Improper Cancellation of LSB Meeting

The following letter was sent on July 10 to the Pacifica National Board by Justice & Unity members of the WBAI Local Station Board:

• All paid staff have received notice of layoffs effective July 15. Changes of this magnitude would require extraordinary changes in the basic structure of the station and its programming, a matter on which the board should be entitled to have input and on which the public should be entitled to comment.

• The board has done no work on its budget, not even the preliminary steps of examining priorities or reviewing station income and spending.
• The board has refused to involve the public, and failed to even provide adequate notice to board and staff members, in the task of creating a plan for a sustainable WBAI. After the false claim by a national board member that "the LSB" had called a meeting to begin the discussion (later corrected only after being challenged), the board chair, that national board member, and some others issued a last-minute "invitation" to an "informal" discussion meeting set to conflict with another previously announced meeting involving several board members.
• The board has taken no steps to begin the hire of a Program Director more than 7 months since the departure of the last person hired into that position. Instead, in June the board majority rescinded an earlier motion to establish a Program Director Search Subcommittee and rejected a motion to at least require board input on the appointment of an Interim Program Director.
• For the past four years, the board – whose majority has remained in the hands of the same group through various configurations – has failed to hold a single Town Hall meeting, despite the bylaws' mandate that LSBs hold such meetings at least twice a year.
• This is not a board that can claim it has met its duty in any area.
  Therefore, we call upon the PNB to mandate that the WBAI LSB meet as soon as possible, with full by-laws mandated public notice, to discuss both the current financial crisis and the 2-3-year sustainability plan, and that any future meetings about the latter plan include public participation and adequate public notice.
   
  John Brinkley
  Russell Dale
  William Heerwagen
  Ray Laforest
  Bob Lederer
  Father Lawrence Lucas
  John Riley
  Cerene Roberts
  Sharonne Salaam
  Bernard White