- background
- critique of John Murdock's by-laws revisions
- resolutions

RESOLUTION OF THE KPFK LOCAL ADVISORY BOARD
UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED FEBRUARY 1, 2001:

Whereas the current structure of the Pacifica Foundation provides no means for Pacifica listener-sponsors to know about or to influence decision-making regarding the fate and uses of the stations and the foundation they support,

Whereas the Pacifica National Board (PNB) has undertaken to amend its by-laws in recent years to empower itself to entirely select its own membership and is presently facing three lawsuits challenging the legality of this undertaken change and the status of many current PNB members,

Whereas Pacifica administration (Executive Director, National Program Director, Station Managers, and other top staff) have for years systematically removed from the network without due process large numbers of volunteers and staff people, including many on the grounds that they notified the listenership of matters of importance regarding the status and policies of the Pacifica Foundation,

Whereas recent actions of the PNB and the Pacifica Administration - particularly the lockout at KPFA in 1999 and the recent abrupt removal of key station staff from WBAI without following long-standing station procedures for such removals, as well as the imposition of security guards, the changing of station locks, and the threat of installation of surveillance equipment at WBAI - have provoked widespread objection, outrage and unrest among the station's supporters, workers, and the progressive community at large,

Whereas the aforementioned outrage, objection and unrest appear to be increasing rather than abating, threatening the reputation and financial stability of the entire Pacifica network,

Whereas the Pacifica administration and PNB have been unwilling to engage in good-faith efforts to respond to the objections being raised by other Pacifica stakeholders,

Whereas the PNB is presently contemplating substantial revision of the Foundation By-laws at a time when the legitimacy of its board, the legality of the By-laws and procedures it is presently operating under, and the reconfiguration of the network that it has undertaken are being questioned in both the legal arena and the court of public opinion,

Whereas the contemplated By-law revisions contain a large number of substantive changes that run counter to Pacifica's tradition of shared governance and instead concentrate power, without accountability, in the hands of the dominant faction of the PNB, which stands to gain extraordinary powers over the use and disposition of Pacifica assets at the expense of other Pacifica constituencies by their passage,

Whereas the objectionable portions of the proposed By-laws apparently include features that:

1. Allow hired Pacifica executives to be members of the board;

2. Allow key decisions to be made by as few as three board members;

3. Permit the sale of Pacifica assets (i.e. stations like KPFA and WBAI, estimated to be worth at least $250 million to commercial broadcasters) by a vote of the executive committee only, as long as the sale does not include "all or substantially all of the assets or property of the Foundation";

4.Fail to reflect the board resolution affirming the commitment not to sell any of the Pacifica radio stations;

5.Allow directors to be hired by Pacifica to perform professional services;

6. Allow non-board members to be officers of the Pacifica Foundation board;

7. Reduce Pacifica board meeting notice time from seven days to virtually minutes;

8.Reduce the notice required for Pacifica board meetings, from mail or delivery to fax, e-mail or phone message;

9.Allow Pacifica board meetings to be conducted entirely by telephone, eliminating public observation;

10.Impose no independent requirement to give public notice of Pacifica board or committee meetings;

11.Allow the Pacifica board to delegate full unreviewed corporate and contractual authority to board committees;

12. Allow the national Pacifica board to appoint 1/3 of local advisory boards members;

13.Deny membership on any Local Advisory Board to any Pacifica "volunteer";

14.Deny Local Advisory Board membership to all Pacifica or station staff;

15. Ban elected local advisory board members (as at KPFA) from serving on the national board;

16. Reduce the minimum vote for removal of a board member from two-thirds to 51 percent;

17. Eliminate a board member's right to due process in the event his or her removal from the board is sought;

Whereas inadequate time is available prior to the upcoming PNB meeting in March to fully evaluate the impact of the proposed By- laws changes and for affected Pacifica constituencies to register their views and for these views to be thoughtfully incorporated,

Whereas Pacifica, as the largest and most important non-state, non-corporate controlled independent broadcast media in the U.S. if not the world, - with an historic mission to promote peace and justice and built by generations of visionaries and activists - must remain above reproach,

Be it therefore resolved that the KPFK Local Advisory Board (LAB) urges the following:

A. That no action on the proposed By-laws be taken at the upcoming Pacifica National Board meeting, to be held in Houston this March, 2001.

B. That the PNB instruct Pacifica executive staff to enter into good-faith negotiations with members of the WBAI community, including fired and banned programmers, to attempt to de-escalate the conflict at WBAI, and further, commit to following long-standing station procedures for the hiring and firing of station staff.

C. That the PNB and Pacifica executive staff cease their efforts to exclude listeners, subscribers, unpaid and paid staff, and Local Advisory Boards from knowledge of and influence over decisions about the direction and uses of the network, and instead work to institute processes that include all Pacifica stakeholders in a meaningful role in determining Pacifica's future.

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AND APPROVED THIS FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY 2001.