Berkeley – In a Third Amended Complaint filed in LA Superior Court on May 17, Pacifica Safety Net plaintiffs Donald Goldmacher (KPFA LSB delegate), Christina Huggins (KPFA LSB delegate) and Andrea Turner (PNB Director) expanded on their previous charges that Jan Goodman is guilty of illegal acts, misconduct and self-dealing. The Third Amended Complaint, filed after the first two complaints were rejected, follows a first complaint that attempted to transfer all of the Pacifica Foundation’s broadcast licenses and real estate assets to a San Bernardino lawyer, Matthew Taylor.
Goodman, a former PNB director, would be installed as the vice-chair of the Pacifica National Board until 2024 if the members endorse the “New Day” bylaws revision in a referendum election to be held in June.
The complaint, filed under penalty of perjury, does not mince words. It accuses Goodman on pages 11 and 12 of “unlawful acts”, “prohibited self-dealing”, “dishonest acts”, “gross abuse of authority”, “an obvious conflict of interest” and “executing an illegal loan”. A copy of the complaint filed by the three can be read here.
Two days before filing this complaint, on May 15, Goldmacher, Huggins and Turner, in their capacity as delegates on the KPFA Local Station Board, voted yes to recommend to KPFA members that they install Goodman as the vice-chair of the Pacifica National Board until 2024 by adopting the “New Day” bylaws. As we had suggested might happen in a previous issue, national director Andrea Turner reversed her previous no vote on the national board in April, a month earlier
So to be clear, Goldmacher, Huggins and Turner recommended that the members put into a board officer position, someone they alleged in a court of law, two days later, is a crook who committed illegal acts.
What are we to make of this?
There are two possibilities. The first is that Goldmacher, Huggins and Turner did not perjure themselves in their legal filing and honestly believe that Goodman is, as described, a crook who committed an illegal act of self-dealing. If that is the case, then the three blithely acted against the best interests of Pacifica by endorsing someone they believe is a crook for the leadership of the Foundation. This would not only be a violation of their promises to listeners who elected them, but more seriously a violation of a legal duty called the “duty of care” which requires all elected board members act at all times in the best interests of the Foundation. Endorsing, in your official capacity, the election of someone you believe is a crook who committed illegal acts, for the leadership of the Foundation is a violation of the duty of care, as well as being fundamentally dishonest.
The second possibility is that Goldmacher, Huggins and Turner do not really believe that Goodman is a crook who committed illegal acts and engaged in prohibited self-dealing, and are therefore completely fine with recommending her to the listeners as the new vice-chair of the board until 2024. They prepared and filed a legal complaint they know is bogus, in the interests of sticking you, the members, with the costs of having a judge sort out their lies and as a nuisance action to harass the Foundation, destabilize it, and cause it distress. Since Goldmacher and Huggins are on the record as supporting the Foundation filing for bankruptcy, it is possible their lawsuit is intended to assist towards that end. Needless to say, that is also a violation of the “duty of care” which requires board members not to seek the destruction of the Foundation on whose boards they serve.
We cannot tell you which of these possibilities is the true one. We can only provide documentation of contradictory behavior and hypocrisy. If you are asking, it is our assessment that the second scenario is closer to the truth and that the Safety Net lawsuit is knowingly bogus. But only the perpetrators know the truth.
So what can you do as members? Pacifica’s bylaws allow the recall of delegates and directors who cross the line. It’s not an easy process and it costs Pacifica money, but a referendum to remove Goldmacher, Huggins and Turner can be launched with the signatures of 2% of the members on a petition. That’s about 900 people. Less taxing: those of you who know these three people, or know people who know them, can start asking them some hard questions. The financial backers for the Safety Net lawsuit can be found on the Pacifica Safety Net Go Fund Me, and perhaps those folks also need a talking to.
The New Day bylaws proposal should be voted down in June by the members and the Pacifica Safety Net folks instructed to drop their bogus lawsuit. The power lies with the members in a democratic Pacifica.
Sometimes that power needs to be exercised.
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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica’s storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin’s incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio.