In today's frustrating political climate many voters are registering as "Independent", which is, in fact a political party, or just not bothering to vote at all. 

Now is the time to get to know the THIRD largest political party in the country that's been around for more than 40 years. Our guest speaker for the quarterly business meeting will be William (Bill) Westmiller the current LPVC Secretary.

William became involved in the 1964 Presidential campaign while attending High School in Marshall, Minnesota. He became Chairman of the Young Democrats of Lyon County and conducted a lengthy interview with candidate Eugene McCarthy, which was published in the county newspaper. Later, he was invited to Lyndon Johnson's second inauguration in 1965.

After reading several libertarian books, William joined the national Libertarian Party shortly after it was founded in 1971. His philosophical opposition to the compulsory military draft and the Vietnam War led him to move to Canada, where he was a co-founder of the LP of Canada, serving as its first Secretary, in 1972.

Upon moving back to the United States, William helped organize the write-in Presidential Campaign of USC Professor John Hospers in California and was subsequently elected as LP National Secretary and then California Chairman.

Like other libertarians, William was disappointed with the progress of the LP and impressed with the Republican Candidate for President, Ronald Reagan. Westmiller registered GOP and ran for the 24^th Congressional District nomination to contest incumbent Brad Sherman. He participated in a dozen debates with Sherman, but only won 18% of the vote in the largely Democratic District.

At the urging of several Republican activists with libertarian leanings, Westmiller was elected California Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus and subsequently served as National RLC Chairman for nearly a decade.

William registered Libertarian shortly after his wife, Robin, was elected Chair of the Libertarian Party of Ventura County. He currently serves as Secretary.

William will discuss the development of his political philosophy over several decades and how we can change the political climate by joining and becoming active in the Libertarian Party.

  THANK YOU to our very diligent EXECOM committee - Secretary Bill Westmiller, Treasurer Susan Aquino, Media Chair Mark Suarez (pictured,) Chair Robin Westmiller, Vice Chair Nelson Lopez, Campaigns Chair/Fundraising Chair James Aragon, and our location host Newsletter Chair Dan O'Shea who stuffed, sealed, addressed and stamped 1,000 letters (of the 3,500 we're planning on mailing out in the next few weeks) in just under THREE hours! 

 Can you imagine how many more we could do with YOUR help? There was also GREAT conversation - terrific  food (not pizza) beer, wine and diet pepsi! Something for everyone. We will be scheduling another mailing event in the very near future - JOIN US! 

From our National Chair, here is a heartwarming story about the difference an elected official can make in someone’s life: Libertarian Cara Schulz serves on the city council in Burnsville, Minn., and her experience in office provides a powerful example. 

Cara writes, “A man who is currently homeless signed up to speak during the public comments portion of the Burnsville City Council meeting last week. He has been sleeping in his car at night in the Walmart parking lot. Walmart is known to allow this at locations across the country. But, recently, he received notice from Walmart that it wasn’t allowed at this location because of a city ordinance.

LPC Chair Mimi Robson gives us an update and invites us to volunteer for a state committee:

"We have some great news to share coming out of our convention, which took place in Concord, California, April 5-7, 2019. The convention was a huge success! All told, we raised approximately $25,000 during the convention and this is the first convention in at least ten years in which the Party had more money in its bank account after the convention than before! We had 152 delegates register at the convention with 134 delegates on the floor on Sunday morning.

Meet our new Central Area Coordinator Justin Quigley. Justin is a sign fabricator, traffic control technician, and musician from Ceres California. After learning of the Libertarian Party in his early thirties, he began following the movement and soon found that many of the questions he had been asking himself about government and politics all along, were part of the very foundation that libertarianism is founded upon.

Our California State LP Convention held in Concord in early April was a wonderful success. Very well organized by Vice Chair Brent Olsen and professionally monitored by Chair Mimi Robson, I once again was very glad I attended. Best of all, there were 123 delegates---the highest number in recent years---and that's not even counting non-members, guests and family. 

LTE Published in the Ventura Breeze:

I read your paper when I can, but a recent column was brought to my attention by someone who thought I should respond. In response to a reader, you wrote: "Don’t you think whoever gets the most votes should win?" and followed with arguments against the Electoral College. I disagree.

First, you ask how something passed in 1787 (i.e.: the Constitution) could have any application today, citing population changes. Every provision of the Constitution, as amended and interpreted, has applied to every legal precept in the United Statesthroughout the intervening 232 years. You may have an affinity for one provision (Freedom of Speech) and dislike another (Electoral College), but you can't say that either one is invalid because of increased population. The justification for them is founded on principles, not population.

Libertarian Party of Ventura County Chair Robin Westmiller discusses the future of the Libertarian Party and planned activities for the Libertarian Party of Ventura County leading up to the 2020 elections in an in depth interview with “Our VenturaTV” Producer George Alger.

Our Ventura TV is an award-winning weekly talk show television series broadcast on Ventura cable channel 6 TV and also published on this website as well as on social media networks. The programs are primarily about nonprofits, community advocates, leaders, artists and organizations who contribute in some way to the Ventura County community.

“Since we began in 2008, the theme for the TV series has been “People doing good things in Ventura County” and the surrounding area. The majority of programs are talk shows featuring guests who are interviewed about their activities in the community. Additionally, there are music, theatrical and other entertainment productions,” says Alger.

The program will air on Sunday, March 10 at 2:00, Monday, March 11 at 1:00, Thursday, March 14 at 9:00 am, and Saturday, March 16 at 9am.

To watch the interview, visit OurVenturaTV

Inviting all registered Libertarians in Ventura County to join our Linkedin Discussion group 

Students in the Los Angeles Community College District will have Kevin Shaw to thank when postage-stamp sized restricted free speech zones are eliminated from their nine college campuses this year. Kevin recently won his constitutionally based case with the help of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.