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Some Issues Regarding the Pacifica Bylaws Election
Following are some of the issues that came up during Pacifica Bylaws election.
The details of the complaints and resolutions are posted at:
https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/2020-pacifica-bylaws-referendum-complaints/
--
1. Failure to follow the court order to conduct the voting with fairness and equality.
To ensure that the Bylaws election was fair, the court issued the following order.
“The voting on the Proposed Bylaws shall be conducted with fairness and equality in all provisions. The two sides of proponents and opponents shall be given equal time and equal placement for all campaign activities, including on-air “CARTS” and website notices and links.”
Fair Campaign Provisions issued by the NES had a provision that allowed the opponents of the Bylaws to air LSB’s No Vote CARTs without allowing for equal time for the proponent side.
Complaint: PBRC015_0303_1549
--
Rule #1 – Station Air time
2. LSBs may prepare a CART or CARTs explaining the reasons why that entity voted “No,” and may, in that CART, urge a No vote. General Managers may not put CARTs on the air which disagree with the station’s LSB resolution. These announcements should run no more than six times a day.
--
2. Failure to provide Pacifica Foundation membership list.
Complaint: PBRC029_0311_1705
Court Order’s Fair Campaign Plan said:
“Proponents and opponents of the Bylaws proposal shall be allowed to deliver messages at their own expense using Pacifica Foundation membership list via third-party vendor who signs a non-disclosure agreement with the Pacifica Foundation in order to email or send paper mailings to members.”
When the proponents of the Bylaws planned to send follow up emails; they discovered that half the names were missing. They asked the NES for the full list, but was told that this was not a Fair Campaign Provision rule violation.
--
Dear Renee,
The wrong address files were sent to Autumn Press today -- almost half of the listener email addresses are missing … way too many to be accounted for by unsubscribers!
Please send the complete and correct list to [name redacted] immediately so that we can get our emails out early tomorrow.
The lists [name redacted] received today had the following numbers of listener email addresses:
1 = KPFA - 5904
2 = KPFK - 8699
3 = KPFT - 1952
4 = WBAI - 2927
5 = WPFW - 2488
Total = 21,970
The files you sent [name redacted] on February 13th had the following numbers of listener email addresses:
Listeners - 42,013
KPFA - 12,358
KPFK - 13,592
KPFT - 4,260
WBAI - 5,721
WPFW - 6,016
blanks - 65
Staff –
932
209
262
161
195
105
blanks - 4
Remedy: send the complete and correct list to [name redacted] immediately so that we can get our emails out early tomorrow.
--
3. Harassment and intimidation of the at-large directors.
Complaint: PBRC027_0311_0641
There was a concerted effort by the opponents of the Bylaws to harass and intimidate the at-large Directors to resign.
Following communication was sent to one of the proposed directors.
--
From: [name redacted]<[email address redacted]
Date: Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: Pacifica Restructuring Project
To: <[email address redacted]>
Dear [name redacted],
I hope you're well. I wanted to give you an update. The bylaws listener election is underway. I don't know what the results will be, but it will be close and it has been a divisive process. Whether the yes or no vote is the one that prevails, there will be a large contingent of unhappy members.
I wanted to let you know, since it seems like the communication from the Pacifica Restructuring Project to its appointees has not been frequent, that due to three potential appointees withdrawing their names (and a fourth who withdrew and then un-withdrew) that you are no longer an alternate and potentially stand to be seated on the Pacifica board within a two week period for a term of up to three years. The individuals who have dropped out are [name redacted], [name redacted] and your fellow alternate [name redacted]. [name redacted] also withdrew and then withdrew her withdrawal.
As I understand it, [name redacted] provided no reason for her resignation, [name redacted] withdrew because she did not wish to stop hosting a program on WBAI-FM, [name redacted] withdrew because he did not want to come into the organization "under a cloud" (his own words) and [name redacted] almost withdrew due to the lack of officers and directors liability insurance.
From my own experience with six years on the local and national boards of Pacifica, I can attest to the fact that Pacifica has a working board that is demanding on one's time, primarily due to organizational under staffing (3 of the 5 stations operate with less than 10 FTE positions. KPFT in Texas operates with 3
FTE) and poorly trained staff due to low levels of compensation. It was extremely difficult to maintain a board position along with a full-time professional job and that was with a much larger board and several supporting local boards that would cease to exist. It will be an extensive workload. If your position with ACLU of Texas is anything like the parallel position of director at ACLU of Northern California, which I am very familiar with, it will not be easy. And while one doesn't want to make bad predictions, it seems reasonable to project that the 2020 presidential campaign will lead to a ramping up of the anti-immigrant agenda to whip up the Trump base, which will be demanding for the ACLU of Texas on the front lines board position and if that isn't really the case, let Pacifica members know now when they are voting with your name attached to the proposal. .
With regard to directors and officer liability, since I dropped that in, it has not been in place since 2015.
During my board tenure it was, but Pacifica's carrier bailed after a large quantity of sexual harassment and wrongful hiring lawsuits were litigated due to human resources errors by untrained managers.
Replacement coverage has only been available at extremely high risk premium levels in excess of $300K annually which the organization has been unable to afford.
I hope you understand that if you are not fully committed at this point, that it would be for the best to say so that the people voting can factor that into their decision making.
Best wishes,
[name redacted]
--
4. Harassment and intimidation of the WBAI staff
Complaint: PBRC043_0319_1033-1
The staff voting in the election is their private right. Management has no right to ask them to prove they voted or how they voted.
Following notice was sent by WBAI GM to the WBAI staff.
--
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: [name redacted] <[redacted]@wbai.org>
> Date: Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 2:33 PM
> Subject: BYLAWS VOTE: ACTION NEEDED TODAY!!
> To: WBAI Staff Announce <[redacted]@@wbai.org>
> Cc: [name redacted] <[redacted]@wbai.org>
>
>
> Dear Staff,
> [name redacted] and I want you to send us the receipt that shows you voted. This helps WBAI
Management see that the station vote count is accurate. In addition, it helps us evaluate your involvement with WBAI Radio and it's future.
>
> As of today, less than 50% of WBAI programmers have voted. Staff have contacted me with concerns about this. We should be at 99.5% at least! Please do your part and participate in the bylaws vote.
>
> Today is the last day to have your vote counted. If you have not voted do it today and send us the receipt which shows you voted.
>
> The receipt looks like this. You get it by clicking on the site where you voted:
https://pacifica.simplyvoting.com
> Voting receipt - Pacifica By-laws Amendment Vote - Staff
> Receipt code: NXXC
> Time of vote: 2020-02-25 11:30:08 America/New_York
> IP address: xxxx
> Are you in favor of ("yes" vote) or opposed to ("no" vote) to the proposed bylaws?
> Thank you,
> [name redacted]
>
> [name redacted]
> [title redacted]
> WBAI Radio, New York
> --
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to
staffannounce+unsubscribe [at] wbai.org.
--
https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/2020-pacifica-bylaws-referendum-complaints/
--
1. Failure to follow the court order to conduct the voting with fairness and equality.
To ensure that the Bylaws election was fair, the court issued the following order.
“The voting on the Proposed Bylaws shall be conducted with fairness and equality in all provisions. The two sides of proponents and opponents shall be given equal time and equal placement for all campaign activities, including on-air “CARTS” and website notices and links.”
Fair Campaign Provisions issued by the NES had a provision that allowed the opponents of the Bylaws to air LSB’s No Vote CARTs without allowing for equal time for the proponent side.
Complaint: PBRC015_0303_1549
--
Rule #1 – Station Air time
2. LSBs may prepare a CART or CARTs explaining the reasons why that entity voted “No,” and may, in that CART, urge a No vote. General Managers may not put CARTs on the air which disagree with the station’s LSB resolution. These announcements should run no more than six times a day.
--
2. Failure to provide Pacifica Foundation membership list.
Complaint: PBRC029_0311_1705
Court Order’s Fair Campaign Plan said:
“Proponents and opponents of the Bylaws proposal shall be allowed to deliver messages at their own expense using Pacifica Foundation membership list via third-party vendor who signs a non-disclosure agreement with the Pacifica Foundation in order to email or send paper mailings to members.”
When the proponents of the Bylaws planned to send follow up emails; they discovered that half the names were missing. They asked the NES for the full list, but was told that this was not a Fair Campaign Provision rule violation.
--
Dear Renee,
The wrong address files were sent to Autumn Press today -- almost half of the listener email addresses are missing … way too many to be accounted for by unsubscribers!
Please send the complete and correct list to [name redacted] immediately so that we can get our emails out early tomorrow.
The lists [name redacted] received today had the following numbers of listener email addresses:
1 = KPFA - 5904
2 = KPFK - 8699
3 = KPFT - 1952
4 = WBAI - 2927
5 = WPFW - 2488
Total = 21,970
The files you sent [name redacted] on February 13th had the following numbers of listener email addresses:
Listeners - 42,013
KPFA - 12,358
KPFK - 13,592
KPFT - 4,260
WBAI - 5,721
WPFW - 6,016
blanks - 65
Staff –
932
209
262
161
195
105
blanks - 4
Remedy: send the complete and correct list to [name redacted] immediately so that we can get our emails out early tomorrow.
--
3. Harassment and intimidation of the at-large directors.
Complaint: PBRC027_0311_0641
There was a concerted effort by the opponents of the Bylaws to harass and intimidate the at-large Directors to resign.
Following communication was sent to one of the proposed directors.
--
From: [name redacted]<[email address redacted]
Date: Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: Pacifica Restructuring Project
To: <[email address redacted]>
Dear [name redacted],
I hope you're well. I wanted to give you an update. The bylaws listener election is underway. I don't know what the results will be, but it will be close and it has been a divisive process. Whether the yes or no vote is the one that prevails, there will be a large contingent of unhappy members.
I wanted to let you know, since it seems like the communication from the Pacifica Restructuring Project to its appointees has not been frequent, that due to three potential appointees withdrawing their names (and a fourth who withdrew and then un-withdrew) that you are no longer an alternate and potentially stand to be seated on the Pacifica board within a two week period for a term of up to three years. The individuals who have dropped out are [name redacted], [name redacted] and your fellow alternate [name redacted]. [name redacted] also withdrew and then withdrew her withdrawal.
As I understand it, [name redacted] provided no reason for her resignation, [name redacted] withdrew because she did not wish to stop hosting a program on WBAI-FM, [name redacted] withdrew because he did not want to come into the organization "under a cloud" (his own words) and [name redacted] almost withdrew due to the lack of officers and directors liability insurance.
From my own experience with six years on the local and national boards of Pacifica, I can attest to the fact that Pacifica has a working board that is demanding on one's time, primarily due to organizational under staffing (3 of the 5 stations operate with less than 10 FTE positions. KPFT in Texas operates with 3
FTE) and poorly trained staff due to low levels of compensation. It was extremely difficult to maintain a board position along with a full-time professional job and that was with a much larger board and several supporting local boards that would cease to exist. It will be an extensive workload. If your position with ACLU of Texas is anything like the parallel position of director at ACLU of Northern California, which I am very familiar with, it will not be easy. And while one doesn't want to make bad predictions, it seems reasonable to project that the 2020 presidential campaign will lead to a ramping up of the anti-immigrant agenda to whip up the Trump base, which will be demanding for the ACLU of Texas on the front lines board position and if that isn't really the case, let Pacifica members know now when they are voting with your name attached to the proposal. .
With regard to directors and officer liability, since I dropped that in, it has not been in place since 2015.
During my board tenure it was, but Pacifica's carrier bailed after a large quantity of sexual harassment and wrongful hiring lawsuits were litigated due to human resources errors by untrained managers.
Replacement coverage has only been available at extremely high risk premium levels in excess of $300K annually which the organization has been unable to afford.
I hope you understand that if you are not fully committed at this point, that it would be for the best to say so that the people voting can factor that into their decision making.
Best wishes,
[name redacted]
--
4. Harassment and intimidation of the WBAI staff
Complaint: PBRC043_0319_1033-1
The staff voting in the election is their private right. Management has no right to ask them to prove they voted or how they voted.
Following notice was sent by WBAI GM to the WBAI staff.
--
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: [name redacted] <[redacted]@wbai.org>
> Date: Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 2:33 PM
> Subject: BYLAWS VOTE: ACTION NEEDED TODAY!!
> To: WBAI Staff Announce <[redacted]@@wbai.org>
> Cc: [name redacted] <[redacted]@wbai.org>
>
>
> Dear Staff,
> [name redacted] and I want you to send us the receipt that shows you voted. This helps WBAI
Management see that the station vote count is accurate. In addition, it helps us evaluate your involvement with WBAI Radio and it's future.
>
> As of today, less than 50% of WBAI programmers have voted. Staff have contacted me with concerns about this. We should be at 99.5% at least! Please do your part and participate in the bylaws vote.
>
> Today is the last day to have your vote counted. If you have not voted do it today and send us the receipt which shows you voted.
>
> The receipt looks like this. You get it by clicking on the site where you voted:
https://pacifica.simplyvoting.com
> Voting receipt - Pacifica By-laws Amendment Vote - Staff
> Receipt code: NXXC
> Time of vote: 2020-02-25 11:30:08 America/New_York
> IP address: xxxx
> Are you in favor of ("yes" vote) or opposed to ("no" vote) to the proposed bylaws?
> Thank you,
> [name redacted]
>
> [name redacted]
> [title redacted]
> WBAI Radio, New York
> --
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to
staffannounce+unsubscribe [at] wbai.org.
--
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It is the rant of a person whose ideas got thoroughly thumped by a 66% no vote when put to a democratic test. A set of weak rationalizations from someone who can't face that 6,340 people said no to their idea.
I realize it is traumatic to lose elections, but that trauma needs to be dealt with privately, not splayed out on an independent news site.
1. All five Pacifica local station boards (slated to be eliminated in the proposal) formally voted to reject the proposal. That isn't a secret. Tanaka's contention that those votes had to be concealed is absurd. They did not. They happened at public, recorded governance meetings.
2. Proponents were not allowed to send "follow-up" emails to members who had already voted. That is to protect station subscribers from unwanted emails.
3. Anyone who wants to serve on the board of a democratic media network should expect to have to occasionally talk to the members and donors of that organization. The idea that it is "harassment" to contact people who asking the members of the organization to dump their existing bylaws in order to install them as permanent self-selected directors, is absurd.
4. The WBAI staff voted overwhelmingly against these proposed bylaws because 3 months ago, several of the proponents raided their station, damaged their broadcasting equipment, shut down their studio, closed their bank accounts, took their money, tried to fire all of them, and piped in programming from KPFA, and continued this for a month until forced to stop by a NYC court. What did you expect?
Now stop posting to Indybay, go lick your wounds, and figure out how to do something constructive Mr. Tanaka, since you decided to place yourself on the board you tried to eliminate.
One can disagree on the latter without disagreeing on the former.
1. There was no contention that those votes had to be concealed. The NES just needed to allow the proponents equal CART time to balance the LSB CARTs.
2. It prevented people from learning that they could change their vote. The NES actually proffered an argument that allowing "follow-up" emails "affects the deliverability of all future campaigns and can have legal consequences (CAN-SPAM act, http://www.ftc.gov)".
3. Another director who was contacted wrote to NES:
I HAVE NOT RESIGNED by [redacted]
Date: 2020-02-20 06:54 PM
From: redacted
To: , , , , "nes [at] pacifica.org" , [reducted]
To whom it may concern:
I have not withdrawn my name as one of the at-large directors for the new Pacifica Board of Directors.
PLEAE DO NOT EVER SEND EMAILS TO MY WORK.
WHY DID [reducted] GOOGLE ME AND SEND AN EMAIL TO A GENERAL EMAIL ADDRESS AT MY WORK?
That is not acceptable to send an email of this sort to a general mailbox at someone's place of employment. Who here thinks that this is ethical or would want it to happen to them?
[Reducted]
It looks like a harassment.
4. Asking the staff to reveal how they voted and saying "it helps us evaluate your involvement with WBAI Radio and it's future", looks like harassment and intimidation, nonetheless.
1. What you are referring to is cart time for the local station boards. The local station boards all voted no. The local station boards all voted no by at least a 3-1 majority at their public meetings. A public announcement by the LSB reflects the decision the LSB arrived at by vote.
2. The NES notified every voter they could change their vote by email. You are just complaining because you could not send repetitive advocacy emails to people who had already voted, even though that would likely piss them off. Very very few people "changed their vote" and why would you have the right to email people over and over and over again begging them to change their mind when the vast majority had no intention of doing so?
3) Your point here is duplicitous. The response you provided is not to the sample email you provided. The sample email, whose sender is being slandered here, doesn't match the response, which was from Judy Graboyes to a completely different email sent from a person named Kim Kaufman.
4) There is literally zero question about how the WBAI staff voted. 98% no. That is because a few months ago, the proponents of this proposal raided their station, ripped the microphones out of the wall, stole the emergency broadcasting system, emptied and closed all of the bank accounts, fired all of the staff, removed every single program off the air and piped in KPFA programs and NPR crap for a full month. And kept it up until stopped by a court order.
That is what intimidation and harassment looks like.
"The response you provided is not to the sample email you provided."
I wrote, "Another director who was contacted...".
"[A] completely different email sent from a person named..."
It confirms that there was a concerted effort.
In 2019, NES, Renee Asteria Penaloza, designated Tracy Rosenberg as her right hand throughout the election, even though Tracy Rosenberg supported one of the slates in the election.
In 2020, NES, Renee Asteria Penaloza, oversaw the Bylaws Referendum which was opposed by Tracy Rosenberg.
It the current Board can stop the internecine fighting and address the financial crisis, all to the good.