Pacifica Board Elections Info

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 13:10:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Conrad OHO <conradoho [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Pacifica Board Elections Info

[feel free to forward/repost]

Pacifica Board Elections Info

NOW is the time!

If you are interested in running for your Local Station Board, or know
someone you think would be a good candidate, or if you would like to
volunteer on the Elections or Outreach Committee to help make these
elections a success .....

Contact your Local Elections Supervisor at ...

KPFA -- Les Radke (510)848-6767 Extension 626, or by e-mail at
election [at] kpfa.org.
KPFK -- Casey Peters (213) 385-2786, or by email at
electionsupervisor [at] kpfk.org
KPFT -- Dennis Fetters (713) 526-4000 Extension 305, or by email at
elections [at] kpft.org
WBAI -- Joy Williams (212) 209-2976, or by email at joywilliams [at] att.net
WPFW -- Eric Swalwell (301) 404-1378, or by email at eswal001 [at] umaryland.edu
Pacifica National Elections Supervisor -- Terry Bouricius (802) 864-8382, or
by email at elections [at] pacifica.org

The Candidate Information Packet includes all the information and documents
you will need to become a candidate.. You can download it at http://www.kpfa.org or
http://www.kpfk.org or http://www.kpft.org or http://www.wbai.org or
http://www.pacifica.org/elections/index.html (For WPFW information packets go to
the pacifica.org web page.)

INTRODUCTION
Pacifica Radio is the ONLY alternative radio network in the country.
Preserving and protecting Pacifica as a communication and education medium
for dissenters and those of us working for peace and justice is AT LEAST as
important as all the other work we do in our busy lives. Don't leave this
up to someone else. We need our best and brightest to step forward NOW to
help rebuild and strengthen
Pacifica as the fingers of fascism creep across the land with the Patriot
Act,
"Homeland Security," and endless propaganda and killing wars. --Carol
Spooner

OVERVIEW (from http://www.kpfa.org)

The Local Election Supervisor will hold an election to seat a new Local
Station Board. There will be separate but parallel elections for both
Listener and Staff Delegates to the new Local Station Board.

One function of the board is to see that the needs of the station and the
community are being met, from programming to budgets. A second function is
to represent the station on the Pacifica National Board of Directors by
electing 4 Local Station Board members from each station to the Pacifica
National Board of Directors.

With these duties in mind, board Delegates are elected for a number of
reasons:

To set a model of accountability for the National Board;

To strengthen the legitimacy of the Local Station Board;

To bring diverse, grassroots voices from the community into the dialogue
between the community and the station.

There are three ways to qualify to vote:

SUBSCRIBER: Fulfill a pledge of at least $25 to the station during the
previous year (the cutoff date has not been set as of this publication).

VOLUNTEER: Complete three or more verifiable volunteer hours at the station
during the same period

WAIVER: If an individual is genuinely unable to make the financial or
volunteer labor contribution above, yet has a sincere interest in being a
member of the foundation, waivers may be granted on a case by case basis.

Nominations will be accepted through November 15, 2003. Candidates must be
qualified voters and submit Nominating Petitions with 15 signatures of
qualified voters in support of the candidate. From now until the close of
the nomination period, the election project will hold regional nomination
events where candidates and voters can meet and sign petitions. [Note: If
you need help contacting members to sign your nominating petition, there may
be community events scheduled for this purpose ... contact your Local
Elections Supervisor for dates, times, places, or to volunteer to help set
up nominating events.]

To facilitate your gathering of petition signatures, note that you may
submit a statement of up to 500 words immediately, which will be posted on
the station election web site for listeners to browse, contact you with
questions, or offer to sign your petition. This statement can later become
your candidate statement if you run, or you may submit a revised statement
for distribution with the ballots.

We'll post candidate data on-line and after the nomination process is
complete, host on-air candidate forums. The election schedule has not been
finalized as of this publication, but it is anticipated that ballots will be
mailed in December 2003.

There are 18 listener seats being chosen this election. The entire Local
Station Board consists of 18 listener Delegates as well as 6 staff Delegates
who are elected by staff.

Pacifica's mission and principles require that we strive to achieve
diversity on the Station Board, and voters are urged to consider that in
casting their votes.

Pacifica's mission and principles require that we strive to achieve
diversity on the Station Board, and voters are urged to consider that in
casting their votes.


LOCAL STATION BOARD MEMBER JOB DESCRIPTION (from http://www.kpfa.org)
(Derived from Pacifica By-Laws)

What will be the responsibilities of the newly elected Station Board?

The KPFA station board will be elected by the subscribers and staff of the
station. The local station board will have the following powers and
responsibilities established by the recently adopted bylaws of the Pacifica
Foundation.

The local station board appoints the directors of the Pacifica Foundation
which manages the radio stations in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los
Angeles, and Northern California (Berkeley). The local station board can
recall these Foundation directors by a simple majority of the local station
board.

The local station board also appoints from its own membership
representatives to serve on committees of the national foundation working on
finances, programming and governance, for example.

The local station board will have to power to screen and select a pool of
candidates for the position of General Manager at each radio station. From
this pool of candidates, the Pacifica Foundation Executive Director will
hire the station General Manager.

The local station board and Pacifica Foundation Executive Director may
initiate a process to terminate a station General Manager. However, both the
Pacifica Foundation Executive Director and local station board must reach a
mutual decision to terminate the General Manager. If these two parties
cannot agree, the decision will be made by the Foundation's board of
directors.

The local station board will have the power to screen and select a pool of
candidates for the position of Program Director at each radio station. From
this pool of candidates, the General Manager will hire that station's
Program Director.

Annual and separate evaluations will be written by the local station board
on the job performances of the radio station's General Manager and Program
Director. In addition, the Pacifica Foundation Executive Director will be
subject to a yearly review and recommendations by the local station board.

The local station board will be required to review and approve the radio
station's budget. Quarterly reports by the local station board must be
forwarded to the Pacifica Foundation board of directors on the station's
budget, actual income and expenditures.

To ensure that the radio station's programming fulfills the purposes and
mission of the Pacifica Foundation, the local station board will work
together with station management. The local station board will guarantee the
station's responsiveness to the diverse needs of the listeners
(demographic), and communities (geographic) served by the radio station. The
local station board also has the responsibility to see that station policies
and procedures for programming decisions and program evaluations are working
in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality
programming.

The local station board is charged also with the following responsibilities:
assist the station in fundraising activities; conduct Town Hall-style
meetings at least twice a year which are devoted to hearing listeners'
views, needs, and concerns. Community needs assessments must be performed by
the local station board, or by a separate Community Advisory Committee
formed by the local station board for that purpose.

The local station board also has the mandate to actively reach out to
underrepresented communities to help the station serve a diversity of all
races, creeds, colors and nations, classes, genders and sexual orientations,
and ages. The local station board is directed also to help build
collaborative relations with organizations working for similar purposes.

Finally, the local station board will ensure that the radio station works
diligently toward the goal of diversity in staffing at all levels and
maintenance of a discrimination-free atmosphere in the workplace.

Note About Disqualified Individuals:

According to the Bylaws, "no person who holds any elected or appointed
public office at any level of government - federal, state, or local - or is
a candidate for such office shall be eligible for election to the position
of Delegate. A Delegate shall be deemed to have resigned the position of
Delegate if s/he becomes a candidate for public office or accepts a
political appointment during his or her term as a Delegate. This restriction
shall not apply to civil service employment by governmental agencies."

Also, paid and un-paid station staff may only vote, sign petitions or run in
the staff election, and are barred from such involvement in the listener
elections. Employees of the Pacifica national office may not participate in
the station staff elections, but may participate in the listener elections
as long as they become listener/subscriber Members at a particular station
the same as other listeners.


USEFUL QUALITIES AND SKILLS FOR A LOCAL STATION BOARD MEMBER (from
http://www.kpfa.org)

Honesty, Integrity, and commitment to the Pacifica Mission.

The ability to inquire and investigate areas of concern pertaining to the
station and the Pacifica Foundation.

The ability to work in a collaborative process.

The ability to listen to others and take their concerns seriously.

The ability to withstand a barrage of input, often criticism, from the
community without becoming defensive or overwhelmed.

The ability to make difficult decisions that may be perceived as
controversial and unpopular, and the ability to withstand public pressure,
which is often in the nature of the job.

The capacity to stand up to tremendous opposition.

A sense of humor.

The ability to resist the temptation to abuse power.

The ability to compromise.

The ability to do the work required of the specific position.

Working knowledge, or willingness to learn of Roberts Rules of Order and
parliamentary procedure.

Regular access to the Internet and e-mail.


PACIFICA'S MISSION STATEMENT - from the Pacifica Articles of Incorporation

To establish a Foundation organized and operated exclusively for educational
purposes no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any
member of the Foundation.

To establish and operate for educational purposes, in such manner that the
facilities involved shall be as nearly self-sustaining as possible, one or
more radio broadcasting stations licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission and subject in their operation to the regulatory actions of the
Commission under the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended.

In radio broadcasting operations to encourage and provide outlets for the
creative skills and energies of the community; to conduct classes and
workshops in the writing and producing of drama; to establish awards and
scholarships for creative writing; to offer performance facilities to
amateur instrumentalists, choral groups, orchestral groups and music
students; and to promote and aid other creative activities which will serve
the cultural welfare of the community.

In radio broadcasting operations to engage in any activity that shall
contribute to a lasting understanding between nations and between the
individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors; to gather and
disseminate information on the causes of conflict between any and all of
such groups; and through any and all means compatible with the purposes of
this corporation to promote the study of political and economic problems and
of the causes of religious, philosophical and racial antagonisms.

In radio broadcasting operations to promote the full distribution of public
information; to obtain access to sources of news not commonly brought
together in the same medium; and to employ such varied sources in the public
presentation of accurate, objective, comprehensive news on all matters
vitally affecting the community.


SOME BACKGROUND AND HISTORY (from http://www.current.org)

>From "Radio that's representative
Listeners control vote for Pacifica boards"
By Mike Janssen
Originally published in Current, Sept. 22, 2003.
http://www.current.org/radio/radio0317pacifica.html

Pacifica Radio is emerging from bitter years of factional struggle with new
bylaws that may make it the world's most democratic media organization.

The bylaws, which escaped legal challenge and won approval by a California
judge Sept. 15, entrust listeners, volunteers and staff members to elect
boards at Pacifica's five stations. Those boards will oversee station
matters such as spending, programming and hiring top managers, as well as
appointing a national board of directors to run the network.

About 90,000 of Pacifica's listeners and 700 of its volunteers and staffers
are eligible to vote in the first election under the bylaws, estimates Carol
Spooner, secretary of the network's interim national board. Elections are
scheduled to end by Jan. 30.

The bylaws put in writing a commitment to democracy that Pacifica has
professed for years but never fully backed up in its governance, says
Matthew Lasar, who wrote a history of Pacifica. Programmers always said the
radio stations belonged to listeners, "but it never really was their radio
station," Lasar says. "And the listeners found that out with a vengeance
during the crisis of 1999."

That was when Pacifica's previous board-intent on taking control of the
stations and building their audience-made itself self-appointing, ending the
longtime practice of letting station boards appoint most of the national
board. The move divided board members and ignited widespread protests among
Pacifica's fiercely protective and politically active listeners. Conflict
escalated and paralyzed the network until two years ago, when the previous
board majority, facing drawn-out legal battles, yielded control to their
challengers.

Another shift of power now looms, but this time the board will surrender the
reins willingly.
"It's a statement that we believe the supporters of Pacifica are progressive
people who can be trusted more than anything else to preserve the values of
Pacifica," Spooner says.

Spooner and Lasar both say the bylaws make Pacifica more democratic than any
media organization they know of.
Strong local boards

The bylaws create 24-member local station boards at each of Pacifica's five
stations in Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Berkeley,
Calif. Anyone who has donated $25 to Pacifica or volunteered three hours at
a station within the past year can vote in elections for 18 of the 24 seats.
Station staffs elect the remaining six.
Elections will use single transferable voting, a method which requires a
candidate for one of the 18 listener-elected seats to win approval from only
1/18th of the electorate. Additional votes are reassigned to voters'
second-choice candidates, then third-choice, until all seats are filled.

KPFA, Pacifica's Berkeley station, uses single transferable voting to elect
its local board. Spooner and others say it guarantees diverse leadership by
allowing a wide range of voters' interests to be represented.

Each of the resulting station boards will elect four members to Pacifica's
national board. Pacifica's 53 affiliate stations will appoint two members.

Supporters of the bylaws hope they will stabilize Pacifica after years of
infighting. Pacifica's previous generation of leaders, who wanted to make
the stations sound more professional and attract larger audiences, could
never have earned enough support from listeners to win elections under the
new bylaws, Spooner says.

The document adds checks of power, allowing listeners to remove local board
members, local boards to prompt the ouster of a g.m., and members of
national and local boards to unseat each other.
Struggles over diversity

Station boards and Pacifica's interim national board have been working on
bylaws since early last year. A December 2001 legal settlement between
factions on the network's former board installed the temporary board
mandated to write new bylaws.

But fighting among board members at national and local levels-common within
the highly politicized Pacifica community-prolonged the process. This time,
they backed plans that proposed different ways of making sure that
"historically underrepresented groups," such as ethnic minorities, would
have seats on local and national boards.

§ One set of bylaws, "Draft A," set representation goals based on
demographics and provided for extended elections and the addition of extra
board seats if those goals were not met.
"It would be legally reprehensible not to seek to enshrine a voice and
representation for those who have been discriminated against and
disenfranchised," says Mimi Rosenberg, a member of the local board at WBAI
in New York, which favored Draft A.

But Draft A's opponents feared that the bylaws would jeopardize Pacifica's
funding and subject it to lawsuits, a concern some supporters dismissed.

§ "Draft B," which became the new bylaws, equips boards with committees to
monitor diversity in elections, staffing and programming. Committees can
suggest steps to increase diversity but lack power to put them into effect.
The plan passed at the national board and two station boards this summer,
but lacked the necessary nod from a third station board to win final
approval-stranding the new bylaws on the threshold of completion.

Boards tried negotiating with a mediator's help last month but made little
progress. Finally, Aug. 23, the board at Los Angeles station KPFK voted
again, approving Draft B of the bylaws by one vote.

Draft A's supporters tried unsuccessfully to invalidate the bylaws, claiming
the Los Angeles revote came after a deadline set by the judge overseeing the
case.
"It was a very bitter struggle to get these bylaws," Lasar says. "Like a lot
of people, I'm just relieved that something actually got into cement."

The network has hired Terry Bouricius as part-time elections supervisor. He
is a senior policy analyst for the Center for Voting and Democracy in
Washington, D.C.