Mon 10/26 – 6:30pm@WBAI, 120 Wall Street (corner of Front Street), Manhattan, 10th Floor
– Cerene Roberts
Disfranchised WBAI Producer
————————————————
The WBAI LSB Management Search Committee “meeting” that Birden proposes for the evening of Monday 10/26/09 at the station is improper and bylaw illegal on several counts.
In no particular order, here are five (5):
1- The committee mission is bogus.
Its stated mission is to choose replacements for Anthony Riddle and Bernard White whose firings without evaluations from their positions of General Manager (GM) and Program Director (PD), respectively, were declared in a hastily-called, secretive April 20, 2009 meeting of the Local Station Board which followed the failed attempt by their buddy Pacifica Interim Executive Director (IED) Grace Aaron to seize control of the station’s transmitter 3 weeks earlier behind the backs of the then-GM, the station’s engineer and the listeners and staff. [<http://www.justiceandunity.org/2009%20pages/20090430-secret-evaluation.html>http://www.justiceandunity.org/2009%20pages/20090430-secret-evaluation.html<http://nyc.indymedia.org/or/2009/04/104867.html> ]
I believe that all staff is entitled to a fair process and maintain that both men were deprived of any semblance of such. There was no staff survey or any collection of data from the persons who work under them or from the board. No evaluation of the GM had begun and the staff survey for the PD was in draft form at the time of the “snap evaluation”. Two days later, marketing millionaire Steve Brown would abolish, by email, the Management Evaluation Committee the board had created.
I actually subscribe to the Pacifica Ethics Policy and suggest the local and national board majorities consider doing the same: We pursue our mission with honor, fairness and respect for the individual, ever mindful that there is no “right way” to do the “wrong thing.”
[ <http://www.pacifica.org/policy/ethics-policy.html>http://www.pacifica.org/policy/ethics-policy.html ]
2- The composition of the committee desecrates any concept of ownership by those affected and violates staff contracts.
I recognize and thank our awesome listeners-members who provide both fuel and lubrication for the project that is WBAI but believe as strongly that as the engine of the station, staff is in a unique position to recognize many needed skills and to help guide the discussions and deliberations of such a committee. The contracts of both the paid and unpaid staff unions at WBAI require that they be represented on such a committee and the language (below) clearly indicates that the staff organizations should directly elect their own representatives, not merely that union members should be hand-picked by management or the board.
[ UNPAID STAFF CONTRACT – Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee (USOC)
Letter of Understanding:
This is to confirm that Pacifica’s current policy mandates participation of Paid Staff, Unpaid Staff, and Local Board representation and the Executive Director on any screening committee for General Manager. Current practice at WBAI is to include three representatives elected by Paid Staff, three representatives elected by Unpaid Staff, and three representatives elected by the Local Board…. Similarly, the current practice of the Station is to allow representatives of Paid and Unpaid Staff to participate in the screening committee of the Program Director….
PAID STIFF – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) ARTICLE VII – HIRING
B. Management shall utilize a search committee for the filling of all vacant positions, including management positions. AFTRA shall have representation on the committee. ]
3- The board chair, Mitchel Cohen, repeatedly singled out at least one applicant for exclusion.
Initially, Cohen omitted me from the list presented to the LSB by email on September 8, 2009. In the correspondence we exchanged on that topic (below), you will see that he reflexively sent a lengthy denial of my eligibility to be considered, but later, perhaps noticing that others had been copied on my submission managed to “find” the original. Now, apparently, he has assumed the authority to determine my qualification as a staff person.
While it is a good thing for a board to work collaboratively with management, it is quite another to serve as a rubber stamp on a manager’s prejudices and on conduct that is violative of bargaining agreements and organizational bylaws.
4- The “election” of committee members was voided by improper ballot handling.
Ballots were collected but not counted at the open LSB meeting on Tuesday October 14. The envelopes were supposedly placed in envelopes but there were no counter-signatures on the seal. Further, the body did not grant authority to anyone to open the envelopes or process any ballots.
Mitchel Cohen’s unilateral decision to open the ballots at the station on Wednesday October 21 at 5pm was announced only hours before the event. All other improprieties aside for the moment, note that Cohen opted to do a ballot count at 5pm when most people are at work, and on short notice although board members from both slates were to meet at the station at 6:30 pm that same evening for a closed session of the Finance Committee to discuss staff salaries, and although a public meeting of the full Finance Committee to discuss many other inadequacies of the months-late budget provided by the IGM / Interim Chief Financial Officer Williams had been set for the following evening.
Further, a number of people have been arbitrarily banned from the premises without reason and absent direct notice or explanation by Interim General Manager (IGM) LaVarnish Williams, including former Program Director Bernard White, “On the Count” producer Ayo Harrington and a number of people who were present at the station for the September 9 LSB meeting. It is no small irony that the growing list of banned persons includes Pastor Michael Vincent Crea who was assaulted during that meeting by board member, Dr. Seth Goldberg.
[ <http://justiceunity.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138:threats-weapons-and-violence-under-new-management&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=56>http://justiceunity.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl e&id=138:threats-weapons-and-violence-under-new-management&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=56 ]
In addition to the requirement for security registration and presentation of photo ID which contravene Pacifica’s bylaws regarding the public’s right to be anonymously present at and participate in public meetings, Williams’ abuse of power renders the station unfit for ballot-counting or any other governance function required to be open to the public.
Therefore, separately or together, Cohen’s decision to open the ballot envelope, and the location, timing and manner of notice of the count undermine the validity of the election.
5- There is inadequate notice for the meeting. The bylaws require that board meetings be called on at least 7-day notice and committees of the board must follow the same protocol.
Mrs. Birden was appointed the committee’s convenor. In the real world, this means that she would have polled the entire membership and not just her friends. Many people juggle work, school, family obligations and other volunteer responsibilities. They cannot “turn on a dime” and make themselves available in the time between a notice sent during one work day for a meeting on the next. Certainly, a thoughtful person could’ve sent an alert about dates under consideration to all potential candidates weeks ago.
As it stands, the TakeAway WBAI Posse – ListProg/ACE/TakeForward people and many “Independents” – have about 2/3 of the committee, so an attempt to be fair wouldn’t adversely affect their domination. It would be largely out of character, but nice.
[Half of the committee’s 12 members are LSB members elected on July 8, namely 3 listeners – Carolyn Birden, Omowale Clay and Steve Brown; and 3 staff – Vajra Kilgour, Shawn Rhodes, and Max Schmid. Last week’s ballot process, if it had been legitimate, would have added 6 non-board members, 3 listeners – of whom 2 are current LSB candidates: Robert Goldberg, Baruti Bediako (non-candidate), and Frank LeFever; and 3 staff – of whom 2 are current LSB candidates: Marquez Osson (non-candidate), Delphine Blue, and Janet Coleman.]
Further, absent discussion of specific candidates, these meetings of such a committee are to be open to the public, therefore the bylaw objections to this “meeting” location are the same as those in section 4 above to Cohen’s otherwise already quite illegal election and “ballot count.”
EMAIL EXCHANGE bet. Roberts and Cohen re Cmte Mbrshp Application
(Read from the bottom up.)
— On Wed, 9/9/09, Mitchel Cohen <mitchelcohen@mindspring.com> wrote:
From: Mitchel Cohen <mitchelcohen@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Fw: Management Search Cmte
To: “Cerene Roberts” <more_cerene@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 1:48 PM
Dear Cerene Roberts,
My apologies to you. I have found an application that you had indeed sent in in July.
I will add you name to the list.
Mitchel
————————————
— On Wed, 9/9/09, Mitchel Cohen <mitchelcohen@mindspring.com> wrote:
From: Mitchel Cohen <mitchelcohen@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Fw: Management Search Cmte
To: “Cerene Roberts” <more_cerene@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 1:10 PM
Dear Cerene Roberts,
As per motion passed at the previous LSB meeting, which extended the date for applications to be submitted, the last day to submit applications was September 7, 2009.
No application from you was received by that cutoff date; nor is there any record of you having emailed an application by the next day either. (I checked through all the activity on the listserve, including the management files of “bouncebacks”, which is a nice feature that yahoogroups offers.)
So your application was not timely submitted, and only applications that were timely submitted are included for consideration by the LSB.
Should an LSB member wish to move to make an exception to extend the date either for all applications or for your application to be considered due to extenuating circumstances, they may do so before the ballots are distributed.
Mitchel Cohen
Chair, WBAI Local Station Board
At 10:56 AM 9/9/2009, you wrote:
Mitchel Cohen,
Below is a copy of my application emailed 7/8/09, please explain why my name is not included on the list of applicants you distributed yesterday.
C. Roberts
— On Wed, 7/8/09, Cerene Roberts wrote:
From: Cerene Roberts
Subject: Management Search Cmte
To: WBAI-LSB-Public-owner@yahoogroups.com
Cc: [deleted for privacy]
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 5:51 PM
Application for membership in the WBAI Local Station Board Management Search Committee
In the morning when the moon is at its rest, you will see me at the time I love the best, watching rainbows play on sunlight….
++Singer-Nina Simone, 1968; Composer-Barry Gibb, 1966
[ed: individual email addresses removed and replaced with “runners up” and “members”]
To: “Runners-Up”: Listeners – Manijeh Saba, Donna Niemann, Pat Logan; Staff – Linda Zises
Cc: “Members”: Listeners – Robert Goldberg, Baruti Bediako, Frank LeFever; Staff – Marquez Osson, Delphine Blue, Janet Coleman
wbailsb@yahoogroups.com, ahmad@pacifica.org,
From: Carolyn Birden <cmcb007@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:05:00 -0400
Subject: [WBAI-LSB-PUBLIC] RESEND of MSC notice for 10/26
Dear All,
Welcome to the newly elected members of the WBAI Management Search Committee, and congratulations on being elected to carry out the task of finding new leadership for WBAI.
As chair of the committee, I have called a meeting for October 26th, on Monday, at the station at 7:00 PM .
My apologies to those for whom Mondays are not convenient: we’ll take a poll on line shortly for the next meeting date, and hope that we can find a date that does not conflict with prior obligations, although I doubt that is possible.
Please email me off list if you have another email address for this committee, as I am setting up a listserv for our use and will enter the email to which this message was sent unless I hear otherwise from you.
So far we have looked at materials from other committees, other stations, other times, and talked about protocols. We have a tentative list of places where we can post an advertisement for the GM position at WBAI, and will finalize details of that soon, hopefully next meeting if not this one.
I am copying the public WBAI list because, until we actually deal with resumes that require confidentiality, the meetings may be public. More about confidentiality forms and requirements at the meeting -if you have questions for me or for Ahmad Anderson, our HR Director, about this or other issues related to the search, please send them to everyone concerned for now, until we get the list up and running. Ahmad has asked to be notified of our progress, and so I am copying him on this and future communications as a matter of course.
Carolyn
—
———————–
Carolyn M. Birden
212 932 2422
917 520 1268
———————–
Recent Comments