Pacifica Restructuring Project, document 1 of 7
[On Tu24Sep (apologies for the delay) will be posted an analysis of this latest attempt to break-up Pacifica, & it will examine, in context, these seven docs. The post will synthesise & develop the comments already made.]
All Local Station Boards dissolved the moment the by-laws vote is certified, so late Dec2019 . . .
All current directors ousted during the last two weeks of Jan2020 . . .
Replaced by six non-Pacificans functioning as a junta, constituting the Pacifica National Board, for between 92 & 114 days, doing as they will . . .
Whilst each station’s membership elects a director, with the new Board first meeting 1-10May2020 . . .
So, the members will always elect a minority of the PNB.
Never again will the members elect the majority of the PNB.
These minor details, for some reason, don’t appear in the FAQs they have issued.
They give themselves one of those anodyne names, as if from a random term generator: Pacifica Restructuring Project. I agree, not as warm as it could be, but disposition is what it is.
The Acid Bath Strategy, to dissolve Pacifica, a network, is being materialised before our very eyes. The Spooner-Franck vision is being spearheaded by three directors: Bill Crosier (KPFT listener-delegate), Donald Goldmacher (KPFA listener-delegate), & Mansoor Sabbagh (KPFK staff-delegate).
The petition is for a membership vote on a complete set of new by-laws. For this it needs 1% of the membership, so c. 465, & they claim they’re almost there (459 as of 5.15pm EDT, today; key question: how long will it take Pacifica to verify that the signatories are members in good standing?). They’ve taken the petition route because even if the proposal isn’t approved by the PNB & by three of the five LSB’s, it still has to go to the membership. Then, depending on the turnout, they need at least 2 277 listeners & 119 staff to approve their by-laws, in winning both contests.
One contest is for listener-members, as what’s proposed adversely affects them more than staff-members, facing the loss of the right to elect three directors per station rather than the staff’s one. The other separate contest is for staff, as they’re adversely affected by the loss of the right itself to become a director (proposed by-laws, Article V, Section 1; page 5). Using 28Aug National Elections Supervisor data (the 5Sep report simply adds another 25 members), with listener quorum 10%, that’s 4 552 out of 45 520; & with staff quorum 25%, that’s 236 out of 943; & winning is half-plus-one for each kind of voter.
This first document of seven is their petition, titled Pacifica Restructuring Project: Petition Calling for New Bylaws to Reform Pacifica Governance.
They speak of improving governance, but the real intent is given away in the petition itself:
“[t]he Pacifica Restructuring Project is the work of three current Pacifica Board members, Bill Crosier, Donald Goldmacher, and Mansoor Sabbagh; four former Pacifica Board members, Sherry Gendelman, Carol Spooner, Akio Tanaka, and Carole Travis; former Chair and current Vice-Chair of the KPFA Local Station Board Susan da Silva; and former President of the Pacifica Foundation Peter Franck.”
http://form.jotform.com/42244096312953?utm_source=KPFA&utm_campaign=4dcbc58e71-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_16_08_59&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_df43e017f7-4dcbc58e71-277121249 (bold added to two names)
Spooner. Franck. Wannabe breakers of Pacifica.
The seven posts: this one, of the petition form (1 page); Introduction (1 p.); Executive Summary (2 pp.); FAQs (1 p.); Comparison of Current and New Bylaws (4 pp.); the proposed by-laws (19 pp.); bios of the proposed six at-large directors (3 pp.) and three alternates (1 p.). The links in these documents are live.
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The petition:
Pacifica Restructuring Project
Petition Calling for New Bylaws to Reform Pacifica Governance
The Pacifica Restructuring Project proposes new Bylaws for the Pacifica Foundation. These are urgently needed to reform how our governance works – both for the survival of Pacifica, and to better fulfill the Pacifica mission.
The current Bylaws date from 2002-2003, with minor amendments since then, but have resulted in governance that struggles to function (five 24-person Local Station Boards and a 22-person Pacifica National Board). Meanwhile, listenership, membership, and donations have declined and debt is strangling the Foundation and our stations.
For more on why new Bylaws are needed and why this is so urgent and important, please read this Introduction
An Executive Summary of the completely new Bylaws being proposed is here: Executive Summary
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions are in the FAQs
For still more information, see this summary Comparison of the Current and New Bylaws.
By providing your name, station, and contact information below, you are signing the following:
We,
the undersigned Pacifica members, petition the Pacifica National Board
of Directors to hold a membership vote to approve new Bylaws for the
Pacifica Foundation. The full text of the proposed Amended and Restated
Bylaws is here. Within the proposed Bylaws is a transitional provision appointing as At-Large Directors the six individuals named here.
If more than one person in a household is a Pacifica member, each of you should submit this form separately.
Please donate to your station online today, or in its next fund drive, too. Name * Prefix First Name Last Name Suffix Address *
| Street Address | |
| Street Address Line 2 | |
| City | State / Province |
| Postal / Zip Code |
Phone Number – Area Code Phone Number I’m a member of * KPFA, Berkeley KPFK, Los Angeles KPFT, Houston WBAI, New York City WPFW, Washington DC Email * example@example.com I am a * Listener member Unpaid staff member Paid staff member You may use my name publicly as an endorser of this effort. Yes No Comments (optional)
Thanks for supporting your local Pacifica station and for supporting this call for restructuring our governance through improved Bylaws, to help us better fulfill the Pacifica mission.
Be sure to click the Submit button below for your information to be saved.
We need at least 1% of Pacifica members to sign this petition. A vote of the members will take place later to determine if the new Bylaws are to be implemented. So please tell your Pacifica friends today about this petition!
The Pacifica Restructuring Project is the work of three current Pacifica Board members, Bill Crosier, Donald Goldmacher, and Mansoor Sabbagh; four former Pacifica Board members, Sherry Gendelman, Carol Spooner, Akio Tanaka, and Carole Travis; former Chair and current Vice-Chair of the KPFA Local Station Board Susan da Silva; and former President of the Pacifica Foundation Peter Franck.
DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and do NOT reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members. This communication has not been paid for by the Pacifica Foundation[.]
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