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Indybay Feature
Proposed Pacifica By-Law Revision Permits Sale of Stations
Pacifica's corporate raiders propose by-law changes that permit sale of stations such as WBAI and KPFA.
A proposed by-law revision, drafted by John Murdock,
a partner in an anti-union Washington law firm and
Mary Frances Berry's designated legal
representative on the national Pacifica board, is
now being circulated for possible adoption at the
upcoming March board meeting in Houston.
The revision would...
* Reduce to as few as five members the Pacifica
Board of Directors (currently 19).
* Allow hired Pacifica executives to be members
of the board.
* Allow key decisions to be made by as few as
three board members.
* Permit the sale of Pacifica assets (i.e. stations
like KPFA and WBAI, estimated to be worth at least
$250 million to commercial broadcasters) by a vote
of the executive committee only, as long as the sale
did not include "all or substantially all of the
assets or or property of the Foundation."
* Allow directors (such as Murdock, a partner in
the law firm of Epstein, Becker and Green, currently
handling many legal matters for Pacifica) "to receive
reasonable compensation for services...in a
professional capacity."
* Reduce meeting notice time to as little as 24
hours, and meeting notice to consist of as little as
a message on an answering machine.
* Allow the national Pacifica board to appoint
1/3 of local advisory boards, and ban membership
on such boards of staff and volunteers.
* Ban elected local advisory board members (as at
KPFA) from serving on the national board.
There are other centralizing, corporatizing measures
as well, as may be seen in reading the proposed by-laws
at http://www.savepacifica.net/bylaws_revise.html
(a PDF version is also available at:
http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica/murdock/murdock-bylaws.pdf)
a partner in an anti-union Washington law firm and
Mary Frances Berry's designated legal
representative on the national Pacifica board, is
now being circulated for possible adoption at the
upcoming March board meeting in Houston.
The revision would...
* Reduce to as few as five members the Pacifica
Board of Directors (currently 19).
* Allow hired Pacifica executives to be members
of the board.
* Allow key decisions to be made by as few as
three board members.
* Permit the sale of Pacifica assets (i.e. stations
like KPFA and WBAI, estimated to be worth at least
$250 million to commercial broadcasters) by a vote
of the executive committee only, as long as the sale
did not include "all or substantially all of the
assets or or property of the Foundation."
* Allow directors (such as Murdock, a partner in
the law firm of Epstein, Becker and Green, currently
handling many legal matters for Pacifica) "to receive
reasonable compensation for services...in a
professional capacity."
* Reduce meeting notice time to as little as 24
hours, and meeting notice to consist of as little as
a message on an answering machine.
* Allow the national Pacifica board to appoint
1/3 of local advisory boards, and ban membership
on such boards of staff and volunteers.
* Ban elected local advisory board members (as at
KPFA) from serving on the national board.
There are other centralizing, corporatizing measures
as well, as may be seen in reading the proposed by-laws
at http://www.savepacifica.net/bylaws_revise.html
(a PDF version is also available at:
http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica/murdock/murdock-bylaws.pdf)
For more information:
http://www.savepacifica.net/bylaws_revise....
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IMC Network
PASSED, PACIFICA RADIO AS A FREE SPEECH, COMMUNITY-
BASED INSTITUTION WILL BE DEFINITIVELY DESTROYED!
You help is urgently needed in defeating these by-laws.
Please do the following:
1) Telephone Epstein, Becker, and Green if you object
to the money you've donated to Pacifica being used to
further the destruction of the organization. (Ask to
discuss this with John Murdock or any partner in the
law firm!)
In San Francisco: (415) 398-3500
In Washington, D.C. (202) 851-0900
In New York (212) 297-5600
In Los Angeles (310) 398-3500
2) There is a public comment period on these by-laws
which ends February 8. Murdock has said that comments
will be accepted only from board members. There are six
board members who can be trusted to oppose these by-laws.
PLEASE WRITE TO THEM TODAY at whatever length you
choose so that they may collect opposing comments!
Tomas Moran <tomasmoran [at] aol.com>,
Pete Bramson <prbram [at] aol.com>,
Leslie Cagan <LeslieCagan [at] igc.org>,
Beth Lyons <BethLyons [at] aol.com>,
Rob Robinson <robrobin [at] erols.com>,
Aaron Kriegel <HARAV1 [at] aol.com>
3) Make a donation IMMEDIATELY to our legal defense fund,
as we explore our options in opposing Pacifica's latest,
and ultimate, power grab! Either send a check to:
Siegel and Yee Trust/Pacifica Account
499 14th St. #200
Oakland, CA 94612
For tax deductible donations:
Free Pacifica Legal Action/Vanguard Foundation
333 Rhode Island #301
San Francisco, CA 94103
And please keep following our daily reports at
http://www.savepacifica.net
Thank you!
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