Tag Archives: elections

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Information Shortage

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Berkeley – Information from Pacifica’s National Board out to the members it represents has been a little scarce as of late, with 4 consecutive closed session meetings on January 25 and Feb 1, Feb 8 and Feb 15 not providing the routine report out. The audit committee has also not filed report outs from its last three closed session meetings. Part of the problem has been the transition between executive directors as Tom Livingston takes over for Bill Crosier and part the annual turning over of the national board. This year’s rotation of national board members has been far from smooth with repetitive director elections from KPFA’s local station board, which has been hemorrhaging members at the rate of one a month, and filing lawsuits against Pacifica. More on the KPFA directors mess below.  Continue reading Information Shortage →

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Election In The Garbage Can Redux

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A brief clip from the Pacifica National Board meeting of 1-12-2017 with the lame duck board. It starts with the usual protest about the board excluding 75% of WBAI’s representation, which they have now done for 345 consecutive days. KPFA director Jose Luis Fuentes seems to make an intoxicated aside. Then we move on to once again, for the second time, decertify the 2016 board elections. The board moves to pay someone undetermined $1,500 to recount the ballots and if the recount changes the results, then director and officer elections of the past month would all get redone. IED Brazon then contradicts  and says the board is acting contrary to the bylaws (a point Pacifica in Exile has been known to make) and  the 2016 LSB elections are indeed certified.

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Notice Was Immaterial

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Berkeley – After throwing out two consecutive elections by WBAI’s delegates to fill 3 WBAI vacancies on the national board, and rigging the 2017 affiliates director election by not allowing any independent WBAI directors to vote, PNB treasurer and board majority member Michael Novick admitted that “in retrospect”, the board majority was wrong and the “flawed notice” was immaterial. In correspondence with a Pacifica employee, Novick said:

“I abstained on the vote not to seat the people elected at the LSB meeting in December. In retrospect I think the flawed notice was immaterial, as it had no impact on the outcome of the vote. Since I abstained, however, I am not in a position to move for reconsideration” Continue reading Notice Was Immaterial →

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? →

Documents

Help Make the 2016 Board Elections Successful

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Help Make the 2016 Local Station Board Elections Successful
All 5 Pacifica stations are in the midst of another election cycle.

Many feel this election is our last chance for Pacifica.

PLEASE VOTE!

You are an eligible voter if you donated at least $25 between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016. Fund drive donations and monthly memberships do count.

Voters should receive online ballots August 15, 2016 if the station has your email address. All voters should receive a paper ballot by USPS in mid-to-late August.

Election Calendar:

Ballots Mailed/Online Voting Begins: August 15, 2016 (9:00am)

Ballot Return Deadline/Online Voting Ends: September 30, 2016 (11:59pm in your own time zone)

If you are not signed up for Pacifica in Exile email blasts,  please sign up now on the website home page at pacificainexile.org

YOU CAN HELP US THE MOST BY ASKING YOUR FRIENDS IF THEY HAVE DONATED to a Pacifica station. If they wish to receive our recommended candidate slates, go to PacificaInExile.org and add their name and email address to the section “Subscribe to get Pacifica in Exile via email”.

If you donated, but don’t receive an online ballot August 15th, or for any ballot related question at any station, you can contact King Reilly, a KPFK member, for assistance at [email protected]

 

This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.

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The Agreement Not To Decide Anything

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A clip from the 5-18 PNB elections committee. The actual conversation about the motion to agree not to decide anything was twice as long, but this is enough the provide the idea. This followed a 45 minute question and answer session with the 2015 election supervisor Joy Williams for her to present her report and that session had already occurred. The sub-committee report referred to had reading time as tested with a stopwatch at about 3 minutes 15 seconds.

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Control At Any Cost

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Berkeley-In the wake of the overwhelming election victory for the Committee to Strengthen KPFK and the rejection of current IED Lydia Brazon’s handpicked slate by KPFK’s donors (depending on how you count the votes, Brazon’s slate held 3 or 4 of the 18 seats up for grabs), the Siegel/Brazon faction has resorted to numerous shenanigans to retain control of the foundation after their April 2014 coup. Continue reading Control At Any Cost →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Rules Are For Suckers

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Berkeley– Two national board directors nominated from Pacifica’s 200 programming affiliate stations have become the latest victims in the Siegel/Brazon faction’s machinations to keep a majority on the board in 2016 at all costs. Last week saw the nomination and appointment of a representative from Uhuru Radio, an Internet-only station operated under a Florida for-profit limited liability company called Burning Spear Productions. Uhuru Radio neither broadcasts nor distributes any Pacifica produced programming on their daily schedule. Last night, the board majority, over strenuous objections, appointed another uncontested nominee, this one from a station without any affiliate written agreement in place. In other words, nominated by a station that isn’t an affiliate at all. Continue reading Rules Are For Suckers →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

More Than 600 Unread Emails

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Berkeley-Only in Berkeley will the network’s troubled board elections come to a close today, with balloting extended to January 4th in Los Angeles, NY and Houston. The election supervisor has decided to close the Northern California elections despite a large number of voters stating they haven’t gotten ballots and that their requests for replacements have gone unanswered. In last nights national board meeting, L. Joy Williams stated she had more than 600 “unread emails”, most of which are likely to be from voters trying to vote. The closing of the balloting under these circumstances runs contrary to California law which upholds the rights of eligible voters to vote and expects organizations to demonstrate a good faith effort to accommodate those who attempt to participate. If even half of the unread emails come from the Berkeley signal area, the quantity could cause a measurable change in the outcome. Continue reading More Than 600 Unread Emails →

Pacifica in Exile Newsletters

Board Elections Edition

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Berkeley-This edition of Pacifica In Exile is devoted solely to endorsements for the upcoming board elections. We will return to news and updates in a day or two.

Overview

In the year and a half since Pacifica in Exile began publication, the Pacifica Foundation has toppled into critical condition after a series of board coups, loss of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding, an investigation by the California Attorney General of  accounting irregularities, the establishment of nonprofits by board members to privately secure Pacifica’s broadcasting licenses, and severe declines in membership and revenues. Under “volunteer” executive director Margy Wilkinson, the network could not complete timely financial audits, borrowed from and did not repay restricted funds, relied on temps who embezzled and “damaged” accounting systems, and hired an inexperienced board crony to lead its largest station and most powerful broadcasting signal in Los Angeles. Pacifica’s democratic system, put into place after Northern California subscribers petitioned the California Attorney General for membership rights, allows current donors to kick the board out. That time has come. Continue reading Board Elections Edition →