Here is a summary of the results of the straw polls taken to date at meetings of the WBAI by-laws revision subcommittee. This summary was assembled from notes posted at http://www.wbai.net and my own notes. Note that in the first vote, on 4/23, each person could vote more than once. In all subsequent polls, each person could only vote once. I believe this is a complete list of all the straw polls we have taken; my apologies if anything is missing.

Jamie

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4/23/02

Who will vote in station board elections?

Option 1. Only listener subscribers at the current rate and listener volunteers should be voters.

Option 2. Listeners who make any financial contribution (even at a nominal rate), or who do any volunteer work for WBAI including something from their home or in their community) should be voters. In addition, listeners in some categories (on welfare or workfare, prisoners, etc.) would be exempt from either financial contributions or volunteering but would have to register in some way.

Option 3. All listeners can vote-- they only need to indicate their interest by registering to vote and providing some information about themselves

Option 4. In addition to listeners, listener subscribers, volunteers, and those in exempt categories, anyone can vote if they are members in or work with other progressive organizations.

Option 5. The constituency model/community model ("Mimi Rosenberg option").

Option 1a is the same as Option 1, but it includes listener-prisoners.

Results:
Option 1: 10 (ten)
Option 1a: 11 (eleven)
Option 2: 9 (nine)
Option 3: 5 (five)
Option 4: 3 (three)
Option 5: 0 (zero)
There were around 30 (thirty) people in the room. The numbers add to more than 30 because people were allowed to vote more than once.

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5/9/02:

Straw polls on role of the local board, led by Donna Gould:

1A. Should local board be responsible for hiring and firing station manager?
2 vote local board should be solely responsible.
30 Vote local board should be responsible in conjuction with others
0 vote LAB should have no part in it.
7 Abstain

1B. Should local board have responsibility of oversight of GM?
1 vote local board should be solely responsible
27 vote local board should be responsible in combination with others
0 vote that the local board have no part in it.
8 Abstain

2. Should local board be responsible for hiring, firing, and oversight of Program Director?
0 vote that Local board should have sole responsibility
20 vote that local board should be responsible with others
11 vote that local board should have no part
5 abstain

3. Should local board have power to amend, adopt, repeal foundation by-laws?

0 vote that the local board should be solely responsible
6 vote that the local board should be responsible with others
25 vote that listeners should ratify all by-law changes
0 vote that local board should have no part
3 abstain

4a. Should the local board have the power to develop the station budget?

1 votes for local board to be solely responsible
19 vote for local board to be responsible with others
17 vote for no part
2 abstain.

4b: Should the local board have the power to approve the station budget?

4 vote local board should be solely responsible.
27 vote local board should be responsible with others.
0 vote local board should have no part.
2 abstain.

4c: Should the local board have the power to monitor/oversee station budget?

0 vote that local board should have solely responsible
All vote that local board should be responsible with others (about 40?)

0 vote that local board should have no part
0 abstain

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5/14/02

Straw polls on PNB, led by Donna Gould

1. There should be no appointed seats on the PNB

Agree: 18
Disagree: 8
Abstain: 4

2. How should PNB members be chosen?

12 By listener-members and local boards in combination
5 By local board only
6 By listener-members only
7 Abstain

Straw polls on powers of listener-members, led by Larry Romsted

1. Should there be a national listener bylaws convention in four years (or so)?

Yes: 17
No: 11
Abstain: 4

2. Should Listener-members have the power to propose

a) Formal Motions?
Yes: 25
No: 1
Abstain: 4

b) National by-laws?
Yes: 22
No: 3
Abstain: 5

c) Articles of Incorporation?
Yes: 10
No: 10
Abstain: 8

d) Referenda?
Yes: 17
No: 4
Abstain: 5

3. Should PNB decisions be transparent? (except for personnel and litigation issues)

Yes: all but 2 (say about 25-30)
No: 1
Abstain: 1

4. Should listener-members have to power to ratify changes in
a) Articles of incorporation?
Yes: 18
No: 0
Abstain: 11

b) By-laws?
Yes: 17
No: 0
Abstain: 9

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5/21/02

Led by Steve Brown:

1. Each local station board shall 'own' the last 5 minutes of each program.
15 in favor, 8 opposed, 2 abstentions.

2. The National Board shall have the option of using 15 minutes of each day at each station.
14 in favor, 9 opposed, 2 abstentions.

3. Salaries and job-duties of everyone in the Pacifica Foundation shall be publicly posted.
19 in favor, 9 opposed, 6 abstentions.

General meetings, led by Roger Manning:

This proposal has been widely distributed, so I will only briefly cover it. This proposed bylaw formalizes town hall meetings. The intention is to insure, in writing, regular Pacifica listener/staff participation in the preservartion and health of the foundation as well as to promore conenctivity between Pacifica management, staff, station boards and listeners.

29 (twenty-nine) in favor, 2 (two) opposed, 4 abstentions.

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5/28/02

Led by Steve Brown:

PNB will have to have its budget approved by the five stations.

Yes: 5
No: 10
Abstain: 16