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PACIFICA'S NEW DEMOCRACY: AN OVERVIEW
By David Greene
Pacifica National Elections Coordinator
July 2003
The December 2001 settlement of lawsuits against the former
Pacifica Radio Board of Directors -- for “gross abuse”
of authority and diverting Pacifica from its founding purposes
of promoting peace and understanding among people of all races,
creeds, and nations -- created an interim board which is required
to revise Pacifica's bylaws.
Proposed new bylaws provide for Listener Sponsors to elect
18 "Delegates" and the non-management staff (paid
and unpaid) to elect six "Delegates" to a Local
Station Board (LSB) at each of the five Pacifica radio stations.
The Delegates from each of Pacifica's five stations would
each elect, from among the station’s Delegates, four
Directors (for a total of 20) to serve on the Pacifica National
Board (PNB). Two additional Directors will be chosen by the
Board of Directors from nominees submitted by Pacifica Affiliate
stations around the country.
The Delegates will also serve as a Local Station Board (LSB)
with considerable authority and responsibilities, including
approving the station budget, approving the hiring of a station
General Manager and a Program Director, reviewing the station
manager's and program director's performance annually, and
ensuring that "station programming fulfills the purposes
of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of
the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served
by the station."
It is hoped that decentralized LSBs will provide more knowledgeable
and accountable oversight of station management than the remote
national board did in the past. However, all authority and
legal responsibility for oversight of Pacifica management
– and all five Pacifica radio stations – ultimately
rests with the PNB, which may overrule an LSB if necessary.
In addition to reiterating the founding purposes of Pacifica,
as written in the original Articles of Incorporation, the
new bylaws state the following Principles: The Foundation
is committed to peace and social justice, and seeks to involve
in its governance and operations individuals committed to
these principles.
Approval of the bylaws has been delayed by concerns that
elections might not provide sufficient representation for
traditionally under-represented groups. Some are advocating
creation of special "Committees of Inclusion" to
set diversity goals for each station based on signal area
demographics. If an election fails to meet the goals, then
the Committee of Inclusion could add up to five additional
Delegates from the highest vote-getters among unelected candidates.
Others believe this proposal undercuts democratic accountability
and may be illegal.
Currently, the interim Pacifica National Board is split on
this issue. The December 2001 legal settlement stipulated
that bylaws must be approved by 2/3rds of the interim board
and by majority vote of at least three of the five current
station LABs. But 2/3rds of the interim board cannot reach
on agreement on a new set of bylaws. Therefore, the matter
is being referred back to the Alameda Superior Court judge
who brokered the December 2001 settlement.
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