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Diversity Language committee: Draft Language re: Bylaws Hamanaka interpetation 5-14-03 |
• Diversity bylaw committee documents ------------------- On May 14, as there is no secretary of the Pacifica diversity bylaws language committee, Dave Fertig [iPNB rep. - KPFK, lawyer] posted a rendering of the results the committee's work. It was posted on wbai.net. Sheila Hamanaka [WBAI area member of the committee] objected to Fertig's rendering. Part of the online dicussion and her interpetation of the committee's work is posted below.
These postings are drawn from the diversity bylaw language committee online discussion list:
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• Hamanaka bylaw draft language interpetation (lower on page)
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From:sheilahamanaka
Dear Committee, This is really unacceptable. Dave Fertig's distorted version of the DLC language is appearing on wbai.net as the official version: http://www.wbai.net/bylaws_revise/br_divers_cmte_draft5-14-03.html Dave, I have to ask you to ask the webmaster Roger Manning to remove it. Sheila --------------------------------
From: susanwa@n...
Sheila, I am questioning that we voted on that language. I have a right to question, and am doing so honestly. Your note is insulting and rude. Neither Willie nor I remember that the outcome of how people would be added was as you stated. (The last two meetings were 13 hours total, so it's quite natural that we might each miss something.) I'd like it to be clear and as there is a difference in perception of what happened perhaps we need another meeting. Dave took the notes so I defer to what he has to say on this. But we can't leave the language as he wrote it because it is unclear. Somehow I came away with the idea that the COIs would choose the highest vote getters if they helped meet the goals, and that by "highest vote getters" it was meant that no one would be skipped over. Susan [Da Silva - KPFA LAB]
sheilahamanaka wrote:
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From:sheilahamanaka
Diallo
YOU MAY BE "OKAY" WITH IT BUT DAVE DOES NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE DOCUMENT WE ARGUED OVER FOR HOURS. NOR DO YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO GIVE HIM THAT PERMISSION. "Intended" is not relevant. Intended by whom? You? If we all agreed on what was intended, why bother meeting for hours on end and and haggling over words, sentences, phrases, paragraphs. There is a reason why we voted over "Fertig language" vs "Hamanaka language."
Lawyers know, and you do too, that words count.
We are going to send to the lawyers the language we voted on. If you want to send the iPNB a separate opinion, go ahead. You are operating on a double standard and so is Dave. As long as things are going your way, it's Roberts Rules of Order. YOU, Diallo, went and got the Parliamentarian! Suddenly, if you don't like the results, it's consensus that we must obey. Please ask Ted Wiesgal: if the committee votes on language, is it okay for individual members to take it upon themselves and CHANGE THE RECORD, THE LANGUAGE? ASK HIM! Please cc the DLC. As far as I know, and common sense will tell you, added seats was never "intended" to seat a white person when you need a person of color. Smoother and better flowing language? This is not a beauty contest. Let's leave underrepresented groups underrepresented because the words stick in our throats? You want poetry? Let me rewrite all of it. I'm a poet. Trust me. I'll just leave out the parts that don't "flow" in my artistic judgement, Okay? on 18/05/03 2:34, maildiallo@aol.com at maildiallo@aol.com wrote: Sheila: The COIs were never intended to pick one excluded candidate over another. When we do that, no matter how we do that, it is a problem. Automatic or not. It was only intended that the next highest vote getting excluded candidate of whatever race and gender be seated. Dave has a problem even with this mechanism but I think we need to let the lawyers decide if it might be permissible in one way or another. Generally, Dave's way of writing this language is smoother and better flowing than other versions. Yes, he needs to keep it close to what we have agreed on but I am OK with him making changes where he feels it is needed and we can discussed it here on the web or God forbid, another meeting. We don't have to trust Dave, we only have to let him do his thing with our help and agree on correction where necessary. This process needs to complete itself without lambasting each other for trying. Diallo [KPFT area]
In a message dated 5/18/2003 12:26:03 AM Central Daylight Time,
Diallo Please clarify your comments to Dave. I have found three things that were omitted from Dave's compilation of the committee report. Are you saying you think his document accurately reflects the results of the last two meetings? Are you also attempting to delete something we voted on, namely the paragraph about how to fill diversity seats? Are you attempting to ignore the vote about anti-racism and anti-sexism training? You told Dave to "Hang in there." For what? Sheila on 17/05/03 21:57, maildiallo@aol.com at maildiallo@aol.com wrote: Dave: You are doing fine. Hang in there. I have not found anything I object to so far. I plan to read it more tonight. Thanks for you off-the-hook efforts. We are going to get this thing right in spite of ourselves. Diallo *****************************************************************
From:sheilahamanaka
CORRECT DRAFT LANGUAGE
DEAR COMMITTEE, WITHIN ONE WEEK of THE CLOSE OF THE ELECTION, THE LOCAL COI SHALL ISSUE A WRITTEN REPORT REFLECTING ITS FINDINGS.THIS REPORT shall be ISSUED PUBLICLY, IT SHALL BE PROVIDED to THE CHAIR OF THE LSB AND THE FOUNDATION, AS WELL AS BEING POSTED AT THE APPLICABLE STATION AND ON ITS WEBSITE. NO PERSON SHALL BE NAMED TO AN ADDED DELEGATE SEAT WHO DOES NOT RECEIVE AT LEAST 10% OF THE NUMBER OF MINIMUM VOTES REQUIRED TO BE DIRECTLY ELECTED IN THE SAME ELECTION. In the event that there are no ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES REMAINING IN THE APPROPRIATE POOL WHO ARE NEEDED TO MEET THE THE COI's DIVERSITY GOALS, THEN NO FURTHER APPOINTMENTS SHALL BE MADE. SECTION 10. TRANSITION ELECTION OF DELEGATES Following the adoption of these Bylaws, and consistent with that Settlement Agreement dated December 12, 2001, there shall be an election for all Delegates for each radio station area. The interim Board of Directors, by resolution, shall establish a nomination and election time frame for said elections, which time frame may be shorter and on dates other than those set forth in Section 4 of this Article of these Bylaws. For purposes of this transition election, only, local Committees of Inclusion shall be established consisting of one Director, three of the current Local Advisory Board Members from each radio station who shall, by Single Transferable Voting method, choose a minimum of three and a maximum of eleven additional Local COI members. These local Committees of Inclusion shall have FOUR weeks after the opening of nominations to set diversity goals for the candidate pools for Delegate elections for their respective station areas. To avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest, no member of a local Committee of Inclusion may run for election as a Delegate (except that if all the current interim Directors from a station area intend to run for election, then one of them who shall be chosen by lot shall serve on the local Committee of Inclusion for his/her station area, and if there are not three LAB members who do not intend to run for election, then three LAB members shall be chosen by lot to serve on the local Committee of Inclusion). FOR PURPOSES OF THIS TRANSITION ELECTION, ONLY, ON EACH LSB, THE 3 STAFF DELEGATES AND 9 LISTENER-SPONSOR DELEGATES RECEIVING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF WINNING VOTES SHALL SERVE UNTIL SAID LSB'S DECEMBER 2004 MEETING TO SEAT NEW DELEGATES, UNLESS RE-ELECTED OR SOONER REMOVED PURSUANT TO THESE BYLAWS. BEGINNING WITH THE 2004 ELECTION FOR DELEGATES, SAID DELEGATE ELECTIONS SHALL THEREAFTER PROCEED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE NON-TRANSITIONAL ELECTION PROVISIONS HEREIN. SECTION 11. DELEGATES' TERMS OF OFFICE; TERM LIMITS A Delegate's term of office, shall be three (3) years, beginning in December. A Delegate may serve a maximum of two consecutive 3-year terms. A Delegate shall not be eligible for further service as a Delegate until one year has elapsed after the termination of the Delegate's second consecutive three-year term. ARTICLE FIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE FOUNDATION SECTION ?: The PNB shall work with the Committees of Inclusion to develop anti-racism and anti-sexism training for Pacifica management, staff, programmers, boards and committees. SECTION 3. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF STATION REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTORS . . . D. DIVERSITY; ADDITIONAL STATION REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTORS AFTER the ELECTION OF Station Representative Directors IN ANY GIVEN ELECTION YEAR, THE NATIONAL COI shall EVALUATE THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS (BOARD) TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE BOARD, AS CONSTITUTED, meets that Committee's national diversity goals based on the DEMOGRAPHICS of the COMBINED SIGNAL AREAS OF PACIFICA-OWNED RADIO STATIONS, using the same methods set forth in Article 4, Section 5. WITHIN ONE WEEK OF THE CLOSE OF THE ELECTION, THE NATIONAL COI SHALL ISSUE A WRITTEN REPORT REFLECTING ITS FINDINGS. THIS REPORT SHALL BE ISSUED PUBLICLY, IT SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE CHAIR OF EACH LSB AND THE FOUNDATION, AS WELL AS BEING POSTED AT EACH STATION AND ON THEIR WEBSITES. IN THE EVENT THE NATIONAL COI FINDS THE BOARD AS CONSTITUTED has not met the diversity goals AS DESCRIBED ABOVE, THEN IT SHALL INVOKE IN ITS REPORT THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE BOARD SECRETARY MUST NOTIFY THE CHAIRS OF THE FIVE LOCAL STATION BOARDS TO IMMEDIATELY CONVENE THEIR RESPECTIVE RADIO STATION DELEGATES —PRIOR TO THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING —TO NOMINATE AND ELECT BY THE INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING METHOD A FIFTH DIRECTOR FROM AMONG EACH RADIO STATION'S DELEGATES, in order to implement the National COI's DIVERSITY GOALS. Any such additional Station Representative directors may be either Listener-Sponsor Delegates or Staff Delegates. The second order of business at the Board of Directors meeting in January shall be to adopt a resolution adding five (5) Directors to the Board for a period of one year and then to seat those additional five Station Representative Directors for terms that shall expire the following January. SECTION 6. TRANSITION ELECTION Following the adoption of these Bylaws, and within the time frame established by the interim Board, and following the transition election of Delegates pursuant to Section 10 of Article 4 of these Bylaws, the Delegates from each station area shall meet and elect four (4) Directors —three (3) of whom shall be Listener-Sponsor Directors elected by Single Transferable voting, and one (1) of whom shall be a Staff Director elected by Instant Runoff Voting. For the purposes of this election and contrary to the provisions of Section 3(A) of this Article, one year's previous service as a Delegate LSB shall not be an eligibility requirement. The term of these Station Representative Directors shall expire upon the election and seating of their successors in January 2005. In the event that those twenty (20) Directors, taken as a whole, are DEEMED BY THE NATIONAL COI not TO meet its national diversity goals based on the DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE COMBINED SIGNAL AREAS OF PACIFICA-OWNED RADIO STATIONS, using the same methods set forth in Article 4, Section 5, then the provisions of Section 3.D, above, shall apply, except that the additional five Directors shall be immediately elected by the radio station Delegates and seated at the first meeting of the newly elected Board and a resolution of the new Board expanding the number of Station Representative Directors to twenty-five (25) until January 2005 shall be adopted by the new Board at its first meeting. In addition, nominations for the two (2) Affiliate Directors shall be opened. ARTICLE EIGHT OTHER COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS SECTION 4. COMMITTEES OF INCLUSION The Foundation shall require diversity throughout its institutional structures. For the purpose of developing and monitoring diversity, there shall be established a standing committee of the Board called the "National Committee of Inclusion" ("COI"). The National COI shall have five local subcommittees known as "Local Committees of Inclusion". The local COIs shall each consist one Director and three LSB members who shall be elected in January each year by their respective LSBs using the single transferable voting method. Those four shall choose at least three and not more than eleven additional local COI members each year who have affirmed their support for the foundation's mission. The National COI shall be made up of the Directors from each Local COI and two additional Local COI members elected by the Local COI using the Single Transferable Voting method. In electing local and National COI members, the LSBs and Local COIs, respectively, shall apply demographic data as set forth in Article 4, Section 5, with the goal of the fullest inclusion of members of societally under represented and disenfranchised groups. To avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest, no member of a COI may run for election as a local station Delegate while serving on the local COI, and s/he must resign from the COI immediately should s/he commence gathering nomination signatures for his/her candidacy as a Delegate. Any and all actions of the National Committee of Inclusion or any of its local subcommittees may be overridden by the Board of Directors if it deems it appropriate or necessary. The National COI shall: (a) monitor the diversity of the national staff and the Board of Directors and its committees and make recommendations for improvements, (b) monitor the diversity goals throughout all Pacifica network stations, and (c) communicate closely with the Local COIs regarding their progress toward their diversity goals. Local COIs shall monitor inclusion of under-represented communities in their station programming, volunteer staff, and paid staff. They will also monitor Delegate election candidates and will work with the appropriate local LSB committees to improve the diversity of Delegate election candidates. Local COIs shall help establish and monitor diversity goals in consultation with station management and volunteer committees. These diversity goals will be published and maintained in each respective signal area. Communities deemed to be under-represented by the local COIs will be identified and the extent of their under-representation shall be communicated to the Board, the respective LSBs and LSB committees, and station management. Station management and the LSB committees SHALL TAKE ALL STEPS REASONABLY NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE INCLUSION OF THESE COMMUNITIES in their future decisions about staffing, programming, committee membership, and Delegate candidate outreach and recruitment. Local station management and LSB committees shall report quarterly to the local COIs, the National COI, and the LSBs on the status of diversity goals within their respective signal areas. The National COI shall query and monitor signal areas with identified under-represented communities about their plans for addressing these communities. Where necessary and with due notice, the Board may suggest or direct managers and committees to implement specific measures to ATTAIN THE APPLICABLE DIVERSITY. The Board and National COI will assist and encourage station managers and committees in finding new ways to improve recruitment efforts in their respective signal areas in an effort to achieve diversity goals. The Committees of Inclusion shall serve as a liaison to and between management, volunteers, Listener-Sponsor and Staff Members, and the community at large to establish and maintain DIVERSITY in all Foundation programming, committee membership, and candidate outreach IN CONFORMITY WITH THE APPLICABLE DIVERSITY GOALS. All Committees of Inclusion shall operate in adherence to the Foundation Bylaws and policies. The National Committee of Inclusion shall develop a written document for approval by the Board of Directors which shall be called "Committees of Inclusion Operational Guidelines" that describes the committees' charge and policies regarding implementation of that charge. ### D Fertig, May 14, 2003 -------------------
• Fertig's update on the draft language
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