(From the website, www.savekpfa.org): On May 12, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou issued a wide-ranging 17-page decision that demolished each and every legal argument made by the supporters of former Pacifica executive Summer Reese. The judge issued a court order barring Reese from “entering, remaining, blocking ingress into or egress from, or the passage of persons into or out of” Pacifica’s National Office.
“This is a total victory for the new board majority, which has been conscientiously working to save Pacifica,” said Pacifica National Board (PNB) chair and SaveKPFA member Margy Wilkinson. “I hope that Reese and her supporters will leave quickly and peacefully so that Pacificacan put this chapter behind us.” | READ decision, LISTEN to Pacifica Evening News, READ San Jose Mercury article
The backstory: anti-democratic moves to retain control
On March 17, shortly after Pacifica’s board voted to discharge her, Reese used bolt cutters to break into her former offices and barricaded herself in the building with a handful of supporters, blocking Wilkinson and other board members from even entering the premises.
Reese’s supporters on the national board then filed a lawsuit, asking a court to overturn the board’s actions and even remove those who voted to fire Reese. The board members who sued were Janet Coleman (WBAI), Carolyn Birden (WBAI), Manijeh Saba (WBAI), Luzette King (WPFW), Richard Uzzell (KPFT), Kim Kaufman (KPFK), Janet Kobren (KPFA), Heather Gray (affiliate station) and Janis Lane-Ewert (affiliate station).
“Their lawsuit is an anti-democratic power play,” said Brian Edwards-Tiekert, a KPFA staff representative on the Pacifica National Board. ”The nine board members who signed on as plaintiffs lost a vote, and wanted the court to overturn it. They lost their majority, and wanted the court to give it back by purging their enemies. And then they filibustered meetings to try to prevent the majority from hiring attorneys to represent Pacifica,” he added.
For nearly two months, Reese’s supporters paralyzed Pacifica. They blocked the board’s officers from access to financial records, and threatened Pacifica employees with legal actions if they worked with the new board majority and officers. They claimed Reese was Pacifica’s “legitimate” executive director, leading some vendors to refuse to work with Pacifica. In a bid to keep paychecks coming to Reese, they nearly sabotaged payroll for all employees of the entire 5-station national network.
In her decision, Judge Petrou found the situation at the Pacifica National Office “completely untenable” and ordered Reese to leave.
“I hope the plaintiffs will now drop their suit,” said Wilkinson. “Pacifica is a fragile institution that can ill afford the time and expense of litigation.” Over 800 listeners and staff have signed a petition demanding Reese go.
For continuation of this article, go to http://www.savekpfa.org/superior-court-judge-issues-tro-against-summer-reese
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