PNB Election Review Committee

Teleconference Meeting Sunday, July 10, 2005, at 8:00PM EDT

Draft minutes submitted by Mary Berg, secretary.




I. SUMMARY:

A. The committee's membership list was updated.
Current list is as shown below. The committee needs 1 director and 2 delegates
from KPFK, and 1 delegate from WPFW. Chair will contact chairs from both
stations.



B. Minutes from 6/6 and 6/12 approved. 6/26
minutes tabled.



C. Next meeting set for Sunday 7/24, at 7:00PM
EDT



D. Revision of draft mission statement was
begun. Production of a manual (see below).



MB=Mary Berg KPFA

CB=Carolyn Birden WBAI

PH=Patty Heffley WBAI

MID=Melinda Iley-Dohn KPFT

RP=Richard Phelps KPFA

TW=Ted Weisgal KPFT

LW=LaVarn Williams KPFA

CR=Cerene Roberts WBAI

Rob=Rob Robinson WPFW

WS=Wendy Schroell KPFT





II. MEETING MINUTES:



Meeting called to order at 8:25PM ET.



Determination of Quorum:

Present for all or part of the meeting: MB, CB, PH, MID, RP, CR, Rob, WS,
LW..

Absent: none



APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Approval of minutes is deferred until 9:15 ET, pending
receipt of copy of 6/26 minutes.



CR moves to set end time for meeting no later than 9:30PM EDT.

Vote: Yes: TW, CR, Rob. No: CB, LWM WS, MIL, PH, RP, MB. Motion fails 3-7.

WS moves to set end time at 8:40PM ET or sooner. PASSES with 1 abstention.



COMMITTEE REPORTS:



Committee Composition - CB: Need 2 reps from WPFW. Carol Wolf, also Rob, will
bring the issue to the next WPFW LSB meeting, on 7/13.



Coordinating with the PACGov on election issues - CB: Since there is so much
overlap, CB spoke with Lydia Brazon, chair of the Bylaws Subcommittee; she will
send CB what they've agreed on so far, which is mainly some changes to the
internal time line. CB thinks we need to discuss our approach to the time line
as soon as possible.



Election Support - CB: Would like to set up a separate listener support
committee so that knowledgeable people with election experience can help with
the large volume of work needed.



Resolutions Implementation: CB sent a reformatted version of the document
comparing the ERC resolutions with PNB implementation, but not all had seen it;
and subgroup hasn't met. Report postponed until 7/24.



Job Description and Time Line: We agree to defer discussion of the time line
until we receive Lydia's material. There is discussion whether the
subcommittees' meetings should be streamed and archived (presently they are
not). In view of the importance of the bylaws and elections review processes,
we agree that these certainly should be webcast and archived. WS will try to
move this issue forward with the PNB.



Database Integrity and Audit- CB: It's clear from last year's reports, both
national and local, that demand for database audit is a very high priority,
something we must do. Audits of both the local and national databases have to
be redone, and some order brought to the database maintenance process, which in
some cases is really chaotic. She also had some assurance that it can probably
be done with the help of outside groups, because we can find funds for that
other than Pacifica.



MB: At KPFA, the listener/subscriber data base is well maintained. Our problem
is with the unpaid staff list. Our Unpaid Staff Organization has different
membership rules from the bylaws - 30 hours in 12 months, not 3. We were unable
to change them this year and now they can't be changed until next year. There
is no procedure to determine who qualifies as unpaid staff.



MID: A real problem at KPFT. The LES had to spend his entire time for 2 weeks
entering a list by hand. WS: The bylaws only say, "any... volunteer who has
worked for the station for at least 30 hours in the preceding three months",
excluding fundraiser phone answering. The type of work is undefined; it can be
gardening or hauling or whatever.



CB: All the station have problems with their unpaid staff lists; plus 2 classes
of staff: those with UPSOs and those without.




TW: We agreed to contact management for input; any outcome?

MID: Not yet; needs to leave a message.

CB: Has done that at BAI but not had call back so far. Had also said she would
contact all five stations; will report back at next meeting.

RP: Need to go beyond culling the NES/LES reports, as doesn't have a lot of
confidence in them. We need to find out from other people what their concerns
were. (There is general agreement.)

CR: suggests, rather than people making their individual representations as to
what the committee needs, that a subcommittee be formed to come up with
specific language that then is passed on to all the stations, so that we can be
sure that the same information is being conveyed.



CB: Good point- this is that subcommittee. CR: Wasn't aware there was one.
Wants to join.

WS: Agrees with CR that we should state what we need; but we have to recognize
that we're asking for a bylaws change.

MB: Doesn't think so. Bylaws don't preclude us from having policy and
procedures that are not in the bylaws. The detailed workings of the bylaws
procedures ought to be outside the bylaws, so they can be updated as necessary
(e.g., to reflect changes in technology, etc).

WS: Is referring to the contradictions - two kinds of staff rules, etc., - in
the bylaws.



TW: The term "procedures" is too vague, need to specify either standard rules
or special rules. He favors special rules because with advance notice can be
changed by PNB by 2/3 vote.



CR: Need to contact staff, paid and unpaid, as well as management. Thinks it's
not true that the staff is inevitably at war with the listeners; we have shared
interests. Thinks mutual respect would go a long way toward making the system
work.



APPROVAL OF MINUTES: CB: re list of names in 6/12 minutes; CG, AL, JG, GT are
not on the EC. There is agreement that the original names should not be
removed from the minutes, as they had been elected and were not known to be off
as of 6/12. Minutes of 6/12 and 5/6 are approved without objection. Approval
of 6/26 minutes moved to 7/24.



Election Rescue Act: Postponed until 7/24.



Mission Statement: Note: Rob had left the call at this point.

TW: After "recommendations", add the phrase "special rules". There is extended
discussion of the meaning and significance of "special rules", as set forth in
RROO, 10th edition. We agree to postpone further discussion of "special
rules" until 7/24 meeting.



The following revisions were made (strikeout for deletions, additions and
comments in italics):



DRAFT by Rob Robinson of mission statement for the PNB Elections Committee,
reformatted by Carolyn Birden. Comments and suggestions, made during and
subsequent to last meeting , are appended below.



The Mission of the Pacifica National Board's (the "PNB") Elections Review
Committee is:



1. 1.1 To review the processes associated with democratically electing
listener and staff delegates to the Foundation's local station boards for the
purpose of making specific recommendations to the PNB on how best to implement
those sections (Articles 2,3 & 4) of the bylaws dealing with the elections.
1.2 Such recommendations shall include criteria and guidelines for
promulgating comprehensive election guidelines and regulations and may include
recommendations for amending the revised bylaws.: for example, amendments to
establish a more effective timetable for planning, conducting and completing
local station board elections; or, to identify possible criteria for waiving
financial requirements of membership without creating a disincentive for
listeners to become members.



2. 2.1 To review the findings, conclusions and recommendations made to
Pacifica management and the PNB by National Elections Supervisors and Local
Elections Supervisors Coordinators and make recommendations as to the
appropriateness of their implementation. to propose to the PNB goals and
priorities for implementing such recommendations.

Paragraph 3 will be re-written to include production of a comprehensive manual
which will embody the EC's main work; draft language for the paragraph to be
submitted by MB and also RP.



(3. 3.1 To provide oversight and planning for elections processes and to help
coordinate the cooperation and interactions of the independent elections
supervisors and coordinators charged with the conduct of the elections and the
local elections committees representing the local stations members and
listeners, whose participation is necessary for the success of the elections
process.)

Rob to be asked to clarify several points about Paragraph 4.

(4. 4.1 The committee may investigate the efficacy of various choice voting
systems, as it pertains to Pacifica's listeners' demographic profiles and in
view of its election frequency and other criteria. 4.2 The committee should
also develop a means of certifying the accuracy of software documentation of
algorithms used to tabulate votes in accordance with the type of choice voting
method to be used.)



5. 5.1 The committee may also make recommendations to the PNB on possible
unanticipated consequences of pertaining to the use of the existing elections
processes for PNB or LSB committees, subcommittees and task forces. bylaws
language pertaining to internal elections processes of Pacifica governance
bodies, for example language that stipulates single transferable voting ("STV")
and instant runoff voting ("IRV") methods for standing committees of the PNB.



SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, ISSUES:

A. Add: suggestions for financing the elections. Add as Paragraph 6. CB will
work on language.



B. Add: statement financial impact of all recommendations This is now
required by PNB. Must be added, either in Paragraph 1 or 6



C. Add: product will be a manual of processes for supervisors, stations,
boards. See notes for Paragraph 3, above.



D. Add: directives re outreach and education of delegates and members on and
off the air. All agreed this is crucial, and a larger issue which will require
a lot of work, especially if the time line is changed. To be added in the
manual .



E. Add: deadline for audits at each station and on the national level. After
some discussion, we agreed to add this to "New Business" for meeting 7/24.



At this point there are six people left on the call: MB, CB, PH, MIL, RP AND
LAVARN.

We agree that in future meetings people should announce when they leave the
call. This will be put forth at next meeting.



NEW BUSINESS: Analysis of choice voting systems, as well as analysis of all
2004 reports, are tabled until 7/24 meeting.



Election Support Committee: CB: Has had some suggestions to form such a
committee, and some offers of help with various aspects of the work needed. It
would be a national committee.

LaVarn: Thinks it's a great idea. Should involve as many listeners as possible

MB: Isn't it the same as the LEC? That was what our LEC did.

CB: That wasn't the case in other stations. Many stations didn't have
functioning LECs.

There was discussion as to whether this should be on the national level, rather
than local.

CB: This wouldn't be related to the NES or LES.

Further discussion postponed until 7/24, for lack of time.



Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:35PM EDT.











Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:PNB EC draft minutes 71005.doc (WDBN/MSWD)
(000DF69D)