The Genesee County Libertarian Party held its annual convention Monday evening at T.F. Brown's in Batavia.

Mark Potwora (top photo) was elected chairman. Dave Olsen is now vice chairman, and Lisa Whitehead is secretary.

The party endorsed one candidate for office in the 2018 election: Mark Glogowski for the State Assembly, District 139.

There will be a fundraiser for Larry Sharpe and Andrew Hollister, who are running for governor and lieutenant governor, July 22 at 1 p.m. at T.F. Brown's. 

The 2018 GCLP convention will be Monday June 4, at 6:30 p.m.; we will meet in the side room at T.F. Brown’s Restaurant, 214 Main St.

There are a couple things of note for you to think about between now and then. 

We will be electing a new Chairperson for sure. I shall be resigning as soon as the next chair is elected.

We will be electing or re-electing the Vice-Chair. The Secretary position is also up for election. Jim Rosenbeck has served in that capacity in addition to his duties as Vice-Chair of the LPNY for three years. He has now been elected as the LPNY Chair and would rather someone else take over the duties of Secretary. That is understandable as state chair is a time-consuming post. Many thanks to Jim for all his hard work and dedication to the GCLP and all the great things to come.

Please consider if you would be willing to serve the GCLP as Chair, Vice Chair or Secretary. In my five years with this party, the board has always worked together as a team and I expect that would continue. You will have lots of help. Please let me know if you are interested, so I can nominate you. 

LPNY chairman Jim Rosenbeck has asked that each county chapter designate a county coordinator for petitioning efforts which will begin on July 10 for statewide offices. Fifteen thousand signatures are the minimum required to get our Governor candidate on the ballot. We usually like to see at least 50-percent more to reduce the chance of a challenge knocking us off the ballot.

Mark Glogowski, the local NY Assembly candidate, will need a minimum of 3,000 signatures; he wants to double that. The more petition signatures gotten by volunteers reduces the amount of paid petitioners the LPNY will need to hire. Finances are slim and every opportunity for savings is important.

This also gives us all an opportunity to continue the outreach the GCLP has designated as our primary mission; you get to talk to registered voters about Larry Sharpe and Mark Glogowski along with the other statewide candidates and spread the message of liberty!

Serving as the GCLP coordinator will not be overly time consuming. You will be the liaison to volunteers who may need guidance or tips on how to petition.  We will provide the resources you need. The petitioners will submit their completed petitions to you for a quality review and then you would mail them to our master petitioning operation in Albany. Petitions will be electronically distributed by the LPNY communications division. If this interests you, please let me know.

Our convention speakers will be: Andrew Hollister, Libertarian for New York Lt. Governor, Mark Glogowski, Libertarian for NY Assembly, and James Rosenbeck, Libertarian Party of New York Chairman.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone again on Monday! Bring a friend, tell others.

Today, Aug. 18, Batavia City Council Libertarian Candidates Lisa Whitehead, Mark Potwora and James Rosenbeck submitted ballot petitions totaling 378 signatures. That is more than double the requirement set by the Board of Elections. A total of 378 Batavians say "Change the Direction in This Election."

Thank You to those who signed, without your support this would not have been possible. Lisa, Mark and Jim will continue to visit with Batavians to hear your concerns and work with you to shape a financially responsible direction for the City of Batavia. Please learn more at www.facebook.com/Liberty4Batavia.

The Genesee County Libertarian Party is pleased and excited to announce three candidates for three Batavia City Council at-large positions. Lisa Whitehead, James Rosenbeck and Mark Potwora.

All three are longtime Batavia City residents who care deeply about their city and want to continue and improve its great quality of life while being fiscally responsible to future generations.

We envision Lisa, Jim, and Mark as a team who will take on this challenge as a team. The GCLP endorses and will support them fully.

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics...does not mean that politics won't take an interest in you.” This quote from Pericles -- who lived in Athens, Greece 2,500 years ago -- was true then and is true today in Genesee County. The 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama said in his farewell speech: “If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Stay at it. Sometimes you'll win. Sometimes you'll lose."

Many have lost interest and faith in our political system. I won’t argue that it is perfect, nor will I say it’s fair. It’s far from either, but it is what we have and we all have access to it. It is possible for virtually anyone to run for and win a seat in our county legislature, Batavia’s city council or a town board in our county.

The Libertarian Party is the fastest growing political party in the United States. Have you had enough of the continued partisan bickering and the constant growth of government, both in cost and intrusiveness? Have you decided, as have many others that the Republicans and Democrats are not for you? Do you want to make a difference? Then contact us, we would love to hear from you and discuss any and all potential candidacies.

Please feel free to contact me or Vice Chairman Mark Potwora at gclp.ny@gmail.com. You can also message us through our Facebook page www.facebook.com/GCLP.NY/

The Genesee County Libertarian Party is pleased to announce our endorsement of Lisa Whitehead to be a candidate for Batavia City Council Ward #2.

Friends and Neighbors;

Every Genesee County Legislature seat is up for election this year, along with the ward seats in the City of Batavia and many town boards and supervisors. Do you feel your interests are being represented by your specific representatives either in your municipality or at the county level? If you think you or someone you know would do a better job, the Genesee County Libertarian Party would love to hear from you. We are a grassroots organization of friendly folks. There are very little politics involved in being endorsed by us. Our endorsement may not bring very much funding to a campaign, but we do bring enthusiasm and the commitment of our members to help collect petition signatures and campaign with you.

From The GCLP bylaws: “The GCLP holds that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, agree to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.” We ask only that any candidate seeking our endorsement agree with this statement and be committed to transparency, limiting government and fiscal responsibility.

If you agree and want to serve your community, please contact me at this private e-mail address used only by me for this purpose: GCLP2015Election@gmail.com. 

The GCLP will never just find folks to fill a ballot slot; we will only put our efforts into those candidates who are driven to make a difference.

Learn more by visiting our website  www.gclpny.org and our

Facebook page www.facebook.com/GCLP.NY

Our meetings are announced on the webpage and the Facebook page, all are welcome to our meetings.

We can make a difference, but good people need to step up.

Respectfully;

David A. Olsen, Chairperson

I’m also asked what our position on different issues that come along is. To answer that question, first consider a few basic questions. Ask yourself how, in general, you view other people. Consider those people you encounter every day. Are they generally good, decent, honest folks, who would share what they have with someone in need and help another who was in danger?  Or, are they bad, scheming, selfish, and look the other way and not want to be involved in helping others in need? Next, ask yourself who should make decisions about people’s welfare? Are the people you know capable of making good decisions, or should they be prevented from doing so to protect themselves?

There are only 4 possible outcomes (Labels are as used today):

1). Folks are good and should be responsible for their own welfare. (Libertarian)  

2). Folks are good but society (government) should be responsible for their welfare. (Liberal)

3). Folks are bad and society (government) should safeguard from bad decisions they make, folks are however responsible for their welfare. (Conservative)

4). Folks are bad and society (government) needs to control them. (Authoritarian)

That’s it. Yes, it seems simplistic. There will always be grey areas. Free thinkers will disagree on finer points, naturally. However, the Libertarian’s position on any topic can typically be found by determining what solution would put the most faith in people and require the least government involvement.

With individual freedom, of course comes responsibility. Unfortunately, Americans have become dependent on the state. The expectation is that government will solve issues. It’s easy to understand why. Government takes a chunk of everyone’s earnings right off the top through income tax. Add property tax, sales tax, license fees, tolls, etc. and it averages out to almost 50% of everyone’s income. I use as a reference taxfoundation.org. You will work for over five months before your pay is yours. Why are people still hungry, homeless, uneducated, with inadequate health care? Is our system broken? Why is our country on the offensive around the world? Shouldn’t our defenses be better than anyone’s offense, especially considering what we pay for it?

The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. You can take that step by voting for Libertarians. Libertarians can’t just turn a switch and make it all better but Libertarians will shrink government whenever and wherever possible. We will enable the American spirit of independence, innovation and generosity, by getting government out of the way, respecting your right to make decisions for yourself, and stopping government from confiscating the fruits of your labor. It will take time, but if you find that you agree with the Libertarian philosophy, that people are generally good and should be making the decisions about their lives, then register as a Libertarian, take a stand with us and make a statement with your vote. You’ll never regret it. Principles are powerful things.

David Olsen

Chairman, Genesee County Libertarian Party.