TAKE BACK WBAI Facebook - Pacifica National Board Members Write: We Publicly Disavow

Pacifica National Board Members Write: We Publicly Disavow
Today at 10:42am

We got this email from members of Pacifica National Board to Grace Aaron (interim Executive Director of Pacifica) and Lavarn Williams (Acting General Manager of WBAI.) We know these dissenting board members are "Pro JUC." JUC is Justice and Unity Campaign, who support the fired management and the Take Back WBAI Coalition. The people trying to take over WBAI like to say that JUC are "thugs" and "hoodlums."

Are they really?

Before attending the 1st Take Back WBAI Coalition meeting, we thought they just might be. But guess what? They are very friendly, smart and hard working people.

Really. Look at their faces. Do they look like thugs?

http://justiceunity.org/candidates.html

This kind of gap between rumor and reality has been amazing to us. Following the letter of the dissenting board members, read the letter from Laverne Williams to Amy and Juan, which does border on coercive.

Tell us what you think on our Wall or discussion board!

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Date: June 9, 2009 1:25:55 PM EDT
To: lavarn [at] pacifica.org, WBAIStaffNotices-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com, wbaistaffupdate [at] googlegroups.com, pnb [at] pacifica.org, graceaaron [at] ca.rr.com, ricardo [at] deandalaw.mailstreet.com, ahmad [at] pacifica.org, jamiepnb [at] gmail.com
Cc: cmcb007 [at] earthlink.net, popstarshawn [at] yahoo.com, kdaviswbai [at] gmail.com, rpm [at] glib.com
Subject: Re: Response to Lavarn Williams Letter to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales

June 9, 2009
To LaVarn Williams and Grace Aaron:
We, the undersigned PNB members, are writing to publicly disavow and distance ourselves from the analysis, content and tone of recent communications between Pacifica and Democracy Now!/Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Democracy Now! was born at WBAI/Pacifica Radio in NYC. It is a perfect example of "listener supported radio" and the talent that can spring from our network. It has grown into one of the largest, truly independent, progressive media organizations in this country, and perhaps the world. Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez are Pacifica's proud progeny, our good friends and our allies. We do not understand why the iED would decide to write to Ms. Goodman taking her to task for her recent fundraising efforts, rather than picking up the phone and speaking with Amy about any concerns. We don't understand the decision by the interim WBAI GM to shift programming without at least having a conversation with DN! To ignore the reality that they are the producers and the talent seems misguided and unprofessional at best.
We disagree with the policy analysis of the overall situation at WBAI as put forward by the Chair of the Board and the iCFO of the Pacifica Foundation. It does not sit well with our understanding of what is going on in New York. Of course, had we been included in or informed of the actions taken at WBAI before such decisions were implemented, we may have had the opportunity for input that would have helped us all find better solutions.
We were also taken aback by comments from people on the Board email list responding not only to the Board, but also to several blind email lists, demeaning AmyGoodman and Juan Gonzalez' response,and questioning their understanding of the situation.
In our opinion, this demonstrates behavior and demeanor contrary to the Pacifica Mission. We write this mindful of our legal and20ethical responsibility, as Board members, to maintain a standard of care for the Foundation.

From: sherrygendelman [at] aol.com
Nia Bediako
Jim Brown
Acie Byrd
Sherry Gendelman
Leslie Radford
Bonnie Simmons
Andrea Turner


-----Original Message-----
From: LaVarn Williams
To: WBAIStaffNotices-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com; wbaistaffupdate [at] googlegroups.com; Pacifica PNB ; Grace Aaron ; Ricardo de Anda ; Ahmad Anderson ; James Ross
Cc: Carolyn Birden ; Shawn Rhodes ; kathy davis ; R. Paul Martin
Sent: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 4:17 am
Subject: Response to Letter to WBAI management, staff, listeners and supporters from AGoodman

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: LaVarn Williams
Date: Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Subject: Re: Letter to WBAI management, staff, listeners and supporters
To: Amy Goodman

Greetings Amy and Juan,
Thank you for your response to our email informing you of the decision to air Democracy Now at 8:00 AM on WBAI 99.5 FM and to repeat at 9:00 AM until we feel that your audience has migrated to 8:00 AM. The decision to move your program to the 8 o'clock hour is an internal decision. In addition, I am not free to discuss personnel decisions with you.

If you truly believe that the move to air Democracy Now live is a political football that falls into the grid based on the strength of factions within the station, you are mistaken and I might add that I am disappointed. The reasons to place Democracy Now at 8:00 AM are clear and primary. Democracy Now is the major progressive radio program on community supported radio bringing in listeners that are needed by WBAI to address the decline in listenership. You also provide headlines at the top of the hour that are unparalleled. WBAI needs listeners and also needs to make decisions that are in the best interest of the listeners in order to survive. We feel that moving your program to a live broadcast at 8:00 AM accomplishes this goal.
In addition, WBAI management has a failure model that gained control over the last few years. If allowed to permeate the Foundation, the model jeopardizes your program and the whole Foundation. The change that the interim ED implemented creates momentum that allowed WB AI to enjoy the following successes over the month of May:
o The past due rent for February and March totaling nearly $60,000 was paid;
o The fund drive pledges amounted to over $839,000 exceeding the goal for the first time in over twelve successive drives;
o The fund drive generated an atmosphere in the20station that is more positive and more energetic based on conversations that I had with Staff.
Amy, you can help WBAI to once again enjoy the stability that is required for a station that is in the major media market and is the first voice of the network. We would like you to announce on Monday morning and throughout the week as appropriate that WBAI is now airing your program live at 8:00 AM.
Sincerely,
LaVarn Williams
iCFO The Pacifica Foundation
Acting General Manager WBAI 99.5 FM
120 Wall Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10005
212-209-2800

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To Read Amy and Juan's original letter:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=184195110261&ref=mf