Florida Liberty! Florida Libertarian & Party Reports

Left: LIO Community users, coalition friends meet with media.

Pinellas County, Florida--Libertarians working with the LIO community project are moving to the next stage developing a non-partisan community pilot in Pinellas-Pasco and "near Tampa area "  that seems off to a good start. It is a continuation of the pilot Pinellas project and party initiative interacting with the LIO local e-clubs projects.

The project, which is metropolitan in scope addressing populations over 1 million,  seeks to develop good feelings and dialogue between pledged Libertarians and those so interested in the community, reach out to non-Libertarian but interested community figures and officials, co-sponsor book coffees and social events, encourage coalition work, and encourage Libertarians in non-partisan office outside the formal Libertarian or other Party milieu. It interacts with the USLP along a memo of 2002 re-affirming elements of its strategic plan, and a memo of agreement with the LP Florida encouraging a non-partisan project.

The project was dubbed an "In-Place Free State Project" by Dr. Milton Friedman, who agreed to be its first honorary participant. The reference is to the Free State Projects in the USA and Europe where people interested in Libertarian ideas move to one state (New Hampshire) or EU country to promote both Libertarian numbers to leverage public interest and interest by officials in Libertarian tools. In contrast, the Pinellas Project seeks to set a model of developing similar results in every community of slightly over 1 million population (similar to New Hampshire).

PILOT PROJECT

If successful, LIO will register similar projects in every state that will also have an effect of helping the USLP focus on partisan elections, and insulate Libertarians from periodic party infiltration/assimilation troubles recently denounced by lead co-founder David Nolan . It is organized as a private personal society, and emphasizes that despite co-operation it is non-partisan and distinct in both platform and approach from the less libertarian US Libertarian Party*, bringing in the broader Libertarian and Libertarian-interest community around a stricter LIO approach.

Libertarian participants must be favorable to the LIO approach and sponsored, while non-Libertarians are less strictly vetted and must be generally supportive or have a common ground issue, say developers. At press time Florida Libertarians in over 20 public offices have joined the project as well, along with public officials and activists of other parties.

The about 400-participant strong Libertarian Party of Pinellas County voted to dissolve in favor of the project in December 2009, citing also concerns with LPF and an increasingly rocky relationship similar to those mentioned by Mr. Nolan.

Based on results, the project will also continue initially with one pilot club in each Continent except Antartica. The project website is at Pinellas Libertarians  or GOOGLING "Pinellas Libertarians."

Project goals are encouraging, per 1.3 million population, Libertarians and Libertarian-interested in non-partisan public office, building Libertarian-interest community sharing a reading list and links, and encouraging non-partisan coalitions in areas of Libertarian interest.

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*The US LP was founded as a Liberal (less government to anarchist)-Libertarian (voluntarist) alliance. Its mission states it moves policy in a Libertarian direction.