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Public Meetings bylaw
7-25-02


By Gregory Wonderwheel, KPFA area.
A re-write of the General meeting bylaw proposal

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ARTICLE [ ]: STATION GOVERNING BOARDS [or other title as this necessary article to new bylaws will be called]

SECTION [ ] OPEN PUBLIC ADVISORY MEETINGS Each Station Governing Board (SGB) shall conduct Open Public Advisory Meetings of Pacifica listeners, staff, and management four (4) or more times a year in their station area.

A. The meetings will be 1) held at a date approximately two (2) weeks prior to the 4 national board meetings, 2) publicly announced over the airwaves and the internet at least seven (7) days in advance and 3) broadcast on their respective Pacifica radio stations.

B. The chair of the SGB shall be responsible for scheduling Open Public Advisory Meetings. A formal request for the scheduling of an Open Public Advisory Meeting may be made by any member of the local station or national boards, station staff or any listener-member and must be honored if approved of by a simple majority of the SGB though this approval is not required to schedule an Open Public Advisory Meeting.

C. Open Public Advisory meetings shall be conducted according to the following:
1.) Be at least 3 hours in length;
2.) Open with a period (of 30 minutes or less) for members of the attending public to add items to the meeting's agenda including proposals for non-binding advisory items (resolutions, requests, or suggestions to national and local boards and management or other entities) to be discussed and voted on later during that meeting;
3.) Give no more than one third of the total time allotted for the entire meeting for the total time of any reports from various Pacifica board members, management and staff and any corresponding question and answer periods;
4.) Provide an opportunity to organize advisory or assistance committees of listeners and staff as a station resource (e.g., for input, fund raising, outreach etc);
5.) If held during an election cycle, provide a reasonable platform for station board candidates to communicate with potential voters.
6.) Facilitate communication regarding proceedings of any recall of local or national board members [defined in Article __ Section __ ];
7.) Facilitate communication of portions of the procedure for binding Listener-member directives [ defined in Article __ Section __ ];
8.) Facilitate discussion and presentation to appropriate boards or committees of concerns and proposals regarding on-air programming; and
9.) Provide educational presentations or information on Pacifica governance and history as appropriate to the agenda.

D. Open Public Advisory Meetings will be open to the public and any person present may participate in discussion and in any votes conducted regarding non-binding advisory items.

E. The chair of Open Public Advisory Meetings shall be appointed by the Station Governing Board for a term and with such other conditions, requirements, or restrictions as provided by the Station Governing Board. The Chair of the meeting will be responsible for reporting to the SGB and the National Board about the meeting. Subject to any specific rules adopted by the Station Governing Boards, Robert's Rules of Order (revised edition) shall apply to the proceedings of Open Public Advisory Meetings.

F. If the Foundation receives funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, then to the extent allowable by law and regulation, each stations= Open Public Advisory Meetings may constitute the Community Advisory Boards required by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for grant purposes if the Station Governing Board so resolves.


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