Below is my proposal that no one else yet has suggested. It solves many of the Bylaws contentious issues of the last 2 months.

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An Election for National Board Chairman

This proposal is to enable listeners nationally in Pacifica to havee considerable power in independently determining the direction of the Pacifica National Board without them having to vote for each National Board member specifically.

If the listener subscribers (money or otherwise) vote for the members of each local Station Board (and possibly a Programming Board as well!) they will have a lot of candidates (and electioneering!) on their plates to digest. Voting on National Board members will just be another cross to bear.

Thus I would propose that the elected Station Boards appoint two members each to be on the National Board. Since we have 5 stations that adds up to 10 National Board Members.

Ten Board members (voting) can lead to a tie vote on issues and that is bad. The 10 members have to elect a chairman and what happens when a tie occurs on that? Thus an eleventh National Board Member is needed one way to solve that would be to allow the Pacifica Affiliates to have a voting member (either with a full time vote or a vote only in case of a tie).

Another way is for the voters nationally to elect an eleventh board member chosen from thse among the present 10 who want to run. Since any Board Chairman has more than his/her share of power in any organization, the election by the voters will give voters significant additional power in determining the direction of Pacifica. And since those Board Members who decide to run have at least a 1 year history on the board, the voters have something to look at to make their decision.

So electing only the Chairman of the National Board (for a 1 year term) simplifies local elections AND give voters national empowerment.

A separate issue arises as to whether the Board Chairman should have a vote as well. Since the Chairman already has a lot of power he/she does not necessarily need a vote as well (perhaps only on a tie, or perhaps not even then if the Affiliate member has a vote). Thus an elected voting or non-voting Chairman satisfies both the criteria for voter empowerment, Station Board empowerment (the affected Station Board having to replace the elected chairman with another board member) and distribution of power in the maximum number of hands.

This plan would maximize both power distribution and decisionmaking efficiency in our new National Board.

Edward Taylor
5-28-2002

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Per the Proposal I sent out for an Elected Chairman of the Pacifica National Board where present National Board Members run nationally for this office:

The proposal probably should be that both Present AND Past National Board Members could run since some may be termed out and one perhaps may be in the fix that he/she while having great approval ratings from MOST of his/her fellow board members, (and the listeners!) he/she may have so angered his/her LOCAL lab that they have recalled him/her (it is a locally appointed office). This way the ENTIRE viewership has the final say, HA! HA! HA!

One more thing. This is the first vote that is truly one man/one vote and that the station area with the most listener/voters has the most powerful voice in deciding the outcome.

Edward Taylor
5-26-02

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In addition to the points in the previous two E-Mails:

Electing the Chairman of the National Board automatically makes EVERY subscriber (money, otherwise) nationally a LEGAL MEMBER of the Pacifica Foundation (with all rights that accrue!).

Edward Taylor
5-26-02