Monthly Archives: December 2016

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Pacifica Vs. Obamacare (and a point of snipe)

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A summary reel of Pacifica’s December 27 national finance committee. In order:

1) A brief discussion of the still-invisible FY 2014 audit, which at two years late is claimed to be done but is impossible to locate

2) The motion to pass DC station WPFW’s budget, which like all the budgets in the current cycle is both 3 months late and inaccurate pending  large rises in central services fees several stations will face due to Cerene Robert’s SCA motion granting credits for sideband rental revenue

3) A discussion and vote on the budget for LA station KPFK, where GM Leslie Radford, already responsible for $285,000 in contract violations, proposes balancing the budget by stripping Pacifica’s LA employees of all dependent health care for both spouses and dependent children. In addition to the ERISA issues brought up on the call, later research uncovered the proposal was a violation of the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act and would lead to more fines and penalties for Pacifica. The board majority on the committee passed it anyway

4) A late night poison pill from Cerene Roberts.

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Winning Isn’t Everything

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December 26, 2016

For Immediate Release

Winning Isn’t Everything

Berkeley – After disenfranchising NY station WBAI of 75% of their national board representation, Pacifica’s national board held elections for two 2017 affiliate directors. The two affiliate directors will be the tie-breaking votes on the 2017 PNB after the independents won resounding election victories in Los Angeles, Houston and New York. Incumbent affiliate directors Efia Nwangaza and Temba Tshibanda both voted not to seat the directors chosen by NY’s newly elected delegates, who they feared would not vote for them to retain their affiliate seats in 2017. Sole NY representative Cerene Roberts brought motions twice last week to eliminate elected NY directors not affilated with her NY branch of the Siegel/Brazon faction. A legal letter sent by LA attorney Jerry Manpearl to the board prior to their second vote to disenfranchise WBAI can be seen here.  Continue reading Winning Isn’t Everything →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Catch 22

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Berkeley – The second Pacifica National Board meeting in three days went no better than the first with another three hours of invalidating elections on the agenda. The board took no action to change or correct their Tuesday action of decertifying the entire 2016 delegate election, despite a legal opinion informing them the certified election results are final. There has been no word from IED Brazon, National Election Supervisor Lynne Serpe or election vendor True Ballot if or when the board’s requested “recount” would be performed.

Having decided the results of the elections,  60 newly elected delegates in all five signal areas, and any actions those new delegates take are “provisional” for an indefinite period of time, the board majority went on to finish the total disenfranchisement of NY station, WBAI, once the pride of the network for its fearless reporting and countercultural dominance. After throwing out WBAI’s election of national representatives that occurred on December 7th, the board majority then threw out the WBAI election of national representatives that occurred on December 14th, invalidating a total of 13 elections in 3 days. You can hear an 11-minute summary reel of the meeting here.  Continue reading Catch 22 →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Election In The Garbage Can

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Berkeley – In an abruptly called “special meeting” on Tuesday evening, one of two Pacifica National Board meetings called for this week, the outgoing board majority decided they didn’t like the results of the 2016 board elections and threw them out after certification by the independent national election supervisor and True Ballot, a nationally recognized election services firm. They declared in a motion they wanted a “recount” and that the seating of newly elected delegates, and any officers and national board members they elect, and any business they transact were all “provisional” until further notice. Continue reading Election In The Garbage Can →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Are Two Meetings Better Than One?

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Berkeley – The upcoming week features not one, but two, Pacifica National Board meetings on December 13 and December 15. The long-scheduled December 15th meeting is when the board will select two affiliate directors for 2017 from among 5 applicants, and a recently called special meeting was initiated by directors Cerene Roberts, Adriana Casenave and Janet Kobren for December 13. The reason for the sudden meeting on the 13th isn’t entirely clear with the meeting notice saying the meeting is about 2016 local board elections and the FY 2014 audit. The 2016 elections were certified as complete last Wednesday. A draft of the FY 2014 was distributed to Pacifica’s audit committee last Monday. Roberts, Casenave and Kobren have not indicated what motions, if any, they may be presenting for board for consideration. Continue reading Are Two Meetings Better Than One? →