1,792 votes cast, Jill Stein received 1,223 of them, or 68%. Roseanne Barr, who had just entered the race in the last week, picked up 526 votes, or 29%. There were 35 votes for Kent Mesplay, and 8 votes for Harley Mikkelson

GPW reports that Roseanne Barr is very active on Twitter, and had tweeted a challenge to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to have both herself and Jill Stein on their programs.

They also report that Jill Stein is actively fundraising, has hired at least 3 staff onto the campaign, and has campaigned so far in California, Colorado, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, and other additional states as well.

Jill Stein issued a short statement saying “It is great to have Roseanne Barr on the Green Party team. Let’s bring down the house!” Barr has similarly already made positive statements regarding Stein’s candidacy.

An email from the Stein campaign says that

Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, begins a three day tour of Indiana and Ohio today with a visit to the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, accompanied by Cleveland City Councilman and Green Party elected official Brian Cummins and County Executive candidate David Ellison.

Saturday at 11:30am, Dr. Stein addresses the Green Party of Ohio Presidential Nominating Convention in Columbus.

This Sunday, as part of Indianapolis’ Occupy the Super Bowl protests, she rallies with supporters at the state capitol against anti-labor legislation such as “Right to Work for Less.”

The full itinerary of public events is viewable here: http://www.jillstein.org/events

Dr. Stein is especially interested in the Evergreen Cooperatives for providing one successful model, among many, for how economic democracy can provide employment and prosperity for stressed communities. In her recent People’s State of the Union address, Dr. Stein called for a Green New Deal providing for full employment and an immediate transition to a sustainable, more democratic economy. The Evergreen Cooperatives “are pioneering innovative models of job creation, wealth building, and sustainability,” and are, “employee-owned, for-profit companies are based locally and hire locally.”

On Occupy Super Bowl Sunday, at noon, Dr. Stein will rally with supporters and other labor movement advocates at the Indiana statehouse in Indianapolis. Dr. Stein is not only strongly opposed to so-called Right-to-Work legislation (RTW), her Green New Deal includes a “program of immediate creation of 25 million, publicly useful, sustainable, well-paying jobs,” according to a prepared statement. Stein will be joined at the rally by lifelong labor organizer Anthony Prince, and student activist Erika Wolf, both newly hired members of the Jill Stein for President campaign staff.

The Green Party has put out a press release welcoming Stein and Barr to the presidential race:

The Green Party of the United States welcomes two candidates into the race for the 2012 Green presidential nomination, Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr. Ms. Barr and Dr. Stein submitted paperwork to meet the Green Party’s requirements as of the evening of the Feb. 1 deadline.

“We are thrilled to have two strong women running for President as Greens,” said Darryl Moch, national co-chair of the Green Party. “We look forward to a race based on Green ideas and values, and to showing the Democrats and Republicans how to run without the corrupting influence of fat corporate campaign checks and corporate-funded attack ads.”

“Anyone hopeful about the Occupy Wall Street’s challenge to the status quo or disappointed by the Obama Administration’s broken promises of change now has a pair of candidates to watch. Anyone bored or irritated with the Mitt Versus Newt Show by now will be relieved by the breath of fresh air — maybe a Green gale force of righteousness — that’s about to come,” said Tamar Yager, also a national co-chair of the Green Party.

For more information about the candidates, visit the following sites:

Jill Stein: http://www.jillstein.org

Roseanne Barr: http://www.roseanneforpresident.com

2012 Press Information for Green Candidates http://www.gp.org/candidates/index.php

The nominee will be chosen at the Green Party’s national convention, July 12-15, in Baltimore, Maryland (http://www.gpconvention2012.com)

State Green Parties in California, Arizona, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and possibly Ohio are participating in primary elections. Other state Green Parties will choose the nominee they support and apportion delegates during statewide Green conventions. The Green Party currently has ballot access in 17 states. Greens expect to have the presidential nominee and other candidates on the ballot in at least 46 states and the District of Columbia on Election Day 2012.

Past Green Party convention sites and nominees:

2000: Denver, Colorado; Ralph Nader

2004: Milwaukee, Wisconsin; David Cobb

2008: Chicago, Illinois; Cynthia McKinney

“We consider it important to have strong women candidates at a time when women’s reproductive rights are under assult, from the Obama Administration’s decision on the morning-after pill to the Komen Foundation’s withdrawal of funding for breast cancer screening from Planned Parenthood. We’re proud that our presidential nominee in 2008 was a woman,” said Carl Romanelli, Pennsylvania Green and member of the Green Party’s International Committee.

132 Greens hold public office in the United States, including five mayors. The largest city with a Green mayor is Richmond, California, with Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. The Green Party and its candidates accept no money from corporate PACs.

Many Green candidates are promoting the “Green New Deal” in their campaigns (http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2010/08/11/62-green-candidates-endorse-green-new-deal). Greens have been active participants in the Occupy Movement; both Ms. Barr and Dr. Stein have appeared and spoken publicly at Occupy rallies.

Ballot Access News reports that the Associated Press has this story about Roseanne Barr’s announcement that she is seeking the Green Party presidential nomination; here is a Los Angeles Times story about Barr’s candidacy.

Kent Mesplay was featured in the Bloomington Alternative (H/T Green Party Watch).

This article at Green Party Watch has biographical information about four candidates (Stein, Barr, Mesplay and Mikkelson).

Green Party Watch also reports that Cindy Sheehan wrote

In the last election, I supported the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney and her running mate, Rosa Clemente. Unfortunately, the Party is not entirely functional (which party is?), even if many of us do support its 10 Key Principles.
I have also been impressed by the other woman seeking the nomination, Jill Stein–she is bright, articulate, well-informed, truly progressive and dedicated to public service–but if push came to shove, I would support Roseanne.

Barr was a supporter of Sheehan in her race for Congress.

On October 7, the very last day for an appeal to be filed in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, the Ohio legislature filed papers to intervene in the case, and to appeal to the 6th circuit. The Secretary of State doesn’t want to appeal, but the legislature does. First the legislature will need to persuade the court to let it intervene. If the legislature is permitted to appeal, then it will ask the 6th circuit to overturn the U.S. District Court order of September 7 that put the party on the 2012 ballot.

The legislature’s action is especially surprising, given that the law passed by the legislature in 2011, HB 194, is now suspended. With HB 194 not in effect, and with the primary set for March instead of May, the statutory deadline for new parties to submit a petition to be on the ballot in 2012 is November 2011, the very same deadline held unconstitutional in 2006 by the 6th circuit. Even if HB 194 weren’t suspended, the deadline would be in December 2011, almost as bad. Furthermore, due process would seem to provide that even if December 2011 were constitutional on its face, such a deadline can’t be imposed on such short notice.

HB 194 is suspended because a referendum petition was recently filed. When new laws are subject to a referendum, they can’t go into effect until the voters vote on the new law. Assuming the referendum petition has enough valid signatures, that vote on HB 194 would be in November 2012.

Followup post:

As noted earlier, on October 7, the Ohio legislature asked to intervene in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, the ballot access case. Here is the state legislature’s brief, asking the U.S. District Court to let it intervene so that it may appeal the Libertarian Party’s September 7 victory. The legislature says it wants to intervene because the Secretary of State is not appealing.

Here is the Libertarian Party’s response, filed on October 8. The party argues that the U.S. District Court should not permit the legislature to intervene, mostly because the legislature waited an entire month after the party won injunctive relief. As the party’s brief notes, the Ohio Secretary of State had told the press on September 8 that he was not appealing. The party says it wouldn’t be fair to let the legislature intervene now, because the deadline for individual Libertarians to petition onto the Libertarian primary ballot is December 7, 2011. Anyone running in the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate, or for President, needs 1,000 signatures. Presidential primary candidates cannot begin to petition until they have chosen a slate of delegates.

On September 19, Tim Quinn, an independent candidate for Mayor of Elyria, Ohio, at the November 8, 2011 election, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to get on the ballot. His petition was not questioned, but he was still kept off the ballot because he voted in the partisan primary. The Ohio election law has no law, saying that independent candidates must not have voted in a partisan primary. Ohio only bans independent candidates who ran in a partisan primary.

Nevertheless, some Ohio election officials read the law to mean that independent candidates must not have voted in a primary, although other Ohio election officials do not read the law that way. Earlier this year, Quinn asked the Ohio Supreme Court to put him on the ballot, but that Court simply refused to hear his case. See this story.

Anita Rios is running for Toledo City Council. On Tuesday she finished second of three candidates. Although the race is non-partisan, Rios proudly portrays herself as a Green, and the other two candidates are well known as a Democrat and a Republican. From the Lucas County Green Party:

Friends and family of Anita Rios and Sean Nestor excitedly waited for the results of the primaries last night at the Attic on Adams. This was one the few times that more than one Green Party candidate was on the ballot in Toledo. Nestor finished with 147 votes, bumping him out of the race with 8.48% of the District 6 votes. Rios came in second in District 4 with 15.49% of the votes and will go on to the general election in November.

“Fundamentally, I am running for the Toledo City council because I love this city which has always been my home.” says Rios.

Rios continues, “Like the rest of the rust belt, we are experiencing very hard times. But we must not let that be an excuse for eroding the foundations of our community, with living wage public sector jobs being a vital part of our infrastructure. We must not allow a plea of poverty to be the excuse for privatizing those functions that we all depend on or for diminishing workers rights, nor must it be an excuse for eroding our educational system or under staffing our police and fire departments.”

It is extremely challenging running as a minor party, whether here in Toledo or anywhere else in the U.S. The two main parties have been in control for so long, and so many people vote based solely on party and not on the actual candidate. Yet many other people are disenfranchised and don’t vote because of this system. House bill 194, that is being challenged would put in place restrictive ballot access rules that make it harder for third parties to gain recognition by the state.

The Green Party is a values-based party and fights to protect the rights of all people, not just the wealthy, and especially the underrepresented. The Green Party believes in a Grassroots Democracy where all people have a voice in politics. Rios and Nestor decided to run for city council to broaden the spectrum of political parties and to clear a path to show that any person can run for office without a large budget or backing from a major political party.

Rios wears her politics on her sleeve and plays by the rules, a rare find. Rios looks forward to running an honest campaign about issues and ideas and to serving the people of Toledo.

Anita Rios is an unwavering union activist, feminist, and community organizer. She was formerly elected lead delegate for SEIU/1199 at the Zepf Community Mental Health Center, and was a representative to the regional labor council of the AFL-CIO. Rios serves on the Central Committees for both the Lucas County and Ohio Green Parties and is president of the Toledo chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and president of the Agnes Reynolds Jackson Fund. She is currently employed at the Center for Choice.

When elected to Toledo City Council to represent District 4, Rios will commit $2,000 annually of her council salary toward youth internships in local politics.

********************************

Read the rest of the article, with comments, here.

The Ohio House passed a version that would require petitioning at 1% of the most recent vote for governor or president to be submitted by 90 days before a primary election.  The Ohio Senate passed a version that would require petitioning at 1/4% of the most recent vote for governor or president to be submitted by 100 days before a primary election and an additional 1/4% by 90 days before a primary election.

Although the House version of the bill moves the presidential primary permanently to May, the Senate version leaves presidential primary elections in March.  Non-presidential primary elections are always held in May.

Neither bill addressed ballot access retention thresholds or ballot access duration.

The petitioning thresholds are established in Ohio Revised Code section 3517.01.  The text of the language passed by the legislature is available online through the Ohio Legislative Services Commission, it is SB 148 and HB 194.

———————————–

From a media release sent to IPR on May 25, 2011, by Todd Grayson, Communications Director for the Libertarian Party of Ohio:

[Ohio] General Assembly violates US Constitution; Strips Ohio military personnel (and all citizens) of basic freedoms

COLUMBUS — Yesterday, the Ohio Senate joined the House in telling our armed services and veterans that their Constitutional rights are of less importance than the GOP’s grip on power. Despite three ongoing conflicts in the Middle East to impose democracy and free elections, the brave men and women serving from Ohio will come home to find that free and open elections in their own towns have been gutted in their absence.

“I served in the Army for several years, and I took an oath to uphold the United States Constitution to do so,” said Columbus city council candidate Bob Bridges. “I was under the impression that legislators had to do the same, but today the Republicans who voted for this bill demonstrated that their own quest for power is more important to them than my rights as an American citizen.”

The fight for fair and open elections has been an ongoing battle in America for decades, but in recent years a great deal of progress had been made. Ohio’s laws that stripped voters of their First Amendment right of freedom of association and their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal treatment under the law were struck down when the Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) sued then-Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in 2006. His successor, Secretary Brunner, attempted to resolve the situation by reducing the barriers to open and free elections. Her solution also proved to be in conflict with our nations founding documents.

Now the General Assembly has turned back the clock, passing legislation more burdensome than the solution proposed by Secretary Brunner. Despite testimony from LPO Vice Chair Michael Johnston, both the House and Senate included unconstitutional restrictions on freedom of association and equal treatment under the law. Libertarian candidates in 2010 earned an average of more then 5% of the votes in their races, aggregating more than one million votes in total.

“This is turning into a bit of a trend with this legislature,” noted Johnston. “First they came for the Democrats, now they’re coming for all the other political parties, who else other than the citizens of Ohio will be left to get hit by John Kasich’s bus?” Johnston also noted that recent polls have showed that more than half of self-identified GOP voter support a multi-party system. “The Republicans preach free market ideas, but they really can’t seem to deal with the reality of allowing people to freely choose from multiple options at a ballot box in America. They campaign like Libertarians, then many of them try to govern more like the Chicago Democratic machine.”

The LPO has consistently pushed for fair ballot access over the years, and below are some of the key recommendations that have been offered:

• Ohio’s legislature passed an unconstitutional violation of voters’ rights over the objections and testimony of the Libertarian Party of Ohio. The LPO has repeatedly requested a petitioning threshold of 1/4%. The House passed a version at 1%, the Senate passed a version that totals 1/2%. Both have already been struck down as illegal.
• The LPO has requested that the petitioning be based upon the votes for governor. Both the House and Senate use the most recent of either governor or president, creating a 50% fluctuating threshold depending on the year.
• The LPO has repeatedly requested that the period for ballot qualification be extended from 2 years to 4 years. Neither chamber addressed this.
• Political parties remain on the ballot by earning 5% for governor or president. The LPO has repeatedly asked that this be lowered to 1% for any statewide partisan office. Neither chamber addressed this.

The Ohio House passed ALL of the above requests in Am. Sub. HB 260 in the previous session, without comment or debate by any legislator during the floor debate.

The Libertarian Party of Ohio is the third-largest political party in Ohio. In 2010 the LPO ran the first full statewide executive slate for any third party in Ohio since 1934. LPO candidate for Treasurer of State, Matt Cantrell, earned the endorsement of the Cleveland Plain Dealer for being the only candidate in that race with a solid plan to run the office. To join or support the ongoing efforts of the Libertarian Party of Ohio to protect your freedom, please visit www.LPO.org.

Todd Grayson, Communications Director
Libertarian Party of Ohio

todd.grayson@lpo.org
419.873.6124 (direct)
937.422.7522 (cell, if out)
SKYPE: j.todd.grayson

***

Read the original article here.

May 17, 2011 — The Libertarian Party of Ohio is pleased to announce that LP member Todd Grayson has been appointed to the city council of Perrysburg, OH (in NW Ohio, near Toledo).  He will be sworn in on Tuesday, May 31.

Todd Grayson OF The Libertarian Party of Ohio.

“The LPO is very proud of him”, said Kevin J. Knedler, LPO Executive Committee Chair.  “Grayson is one of the many new members of the Libertarian Party of Ohio; and he currently serves the LPO as its Communication Director.”  Individuals may contact him via email: <Todd.Grayson@lpo.org>.

I am filling a seat vacated by Joe Rutherford, who took a job with ODOT near Columbus recently.  This seat is up for election this fall, so hopefully I will hold onto it through the election.

Playing nice-nice with the R’s and D’s is a good idea.  I made friends in high places, and then when I needed endorsements, support, introductions, donors, and a critical appointment, it was all there for me.  I’m getting to be a known commodity in a town of 20,000 people.  It doesn’t make me special or important, and it’s not that hard to do.  This is the path.  This is the way.  This is how we are going to get people elected.  NETWORKING in real life groups and situations.

Join the Chamber of Commerce, go to City Council meetings, volunteer for city positions, and be visible in general.

This is political strategy 101.

Information about Grayson’s local political activities is available here:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=crnk_fspiked&pq=perrysburg%20city%20council&xhr=t&q=Perrysburg%20City%20Council%20Todd%20Grayson&cp=36&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=Perrysburg+City+Council+Todd+Grayson&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=e4d813b43c7d221c

Eric W. Deaton, the former Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate accused of having sex with a teenage girl, pleaded no contest Wednesday to two misdemeanor counts.

Deaton, 43, of New Lebanon, was indicted on one count of unlawful sex with a minor, a felony. He went to trial on that charge in January in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, but when a jury deadlocked, a visiting judge declared a mistrial on Jan. 6.

Read the rest here.

On May 25th, 1787, a number of delegates assembled in Philadelphia for the expressed purpose of correcting some deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation, the national document of law and purpose for the United States of America. Some of the delegates, however, attended the convention with the intent to discard the Articles and to create a new governing structure. Two of the most eager proponents for a new document were Alexander Hamilton and James Madison…both of them politically skillful and forcefully passionate. As any non-public school or medrasa history will indicate, the movement to replace the Articles of Confederation won the day, and the Constitution of the United States was drafted, adopted and ultimately ratified with some reservations.

One of the components of the Constitution addressed the means and mechanisms for changing the document should the need arise. Thus, Article V was included, and it is printed below.

Article V – Amendment

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first

and fourth

Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived

of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

At the present time there has been increasing public dissatisfaction with the failure of the Congress to abide by the Article 1, Section 8 enumerated powers, and by the profligacy and fiscal irresponsibility of the national legislative body. Some critics have proposed Constitutional amendments to require a balanced budget or to limit the number of consecutive terms that a congress person could hold office. While these ideas and others with similar goals may have merit, the effort by some to initiate an Article V convention could yield disastrous counterproductive results. It seems obvious to me that if our political class cannot be trusted to abide by their oath to obey the Constitution of the United States, we have no reason to suspect that they might restrain themselves when gathered together to manipulate the governing document of the land. It is presumed that the various delegates will be appointed by the state legislatures thus assuring that the careerist political class will protect their own interests. A run-a-way rewrite of the Constitution could legitimize all the current unconstitutional ills that we find so noxious. How can we trust them to do a better job of fixing something that they have willfully broken? That would be like asking the killer to do the forensic work.

While I sense that in a perfect world, a constitutional convention (con-con) could be called for a specific purpose to address systemic failures at the national level; our states haven’t performed much better through their yielding to the federal mandates. Thus, I DO NOT TRUST the state political leadership or whomever they might appoint as delegates to carry out the will of the people. In sum, if we are to amend the Constitution, then it appears to me that the more laborious process of the individual states considering and debating whether or not to ratify a particular measure remains our best and safest process. The people can have a greater impact during a state-by-state ratification procedure than we would have if a convention suddenly ran amok.

As an addendum to this discussion, allow me to add that I will never support a “balanced budget amendment” unless it includes a prohibition on taxes and fees increasing and/or a limit to percentage of GDP for government spending. Even with these prohibitions or exemptions I remain skeptical. I do not trust government accounting when they measure the GDP, and they always find new clever ways to pick our pockets. Finally, the “con-con” has the potential to do great harm and could provide the cover for career politicians to formalize and legalize the very practices they use today.

In this tumultuous time of debate on Senate Bill 5, and Ohio’s attempt at collective bargaining reform, let’s take a look at the Right to Work laws which seem to have been placed aside.

Right to Work laws are statutes of the Taft-Hartley Act that prevent unions and employers from making contracts that force employees to join or pay dues to a union. Before the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, unions and employers could operate under ‘closed shop’ rules that make workers be a part of and pay dues to a union. An employee could also be fired if they stopped paying dues or participating in union events, even if they didn’t break any company rules. Taft-Hartley outlawed this, but still allowed ‘union shop’ rules which still forced an employee to join a union after a certain amount of time. However, employers didn’t have to fire a worker for leaving the union.

Section 14B of the Taft-Hartley Act is where our Right to Work laws come from, allowing individual states to pass them. Right to Work laws are neither for nor against unions. They are for individual freedom. Currently 22 states have Right to Work laws, and Ohio is NOT one of them. The diagram below outlines which states are forced unionism and which states are Right to Work. It also illustrates the correlation between that and how many seats in the House of Representatives were lost or gained in the 2010 Census. Ohio and New York, forced unionism states, lost two seats due to population loss, whereas Texas gained 4 and Florida, another Right to Work state, gained 2 seats from population growth. Right to Work laws were not the only reason for the mass migration of workers, but states that  respect a worker’s right to choose also tend to have lower tax rates and friendlier business climates as a whole.

Supporters of Right to Work laws cite our First Amendment right to freedom of association (upheld by the Supreme Court in NAACP v. Alabama) as the source of the policy. They say that workers should be free to join or not join a union, and should not fear losing their job if they decide the union is not the best option for them. Another argument is that employees may not agree with the political parties or politicians that a particular union donates to, and do not want their dues going toward causes they disagree with.

On the other side, opponents say that Right to Work laws will allow a non-union employee to benefit from the collective bargaining of the union, without contributing to the union. They also argue that they will lose power and influence, and then employee wages drop and safety hazards increase. Opponents have also argued that such laws requiring workers to join a union never existed, and that Right to Work laws are redundant and anti-union.

The Libertarian Party platform (www.lp.org/platform) states in section 2.7 that “We support the right of free persons to associate or not associate in labor unions, and an employer should have the right to recognize or refuse to recognize a union.” A simple way to say this and to clarify the argument for and against the concept of Right to Work laws is that unions, employers, and employees working within a capitalist, free-market system must provide value for their goods or services or be forced to go out of business. If a union is providing adequate value to its members, then not only will they happily pay their dues, but other workers will be inclined to join as well. If a union is not providing enough value to support their dues collections, then workers will choose not to join their union and the union should go out of business. What unions seem to be asking for is governmental protection from the free labor market. They are attempting to collude with government to force workers to pay up or lose their jobs. Voluntary union membership is a fine thing. Forcing people to pay for membership to a club they do not want to join as a condition of employment is not in the best interest of freedom and liberty.

The Libertarian candidate who dropped out of the Columbus City Council race this week says he knew nothing of a deal with Republicans to head off a primary election.

Andrew S. Ullman, who was running as part of a slate of three Libertarians, said he’s now endorsing the four Democratic incumbents in the race. He said he agreed to drop out of the race because he needs time to look for work after losing a temporary job at Nationwide.

Read the rest here.

Today the Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA) announced their endorsement of Mark Noble for Columbus City Council.

Mark Noble has been involved with and actively advocated firearms freedoms in past runs for office. He’s a life member of the Gun Owners of America (as a candidate, achieving their highest rating) and both he and his wife Loretta are NRA Certified Firearms Instructors.

Mark Noble is focused on improving the safety of all Columbus residents, and realizes that the issues of violence in our community aren’t adequately addressed by curtailing civil liberties. This is why Mark will work on City Council to strike at the underlying causes of violence in Columbus neighborhoods and focus on proven approaches to minimize dangers to our citizens and save lives.

“I’m glad to receive the BFA’s recognition on my concern for this aspect of individual liberty and look forward to gaining the respect of Columbus residents when it comes to my support for protecting their other freedoms as well.” Noble said.

After beginning involvement on these issues by participating in open carry walks as an advocate of improvements to concealed carry legislation, Mark Noble became an instructor to teach others about firearms safety and marksmanship as a volunteer instructor at the Ohio State University Pistol Club.

As a Buckeye Firearms Association volunteer, Noble helped staff booths at gun shows, to identify candidates strong on pro-gun issues, and supported BFA endorsed candidates by volunteering his time to help with door-to-door canvassing and other campaign activities.

Mark Noble has written articles featured on the BFA website, represented issues of firearm freedoms in newspaper interviews, and defended concealed carry reform in live interviews with national media outlets. Noble is a frequent attendee and speaker at area gun shows and 2nd Amendment related events.

“Current city council members tend to respond to safety concerns with improved lighting or the installation of video cameras that give rise to privacy concerns.” Noble said, “Unfortunately too many of our citizens have learned that sometimes it takes more than this to protect their families until the police arrive.”

In the primary this spring, Noble faces opponents that support Mayor Coleman’s unconstitutional anti-gun agenda. Unlike his opponents Mark Noble understands that the rightful role of government is a limited one that does not interfere in the fundamental rights of its citizens to protect themselves and their families when the police cannot respond in time.

Doug Caruso at the Columbus Dispatch:

Republicans and Libertarians reached a deal today that cancels the need for a Columbus City Council primary and ensures that two candidates from each of those parties are on the ballot in November.

[...]

The city charter requires a primary only if there are more than two candidates for each open seat.

[..] both parties agreed it was best to conserve their campaign resources for the November contest rather than fighting one another for spots on that ballot.

[..]

“The Libertarians and the Republicans looked at the cost of a primary and took into account how wealthy the incumbent Democratic candidates will be because of the contributions from people who do business with the city and who want to influence policy decisions at City Hall,” he said.

Remaining on the ballot are Republicans Matthew Ferris and Daryl Hennessy; Libertarians Mark Noble and Robert Bridges….

[..]

Despite the deal to reduce the number of candidates, the Republicans and Libertarians are not running together as a slate.

Read more here.

NEWS From BRIDGES For COLUMBUS CITY COUNCIL

Robert F. Bridges
614-285-6021
　

* * * * * MEDIA ADVISORY * * * * *

Bridges to attend Community Relations Day at Mt. Vernon AME Church

Columbus City Council candidate Robert Bridges has accepted an invitation to attend the Mt. Vernon Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Church’s annual Community Relations Day on Sunday, March 20 at 10:45 am. The church is inviting a wide spectrum of community leaders to join them for worship and fellowship.

According to the invitation, “There is one common thread that weaves and binds us together in our commitment and laboring and serving to make the community a better place to live.”

“Through this campaign, I am reaching out to every segment of the Columbus community,” Bridges said. “The African-American community and Libertarianism have been ships that pass in the night for too long. We need to hear from them and let them hear from us.”

Bridges will make himself available to members of the news media following the service for questions and comments.

Bridges is one of two Libertarian Party candidates contesting at-large seats on the Columbus City Council in this May’s primary. The other Libertarian candidate is Mark Noble, the party’s former candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2006.

The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. Read more about Robert’s campaign at

http://www.votebridges.org/default.html

Columbus City Council candidate Robert Bridges met this morning with Gahanna Councilman John McAlister to discuss issues of mutual interest. Bridges is part of a three-person slate of Libertarian candidates running for Columbus City Council. McAlister, long-time Gahanna councilman, is also a Libertarian and previously ran on the party’s ticket for US Senate.

Bridges sought McAlister’s advice on putting Libertarian values to work as a sitting officeholder. “We talked about how to eliminate government intrusion in our lives,” Bridges said.

The two also discussed the issue of misconduct by towing contractors on the OSU campus. “I have proposed requiring owners or their representatives to sign tow slips rather than allowing the tow companies to act as their representatives,” Bridges explained. “John and I talked about how this can be applied at the city level, and how it stops the state from taking away the rights of property owners.”

The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. Read more about Robert’s campaign at
http://www.votebridges.org/default.html

The standoff between the Republicans and the Democrats in Wisconsin over the unions has managed to capture a significant portion of the news and now is spreading to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Teachers are a large portion of the government employees involved. Caught in the middle of all of this are the students whose schools have been closed in some cases and the taxpayers who have to foot the bill. So far not much effort has been spent on asking why the government is still involved in the education business and since it is what are the results and what are the alternatives. Why, after some twenty years of activism, do we still have government run schools? Can’t we break this log jam somehow?

Separating education from the state should be our goal. How we get there is another matter, one that is worth discussing. Simply put in my mind the freedom to teach is inherent in the idea of freedom of speech. Teachers should not be told by the government what to teach or how to teach. When schools are run by the government they are subject to public and political pressure, which is seldom in the best interests of the students. Wisconsin has two significant things going for it with their school system; Milwaukee was one of the first, if not the first, school system in the nation to adopt a voucher program, and Wisconsin has one of the best graduation rates in the nation. In Milwaukee vouchers now exceed $120 million annually. Early evaluation of the program does not suggest there is any specific advantage with vouchers. However, Milwaukee is fortunate to have a choice program for students that has seen some success. “…research shows a general pattern of growth in Milwaukee graduation rates. From 2003 to 2009 the MPS [Milwaukee Public Schools] rate grew from 49% to 70%. For the MPCP [Milwaukee Parental Choice Program] the rate grew from 63% to 82%.” I am not especially fond of vouchers but vouchers seem to work in Wisconsin and just need to be expanded. Maybe they should be on the menu of alternatives.

Statewide the Wisconsin graduation rates are impressive when we compare them to other states. For the period 2007-2008 Wisconsin graduated 89.6% of their students. This is one of the highest rates in the nation.

Nationwide students and their parents should be able to chose from a variety of schools that fit the needs of the student regardless of whether that need is for a specific subject area or a nationwide system that allows a child from a family that frequently moves to leave a school in San Diego on Friday and pick up on the next page in a Rhode Island school the next Monday.

Lots of different factors play into the quality of education a student receives; from the quality of the teacher to family and neighborhood. Some parents may wish to be involved in their child’s education while others may find that difficult for any number of reasons. We need to keep in mind the fact that people learn through different ways and at different speeds. No one way fits all, which is a significant problem with today’s education system.

If Sweden can do it so can others. In the 1990s Sweden introduced the voucher system and today is seems to be very popular. Some states have tried vouchers, as in Wisconsin, but the effort to expand them seems to be stalled. It may not be the best libertarian solution, but it seems to be a step in the right direction and if they work in Sweden why not support them in Wisconsin with its large Scandinavian heritage? We might find we can sell this one.

By 2004 there were roughly 3000 charter schools nationwide with a variety of results. Charter schools are another alternative that have been successful in some places while elsewhere they have not worked as well as the state run system, and in some cases they seem to have been developed more for the money the government was handing out and to hell with the students. As in with any other service it is buyer beware.

The Libertarian Party needs to become more vocal on this issue. We need to remember that separating education from the state is just as important as separating religion from the state. In the long run that is the goal. Now how are we going to get there? This issue is passing us by. Let’s get on it!

Michael H. Wilson is editor of Libertarian Party of Washington State News & Views. His blog’s mission is to “support the ideas of civil liberties, economic freedom and non intervention. “Let me be a free man…free to travel… free to stop…free to work…free to choose my own teachers…free to follow the religion of my Fathers…free to think and talk and act for myself.” Chief Joseph, Nez Perce… Bring All the Troops Home!”

Kurt Wright Brings Wisconsin Governor’s Attack on Labor to the Green Mountain State

Burlington, VT—Burlington Progressive Party Chair Abby Russell today denounced a bill that would severely hurt workers’ rights in Vermont. WCAX reported state representative and city councilor Kurt Wright (R-Burlington) introduced a bill that would take away teachers’ right to strike in the event that contract negotiations fail. The once—and potentially future—mayoral candidate’s bill comes during a time when far-right Republican governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and New Jersey are fighting to strip collective bargaining rights for state employees.

“Unions are the foundation of our middle class. Union struggles for decent wages, benefits, and working conditions have improved the lives of all working Americans. From fighting for a livable wage for para-educators to negotiating fair and reasonable contracts with city workers, Burlington Progressives have a strong record of standing up for public workers’ rights,” said Burlington Progressive Party Chair Abby Russell. “Burlington residents should be appalled by Kurt Wright’s impersonation of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Burlington needs representatives who work for them, not ones who push far-right anti-worker legislation.”

Background Information:

• Wright Introduces Bill to Strip Teachers’ Right to Strike. State Representative Kurt Wright (R-Burlington) introduced a bill that would take away teachers’ right to strike and replace it with a binding arbitration system. [WCAX.com, 2/21/11]
• Wright Compares Right to Strike to a Weapon. Wright said that teachers threatening to strike was like them threatening to use a weapon. He told WCAX, “[E]ven when there’s not a strike, the threat of a strike is used as a billy club. It’s a bad system.” [WCAX.com, 2/21/11]
• Headline: Workers’ Rights Battle Goes National at Pivotal Time for Labor. Bloomberg News reported that there are currently efforts in 17 states to restrict union rights and curb earnings. The most notable example is in Wisconsin where Republican Governor Scott Walker wants to restrict collective bargaining and require government workers to pay more of their health-care and pension costs. In response, unions have organized demonstrations in solidarity with Wisconsin workers in at least 27 states. [Bloomberg News, 2/22/11]
• Vermonters Rally in Solidarity with Wisconsin Workers. On Tuesday, nearly 250 people from labor braved the cold and rallied on the steps of the state capitol in support of union workers in Wisconsin. [Seven Days, 2/22/11]
• Progressives Standing with Labor. Traven Leyshon posted on the Vermont Progressive Party blog a post in which he not only explained the stakes of the labor battles in Wisconsin, but also drew a clear difference between Progressives and Democrats. Leyshon noted that if Governor Walker defeats the unions in Wisconsin it will “make it easier for Democratic governors, like Peter Shumlin and Andrew Cuomo of New York, to appear more reasonable as they press their demands that public sector workers suffer cuts in wages, pensions and jobs.” [Vermont Progressive Party, Leyshon blog, 2/20/11]

Tuesday Feb 15, the Logan Square Green Party in Chicago Illinois are meeting at the Green Party office on Fullerton Ave.

The Northeast Ohio Greens will meet tonight at Mac’s Backs Bookstore 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights – 7pm-9pm.

Wednesday Feb. 16 the Los Angeles Greens in California meet at 7 PM at the Peace Center on W. Third St.

The Charleston County (SC) Green Party will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 16, 7-8pm at Earth Fare on Folly Rd Blvd. Look for us in the cafe.

Thursday Feb. 17 the Detroit Greeens are meeting with the Tri-County Greens at the Phoenix Cafe in Hazel Park, MI.

San Fernando Valley Greens will have a candidates forum on February 21.

Do you know of local or state Green Party meetings or other Green Events that we should add to our Events Calendar? Post them here as a comment or send by email to GPW@GreenPartyWatch.org

IPR note: if other parties would like to start putting together a calendar like this to post their weekly meetings around the country, we can work on that here as well.

Trailer for the movie, titled American Mayor (H/T Steven Linnabary in IPR comments):

http://americanmayor.watchime.com/

Previous articles on Travis Irvine at IPR

Noble Achieves Ballot Status in May Primary

This afternoon at a meeting of the Franklin County Board of Elections, Mark Noble was certified to appear on the ballot in the May 3rd City Council Primary.

Mark Noble is a software engineer with the state’s largest K-12 online charter school and has politically active in the community since 2003. Noble ran for Lt. Governor of Ohio in 2006.

Asked why he wants to run for Columbus City Council, Mark replied “Columbus needs a bad guy – someone who’s willing to say the unpopular word ‘No’. No to unnecessary spending. No to unwise spending. No to the approach of scaring and misleading the citizens into believing that fiscal responsibility comes at the price of cuts to their essential basic services.”

With just two months before the primary election. Noble and other city council hopefuls have only a short time to present their ideas to the voters.

Asked what distinguishes him from other candidates, Noble responded “The main difference is my understanding that taxpayer money has been taken from the people as a whole, and should be spent for the benefit of the whole – not just the most vocal special interests.” He continued “An example of this is City Council’s present approach to economic development – where the city routinely picks winners and losers by offering tax incentives to select businesses, while denying them to most others.”

Mark plans to spend the next months reaching out to area voters and continuing to gather feedback from residents on the changes they find most vital to neighborhood prosperity and stability.

Phone: (216) 835-3864
Email: info@VOTEforNOBLE.com