Pacifica is looking for five Local Election Supervisors immediately The
Pacifica Foundation (pacifica.org) is seeking a Local Election Supervisor (LES)
for each of its five radio stations, KPFA (Berkeley, CA), KPFK (Los Angeles,
CA), KPFT (Houston, TX), WPFW (Washington, D.C.), and WBAI (New York, NY). Note: This is a temporary
position. Some work will be done from home using phone and Internet, and some
at the radio station. Hours
of work: some
daytime, weekend, and evening hours necessary. Some weeks will be
part-time, others full-time, with possible crunch times before certain
deadlines. Duration: around July 15 to November
30, 2014 Compensation: $12,000 - $15,000 depending
on experience (paid in monthly installments) Requirements: · Associate’s or Bachelor’s
degree · Detail oriented (can’t let
anything fall through the cracks) · Be self-motivated, work well
independently, and with a team · Demonstrated community
organizing skills · Computer savvy (word
processing, Excel, email, Internet) · The ability to learn an
unfamiliar database program quickly · The ability to work with a
very diverse group of people, some with very large egos · The ability and willingness
to be assertive to ensure that election policies are followed by station staff,
both paid and unpaid, should persuasion prove inadequate · Patience, perseverance, and
a thick skin Additional
beneficial experience and skills: · Database management · Media production (especially
audio) · Graphic design · Booking and event promotion · Publicity · Bilingual (English, Spanish) · Teaching Supervision: The supervisor for the
Local Election Supervisors is the National Election Supervisor (NES). The NES
and LES are responsible for the election being conducted in the fairest
possible manner. The NES is also responsible for the training of the Local
Election Supervisors. Compensation: $12,000 - $15,000
(depending on experience) for approximately 6 months of work,
paid in monthly installments. To
Apply: Please send a cover letter,
your resume or CV and two references with contact information to: Terry
Bouricius, National Election Supervisor, PacificaNES@gmail.com In the subject
line of the e-mail specify which station you are applying for (KPFA, KPFK,
KPFT, WPFW or WBAI). No phone calls please. Women
and minorities especially encouraged to apply. MORE DETAILED INFORMATION What
are these elections all about? The
Pacifica Foundation, the oldest network of non-commercial, community-based
radio stations in the United States, is the only listener-supported independent
media network for which both listener-members and staff-members (paid and
unpaid) have the opportunity to be involved in the decision-making process with
respect to the station's budget, programming and policies via the local station
board. Each local station board (LSB) is composed of 24 delegates and 12 are
elected to serve on the board each election cycle. These 12 delegates are
elected to the board through two simultaneous elections, one among
staff-members (staff members elect 3 staff delegates) and one among
listener-members (listeners elect 9 listener members). The LES is charged with
supervising these two simultaneous elections. Specific
Responsibilities of the Local Election Supervisor (LES) Please
note that the time-line for the election is strict but each LES will need to be
flexible and creative with respect to each task at hand. The
Job has several distinct phases with different responsibilities. 1. Candidate Nomination Period:
mid July to end of August. This
first phase involves overseeing the nomination of candidates to the Local
Station Board by · raising general awareness about the
election through on-air, community, and Internet means · informing both listener and staff
members about how to become a candidate for the LSB · reminding listener members to renew
their membership before September 1 in order to participate as a voter or a
candidate · distributing packets of nomination
materials to prospective candidates This
will require significant community outreach efforts by producing election-specific
tutorials and PSAs (public service announcements) to
air on radio, publishing in local media (in press, blogs etc.), posting on
various websites, expanding virtual social networks, and organizing in person
community forums and other potential candidate gatherings where members can
talk to candidates and candidates can gather petition signatures. The
objective is to get the station's community involved and get as many candidates
to run as possible. The
LES is responsible for following up with all potential candidates and making
sure all nomination petitions and candidate information is complete by the
deadline. · The Local Election
Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that all candidates and station staff
follow the fair campaign provisions of the Pacifica bylaws, including the
interpretation of the bylaws by the National Election Supervisor. · At the end of the Candidate
Nomination phase, the LES will make sure candidate nomination submissions are
complete and finalize the list of candidates. · Verify eligibility of
candidate, and petition signatures. · Candidate names, their
500-word statements, and responses to a campaign questionnaire need to be
converted to computer format (this may entail re-typing or scanning with OCR
software), proof read, and sent to the NES quickly. 2. Campaign Period: September
through late October This involves ensuring that
all listener-member candidates prepare oral statements to be recorded and
played on air in rotation (candidate statement production) and ensuring that candidate
statements are aired both regularly and fairly by radio station staff. All
candidates are to receive the same amount of air time
during the campaign period. It
also involves producing and moderating live radio forums/debates for
listener-member candidates. For the listener-member election, the LES will
organize in-person forums/community meetings in partnership with local
community based organizations to give listener-member voters opportunities to
meet the candidates. The
LES serves as the election judge enforcing Pacifica’s Fair Campaign policy. this involves investigating allegations of violations, and
issuing warnings, or more severe penalties up to and including revoking a
candidate’s eligibility. Sometimes the elections are contentious, and the
number of allegations of violations can be substantial. One
of the primary tasks is auditing and correcting staff and listener member
lists, as these are the lists of eligible voters who will receive ballots. 3. Voting Period: 45 day period
from mid October to end of November · Ballots will be produced and
mailed centrally (not by the LES). The LES will be in charge of making sure
everyone who is eligible to vote gets a ballot. This will require responding to
requests for ballots from those who did not receive a ballot in the mail, which
means investigating any problems with the member lists, seeking proof of
eligibility and managing a large database (listener ballot information). · The candidate campaign
(on-air scheduling of candidate statements and forums, etc.) must continue
through the voting period 4. Possible Election Extension
Period: If a quorum of ballots have not been returned by the end of
November the voting period may be extended for about two weeks to mid December.
In this event, a major publicity campaign, both on-air and by phone may be
needed to reach the quorum. 5. Wrap Up Period: by end of
December Write
a Final Report describing the joys and pitfalls associated with the job, to
help the next LES. This is to be completed by December in order to receive the
final pay check. |