will be fighting for offsite participation for those who cannot or are unwilling to travel on the floor of the convention hall. We need to stop fighting. We need to recognize that each side has been fighting for what they feel is the best path forward is in these unprecedented times. Be compassionate. I have talked with dozens of individuals since sponsoring the motion. I have come to recognize that not everything regarding this or the last few months is black and white. I am glad I sponsored the motion because it allowed me to hear those viewpoints and thoughts I had not considered. The rule violations I perceived, I no longer view as violations but different and valid interpretations. Let's come together, put this behind us and move forward. We have candidates to support and, if you haven't looked outside recently, the nation is ripe for our message of downsizing the government and we can't effectively communicate that if we are distracted with constant fighting. For my part, I apologize. Let's end this term on a high note. -- Richard Longstreth Region 1 Representative (AK, AZ, CO, HI, KS, MT, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY) Libertarian National Committee richard.longstreth@lp.org 931.538.9300