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The Pacifica National Board says it will resign 11-18-01 |
Pictures from the D.C. PNB meeting
[ Pacifica campaign press release and some goodlight fun further down page]
Roger M.
Rebroadcast of the D.C. meeting audio on www.wbix.org ---------- Today the 10 board members present at the meeting of the so-called Pacifica national board approved the following plan to restructure the foundation. It does not mean that the conflict has been resolved and does not end the lawsuits. It relies on the anticipated cooperation of the board members not present, which is not guaranteed. The stated goal of the plan is to restore the Pacifica foundation to it's mission and to restructure the governance to better safeguard against future takeovers and attacks. The board has given in, atleast so far as what went down at the meeting. ( This not an official version, but from my notes ) ---------------------
Pacifica National Board Plan
All national board members will resign
An interim national board will be created to restructure Pacifica within one year.
The interim board shall have the power to act in order to keep the network going, work on the bylaws, establish LAB elections (based on the KPFA model) and to act on a list of "Hot items" as well as issues of lesser priority. A 2/3 majority is required to pass proposals Limitations of Power
- No entering into any new major contract agreements. (No large
new expenditures)
List of hot items:
Suggestions List
The meeting plan as made known never took place as chair Robert Farrell and the board allowed the free-Pacifica activists that filled the meeting room at all times to assert the collective will.
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From: Pacifica Campaign
November 18, 2001
New Accord May Open Way for Democratization of Network Ratification Vote Slated for Later this Week WASHINGTON, DC (Nov. 18) -- The Pacifica National Board agreed today to voluntarily dissolve, reconstitute itself as an interim board with new members, and then to implement a democratization process for the five-station network. Dissidents and majority factions on Pacifica's embattled 15-member board agreed to each appoint five of their members to a new interim board. In addition, five entirely new members would be appointed by the chairs of Pacifica's five Local Advisory Boards. While the formula would effectively place majority control of the board in the hands of the Pacifica reform movement (four out of the five LABs are dominated by reformers), all decisions of the interim board must be agreed upon by two-thirds vote or 10 out of the 15 members. The interim board would be tasked with organizing listener elections at each of the five LABs. These elections would be modeled after KPFA's elected LAB, which just last week sent out 30,000 ballots to qualified voters. Each elected LAB would appoint one member to a new permanent Pacifica national board, which would then operate like a majority-rules nonprofit board. The new interim board could be constituted as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, Pacifica board member Tomas Moran told a packed conference room at the Doubletree Hotel in northern Virginia. Moran also said that board was committed to returning Democracy Now! to the air at all five Pacifica stations. KPFA in Berkeley has been airing and distributing the program since Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now! team were forced out of WBAI as part of a purge of some 26 staffers at the New York station. The new accord is subject to review by attorney's for majority and minority factions on the board. It also needs to be ratified by the five board members who could not attend this weekend's meeting (Marion Barry, Dick Gregory, Valrie Chambers, Rabbi Aaron Kriegel, and Krishna Roy). If approved, the new deal will not necessarily end the litigation by LAB members and listeners that is now before Alameda Superior Court. In settlement negotiations just two weeks ago, an agreement had been reached that would essentially transfer a majority of the board over to the control of reformers. But it appears that today's announcement supercedes that settlement. The new accord was made after a dramatic weekend board meeting where more than a hundred listener-activists converged on the Doubletree Hotel just outside of Washington, DC. Activists demanded - among other things -- the resignation of the board majority, the democratization of the network's governance, and the return of fired and banned programmers at New York station WBAI 99.5 FM. The most conservative forces at this weekend's meeting were the station General Managers, the National Program Director, and the Pacifica Network News (PNN) staff. They have been the most militant advocates of carrying the battle forward. Board member John Murdock also seemed eager for confrontation. But the fact remains that the network is functionally insolvent and incapable of sustaining any more damage. New reports this weekend say network execs have spent $3 million -- or 30 percent of the organization's annual budget - on the battle. PR firm Westhill Partners is reported to have charged $230,000 alone. Pacifica Board member Tomas Moran said the new interim board would immediately focus on number of "hot issues." He listed the following:
1) Democracy Now!, saying it will to return as soon as possible to all Pacifica stations.
Moran also said there will be no executive committee under the plan. A Chair and Treasurer will exist in name only. Instead, the entire board has committed to working together, through conference calls, to resolve the outstanding issues affecting the network. Wbix.org will replay their coverage of events this week. Errol Maitland twice asked Board Chairman Bob Farrell for permission to webcast the proceedings, and was denied. Nevertheless, wbix.org, in conjunction with the DC Independent Media Center, managed to transmit the events with commentary, via cell phone. In addition, the webstream carried live reports from major protests at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia and at the IMF/World Bank protests in Ottawa. Hear their coverage at http://www.wbix.org
Tuesday Nov. 20 11 am - 6 pm
--END-- ***********************************
Pacifica Campaign
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[ From the message board at: http://www.goodlight.net/wbai ]
Bernardista
Hope ya' gave Ms Steffi a kitty nuzzle! What did you guys DO - ply the PNB with spiked firewater?? How'd they get so "agreeable"?!?! --------
Sirius
Activists from the listening areas refused to take the proposed plans twice by the Pacifica National Board. Carol Spooner cut the entire board new a*******s concerning the first plan. When they came back with a revised plan on Sunday we were able to get a very important point about LAB elections modified. They wanted to jam LAB (listener voted) elections down our throats in 6 months. Four of the five stations would still be in the control of very distructive people during much if not all of that time. Democratization of the DC-Houston-LA stations would result in a anti-dissident board since these stations no longer resemble the type of station they were in the 80's and 90's. They have effectively fired thier audiences and the new audiences know nothing of Pacifica or the "Mission Statement" As the proposal stands now, The (new) majority of the PNB would vote on when listener elections of each station will take place. Sirius -----------
Edwin Johnston
Yeah, I gave Steffie an extra nuzzle 4U! She wants to meet up with ya to deliver it sometime. No PNB members at Cannibal's Firewater Party, but at least one WBAI LAB member. I don't know if the PNB became agreeable or not, probably not, but they seemed to be doing something about all our complaining. Whether it is going to be enough is the $64K Question. Let's just say they didn't make the activists' jobs much easier. Well, I'd better catch up on some sleep. Sweet dreams, 'dista and mucho thanx to Patty, Carolyn and the two Andrea's for inviting us Houston ---------------
More online discussion and speculation from poor souls that
From: rudypk@p...
Here's what I know from Cannibal's listening post in NY... DeRienzo spoke at comment period last night... Supposedly Don Rush from PNN and DeRienzo and/or Ms. Moussey from BAI spoke during the comment period (PDR now a big union Macher! Wow!), and both PDR and Rush asked for AFTRA representation on PNB! The source did not elaborate whether they wanted 27 AFTRA members all seated or just a sample of those. Bert Lee and John Murdoch throwing wrench into works... Lee wants em all to resign. Lee and Murdock tossing agenda out the door ... talk of need of bylaws change "we've been dancing around for five years". Cagan agrees with Murdock for first time in two years that discussion should take place... Could be discussion of lawsuits and settlement in open committee... Board in private session now - meeting to discuss possibility of settlement. Sam Husseni on IndyMedia now saying Farrell was talking to dissidents re: settlement but other lawsuit littigents not informed of those talks so they are balking from signing on as well... One person regressive majority to be replaced by one person "progressive" majority. - Rudy Cannibal -------------
From: rudypk@p...
listening to IndyMedia broadcast....Valrie Chambers, Krishna Roy,
Dick Gregory, Marion Barry, Aaron Kriegel not there. Not clear
whether Kriegel not there for reasons of Sabath or his basic usual
non-involvement.
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From: "Gregory Wonderwheel" wonderwheel@p...
Rudy the "good" Cannibal, not that other recently retired Rudy the "bad "cannibal, gives us all a very good reminder that this appears to be a deal cut by the so-called "good" directors, as they have been attempting to do all along, which to my mind is one of the many factors that undercut the lawsuit settlement talks from bearing fruit. Everyone should remain cautious and vigilant about what the next 6 months brings. The two-thirds majority requirement that appears to be in the directors' agreement may be a poison pill as far as reform goes. One should note that by some counts the good directors will have 9 votes - 5 "good" directors plus 4 "good" LAB directors. This means the "bad" directors have 6 votes which is enough to stop any two-thirds majority vote. I haven't heard back from Carol yet, but as I heard the agreement as read by Moran it does appear to be an attempt to placate the LAB lawsuit and to isolate the Listeners lawsuit into accepting ort. One important question is what is to be done with Aaron Kriegal who has been mostly an absentee director and way less than an avid supporter of reform Will he continue as one of the five directors. If I heard the agreement correctly, the provision for participation by telephone in the Board meetings seems tailored to him. Thus with him as one of the "good" 5 director there is additional reason to doubt the quickness of reform. As the Cannibal comments, listeners should also be alert to the meaning of the "advise and consent" language as it relates to the LABs. Will this be enough to satisfy Adelson, Gendelman, and Maldonado into dropping their lawsuit? That law suit sought the nullification of the bylaws changes of Sept 1997 and Feb. 1999, but this agreement doesn't address that issue and only promises to review the bylaws for future democratization. As we have seen over the past two and 1/2 years, democratization is in the bylaw of the beholder. There is a long way twixt and tween the promise of listener elected LABs and the transformation of the LABs anything more than advisory bodies. I have never heard the "good" directors make definitive statements regarding either the listener membership issue or the "at large" director issue.
Gregory Wonderwheel
----- Original Message -----
Jim, since this is not a settlement of any suit but a PNB action taken while trying to settle the suits I fail to see the reason why you ask this question now. The "proposal" is an act of the board stating what they will themselves do while the suits remain in progress. Since I hear you are rumored to be a lawyer I would much more like to hear your thesis as to whether this is an outward attempt by PNB to answer the needs of every set of litigants EXCEPT the listeners's suit. Your friends still in the Adelson camp must be saying "advise and consent from the LAB's. That's our suit's basis, end of story." Can you also see a similar end to the basis for the Director's and Dissident Bd Member's suits? I truly do not doubt that membership is a demand of the Listener's suit. One wonders whether you are transparently trying to impune that camp without taking into account the strident positions within the dissident camp. Will it survive as a concept? That is what "interim periods" are made for!
- Rudy "do you really need a catchphrase in the
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goodlight string: ...board is about to meet n/t — madmax Sun Nov 18 12:04 Thomas Moran: Week to 2 weeks to work things out — n/t Sun Nov 18 13:05 Someone from KAOS just indicated — we're on the "cusp" of victory nt Sun Nov 18 12:56 working out sound problems, — board dragging butts...n/t madmax Sun Nov 18 12:28 wish we could hear from other than BAI reps only! — listener nt Sun Nov 18 12:25 Apparently its a multi-culti lovefest with folks from all — stations and some affiliates. Sun Nov 18 13:01 Wish our beloved Ryme would stop talking in background! — Mike is more sensitive than she knows. n/t Sun Nov 18 12:36 UL, Ganter, Farrell, still at breakfast bar! n/t — PNB watch in DC Sun Nov 18 12:22 Please, Please, post updates, comments for us w/o sound..n/t — sound/cardless, Sun Nov 18 12:24 "I dreamed I saw Lew Hill last night......n/t — someone singing Sun Nov 18 12:30 Kpfk, LA folks, Massachusetts shout outs n/t — still meeting starts up, Sun Nov 18 12:37 PNB still in closed meeting with signal area LAB rep's — Should be finished in 1/2 hour. n/t, Sun Nov 18 12:29 "closed meeting "Hotel brunch special! n/t — waiter Sun Nov 18 12:42 we waiting-going to group sing — listing Sun Nov 18 12:29 Energy high in room LA report via phone now. — listner Sun Nov 18 12:36 PFW new lab member from Baltimore speaking — listener Sun Nov 8 12:42 Lets hear more blasting/slamming of UL! n/t — thats the best! & easiest! Sun Nov 18 12:46 Give it up, trolls!!! n/t — Trolls flee forum, hide in Pakistan Sun Nov 18 12:54 You still think this is about personalities?? — Poor thing! n/t Sun Nov 18 12:54 Have heard all I care to about LEID, now & in the — future. Put her in the past 4eva. n/t Sun Nov 18 12:51 speaker now blasting WPFW politics n/t — pnb reporter Sun Nov 18 12:38 still waiting for board members... — buku audio problems....n/t madmax Sun Nov 18 13:01 text in my above post...sound is on now — madmax, |
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