This motion requests that the PNB set aside the results of the November, 2004 LSB staff election at WBAI because of a deliberate and consistent failure on the part of both station and foundation management, and the Elections Supervisors, to follow the election procedures mandated by the Pacifica bylaws, the Pacifica National Board and the California corporate code.
These procedural failures are documented within, and demonstrate systematic gross negligence that may possibly rise to the level of legal fraud. The proposed motion is designed to rectify injustice and to defuse the threat of legal action that may be brought against the foundation by parties injured in the election as a result of station and foundation non-compliance with proper procedures.
Motion to the Pacifica National Board
on the 2004 Staff Election at WBAI
Whereas, the Pacifica National Bylaws provides definitions for both paid and
unpaid staff and also provides for using the definition of unpaid staff as given
in a collective bargaining agreement between a Pacifica station and unpaid staff;
Whereas, WBAI has a collective bargaining agreement with Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee (USOC) at WBAI that defines who is a member of the unpaid staff;
Whereas, the list of unpaid staff members provided to the WBAI Local Election Supervisor was created by the Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee, whose leadership has a partisan interest in the election, the list was not capable of being independently verified by the elections supervisor, and no independent verifiable (audited) list was provided by the WBAI Station Manger, Don Rojas;
Whereas, there was no verification that people listed by USOC met criteria specified for "unpaid staff" as defined by Bylaws OR as defined by management-USOC agreement;
Whereas, this list was prepared and transmitted by a member of USOC with a manifest conflict of interest because of his partisan interest in the outcome of the election;
Whereas, the WBAI Local Election Supervisor, Caleb Kleppner, accepted the unverified and unverifiable list of WBAI unpaid staff members provided by USOC member Ken Nash who stated that he "took people's word" (see statement below) on whether or not they met the definition of unpaid staff and the Local Election Supervisor did not know "what criteria were used to include or exclude names" on the staff member list;
Whereas, the National Elections Supervisor, Kenneth Mostern, also accepted the same unverified (unaudited) list as stated in his final certification and report (see below);
Whereas, the National Elections Supervisor, Kenneth Mostern, failed to or was prevented from carrying out the items 1 and 2 of the Resolutions Passed at the PNB Teleconference June 22 meeting directing him "to insure that fair elections are conducted in compliance with the requirements of the bylaws" and "designate a secure independent audit procedure to verify member database accuracy in compliance with the bylaws, and shall supervise the updating of the subscribers and donors lists, as well as the paid and unpaid staff lists, at each station";
Whereas, the delay in transmitting the final list caused the Election Supervisor to decide that it was too late to take corrective action;
Whereas, there exists a wide discrepancy between the number of names on the unpaid staff membership list submitted by USOC for this election and the unpaid staff membership list submitted for the previous election 9 months before, with no verified explanation for the large increase in numbers;
Whereas, the USOC list was the largest component of the total staff list, such that even a small rate of error could allow for ineligible voters to affect the election's outcome, and because the discrepancy number is greater than the difference in votes between the winning and losing candidates; and,
Whereas, therefore the 2004 election of WBAI staff delegates of the Pacifica Foundation to serve on the WBAI Local Station Board cannot be certified as a fair election because it does not meet the minimum criteria for a fair election under the Pacifica Bylaws and California Nonprofit Corporation Law; now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
1. That the results of the WBAI staff election are declared null and void and
a new staff election will be conducted;
2. That the WBAI LSB staff members that were seated on the WBAI LSB prior to the November election are hereby reinstated and shall remain on the WBAI LSB until a new election takes place and is certified;
3. That all votes conducted by the WBAI LSB after the new WBAI staff representatives were seated are nullified until ratified by the WBAI LSB after the prior-term staff representatives are reinstated;
4. That the vote for officers of the WBAI LSB that was conducted at the WBAI LSB meeting of December 15, 2004 where the new staff members participated is hereby nullified and a new election of officers shall be conducted as soon as possible with the participation of the prior_term LSB staff members,
5. That the election of new directors to the PNB by the WBAI LSB shall not proceed until a new staff election is conducted. In the meantime, the previous directors shall remain seated on the PNB; and
6. That a Special Election Supervisor shall be appointed to conduct a special election for the staff delegates to the WBAI LSB, and the Special Election Supervisor shall create a new and valid list of staff members eligible to vote based on the Pacifica Foundation Bylaws and the WBAI Collective Bargaining Agreement definitions to use in the special election. The WBAI General Manager is hereby directed to provide the Special Election Supervisor with every assistance requested in order to create and validate the WBAI Pacifica staff membership list. The status of each staff member is to be determined by a method developed by the Special Elections Supervisor with the approval of the PNB. The Special Election Supervisor shall oversee the special election and certify the results to the PNB using the Pacific Foundation Bylaws as the guidance to conduct the special election. Time lines for the special election may be changed with PNB approval.
Signed,
Alex Steinberg, Carolyn Birden, Paul DeRienzo, Gail Blaise,
Berthold Reimers, Linda Zises, Patty Heffley, Stephen Brown,
Jaimie Ross, Pat Logan, Dr. Laurence S. Romsted,
Alice Shields, Mitchel Cohen, LuAnne Pennesi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendices 1-6, Relevant Sections of Documents
Appendix 1: Pacifica Bylaws
Appendix 2: WBAI USOC Contract
Appendix 3: Pacifica Foundation Complete Final Certification and Report, November
2004
Appendix 4: California Corporations Code; Corporate Code Section 5615 (b)
Appendix 5: Resolutions Passed at the PNB Teleconference June 22, 2004, Meeting
Appendix 6: Letter from Ken Nash on Behalf of a Particular Slate
Appendix 1: Pacifica Bylaws
ARTICLE THREE
MEMBERS OF THE FOUNDATION
SECTION 1. MEMBERS DEFINED
There shall be two classes of members: (A) "Listener-Sponsor Members"
and (B) "Staff Members", who shall collectively be referred to as
"Members."
B. STAFF MEMBERS
"Staff Members" shall be: (1) any non-management full-time or part-time
paid employee of a Foundation radio station; or (2) any member of a Foundation
radio station "Unpaid Staff Organization" or "Unpaid Staff Collective
Bargaining Unit" which has been recognized by station management, or, if
the station has neither such organization or bargaining unit, then any volunteer
or unpaid staff member of a Foundation radio station who has worked for said
radio station at least 30 hours in the preceding 3 months, exclusive of fundraising
marathon telephone room volunteer time. Said volunteer work shall be performed
under the supervision of the Foundation radio station management and shall not
include volunteer work on committees of a Local Station Board. Radio station
management employees and Foundation staff employees who are not employed at
a Foundation radio station shall not qualify as Staff Members, however, such
employees may qualify as Listener-Sponsor Members by contributing the requisite
minimum dollar amount as set forth in Section 1(A) of this Article of these
Bylaws.
Appendix 2: WBAI USOC Contract
Labor Contract Between WBAI and Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee
WBAI unpaid staff union agreement - signed in Feb. 2003
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN WBAI, PACIFICA FOUNDATION, AND UNPAID STAFF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
SECTION VIII DEFINITIONS OF STAFF
F. UNPAID STAFF shall consist of those persons who shall have filled an Unpaid
or Paid WBAI Staff position for not less than four months, and who shall work
for WBAI at least ten hours per month or twenty hours over a two month period,
including preparation and producing of programs and other station operations.
Persons who work as marathon telephone volunteers do not qualify as Unpaid Staff.
Following discussions with the Program Director and the person he or she designates,
producers will participate in on-air fundraising to balance out programming
and fundraising requirements.
Appendix 3: Pacifica Foundation Complete Final Certification and Report, November
2004
National Election Supervisor, Kenneth Mostern, and WBAI Local Election Supervisor, Caleb Kleppner, describe why the WBAI unpaid staff list is unauditable. Kenneth Mostern, National Election Supervisor states on page 27 that of the lists provided by the Unpaid Staff Organizations:
"The `Black Box' of Unpaid Staff Organizations. The bylaws at present
have the category of "Members of Unpaid Staff Organizations" within
them. This category is inherently unauditable by the Election Supervisors, and
should be eliminated from the bylaws. I have no opinion about whether USOs are
responsible for fraudulently padding their membership lists in order to control
the staff election at any radio
station, as is charged by some members. I do know, however, that as long as
this category remains a bylaws category of membership, the possibility of such
unauditable fraud exists."
Furthermore, the Local Elections Supervisor for WBAI, Caleb Kleppner, stated in his summary report that the list of voters provided by USOC was never verified through any recognizable objective procedure.
The description validation of the unpaid staff voting list in the section of the report entitled "2004 WBAI Local Station Board Election" compiled by Caleb Kleppner, Local Election Supervisor with the assistance of Theresa Graham, Local Election Administrator dated December 14, 2004, states:
"Unpaid staff: Ken Nash and USOC assembled the USOC. This was largely
based on signed or emailed pledge forms. Ken admitted to me that they took peoples'
word on their qualification as unpaid staff. USOC apparently reviewed the list,
added some names and rejected a few, but I do not know what criteria were
used to include or exclude names. On September 9, I posted at the station a
preliminary list of 209 unpaid staff. The final list submitted on October 1
had 216 names." (From the Final Certification Report, p. 185)
***
TO: Kenneth Mostern, National Election Supervisor
FROM: Caleb Kleppner, WBAI Local Election Supervisor
RE: Audit of lists
DATE: September 30, 2004
Sources of lists:
PAGE 84: "Unpaid Staff. Ken Nash gave me a list of unpaid staff. They were
operating on an honor system in terms of eligibility, and it seems likely to
me that the list included many names that did not put in enough time (10 hours
per month or 30 hours over three months) to qualify."
***
Further relevant excerpts:
p. 25-26: "...The main reason supervisors were unable to complete their
audits on time was resistance from staff. This resistance took various forms:
Unwillingness to make available at the station space and time for review of
databases,; foot dragging on the turning in of volunteer and unpaid staff lists;
unwillingness to use available scripts...for running database queries; and other
delays. If audits had been complete on time and I had gotten a detailed assessment
of the issues involved in the data collection prior to September 25, then I
would have had time to run my own audit and de-duping prior to the mailing..."
p. 27: "...in general the volunteer lists can be assumed to have little accuracy or completeness..."
pp. 27-28: "...there is no standardized way for counting or assuming preparation time for on-air time. Everything is done based on the testimony of the programmer him/herself..."
"...Members of Programming Collectives are often extremely difficult to
classify. The issue is not only whether they work a consistent number of staff
hours, nor whether they appear on air regularly but for short intervals. The
issue is whether they are volunteers on behalf of the station (i.e. station
staff) or associates of the leader of their programming cooperative, and thus
not really affiliated with the station at all..."
http://www.pacifica.org/documents/pdf/PacificaElection2004-CompletePackageOfReports.pdf
Appendix 4: California Corporations Code; Corporate Code Sections 5615 (b)
The requirement for the duties of inspectors [supervisors] of elections is
specified in the California Corporations Code, Section 5615 (b). "The inspectors
[supervisors] of an election shall determine the number of memberships outstanding
and the voting power of each, the number represented at the
meeting, the existence of a quorum and the authenticity, validity and effect
of proxies, receive votes, ballots or consents, hear and determine all challenges
and questions in any way arising in connection with the right to vote, count
and tabulate all votes or consents, determine when the polls shall close, determine
the
result and do such acts as may be proper to conduct the election or vote with
fairness to all members. Elections inspectors [supervisors] are required to
"determine the number of memberships outstanding and the voting power of
each." (Note:brackets [ ] indicate inserted text.)
Appendix 5: Resolutions Passed at the PNB Teleconference June 22, 2004, Meeting
Web Link: http://pacifica.org/about/pnb/mtgminutes.php?mtg_id=35&
Resolution 25) Elections Review Committee Resolutions (12 items total, Items 1 and 2 quoted)
ITEM 1 as amended:
1. That the National Elections Supervisor shall have full independent authority
to supervise all aspects of the elections, and to direct national and station
management, as necessary, as well as the Local Elections Supervisors, to insure
that fair elections are conducted in compliance with the requirements of the
bylaws.
Vote on Shields motion:
Adelson - y, Allen - y, Cooper - n, Durlin - , Kiteka -n, Kolhatkar - y, Laforest
- n, Lane -n,
Maldonado - y, Manning - y, Olusagun - n, Randhawa - n, Roberts - n. Rodriguez
- . Santa - y,
Sanders - y, Schroell -y, Shakir - n, Shields - y, Spooner - y, Walker - n,
Warren -
Shields motion PASSES 10 yes, 9 no
Item 2 as amended:
2. That the National Elections Supervisor shall designate a secure independent
audit procedure to verify member database accuracy in compliance with the bylaws,
and shall supervise the updating of the subscribers and donors lists, as well
as the paid and unpaid staff lists, at each station, to ensure that the
membership rolls meet the requirements of the bylaws. The Local Elections Supervisors
and local station management and staff shall work under the direction of the
National Elections Supervisor to ensure that the membership lists are as accurate
and current as possible. In the event that the National Elections Supervisor,
EC, and/or CFO have a significant conflict regarding cost or procedures, the
matter will be immediately referred to the PNB.
Vote on item 2 as amended:
Adelson - y, Allen - y, Cooper - y, Durlin - , Kiteka - y, Kolhatkar - y, Laforest
- , Lane - y,
Maldonado - y, Manning - y, Olusagun - y, Randhawa - y, Roberts - y, Rodriguez
- , Santa - y,
Sanders - y, Schroell - y, Shakir - y, Shields - y, Spooner - y, Walker - y,
Warren -
Item 2 as amended PASSES 18 yes
Appendix 6: Letter from Ken Nash on Behalf of A Particular Slate
From: "Ken Nash" <knash@igc.org>
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 21:18:27 -0500
To: "ken nash" <knash@igc.org>
Subject: Building Bridges Supports Justice & Unity Slate
PROTECT WBAI - VOTE FOR JUSTICE & UNITY
If you are an eligible WBAI listener voter, we strongly urge you to support
the candidates of the WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign. This election represents
a struggle for the soul of the station, and we ask that you take it seriously.
Visit http://www.justiceunity.org for more info. (If you are not a WBAI member,
we hope you'll join! Go to http://www.wbai.org for info.)
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Ballots must now be received by Nov. 29. If you haven't gotten your ballot yet you need to call toll free 877-217-6928 x 205
YOU DESERVE AN INCLUSIVE, PROGRESSIVE WBAI
The Bush win cements the power of those wanting to roll back 40 years of civil-rights advances. Meanwhile, at WBAI, since the first Local Station Board election, the current board majority -- supporters of the List-Prog slate, plus colleagues of health programmer/entrepreneur Gary Null -- have been trying to reverse decades of work that has made WBAI anti-racist, diverse and responsive to communities of color and vital progressive movements.
Most distressing has been certain board members' barrage of hostility and unsubstantiated allegations against progressive managers Bernard White & Don Rojas, provoking Don to resign. When elected, Justice & Unity candidates will protect WBAI's mission by working respectfully with other board members, staff and management.
PROTECT WBAI'S LEGACY
Half the 18 listener seats on the Local Station Board are up for election and your vote counts. (There are also 6 staff seats, for a total of 24 seats.) The Justice & Unity Campaign holds 4 continuing listener seats (plus 2 staff seats), but with your help could become a genuinely progressive majority. Its diverse, majority-women slate of respected activists is committed to Pacifica's mission of giving voice to the voiceless, and covering issues ignored by corporate media.
HOW TO FILL OUT YOUR BALLOT
There are 9 listener board seats to fill, and you are allowed -- but not required -- to rank up to 25 candidates. If you rank candidates you don't fully support, you could help elect them. Do not give the same ranking to more than one candidate -- it divides and dilutes your vote among them. Please rank ONLY the 9 Justice and Unity candidates in the precise order below:
1 Omowale Clay
2 Evan Tobias
3 Lisa Davis
4 Sara Flounders
5 Berta Silva
6 Nick Martielli
7 Marian Borenstein
8 Ed Marshall
9 Cheryl Ife Griffin
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION: VOTE WITH CARE
It's easy to talk about diversity, accountability, etc. When you vote, be sure to look at a candidate's background. Are they involved in real community activism? Some candidates and their allies in the current board majority talk progressive values but meanwhile wage attacks against activist, grassroots managers and programmers such as Don Rojas, Bernard White, Errol Maitland, Eddie Ellis, Ayo Harrington, Mimi Rosenberg, Bob Lederer, and others. Be careful when you vote.
Justice and Unity believes the following candidates -- endorsed by members of List-Prog and/or Gary Null -- could HURT the station:
Mitchel Cohen, Andrea Fishman, David S. Goldman, Patty Heffley, Luanne Pennesi, Harry Lichtenstein, Patricia Logan, Berthold Reimers, James Ross, Alice Shields, Alex Steinberg, Shohreh Tehrani.
Your vote for WBAI's Justice & Unity could give true progressives a board majority. Act now.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Ballots must now be received by Nov. 29
ENDORSEMENTS
The Justice & Unity Campaign is endorsed by:
1199 Peace & Justice Comm., ACT UP/NY, Black Radical Congress/NYC, Bronx
Greens, Central NJ Coalition for Peace and Justice, Community Justice Center,
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, Haiti Progrès, Int'l Action Center, Met.
Council on Housing, NuLeadership Policy Group, Peoples Org. for Progress, ProLibertad,
Queers for Peace & Justice
And 8 former WBAI Local Advisory Board members.
CONTACT INFO:
WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign * (212) 591-2111 http://www.justiceunity.org * info@j...
**********************************
WBAI's JUSTICE & UNITY CAMPAIGN
A truly anti-racist, multi-racial, majority-women slate (Statements and photos
at http://justiceunity.org/candidates.html )
Omowale Clay
(December 12th Movement; National Rally for Reparations)
Evan Tobias
(27-year-old activist; Rockland Peace & Justice; LSB Outreach Committee
Chair )
Lisa Davis
(People's Organization for Progress/New Jersey; POP Reparations Committee)
Sara Flounders
(International Action Center; resistance organizer; author)
Berta Silva
(Chicana/Latina community activist; labor organizer with Local 1199)
Nick Martielli
(Progressive musician; Long Island WBAI activist; WBAI Mgr. Search Ctte.)
Marian Borenstein
(WBAI Local Advisory Board; Black Radical Congress)
Ed Marshall
(Black community activist; LSB Mgt. Eval. and Programming Cttes.)
Cheryl Ife Griffin
(Progressive attorney; Bed-Stuy Community Legal Services Corp.)
STAFF CANDIDATES
(note: only staff members vote for staff candidates):
Margareth Dominique
(co-producer/co-host, Haiti: The Struggle Continues; Haitian community activist)
Vajra Kilgour
(co-producer, Community Bulletin Board, substitute host for Housing Notebook,
vice chair, Metropolitan Council on Housing; member, New York Zapatistas)
ONGOING JUSTICE & UNITY LSB MEMBERS
These members were elected 2/04 for 3-year terms; not on current ballot:
Listeners:
Father Lawrence Lucas
Michael Tarif Warren,
Ray Laforest
Mariana Gaston
Staff:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse
Bob Lederer
***************************************************
TRACK RECORD: Current LSB Majority vs. Justice & Unity Positions
J&U Supports Inclusion -- Not Racist Behavior
J&U Supports Cooperation -- Not a Board Takeover
J&U Supports Full Funding -- Not Budget Slashing
J&U Supports Pro-Worker -- Not Anti-Union
For details, go to http://www.justiceunity.org
***************************************************
JUSTICE & UNITY'S VISION TO SAFEGUARD WBAI
With the support of thousands of loyal WBAI listeners and activists like you, WBAI's Justice & Unity hopes to:
* Make WBAI a powerful, progressive organizing hub for the entire tri-state
area.
* Implement anti-racism training and strong affirmative-action policies.
* Enhance democracy, transparency, worker rights & local decision-making
as Pacifica policy.
* Broadly diversify grassroots, community-based programming and governance.
* Involve the full range of communities based on race, nationality, class, gender,
sexuality, disability and age.
* Harness the Internet and video to expand the global reach of WBAI's cutting-edge
programming.
* Strengthen innovative, non-corporate, off-air fundraising.
*****************************************************
VOTE TODAY! Your participation can help safeguard WBAI.
Make sure your ballot is RECEIVED by Nov. 29.
Help us spread the word! Downloadable flyers available at http://www.justiceunity.org