PACIFICA FOUNDATION
                                                                  
Pacifica National Board – Special Teleconference (Open Session)
Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009
 
The Open Teleconference starts at 8 pm Eastern Time, 7 pm Central Time, 5 pm Pacific Time

(As the total agenda time for this meeting is about 3 hours but we can only meet for 1:30 hours in open session due to pressing closed session items, it is understood that items not gotten to will be carried over to the next meeting.)
 

AGENDA

I. Call to Order and Opening Business
      1. Roll Call / Establish Quorum.   Establish time keeper- SCO. (2 Min.)
      2. Agenda Approval       (5 Min)
      3. Approval of Minutes      (5 Min)

II. Acknowledgements       (5 Min.)
 
III. Arbitration Agreements for Directors, Delegates and all new Management Hires – Ricardo DeAnda  (continued)      (15 Min.)        

IV. Legal Opinion on Recall Elections, particularly the following resolution adopted on Sept. 3, 2009:  Reiter moved that the PNB Delegate Recall Procedures shall be used to conduct existing recall elections; except for the current election at KPFA, where the procedure, shall begin at section   Motion [as amended] voted Approved, 7-6-2 (w/ the Chair voting to break the tie). 

V. Report of the National Election Supervisor     (7 Min.)

VI. Committees and Working Groups Reports and Motions:
 
      ACTIONS/REPORTS:

   1. Election Committee       (20 Min.)
Motion:  The Elections Committee recommends that the LES/NES consider disruptions of Pacifica's meetings or events as possible grounds for disqualification.
Passed 7:4:0

Motion:  At any station at which there is reason to believe that a significant number of voters did not receive a ballot, a postcard should be immediately mailed to the entire membership with Address Correction Requested. The postcard should ask anyone who has not received a ballot to contact the LES. The voters whose postcards bounce should be mailed a second ballot to the corrected address, or if no corrected address be available, that voter should be contacted by phone or email to get a corrected address.
PASSED 6:3:2
 
   2. Coordinating Comm Report & Logistics for Houston  PNB Meeting   (3 Min.)            
   3. Finance Committee:  Jamie Ross      (15 Min.)
   4. Personnel Committee        (5 Min.)
   5. Affiliates Task Force         (2 Min.)
   6. Archives Task Force                                 (2 Min.)
   7. Audit Committee           (2 Min.)
   8.   Programming Committee        (5 Min.)
   9. Governance Committee:       (20 Min.)
      Remedy for continued disregard of PNB directives by LSB

      The PNB, after hearing from the directors of a station that is refusing  
      to implement PNB policy or directives, shall be entitled, by a majority  
      vote of the remaining directors, to deny voting rights to the directors  
      from that station until such time as the policy or directives are followed.

      Motion (passed without objection)(5 min)  Pacifica Board Chair and iED Grace Aaron is  commended for her well planned and decisive intervention in the WBAI crisis.  The PNB supports her efforts as iED to turn WBAI around and reinvent itself as a powerful mission driven station by and for the entire progressive left of the greater New York City area.

      Motion on Funding Disclosure Passed 5-4 no abstentions.       
       
      All programmers, program providers, collectives, and/or independent 
      production companies who have a program at any station of the Pacifica 
      Network and which recieve outside (i.e. non-Pacifica) funding from any 
      source in excess of $5000 per year for the production of their program 
      will be asked to disclose to the GM of their respective station the source of that 
      funding, the amounts of money received or promised, and any contractural 
      or grant agreements related to that funding for that current year. The 
      GM shall forthwith report that information to the Pacifica Executive 
      Director who shall hold such information in trust as a public record. 

      Any programmer, program provider, program collective and/or independent 
      production company whose program is syndicated or shared by more than 
      one Pacifica station and who recieves outside funding from any source in 
      excess of $5000 per year for the production of their program will be asked to 
      disclose to the Pacifica ED the source of that funding, the amounts of 
      money received or promised and any contractual or grant agreements 
      related to that funding for that current year. The ED shall hold that 
      information in trust as a public record. 
       
      In the case of a programmer whose outside funding is in excess of 
      $25,000 for the current year, such disclosure should be for a period of 
      not less than three years prior to the date of the passage of this 
      motion by the Pacifica National Board, provided they have been a 
      programmer or program provider for that period. 
       
      Any waiver to this requirement must have the written consent of the GM 
      of the respective station, and the ratification of that consent by the 
      respective LSB, such as in the case of a purchased or syndicated program 
      where compliance is not practical, or the written consent of the ED and 
      the ratification of that consent by the PNB when appropriate in the case 
      of a program aired on more than one Pacifica station.

      Motion forwarded to LSB’s for Comment  (Tabled pending LSB consideration)                                                         
      “WHEREAS the Pacifica Foundation is a current Corporation for Public 
      Broadcasting grantee, 
      and WHEREAS the Communications Act of 1934, 47 
      U.S.C. 396, et seq., dictates requirements for Community Advisory 
      Boards (CABs) for Public Broadcasting grantees (see 
      http://www.cpb.org/statins/certification/cpb_certification_req.pdf), 
      IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT Minutes, attendance records and the names 
      of the members of the CAB shall be posted on each Pacifica station web 
      site respectively; and a document establishing annual programming 
      goals for the station be produced by station management and submitted 
      to the CAB for review; and the CAB shall produce an annual report 
      advising the governing body of the station – the Local Station Board 
      (LSB) – whether the programming and other policies of such station are 
      meeting the specialized educational and cultural needs of the 
      communities served by the station, making appropriate recommendations 
      to meet such needs; and the CAB of each station shall comprise a 
      minimum of 3 members.  Each LSB will develop a form to be posted on 
      the station web site so that community volunteers can nominate 
      themselves or be nominated.  No CAB member may serve more than two (2) 
      consecutive two-year terms, or more than six years in total. 
      Nominations of the CAB membership shall be made to the LSB by 
      self-nomination, Outreach Committee, Committee of Inclusion of the LSB 
      or any current member of the LSB.  Those responsible for soliciting 
      memberships shall consider soliciting a member representing 
      organizations or stakeholders in the community that have an interest 
      in Pacifica.  Each new member shall be appointed by a majority of the 
      LSB for a term of two years.  The LSB shall strive to stagger CAB 
      members to ensure continuity of action and leadership.  Each CAB 
      member is subject to a maximum of three consecutive terms, with a 
      minimum spacing of 4 years between non-consecutive terms.”

Substitute Motion re Community Advisory Boards:-    
 
“WHEREAS the Pacifica Foundation is a current Corporation for Public Broadcasting grantee, 
and WHEREAS the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 396, et seq., dictates requirements for Community Advisory Boards (“CAB”s) for Public Broadcasting grantees (see http://www.cpb.org/statins/certification/cpb_certification_req.pdf),
 
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
Minutes, attendance records and the names of the members of the CAB shall be posted on each Pacifica station web site;

The station management shall produce a document establishing programming goals and submitted it to the CAB for review;

The CAB shall produce an annual report, advising the governing body of the station – the Local Station Board (LSB) – on whether the programming and other policies of such station are meeting the specialized educational and cultural needs of the

communities served by the station. The CAB shall also conduct a community needs assessment.

All compliance documentation submitted to the CPB shall be made available for inspection at each station and at the Pacifica national office.

The CAB of each station shall comprise minimum of 8 members.

Each LSB will develop a form to be posted on the station web site so that community volunteers can nominate themselves or be nominated.

Nominations of the CAB membership shall be made to the LSB by self-nomination, Outreach Committee, Committee of Inclusion of the LSB or any current member of the LSB. Each new member shall be appointed by a majority of the LSB for a term of two years. CAB members may serve no more than two (2) consecutive two-year terms.

HAVE NOT MET:
  10. Committee on Racism, Sexism and Other Forms of Discrimination
  11. Strategic Planning Task Force

VII. Unfinished Business:

Motion by Ross (on behalf of KPFK LSB) to ensure the collaborative processes enshrined in National Programming Policy passed by the KPFK Local Station Board without objection:  We urge the PNB to ensure compliance with the letter and spirit of the collaborative process between governance and management throughout the network ‘in the development of any new regular program or long-term series that is produced nationally;” and further, which mandates that nay such proposals “shall be brought to the PNB Programming Committee for review to assure that both network and local needs are met.”      (5 Min.)

Motion by Radford (on behalf of KPFK LSB) to initiate discussion on re-structuring and the recruitment and training of volunteer programmers passed by the KPFK Local Station Board without objection 4/21/09:  In light of the current financial crisis and the Pacifica networks’ identify as community radio, and to conform specifically with Article 5.0 (New Voices) of the National Program Policy adopted in 2006, the KPFK LSB submits the following motion to the PNB:  In accordance with Article 5.0 of the National Program Policy, which calls on stations to train current a new volunteers in order to bring new voices to the air, every station shall initiate discussions regarding the role of paid producers and volunteer staff and initiate programs to recruit and train community volunteer programmers.    (5 Min.)
 
      The following substitute wording was agreed on by the KPFK LSB:  That working groups be created at every station to initiate discussions on re-structuring, especially the role of paid producers and volunteer staff and to initiate training for programming by community volunteers. 
Passed by KPFK LSB 9-19-09 8-7-?

Motion by Wanzala:  Resolved that LSBs, GMs and PDs present the reports requested in the motion passed by the PNB on April 27, 2009 regarding the bylaws provision of collaborative programming decision making no later than August 30, 2009.   (5 Min.)

VIII. New Business
 
Motion to rescind the motion seating Billy Ray Edwards as a WPFW representative on the Pacifica National Board, which passed July 12 in a 9-8 vote.  
Sherry Gendelman        (10 Min.)

I would like to request 50 minutes on the agenda for this and subsequent in-person meetings and the 25 minutes on the agenda of one meeting of the PNB per month for reports from five committees we never formally hear from: the Local Station Boards.  
 
Until the financial crunch, the PNB brought all the LSB Chairs and station managers to the in-person meetings. Since we stopped that practice, we only hear from the LSBs through their directors when there is a crisis. At our LSB meetings, the directors routinely report back, and maybe that is happening at other stations. But there is no open and regular conduit for communication from the LSBs to the PNB. I think we should honor the work of the LSBs with time to receive and acknowledge their labor and ideas for Pacifica.  
--Leslie Radford        (10 Min.)
 

IX. Adjournment:        9:30 pm ET