Just as the current executive and legislative terms, respectively, of New York City’s multi-billionaire mayor and many incumbent Council members were made possible by their self-serving decision to grant themselves 3rd terms, so too, the Pacifica National Board (PNB) — to protect and extend its board majority — is in the process of creating new criteria for Pacifica membership with the obvious intent to specifically exclude WBAI’s former Program Director Bernard White from running in the present election.
The Pacifica Bylaws, in Article 3, Section I (A)*, state that a listener member is anyone who contributes $25 or works 3 hours as a supervised volunteer in the year before the date of record for any vote… However, almost three months into its 4-month election process, according to the agenda for its Sept. 3 public meeting, the National Board wants to discuss “criterion for membership.”
The item is again on the agenda for the PNB’s conference call on Monday, Sept. 13 at 8:00 PM Eastern (Listen live at http://kpftx.org:6280).
This issue comes up following a pressure campaign initiated by Local Station Board staff member Delphine Blue and LSB listener candidate Carolyn Birden, among others, to disqualify Bernard as a candidate based on scurrilous, false claims that he seeks to “undermine the [Pacifica] foundation.”
National board member Jennifer Jaeger who is in direct competition with White for a WBAI board seat will be allowed to participate in the discussion, and if the pattern of personal-benefit-ahead-of-organizational-interest holds true, she’ll be voting on it.
We urge you to write to the Pacifica National Board at pnb@pacifica.org (and copy us at info@justiceunity.org) with your opposition to any effort to change the rules of membership and board candidacy, and specifically to oppose any effort to disqualify Bernard White. And please insist that as a minimum demonstration of ethics Jennifer Jaeger be required to recuse herself from any related votes.
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REFERENCE:
* Pacifica Foundation Bylaws – Art. 3, Sec. 1
There shall be two classes of members: (A) “Listener-Sponsor Members” and (B) “Staff Members”, who shall collectively be referred to as “Members.”
A. LISTENER-SPONSOR MEMBERS
“Listener-Sponsor Members” shall be any natural persons who within the preceding 12-month period: (1) have contributed a minimum of $25 to any Foundation radio station, or such minimum amount as the Board of Directors may from time to time decide; or (2) have volunteered a minimum of three (3) hours of service to any Foundation radio station.
http://kewg.org/
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