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other resolutions and statements
City Council Resolution 1723
adapted from www.wbaifree.org

3-8-01 update:
15 City Councilmembers have signed City Council Resolution 1723 denouncing the bannings and firings at WBAI.

They are: Manhattan - Christine Quinn, Margarita Lopez, Kathryn E. Freed, A. Gifford Miller, Ronnie M. Eldridge, Guillermo Linares, Bill Perkins and Eva S. Moskowitz; Brooklyn - Stephen DrBrienza, Angel Rodriguez, Victor L. Robles; Bronx - June M. Eisland, Pedro G. Espada; Queens - Helen M. Marshall and Sheldon S. Leffler.

If your Councilmember has not signed on it's extremely important that you contact them NOW!
   Go to http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/council for contact info.

The resolution is below.

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Concerned Friends of WBAI have called a press conference for Thursday, February 22nd, on the steps of City Hall, to be attended by all City Council members who co-sponsor this resolution, as well as other elected officials. Of course, a large presence of listeners and other members of the WBAI community is especially important on this occasion.

The resolution is now in Commitee, and it needs to get it on the floor. An effort is in progress to mobilize elected officials to take action. Ask your City Council representative, to sign on to Resolution 1723. To find the City Council member that represents you, call 212-788-7100, or go to City Council website. Please be sure to state your name address and phone # to assure the elected official knows you are a constituent. Both Margarita Lopez and Tom Duane have written to David Acosta and Bessie Wash. Please request that your representatives also contact them, and request that a meeting be set up to discuss the crisis at WBAI.

Also, if you live outside NYC, letters of support from your elected officials is also very important. They will be read at the press conference as well. I know the time is short but do what you can.

Volunteeers are needed in the next few days to help mobilize this effort. If you'd like to help, call Rosalie at 212-799-3207 and leave a message.

Resolution. No. 1723

Resolution supporting democratic, legal management at WBAI 99.5 FM Radio and affirming the stated position of the Concerned Friends of WBAI in relation to the current situation existing between WBAI and the Pacifica Foundation.

By Council Member Quinn

Whereas, Over the last several months, a crisis has emerged between WBAI 99.5 FM of New York, and the Pacifica Foundation, with the Foundation attempting to assert a stifling level of control upon the local institution, and to fundamentally alter its character and purpose; and

Whereas, In recent weeks, the Pacifica Foundation has become increasingly aggressive in its attempts to coerce WBAI; and

Whereas, These attempts culminated, on December 22nd, in a series of hostile measures, including lockouts, firings, and attempts to coerce the Local Advisory Board; and

Whereas, These efforts run contrary to the democratic structure and purpose espoused by the station and the Pacifica founder, Lewis Hill; and

Whereas, the Concerned Friends of WBAI adopted a statement on January 11th, 2001, which reads:

  1. We the Concerned Friends of WBAI reject all interventions by the Pacifica Foundation's national, staff or Board of Directors, into the management of WBAI which are carried out without a process that includes the participation of WBAI's staff and Local Advisory Board.

  2. We call for the immediate reinstatement of all fired staff, the immediate and permanenet lifting of all bans which have kept staff members and listeners out of the station or off the air, a commitment to no gag rule, the removal of security guards, the restoration of regular programmng, and the end of all censorship.

  3. We demand a democratic process involving staff (paid and unpaid), listeners and the Local Advisory Board to determine the General Manager of the station.

  4. We demand that Pacifica immediately guarantee that all staff, paid and unpaid, be included in the WBAI collective bargaining unit.

  5. We call on station staff and listeners to support:
    1. the current lawsuits against the Pacifica National Board;
    2. establishment of local election procedures for the ongoing selection of Local Advisory Board members;
    3. national efforts, including those at the four other Pacifica stations, to establish a democratic process within the National Board to allow the Foundation to return to Lewis Hill's original mission.
Whereas, The Pacifica Foundation has, through these actions, obstructed the autonomy of a vibrant local institution; and

Whereas, Since 1960, WBAI has been home to a diverse range of award-winning content that has won accolades and a dedicated following of liateners from across the country; and

Whereas, The agenda of Pacifica would extinguish WBAI's local character and its diversity of viewpoints;and

Whereas, WBAI has long been a friend to the people of New York and vital contributor to our civic discourse; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York supports democratic, legal management at WBAI 99.5 FM Radio and affirms the stated position of the Concerned Friends of WBAI in relation to the current situation existing between WBAI and the Pacifica Foundation.

SF;bg
LS#3857
D-Res.5
2/1/01

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