[UPDATE … regrettable delay: will be posted by Su25June2023.
~
[A separate post will explain – again – why Tanaka & the other Berkeley hillbillies are spinning a dangerous yarn when endlessly repeating that the Articles of Incorporation require station self-sufficiency. This was put to rest at this blog back in Nov2021: self-sufficiency pertains to Pacifica as a whole – which is why the Article says “the facilities”, the Pacifica facilities, not anything to do with an individual station. But the evidence & the argument will have to be repeated because it’s obvious that this mantra is already being made a core message of the breakers’ delegates election campaign, be it held in 2023 or 2024.
[In Nov2021, in a post under the sub-heading ‘But don’t the Articles of Incorporation require station self-sufficiency?’, it was made plain that the statement of the existential basis of Pacifica’s incorporation used a carefully chosen formulation, effectively rejecting others that are considered below:
But don’t the Articles of Incorporation require station self-sufficiency?
A common belief, yes, but no, a mistaken belief. Article II identifies purposes, & sub-article (b) says, “the purposes of this corporation shall be: (a) […] (b) 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 […]” (emphases added; article as amended 19Aug1948 – https://pacifica.org/articles.htm). Making explicit what’s here, by separating the subordinate clause, we have “the purposes of this corporation shall be […] To establish and operate for educational purposes […] one or more radio broadcasting stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission”, & “in such manner that the facilities involved shall be as nearly self-sustaining as possible”. The corporation’s facilities, the Pacifica facilities. The organisational unit stamped with ‘self-sustaining’ is Pacifica, not each station. So ‘self-sustaining’ is the attribute of facilities, not stations – and it seems obvious that it was said in this deliberate way to be consistent with the originary funding conception: Pacifica is an endeavour paid for collectively by the members & listeners – not outsiders, such as grantors & underwriters.
So not saying ‘in such manner that the stations involved shall be as nearly self-sustaining as possible’. So not saying‘To establish and operate for educational purposes one or more as nearly self-sustaining as possible radio broadcasting stations’. So not saying ‘To establish and operate for educational purposes one or more radio broadcasting stations, each of which shall be as nearly self-sustaining as possible’. No: the “self-sustaining” pertains to “the facilities”, undifferentiated facilities, the facilities collectively, the Pacifica facilities – not the facilities of each individual station. That’s why the linguistic construction is what it is: the particular concerning “the facilities” is slotted in, splitting the sentence – so much so, it warrants being enclosed by a pair of dashes, not commas.
. . . not the same, but close: the point is manipulating the domain of meaning to suit one’s political aim – and you won’t believe how eager they all were (bar Eleanor Forman & Vanessa Dixon-Briggs) to get this all done, & as quickly as possible. A veritable motion-lust, a hysteria, a frenzy – they’d be great at perpetrating a pogrom . . .
[UPDATE: as of 1200 ET, Sa6May2023, the audio recording has still not been posted at https://kpftx.org/archive.php – even though the audiofile of a later meeting is there, the next evening’s PNB. But do not despair: a PacificaWatch minion has made sure that the good work of the good people of ‘The Interim’ won’t disappear from the historical record: https://mega.nz/file/kFMmHTqD#7RdFHXr9UlaUJGZGNjjWwIiP5a0oR6YjpMHJAnUYAzs (1h15, 105MB).] [It was posted later that day – https://kpftx.org/archive.php. (Beware: that webpage’s ‘Filter Committees’ has two entries denoted ‘Elections’, with one empty; this error is not repeated.)]
~
Sections:
• PNB Chair Julie Hewitt: “one of the things I wan’ed to um, urgh, suggest that we do is, um, have Stephanie, urgh – ‘hurrgh – appoint herself the interim National Elections Supervisor […] so that we’re, you know, looking, urgh, for all intents and purposes to the world like we really are having elections this year […] to do something that looked like taking an action” (7:03)
• The danger! The danger! (as Kurtz didn’t say)
• The moral collapse, the moral capitulation of ED Stephanie Wells
• Same olde, same olde from the directors sleepwalkers – and the lesson of the terminated 2018 delegates election
• Update
~
PNB Chair Julie Hewitt: “one of the things I wan’ed to um, urgh, suggest that we do is, um, have Stephanie, urgh – ‘hurrgh – appoint herself the interim National Elections Supervisor […] so that we’re, you know, looking, urgh, for all intents and purposes to the world like we really are having elections this year […] to do something that looked like taking an action” (7:03)
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Pacifica’s brightest & best first & second tier decision-makers sprung on us their latest take on picking words to depict the world as the world they want, on using words to sculpt the image of the world that suits them. In this, they apply a simple operational principle: if words are in the way, & they can’t be moved, then just add some, so the meaning changes, giving the green light to whatever they want to do.
Rules don’t count: rules are for losers. Decisions trump rules – always. It’s all about decisions. Decisions made by fearless, brave decision-makers, upstanding Pacificans, those prepared to step up to the plate, to take the hard decisions. What the likes of Susan Young (KPFT listener-delegate & breaker) call ‘rolling y’r sleeves up, y’all, & getting done the business of the Committee!’ – embellished with as much vacuous bluster as can be mustered.
Living in the world of words – and so not living in the world regulated by rule-bounded behaviour, where rules aren’t reducible to words, if only because there’s the inconvenience of the extra-linguistic force that is the state: structured as courts, where aggrieved peeps seek remedies, & judges issue decisions that are not just rule-bounded but backed up by bailiffs, marshals, & police.
Oh.
What happened at the W3May2023 PNB Elections Cttee was an exercise in full-spectrum domination: a motion-incoming from a Cttee member, obviously not forewarned by being circulated in something as transparent, standard, & courteous as a draft agenda; the PNB Chair just happening to be passing down the corridor & dropping in; the ED just opening the wrong door & wandering into the meeting; the set-up completed by the presence of enough mechanical hands in on the plot in order to get it all passed. Pacifica democracy in action. Pacifica stitch-up in all its splendour. Some of their ancestors were surely in the Place de la Concorde, working on their embroidery, whilst the heads fell into the baskets.
~
So if the relevant by-law says the National Elections Supervisor has to be appointed by the Executive Director – a seemingly obdurate stricture – then just create a new post, one not covered by the by-law – in fact, preferably not covered by any by-law – then call it something like ‘the Interim National Elections Supervisor’, before letting the ED not just appoint the iNES but let them appoint themselves as the shiny new functionary. PacificaWorld’s very own self-coronation. What could be simpler? Who could possibly object? What could possibly go wrong?
~
Plain sailing, one would think. But there’s always one, isn’t there. Some la-di-da, who thinks they’re better than the rest. Someone spouting specialist knowledge, even confident enough to quote something or other, plus using language & concepts no-one else uses, things like ‘rules’ & ‘can’t’ – someone all too ready to spoil the party.
And sure enough, up pops Eleanor Forman (WBAI listener-delegate), coming up with some quote or other from something called a by-law, moreover a Pacifica by-law, a set of words, apparently arranged in some set order, that can’t be changed, with some set meaning, all seeming to put a halt to proceedings (14:43):
“[t]o be eligible for appointment to the position of the national elections supervisor, said person shall not be an employee of the Foundation […]”
A halt? No. That would be taking things literally, letting the ordinary meaning of words do their work, ‘unaided’ by outside help. An approach giving in to the absurd idea that somehow evidence could be the ultimate arbiter, that evidence in a context of reasoned argument could possibly be compelling & the end of the matter. No. No, no. That simply wouldn’t do. That would simply be the height of naivety. That’s not how PacificaWorld works.
So, as quick as a flash, Susan Young rose to the challenge, putting bang to rights, telling it like it is:
“She would not be the NES: she would be the interim.”
. . . after all, who could ever think that content could trump form – in discussion, in jurisprudence? who cares about rationality, evidence, substance? even about what’s right? . . . No, it’s all about winning, the triumph of the will . . .
By now the coterie were egging each other on with alacrity, & with hardly time to take a breath, Chair Aki somehow managed to get out a ‘with no objection, that’s agreed then’, causing Eleanor’s arms to furiously flap about, struggling to lever her head above the sea of bodies, crying out, “I object!”, & before Director Allen, a Pacifica operator for nigh on 225yrs, could retort ‘it’s OK, Eleanor, your objection will be noted in the minutes’, Aki restored a semblance of order with a swift ‘OK, we’ll have a vote: Susan, take the roll’, before flopping back into his chair, composing himself, & reaching for another tablet.
The assembled calmed down somewhat; the democratic process yielded the right result; & a collective sigh settled upon the great-grandparents.
The resolution passed with one objection & one abstention:
“Motion to recommend that ED initiate preliminary tasks that would be undertaken by the National Election [sic] Supervisor until the National Election [sic] Supervisor can be engaged so the rest of the steps may proceed.”
No minutes yet, obviously, but the text of the adopted motion was read out (23:00 & 28:38); the vote, 12-1-1 (30:57): against, Eleanor Forman (WBAI listener-delegate), to her great credit; abstainer Vanessa Dixon-Briggs (director & WPFW listener-delegate), which is at least something; one not present during the vote, Evelia Jones (director & KPFK listener-delegate); & the 12 constituting the frenzied throng: Lily Kimura (KPFA listener-delegate), Aki Tanaka (director & KPFA listener-delegate), Carol Wolfley (KPFA listener-delegate), Eric Jacobson (KPFK listener-delegate), Myla Reson (KPFK staff-delegate), Teresa Allen (director & KPFT listener-delegate), Sean McPherson (KPFT listener-delegate), Susan Young (KPFT listener-delegate), Violetta Diamond (WPFW staff-delegate), Minerva Sanders (WPFW listener-delegate), Jack DePalma (WBAI listener-delegate), Shawn Rhodes (director & WBAI staff-delegate). So three directors sleepwalkers couldn’t give a monkey’s about a basic of the Pacifica constitution, the Gang of Three, RAT, Rhodes, Allen, Tanaka – with Ms Dixon-Briggs not being sure, keeping Humpty Dumpty company, & with Ms Jones off the call – https://mega.nz/file/kFMmHTqD#7RdFHXr9UlaUJGZGNjjWwIiP5a0oR6YjpMHJAnUYAzs.
Necessary commentary: “recommend” to whom? – presumably the PNB . . . “that ED initiate”, much vaguer than ‘that ED perform’ (chosen deliberately? reminds one of formulations such as ‘terminate with extreme prejudice’) . . . “tasks that would be undertaken by the National Election Supervisor”, so it does consist in NES work (not least in the light of the fundamental practical conceptual distinction between a station membership list & a station elector roll: only the NES can certify any of the 10 membership lists as elector rolls – the same content, but radically different in their usage) . . .
~
. . . the lesson: so long as there’s a will, there’s a way . . .
. . . with the exercise of imagination, of focused creativity, any problem can be solved . . .
. . . well, at least solved in the upside-down world of PacificaWorld – where PNB Chair Julie ‘Clueless’ Hewitt insists on her “upside-down PNB meetings”, a phrase met with general hilarity from her fellow directors sleepwalkers, choosing to notice not just two meetings as one but compounding her violation by refusing to give the public meet a start time, instead choosing to assign it a time-span when our highers & betters will be assembled in all their finery, to avail themselves of the greetings of their fawning subjects, contra by-law Art. 6, Sec. 4, & 1934 Comms Act, as amended, § 396(k)(4) that requires CPB to have a rule such as Radio CSG General Provision § 2(A): “Open Meetings […] notice of meetings, including the time and place” – such is what Julie Clueless deems the donors deserve . . .
But PacificaWorld isn’t a world unto itself: it’s a bubble – punctured all too often by RealWorld: by the social law of money, by the organs of the state.
And this election situation is saturated with danger:
the fact that the inner circle has decided to use the language of ‘Steph the interim NES’ means they feel themselves trapped in a gully & fleeing a rolling boulder, that they expect an escalation: Steph won’t just be ‘perfecting’ the lists but start to do NES work. Why the desperate move? Simple: the KPFK/PRA sale fell thru in the first week of April; stopping the cash coming thru for a NES & the other election expenses (plus the upfront ~$40k demanded by the FY2022 auditors); & if that wasn’t enough, the judge in the Ziri Rideaux et al. case has required that the delegates election is showered with lotus blossoms & jasmin by the end of the year, 31Dec. So it’s expected that Steph’s work won’t stop at the lists.
And it gets worse. The judge also “enjoined” the defendant directors to adhere to the by-laws. So no assigning of NES work – even “preliminary tasks” – to anyone else, especially to a Pacifica employee.
They’ve allowed themselves to be put into a bind. And feeling the squeeze, they’ve now decided to defy the judge.
In any case, ED-as-NES aside, catastrophe looms: the prospect – and so the fear – is that if a professional elections supervisor is hired, then if they find an irredeemable mess, corrupted to the gills, they will have no option, as per Oct2018 (see below), but to terminate the 2023 election: meaning, an objective outsider will be making a public report that Pacifica is so maladministered that it has proven incapable of carrying out the demand of the court. Is there a greater demonstration of delinquency?
Oh.
By choosing a structure that ties up ~$2.5m a year keeping KPFA personnel costs as ~25% of Pacifica’s total expenses (FY2022: 24.1%), & so choosing not to use a network development plan to help overcome individual station resource barriers & to maximise total station marginal gain . . . by choosing not to have a Chief Financial Officer, by choosing to not even have a CPA under contract, by choosing not to have an internal audit team, & so choosing an absence of financial control, & choosing not to know what’s happening in real-time . . . by choosing not to make the ED their instrument, by choosing to let the station managers (& their underlings) boss the ED, & so choosing to let the station fiefdoms run riot – by choosing all this, the directors sleepwalkers have also put themselves into a bind re the election.
And having started to dig, they can’t stop digging.
Is there a greater demonstration of delinquency? Well, ask the California Attorney General: their Registry of Charitable Trusts is currently making the public declaration that Pacifica Foundation, Inc. is delinquent, & has been since c. Aug2022 – when ED Wells tried to file Pacifica’s 2021 annual registration (dated 13Aug2022, stamped received 19Aug) using the old form (Rev. 09/2017, not Rev. 02/2021) so paying the old fee ($225, not $400) – see “Form RRF-1 2021 Rejected”, https://rct.doj.ca.gov/Verification/Web/Search.aspx?facility=Y; & https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/rrf1_form.pdf. (And other delicts?)
Oh. Meaning?
Since c. Aug2022, Pacifica has been stopped by law from operating – stopped from disbursing funds, stopped from soliciting funds.
And it’s not as if it hasn’t been warned:
webpage of Rob Bonta, Attorney General: “[a] charitable organization that is not in good standing with the Registry of Charitable Trusts may not operate or solicit donations in California. (Cal. Code of Regs., tit. 11, § 999.9.4.)” …
webinar by Tania Ibanez, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Section (who looks like she graduated straight from Central Casting onto the set of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation): “[a] charitable organization cannot legally operate if it is not in good standing with the Registry. The organization’s registration must be current to operate; delinquent or suspended organizations may not solicit or disburse charitable funds. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 11, § 999.9.4.)” …
the law, § 999.9.4: “A person or entity subject to the registration requirements of Government Code section 12580 et seq. [as is Pacifica], must be registered and in good standing with the Registry of Charitable Trusts to operate or solicit for charitable purposes. A registration that is delinquent, suspended or revoked is not in good standing and is prohibited from engaging in conduct for which registration is required including, but not limited to[,] solicitation for charitable purposes.”
webinar titled Attorney General’s Guide for Charities: Review and Discussion, slide #7 titled “The Consequences for Failing to Register or Becoming Delinquent in the Annual Filing and Reporting Requirements May Result in Punitive Actions” (emphases added), unpaginated but page 7 of the PDF, no date but elaboration of parts of the June2021 AG guide, emphases added – https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/publications/guide-webinar.pdf;
By law, Pacifica is currently forbidden to operate. So, by law, Pacifica is currently forbidden to disburse funds. So, by law, Pacifica is currently forbidden to solicit for funds. And all for the sake of not paying $175?
~
The moral collapse, the moral capitulation of ED Stephanie Wells
Drawn into the directors’ sticky web is ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ . . . and her willingness to not just go along with this ruse but to spearhead it. This marks her moral collapse. This marks her moral capitulation. She has finally caved in to the depravity stalking PacificaWorld.
Want me to pose as the Chief Financial Officer, violating by-law Art. 9, Sec. 1, when I don’t even have a bookkeeping qualification, let alone being a certified public accountant, no prob – just keep paying me.
Want me to be the National Elections Supervisor, violating by-law Art. 4, Sec. 4(A), no prob – just keep paying me.
Want me to keep saying “y-eee-ssssssss”, firmly & confidently (thru gritted teeth, when I know differently), no prob – just keep paying me.
. . . even so, she’s probably already been sending off job applications for weeks . . .
Re CFO work, real work, the work of a qualified professional, a CPA: what ‘The Breeze’ has been doing since NETA left, on Th22Sep2022, is effectively helping the directors sleepwalkers violate California Corporations Code § 312(a): “[a] corporation shall have […] a chief financial officer” – https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP§ionNum=312.
Oh.
~
Same olde, same olde from the directors sleepwalkers – and the lesson of the terminated 2018 delegates election
Less surprising is this episode mundanely marking a new low for the director sleepwalker stratum, including the blob at the top, the so-called leader, the Chair of the Board. Myopia incarnate: the gift of self-injurious behaviour that just keeps on giving.
This, when the by-law passages re the delegates election process are unambiguous: the NES, & crucially their work, is insulated from both management & governance.
The NES is the sole elections decision-maker: the NES alone decides when the process starts, & under which conditions; the NES alone decides whether the process continues, & under which conditions; the NES alone decides whether the process has to be terminated.
The 2018 process was indeed terminated, by NES Graeme Drew. The subject line he gave to his 30Oct2018 letter to the directors (copied to ED Maxie Jackson) was “RE: Decision to Terminate 2018 Election”. He declared:
On Monday, October 29, 2018 I informed your Executive Director of my decision to terminate the 2018 election process. […]
[A] significant concern arose earlier during my review of previous Pacifica election reports provided to me, where it was clear that one of the major challenges would be the timely receipt of current elector lists (i.e. members eligible to vote) required to administer a proper election. The NES for the 2015 election described the lists as ‘atrocious’ in her final report. The accuracy and integrity of these lists are vital to ensuring a fair and proper election, and in the event of having to defend against future appeals and legal actions by appellants as can be the case with elections in general and has been the case on numerous occasions in the past with Pacifica elections. [page 1]
[…] the absence of an approved election budget (another concern)
[…] I am unable to reliably verify any of the applicants for candidacy due to the poor quality of elector lists. […]
In summary, despite best efforts on the part of all involved and an extension of the nomination period, the elector lists required to proceed with the election process remain incorrect and incomplete.
Given this, I am unable to verify eligible candidates and proceed with the election. [page 2]
CONCLUSION
I plan to announce the end of the 2018 election on Wednesday, October 31, 2018. [page 3]
NES Drew couldn’t certify the eligibility of even one prospective candidate: that’s how bad the membership lists were, how materially inaccurate they were – in a word, how corrupted they were.
A principal means for the 2018 election, namely the capacity of the 10 membership lists to function as the 10 elector rolls, were so materially inaccurate, so corrupted, that it meant the election process had shown itself to be so corrupt that it had to be terminated. That’s what was required by the evidence of the object, the objective evidence.
Of course, Chair Alex Steinberg (WBAI listener-delegate) et al. ignored such nonsense. They immediately got Maxie, obviously under pain of keeping his job, to appoint a NES that would do the directors’ bidding. Fuck professional standards. Fuck the rules. Fuck ethics. This is politics. This is how The Family operates. This is Pacifica. This is The Pacifica Family. With our totem, The Great Lew. With our relic, The Mission Statement. If you don’t like it, go fuck yourself, just fuck off – and take your morality with you. PacificaWorld is obviously not for the likes of you . . .
. . . That’s how contemptuous they are of the members & listeners, who, in the absence of effective delegates that will stand up for them & defend them, can only look to their sentinel, the Pacifica constitution (the Articles of Incorporation & the by-laws), the reified objectification in language of the collective will of the members, Pacifica personified. And when betrayed within, that’s why members, usually with the utmost reluctance, go to an authority of TeamUSA, be it CA AG Rob Bonta, FCC, CPB, or the capitalist court – this being preferable to the alternatives: resignation, exit, or violence (cf. Hirschman’s ‘voice, loyalty, exit’).
[UPDATE: the swearing paragraph has to be dedicated, albeit retrospectively, to Fred Dodsworth (not only a KPFA staff-delegate but a Pacifica director, no less – besides being a breaker enforcer, drawing effortlessly upon his bullying, angry, & authoritarian disposition) – dedicated to Fred, given his performance at the M8May2023 PNB Strategic Planning Cttee (37:31 & 58:02) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnbstratcomm/230508/pnbstratcomm230508a.mp3. (Is he on meds? Or is he just vulgar? … And on-air, does he think he outswears Otis Maclay?) . . . That evening, his expletive-laden rants made Queen Liz III go all aquiver, before she took a turn, & fell into a faint; the latest report from Ojai Palace is that she is recovering in her chambers, in the suitable care of her attendants.]
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UPDATE
The presence of absence at the Th4May2023 PNB: surprisingly, none of this came up at the next day’s meeting. Why? Maybe the Pacifica General Legal Counsel, Arthur Schwartz, advised the controlling group of directors sleepwalkers that it would be for the best if the resolution of recommendation from the PNB Elections Cttee never made its way to the PNB – well at least not the next day. That it would be for the best if no-one even mentioned the episode when the Cttee Chair gave his report, & certainly that no-one asked about it in the ‘Q&A’. Mom. Word. (And there’s also the enjoining stipulation from the judge.)
One should bear in mind that this iNES palaver is perhaps redundant. That’s because those at Wednesday’s meeting spoke as if there wasn’t a clear distinction between the membership list & the elector roll: management prepares the membership lists, whereas the NES uses sampling & other methods to test their adequacy to function as elector rolls. Only the NES can certify a membership list as an elector roll, & allow it to be used in the election, in the first instance to certify who merits being a candidate. It may turn out that Steph is so busy getting the lists in order that she won’t get onto NES work.
I say ‘perhaps redundant’ coz the alliance between the Hewitt faction & New Day/other breakers, already on display in all its geniality at the KPFK LSB meets (antagonising Queen Liz III), may indeed push Steph into doing work that is that of the NES, work unfolding in a necessary sequence: (as ED, drafting an elections budget for approval by the directors sleepwalkers); appointing 5 Local Elections Supervisors, then managing them; declaring that the 10 lists can function as 10 rolls; administering the 10 nominations processes; certifying the 10 sets of candidates; administering the 10 election campaigns; (as ED, hiring a balloting company); then as NES, working with the balloting company . . . one could descend further. And of course, there’s also the work of administering the Fair Campaign Provisions (sic) – adjudicating on disputes & complaints, & enforcing her decisions (. . . she can’t even get her underlings to use an integral, centralised bookkeeping & accounting software system, so that’s going to go swimmingly). Mundane matters aside, how depraved is Steph willing to be? How low will she go? How desperate is she? (For the directors sleepwalkers, these questions obviously don’t arise.)
Also remember that the ED, as Maxie never failed to remind us, ‘serves at the pleasure of the Board’. By-law Art. 9, Sec. 7 happens to use different language, making plain how a servant is to treated: supervised & controlled: “[t]he Executive Director […] shall be selected, supervised and discharged by the Board”; “[s]ubject to the control of the Board, the Executive Director shall […]” – https://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art9sec7.html.
So ED-as-NES can never be an independent NES: to the contrary, with ED-as-NES the NES becomes supervised & controlled by the director majority, doing as she’s told, doing their bidding, performing as their tool, & out of self-interest making sure she does nothing that would harm her annual job performance evaluation, not to speak of her pay cheque. ED-as-NES is intrinsically incapable of acting as an independent NES – even in doing ‘preliminary tasks’. And after all, to take this to its tongue/cheek limit, once the ED is the NES, interim or otherwise, the judge expects the directors to adhere to the by-laws – to ‘supervise & control the ED’.
The prospect – & so the fear of ED Wells & the directors sleepwalkers – is that a duly hired professional elections supervisor will find if not the membership lists then the election process as a whole so corrupted that they will have no option but to terminate the 2023 election.
And what a statement: an objective outsider will be making a public report that Pacifica is so maladministered, that it is so corrupted, that it is incapable of carrying out the demand of the court.
. . . Jim Dingeman Dolores Umbridge, of Harry Potter fame . . .
. . . “Argh, some people have said we have no strategy. Argh, I have to differ with that because the strategy at all times, at every station, is t-to increase audience and increase the ability of the programming to, urgh, engage with the, urgh, the station [sic], and hence create more listener members. Argh, that’s to me always the stra-strategy of a broadcast institution – which we are. Um, so, one, I take umbrage with these comments that there is no strategy” – Dolores UmbridgeJim Dingeman . . .
~
[UPDATE: Via Zoom, i attended the Sa18Mar2023 PNB Technology Task Force – for less than 5mins before being expelled, without warning, for no good reason by the Chair, Director Jim Dingeman. A presentation was being made by two bods from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, so i made a comment in the chatbox, explaining, with the linked evidence, that any CPB Radio Community Service Grant application, by a Pacifica station for the monies to be disbursed in FY2024, will necessarily fail, not least because two kinds of submissions, with deadlines of 15Feb & 28Feb, haven’t been made. Please see, as i said in my chatbox comment, Section 15(C) of the 2023 Radio Community Service Grant General Provisions and Eligibility Criteria, October 2022, page 18, https://www.cpb.org/sites/default/files/radio_community_service_grant_-csg-_general_provisions_and_eligibility_criteria_fy_2023.pdf.
[Having given the evidence, a few seconds later Chair Jim retorted, “Not true Jara[,] and if you want to simply state constant [sic] negativity about all this[,] time to go”. Within seconds i asked, “@JimDingeman, what’s not true?” Within 5secs i was expelled from the Pacifica public meeting! Simple as. And automatically refused when trying to re-attend. Oh dear.
[On this a post will be made, along with four on non-petulant matters: the directors violating § 312(a), California Corporations Code by not hiring a Chief Financial Officer; the directors violating § 12586(e)(2), California Government Code by electing four members of staff to the PNB Audit Cttee; the PNB majority violating Pacifica by-law Art. 4, Sec. 8 by extending delegate terms; & ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ violating by-law Art. 4, Sec. 4 by not hiring a National Elections Supervisor on either 1Mar or 2Mar (in the context of the timeline, per Art. 4, Sec. 5), given that the PNB hadn’t invoked that section’s “exigent circumstances” provision & set by 30Nov2022 a new timeline. Quadruple oh.
[But on the subject in hand, that post will include three screenshots showing Chair Jim’s appalling autocratic, authoritarian action on Saturday. (I hesitate to call it un-Pacifican given the history of peeps who get into positions of Pacifica decision-making. Jim, a hypocrite? No, that’s another universe, its own honour by desert.) The content of the post will be used in an open letter to his 20 fellow Pacifica directors. They need to have their attention drawn to three things: (1) they need to know that in the next 4wks, Pacifica can spend its time more productively by not trying to make CPB applications (it’s 4wks coz, although no-one has mentioned it in a public Pacifica meeting, other than PacificaWatch minions, the Radio CSG money is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis – https://cpb.org/sites/default/files/rfp/9ae3dc90/Grant%20Guidelines%20Radio%20CSG%20for%20FY%202023%20-%20New%20Applicant%20Guidelines.pdf); (2) they need to know that Director D has brought his office into disrepute by his action, an expression of both his inability to accept the evidence staring him in the face, as well as his inability to accept that in a forum open to the public that he can’t legitimately expel from the meeting those who present evidence he doesn’t like (moreover, that linked to the prospective grantor’s website); & (3), if these 20 fellows respect their office then they will censure Director D for being a dick, for being disreputable. An apology is irrelevant: the remedy is for Ungentlemanly Jim to publicly commit to stop being an autocrat, to stop acting as an authoritarian. But does he have the character to do this?
[Note that i wasn’t given time by Nuker Jim to post the illuminating contextual evidence showing how the CPB has deliberately, & explicitly, shaped the current situation for Pacifica, making plain the obdurate reality. That is, the Section 15(C) i cited needs to be read in conjunction with the CPB informing Pacifica, in no uncertain terms, that “[t]o be considered for re-entry to the CSG program, the Radio CSG program must be open to new applicants[;] Licensee and Stations must demonstrate full compliance with the General Provisions at the time of application[;] and Licensee and Stations must fulfill all requirements outlined in the March 28, 2013 letter” – CPB letter to ED Lydia Brazon & PNB Chair Alex Steinberg, 22May2020, emphases added (& to aid comprehension, semi-colons replace commas), https://mega.nz/file/cY8XCYLb#4IGXyzfasCgfm-GdaYYm6WPn2XaD4UcMJR8ZPTo-Q8c. So the CPB didn’t simply choose ‘comply’ – which is emphatic enough. No. That’s not at all how the CPB feels about Pacifica. Oh, no. So bears repeating: “must demonstrate full compliance” – no ifs, no buts. This isn’t doing a deal in a back alley, doing a deal without paperwork – this isn’t PacificaWorld: this is RealWorld.]
The M13Mar2023 PNB Strategic Planning Cttee meet was chaired, this year as last, by Director Jim ‘I know I talk a lot, but I know I’m the best at knocking it out’a the park, OK’ Dingeman.
Those present (they were all directors last year): Director James McFadden (KPFA listener-delegate), KPFK Listener-Member Beth Gunten, WPFW Listener-Member Donna Grimes, WPFW Listener-Member Julie Hewitt, WBAI Listener-Member James Sagurton, & Director Jim himself (WBAI listener-delegate).
You may ask, why the two radically different kinds of designation? Well, as mentioned above, this is per Pacifica’s by-laws – it’ll be fully explained in a coming post, titled something like ‘On the cuckoos, the LARP’ers, the impostors: illegally extending delegate terms, 20Oct2022 PNB’.
But we need to stay focused on those at the 13Mar2023 PNB Strategic Planning Cttee meeting, those selected by their esteemed colleagues on the PNB as the cream of the cerebral crop. Their distinctive skill sets standing out from the crowd, easily recognised by their peers. The PNB had sent them on a mission to the Cttee, to exercise their cognitive capacities, to deliver the goods of strategic thinking: visions; scenarios; gathering/commissioning necessary evidence; scaled scenarios, temporally & spatially; thoughts; intuitions; sketches; ideas (inchoate, preferably formed); statements; arguments; paragraphs; gathering new evidence; initial working papers; initial document; collective document; getting even more new evidence; revised document; re-revised document; presented document; document recommended by the PNB Strategic Planning Cttee to the PNB; document adopted by the PNB; then monitoring the implementation of the policy by management; & mini-cycles re revisions. The whole production cycle, an exercise in iteration . . . And the deliberations this Monday evening, 13Mar2023, what did their strategic thinking yield, what did they put on display for the world to see? Please consider for yourself the evidence – that is, the presence of absence – not least at 22:17 & 35:31.
The audiofile
The audiofile isn’t at https://kpftx.org/archive.php, the curious, benign visitor being greeted with a defiant “Not Recorded” – this despite Chief Recorder Otis Maclay, who effectively owns Pacifica’s calendar & meetings archive because he owns the copyright to the contents, not just being present during the meeting but actually taking up the invitation of Cttee Chair Jim to contribute his opinions to the discussion (sic).
Chair Jim didn’t have the courtesy to ask his esteemed fellow committee members if it was OK to ask someone who hadn’t been accepted as a guest in the approved agenda, moreover one granted speaking rights. To be honest, in the spirit of inclusion, purportedly a Pacifica value, it was a surprise that the station cat wasn’t asked to comment, along with the termites, busily gorging themselves on the foundations, displaying teamwork unparalleled in PacificaWorld.
The key quote: Mr D not only asserts that Pacifica has a strategy, he describes it
Director Jim Dingeman, to use his words, takes “umbrage” at those who say “we have no strategy”. The passage:
Alright, the next thing I had on the agenda was to talk about short-term strategic policy, argh, and comments on the current situation. Now, um, we all know that argh, there are some difficult decisions in motion right now, argh, that are due to many reasons. Argh, some people have said we have no strategy. Argh, I have to differ with that because the strategy at all times, at every station, is t-to increase audience and increase the ability of the programming to, urgh, engage with the, urgh, the station [sic], and hence create more listener members. Argh, that’s to me always the stra-strategy of a broadcast institution – which we are. Um, so, one, I take umbrage with these comments that there is no strategy. Now the question is whether this particular strategy is working right now, and it clearly has not, as far as I’m concerned. Argh, we wouldn’t be in this situation, fiscally, if we had not got to the point where our audiences had [sic] basically diminished, due to a whole variety of reasons, argh, and be thinking about having to re-boot and take, argh, decisions that are, argh, quite Hobbesian, to say the least [. . . and on he droned]
Chair & Director Jim Dingeman (emphases added, 20:46), M13Mar2023 PNB Strategic Planning Cttee – https://mega.nz/file/xYUk3L7J#FvqWxVioEEpu8GGF2nGwQNOq6eDI8aRlZ575PBcXdx4. (He mixes up Hobson’s choice & Hobbesian trap, when neither applies; & decision-makers are faced by neither a dilemma (there are more than two options) nor zugzwang (inaction is an option) – no, this is a deteriorating situation, fiscally & otherwise, because in the immediate & short term the pecuniary forces at work are so strong that their causal effect overwhelms any action/inaction; the situation is so out of control that it’s experienced as independent of all options, & so independent of volition, even of the will of the 21 directors, as they endlessly decide how to make decisions to direct with directions from their thrones. Whatever, say the millions & millions who don’t even know what a radio is because they never visit a museum.)
Serious, Jim?
The doc, Jim?
Give us a break, baby.
The 5-yr record of the PNB Strategic Planning Cttee, since 12Mar2018
This committee, the PNB Strategic Planning Cttee, has produced one document in its 5yr existence (sic), since meeting on 12Mar2018. This doc is all of 4½ pages (sic). This was an offering on 5Jan2021 by then PNB Chair Alex Steinberg (WBAI listener-delegate). That evening it was passed by the Cttee, without objection; however, without the Cttee’s agreement it was presented in quite a truncated form to the 25Feb2021 PNB, where it was passed unanimously with two slight amendments. (The sordid history of this Cttee is at section 1 of this PacificaWatch post – not least the doc simply never being used, never quoted in a public Pacifica meeting or document, never even cited . . . stillborn . . . https://pacificaradiowatch.home.blog/2021/11/19/today-kpfk-is-losing-money-at-a-rate-of-3500-dollars-a-day-105k-a-month-1-point-26m-a-year-as-per-the-docs-publicly-why-does-no-one-recognise-the-scale-the-urgency-qm/.)
To date, yielding a single document of 4½ pages, how many meetings has the PNB Strategic Planning Cttee had? Eighty: i’ll put it in figures, 80 (66 open, 14 closed). With the doc presented at its 38th meet. The sorry procession: 2018, 15 (14 open, 1 closed; 12 sets of open meeting minutes missing, although 3 drafts are linked); 2019, 11 (11 open, 0 closed; 11 sets of minutes missing); 2020, 11 (11 open, 0 closed; 11 sets of minutes missing); 2021, 12 (12 open, 0 closed; 12 sets of minutes missing); 2022, 25 (15 open, 10 closed; 15 sets of open meeting minutes missing); 2023, 6 (3 open, 3 closed; 3 sets of open meeting minutes missing). In all, 64 sets of open meeting minutes missing (sic) – only 2 alleged sets of minutes are publicly available (the very first two meetings of the Cttee – sic).
Some 2nd grade math (as Andrew Weiss would say, “Bart, you may now leave your chair, pick up the chalk, and do the calculation for the class, then please put down the chalk, and return to your desk. You have 30 seconds”):
80 meets x 2hrs = 160hrs = 4 whole work-weeks;
4 whole work-weeks x 8 Cttee members = 32 whole work-weeks (assuming a prudent 8, understating a typical complement of 5 station directors plus affiliate director, PNB Chair, Pacifica Secretary, Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, the Pope, attendants – in 2022 the membership was a magnifico 13); &
32 whole work-weeks = 4½ pages.
As a practitioner of billable time, i must say there’s something not quite right here. (Incidently, & as a public response to queries i have received over the years, i did offer my pro bono services to Pacifica in 2018, just after ‘the bankruptcy’ drama broke. I received no reply – except no reply.)
Escorted all the way by the Polícia Militar do Distrito Federal, bearing ‘PMDF’ on their caps.
~
Allende had appointed Pinochet head of the army 23Aug1973. 19days later he was dead.
And who’s in charge of Brasília, the Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District? Anderson Cooper Torres, only in the job a few days, not even 19, having been Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, 29Mar2021-31Dec2022.
~
In late 1971 Castro went to Chile for 25days (sic), speaking the length & breadth of the country. Quite remarkably, in his speeches to the crowds he went out of his way to criticise Allende’s approach, warning that the military had to be re-organised, to prevent a coup.
Do reformists never learn? How one conceptualises the capitalist state – not reducible to the state in capitalist society – isn’t just a matter of theory.
Michael Novick, KPFK interim General Manager, GM@kpfk.org:
“It is my heavy duty to let you know that Lawrence passed peacefully early this afternoon. It is a sad, great loss, deeply felt by all who knew him. His son Taino and ex-wife Gilda Rodriguez were with him, as were I and Jeanine Rohn. His sisters, niece and other relatives were witnessing via a zoom connection provided by UCLA. It was his wish to be cremated and have his ashes taken to Puerto Rico, which the family will carry out. We played a good deal of the zoom recording of people’s tributes and expressions of love for him earlier in the day. The family expressed their thanks for all the love and support shown to him and them. I know we can all take heart from his spirit, and rededicate ourselves to the Pacifica mission and to the cause of humanity, to which he gave his all.”
. . . the horseshoe, left to right: Aryana Gladney, Lawrence Reyes (director), Rodrigo Argueta (director), Chuck Anderson, Lydia Brazon (director & PNB Chair), Fred Klunder,Ron Spriestersbach, Leslie Radford (KPFK General Manager; a non-voter), Luis Garcia y Ayvens; Michael Novick (Treasurer), Tej Grewall (Chair), John Garry (Secretary; a non-voter); Ankine Antaram, John Cromshow, John Wenger (not a delegate – see below), Fred Blair, Kim Kaufman, Steve Pride . . . held at the Aris & Carolyn Anagnos Peace Center, 3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230 . . . Mr Wenger had just served 6 cumulative yrs – but, perversely, the delegates agreed to let him stay sitting on a privileged chair, albeit in silence . . .
. . . what’s striking is the groundhog: the same hot topics, over 7yrs on . . .
. . . after hundreds of hrs of audio-only, seeing is quite different . . .
On YouTube there seems to be only one other KPFK LSB vid, Treasurer Fred Blair’s address to the 21Feb2016 meet (13mins, including an extra-meeting statement by Kim Kaufman), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpwqg3JxIqA (uploaded by ‘Myla Reson’, the name of a current KPFK delegate, a breaker). Also, there are two vids of the LSB’s attempt to make quorum on 17May2015, the purpose of the meeting being to elect a director, following the PNB’s 30Apr decision to remove Kim Kaufman for allegedly sharing confidential info – with The Anti-Christ & Beelzebub, aka Tracy Rosenberg & Summer Reese (uploaded by ‘Paul Hart’)
As you may know, our comrade and brother Lawrence Reyes is gravely ill in a coma at UCLA Medical Center on the campus. While he is still with us, we want to record our appreciation of all he means to us and to the causes he struggles for and contributes so much to, to share with his family. He has selflessly devoted many years to KPFK and Pacifica as a volunteer, an elected listener delegate on the Local Station Board and as a director on the Pacifica National Board. I have set up a zoom call so that we can do share our appreciation and concern for him. I hope you can join us this Friday evening. Hold him and his family in your thoughts, prayers and good wishes. Thank you.
The Zoom meeting is 5.30pm Pacific Time, F30Dec2022.
[UPDATE: sure enough, there within 2hrs (add 49secs to the times below).]
GM Novick said (a) he received today the Sep monthlies (1:23:22), so not reviewed by the PNB Finance Cttee (irrelevant, given the glaring errors missed in the Aug ones); & (b) “the station needs [revenue] in the vicinity of $20 000 a week, at a bare bones budget” (1:30:40).
But KPFK needing only $20k revenue a week? That’s a material contradiction with the latest relevant public doc: $43k. Enter stage left, the draft FY2023 station budget, presented by then Treasurer Kim ‘(sigh) yes, Bella (sigh)’ Kaufman to the Su28Aug KPFK LSB. Drawn up by Kim & then CFO Julia Kennard (remember her?), of NETA (remember them?). Had FY2023 total expenses as $2 219 403 (operating, $1 718 535 + Central Services, $500 868). Per week, that’s $42 681 (operating, 33049 + CS, 9632). Nowhere near $20k, people.
Of course, no-one on the KPFK Finance Cttee pointed out the discrepancy.
And how can needing $20k a week even be plausible? According to the draft budget, weekly personnel costs alone are $21 154 ($1.1m ÷ 52), & then there’s Central Services, a weekly $9 632 (not that they’re being paid). Additionally, other costs keep coming in at ~$12k each & every week.
The Th15Dec2022 PNB public meeting finished a lil later than usual – c. 2355 ET. So it’s even more derelict that there’s every chance the audio won’t end up in the Pacifica archive. (At the witches’ hour, a coven was formed – no wonder their closed session decision-making has deteriorated.)
No reasonable person would think this is unintentional. Yet no director sleepwalker has publicly mentioned this parlous state of affairs: no-one has complained, no-one has asked for an explanation, no-one has moved a motion to instruct ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ Wells to discipline the worker responsible for this exercise in opacity.
PacificaWatch 