As of today, I was the only statewide appointed Libertarian in Iowa, but sadly the actions that have taken place in the LPIA have left me no other reasonable choice but to leave the LPIA after 15 years and register as no-party.

In April, at the state convention, I was added to be the LPIA committee as a non-voting alternate for Congressional District 3. During the convention, I questioned the previous Treasurer and Chair, about specifics in the Treasurer’s report.

After the convention, I was not notified of meetings or other party business as an alternate. I found this odd and was told by the Chair that it was an oversight and would be added to the email distribution list for the committee. (The LPIA conducts most all its business on Facebook, which isn’t proper. I do not use Facebook, and therefore I don’t see meeting notices posted in their private groups and chats). I was never added to the email list.

In July, the ethics report was not filed with the state, which resulted in a $200 fine that LPIA donors must pay. According to the ethics board website, this fine is still not settled. I asked the Chair if the missing filing was an error or oversight. I was ignored. When I asked other committee members to provide me with the meeting links, they would send me a link. I then noticed that the meeting dates would abruptly change by the Chair with little notice. At this point, I wanted to see the actual LPIA financials as I started to suspect something could be very wrong.

As I continued to be ignored by the Chair, I informed both the Chair and the State Central Committee that I would be filing a complaint with the Judicial Committee which I filed after not hearing back from the Chair. I withdrew my complaint after being invited to the next meeting by other members of the State Central Committee. I was told the Chairman was in the hospital. I was assured that the ethics report was filed, and all issues were being resolved. I regret withdrawing the complaint. The Judicial Committee did respond to my complaint, and I felt the committee largely ignored their concerns.

When the Chair abruptly canceled an in-person meeting, a two-hour drive to attend; I resigned from the committee. I released a statement that I would no longer help the LPIA or LP national but have been available to help individual candidates. I didn’t know why, but it was apparent that the LPIA no longer appreciated my efforts or support.

Eventually, the LPIA state committee discovered that a bill hadn’t been paid. Approximately two weeks ago, the LPIA removed the Chair. They have still not communicated this to the LPIA membership and donors.

Perhaps the most egregious attack on me was the defamation of my character by a current member of the State Central Committee who couldn’t be bothered to check their party email or show up to meetings implied in a public post that I knew about financial issues for over a year and did nothing to stop it to benefit me and steal members for a new organization. This claim is blatantly false and simply an attempt to circumvent responsibility for their complete lack of oversight.

For these reasons, I have changed my party registration to no-party and will only rejoin once this party shows that it prioritizes fiduciary responsibility instead of social club actives such as the next love-in convention with “celebertarians” that few outside of our sociocentric group knows. At that point, I will be glad to re-register Libertarian.

Also, I will still be helping Libertarian candidates.