No Shame at KPFA!Falling In Line Supporting Receivership Like Republicans-Save KPFA & Comp

No shame at KPFA-Falling In Line To Support Receivership Like Republicans-Save KPFA, New Day Pacifica, Rescue Pacifica, Pacifica Protectors, Community For Independent Radio

Monday, January 4, 2021
No shame
by a voice in Oakland California

There are times that one knows what one thinks, but has no idea what to say.

Between our November KPFA Station Board meeting and the one we had on a Saturday in late December a group of board members from the majority setup some shell non-profit and then filed a lawsuit to put KPFA into receivership.

The reason I do not know what to say is because I am at a loss for words to describe how outrageous a thing that was to do.

First and foremost, this was outrageous because it boiled down to attempted theft of a member owned radio station by a number of board members acting on their own to get their hands on the considerable value of the station, the building, and above all it’s license. They had a non profit all set up to sweep the wealth into; a non profit controlled only by them.

It was also outrageous because this lawsuit was a surprise to the rest of the board, the rest of the KPFA community and the Pacifica Foundation to which KPFA and the other stations belong. If they had gotten away with it, a narrow majority at one station, KPFA, would have had control of all five Pacifica stations.

It was outrageous because they acted in the dark and struck by surprise.

Last meeting ended with us wondering if there was even going to be a December meeting. The only reason to hold one would be if the bylaws said that we had to re-elect board officers before the end of the calendar year. There was no mention of an impending lawsuit wanting to take control.

So, this meeting had an extra item added to the agenda. The motion was to censure and remove the three board members who had sued the organization that they claim to represent.

The meeting degraded into a shouting match. When people were not shouting, they were making harsh accusations. A few people dominated the Zoom chat with nasty comments and attacks on each other’s personal histories on all sorts of subjects not related to the problem at hand.

I have not seen such dogmatic, sectarian infighting since I was a young leftist in Montreal in the 1970’s.

If you have not seen Monty Python, The Life of Brian, watch it.

Friends warned me about the so-called Save KPFA faction and I should have listened. That clique added some new members and now has a new name or two, but does not seem to change much. Before I just disagreed with their proposals. Now I question their sense of ethics.

At the December Local Station Board meeting we heard a lot of why they think that they are the only ones to hold the right views, but as they went on, we got nothing about why they feel that their lack of respect for the process was helping anything, or what justified them acting unilaterally like that.

So, what do I think? For me, filing that lawsuit is sort of like suing for custody of the kid and then thinking that you can still sleep in my bed. How could such a thing not wreck the relationship?

In the course of the discussion, we were given all kinds of interesting arguments that if addressed differently would have been valuable. Worthwhile discussion should have been held BEFORE throwing such a bomb. There were also some strong accusations made by the majority that needed more support than Trump style belligerence.

Among other things, we were told:

· Pacifica’s board is not democratic, so it can be ignored
· Only their faction is doing anything for the station
· That everyone else has “never done jack shit” for KPFA
· That people who oppose them are part of the Workers World Party (that I don’t even know)
· That “somebody” had to stand up for the station because nothing is being done
· The financial crisis risks losing the whole network (if so, show us the numbers)

What did not get an answer to, was the question “what gave them the right to unilaterally do this”?

Had the situation that they consider so dire been brought to the board with supporting documentation and then the board have been asked to back such a legal action, we would be talking a different story.

Somewhere in there would have been the step where the local KPFA board would file a well-documented complaint to the national Pacifica board, who actually manage the network.

By the way, the judge seemed to think the same thing about these guys lack of standing and lack of support for their accusations, and then summarily threw the whole receivership request out.

The December meeting then took a long time electing board officers because discussion of the lawsuit was all over the public comments period and the election comments period. In the end, the majority faction fell into line like Republicans and voted in officers who included a lawsuit plaintiff.

A plaintiff in the receivership suit now leads the local board of the foundation that she just sued.

We had this in Oakland for many years on the school board, where the public schools were being run with a pro privatization majority backed by a billionaire’s movement. It is only so analogous, but it feels like we are down a similar rabbit hole.

And now we will have to finish discussing the motion to remove the 3 board members involved next month. I asked for a written abstract from both sides with links to supporting documentation WELL BEFORE the next meeting. I have no idea if we will get that. I will write the board secretary.

So what do I say?

I have no idea because I don’t know how to talk to people who have done a thing like that.
What will they do next? Who will they do it to?

We have another week to find a way to talk to each other.

Next meeting, Jan 9th, 11 AM
https://zoom.us/j/98653918465?pwd=UkpqZjZQdkNLNmhtU3JPbEJCNzRWUT09
Meeting ID: 986 5391 8465
Passcode:
320657


12-19-20 KPFA LSB Debate On Lawsuits, Receivership & Take-overs
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/12-20-20-kpfa-lsb-debate-on-lawsuits

This is part of the pubic comment and debate at the KPFA LSB on December 19, 2020 on the lawsuit filed by KPFA LSB chair Christina Huggins, KPFA LSB members Andrea Turner, Donald Goldmacher and Craig Alderson.
The first speaker is Tracy Rosenberg of Media Alliance and a link to her website is at https://pacificainexile.org/archives/9895
Additional informaton is at
https://pacificafightback.org
https://rescuepacifica.net

The following was the motion that was presented.
MOTION TO CONDEMN THE EFFORT PUT PACIFICA INTO RECEIVERSHIP
WHEREAS, On December 8, 2020, Andrea Turner, Donald Goldmacher, Christina Huggins and Craig Alderson petitioned the
Los Angeles Superior Court to place Pacifica Foundation into a court-appointed receivership and thereby attempted to deprive
its Members of their voting rights

WHEREAS, had said action been successful, it would have bypassed the bylaws process, which requires that “Members shall
vote on any proposed amendment” to change the bylaws which “… (v) materially and adversely affect a Member's rights as to
voting or transfer.” (Article 17, Section 1)

WHEREAS, said Court actions caused Pacifica Foundation both direct financial harm through court costs, and indirect financial
harm through the alienation of Members by demonstrating dysfunctional behavior by LSB delegates and PNB directors who
failed to operate through proper bylaw procedures, who failed to provide proper notification to the PNB directors of said actions
that directly impacted

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the KPFA Local Station Board condemns the actions of Andrea Turner, Donald Goldmacher,
and Christina Huggins which were adverse to the best interests of the Foundation, when they attempted to place the Pacifica
Foundation into a receivership, an action which would materially and adversely affect a Member's rights as to voting or transfer
of Pacifica assets, and asks the Pacifica National Board to remove Andrea Turner, Donald Goldmacher, and Christina Huggins
from the KPFA LSB for their actions.

Additional media:
Rally At KPFA To Defend WBAI From Shutdown By Pacifica Faction
https://youtu.be/uyRrgN7JP08
KPFA Rally On Taxes, Bylaws & Support For WorkWeek Radio
https://youtu.be/NFR0gPXjTWw
The Attack On WBAI & "Pacifica Across America”
https://youtu.be/lyamU2dvvtU
Layoffs and Canceled Shows at WBAI-FM, a New York Radio Original
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/business/media/wbai-pacifica-layoffs.html

Deputy Attorney General Julianne Mossler's address to the PNB at the December 14, 2017 Open Session

You’re welcome [to Chair Jonathan Alexander] and good evening everyone. As was said my name is Julianne Mossler. I’m a Deputy Attorney General at the Charitable Trust Section of the California Attorney General’s office. The Charitable Trust Section enforces statutes and regulations that govern charities and nonprofits operating in California. I’ve been asked to speak to you tonight regarding your duties as Directors on Pacifica’s National Board and the potential consequences for failure to adhere to those duties. The information I’m going to give you is broadly applicable to every aspect of your role as Directors. It is critically important in the context of the current crisis. That said, I’m not your attorney, and I’m not going to provide you with legal advice. Pacifica has competent legal counsel who’s being paid to advise and guide Pacifica in its in its legal matters. Any questions you have about what I’m telling you have tonight should be directed to him.

Pacifica Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation state that the purposes for which the corporation was formed include as an outlet to artists to supply educational opportunities, to share information and to foster peace and understanding between individuals and nations. As Directors on the National Board each of you owes a duty of loyalty to Pacifica to help it achieve these stated purposes. It means that your personal interests and/or the interests of your local radio station must take a back seat to Pacifica’s interests when you’re acting in your capacity on the National Board. When your personal interests or those of your local station diverge from Pacifica’s interests, Pacifica’s interests must always take precedence. As a Director on Pacifica’s National Board each of you must act in a manner you sincerely believe to be in Pacifica’s best interests. That means every decision you make must be made for the purpose of advancing Pacifica’s interests even if that means that the interests of your local station or even your personal interests are adversely affected. To do otherwise constitutes an impermissible conflict of interest that can result in your removal from the board, litigation or even Pacifica’s collapse and closure. As Directors on the National Board each of you also owes a duty of care and inquiry towards Pacifica. The duty of care and inquiry requires each of you to be reasonably informed and take whatever steps are necessary to make sure you have relevant information about whatever issue is being addressed at the national level.

All of the decisions you make about Pacifica must be made in good faith. Good faith generally means honesty in light of all the facts available to you including information, opinions, reports or statements, and financial statements and other data, in each case prepared or presented by one or more of the Officers of the Corporation, counsel, independent accountants or other persons as to whom the matters the Director believes to be within such person’s professional experience or competence or a Committee upon which the Director does not serve that is composed entirely or exclusively of any of the combination of Directors or persons described in paragraph one which are Officers or employees of the Corporation and as to matters within the Committee’s designated authority.

You are also required to participate in decision-making, again with Pacifica’s best interest regarding your decision. And you must exercise independent judgement in making those decisions. Obstructing the decision-making process can constitute a violation of your duties of loyalty and good faith. Paralyzing the National Board by bringing it to deadlock in order to serve interests of a local station is a blatant conflict of interest and a violation of your duties as a Director.

If you fail on your duties as a Director or you actively sabotage Pacifica’s efforts to operate its business you can be subject to legal repercussions including but not limited to removal from the Board, an order prohibiting you from serving on any Board of any nonprofit in California or a civil judgement against you personally. If your response to the idea of a personal civil judgement is I don’t have any assets so I don’t care, then you need to ask yourself whether you’re acting in Pacifica’s best interests and demand an honest answer.

Whether you recognize it or not Pacifica is at the ultimate crossroads. Judgement against WBAI for back rent was filed two days ago. When a judgement holder undergoes to collect, it’s called ‘execution’. Given Pacifica’s situation, that term could not be more apt.

As we understand it there are three serious options for avoiding execution. The first being a signal swap of WBAI’s signal from the Empire State Building to a signal lower on the dial, the second option is filing bankruptcy, and the third option is to obtain financing by leveraging the buildings in Berkeley and Los Angeles either through a sale or collateralized loan.

I won’t tell you what to do. Your attorney, your CFO and your Officers have thoroughly examined all the options available to Pacifica. They will answer your questions and provide you with all the information you need to make a decision. But you must make a decision, because refusing to do so is an abdication of the responsibilities you accepted when you took a seat on the National Board and creates a very real risk that Pacifica and its mission will burn to ashes around you.

I ask you to let the 2016 presidential campaign be a cautionary tale. The actions on the Left were unwilling to coalesce when it really mattered. You don’t need me to recite all the consequences of that failure and if the memory of the 2016 campaign doesn’t scare you, nothing will.

Right now you have a chance to re-focus and make a difference before the mid-term elections. But you have to take it. Don’t abandon your responsibilities as Directors on the National Board in favor of personal or local interests. Everybody’s in the same boat; you need to row together. Don’t let your differences distract from the important work ahead of you.

I hope this has helped to clarify your duties as Board members and sharpen the consequences of the failure to fulfill those obligations. Thank you for your time

(Source: Verbatim transcription by Janet Kobren, starting @09:48 into the https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnb171214/pnb171214a.mp3 audio archive of the December 14, 2017 PNB Open Session and ending @16:38)
New Day Pacifica Endorsements
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u1HJTroJm_nxUDR8m8AX07BLvnkVwBnG0tSN40oY4fg/edit#
Here are some of the growing number of endorsements for the New Day Pacifica Bylaws:

Please join us!

Sign the NEW DAY BYLAWS PETITION

You Can Help Us Save Pacifica.

Pacifica staff and listeners are backing the newly launched New Day Pacifica bylaws reform. Pacifica is in deep trouble financially, made worse by dysfunctional bylaws.


Latest Public Release of NDP Endorsements:

8/22/2020, Urgent Message from Staff



Sonali Kolhatkar, host of Rising Up with Sonali heard on KPFK, KPFT and KPFA: “I’ve been at Pacifica for nearly 2 decades as a paid programmer and have been dismayed year after year watching the local and national boards hamper the workings of stations, undermine worker rights, and generally stand in the way of the Pacifica network thriving. I would support any change to the bylaws that simplifies the structure of the boards and reduces their power to negatively interfere with the day-to-day workings of the station. While these new bylaws are not perfect, they are a very good start to the many badly needed reforms that Pacifica needs and I hope stakeholders will pass them.”




Ian Masters, KPFK host of Background Briefing: "The Pacifica Foundation is run by a dysfunctional Board incapable of raising funds and in denial of its looming debt. With a country in turmoil and our fellow citizens in pain this is a time when America needs voices in opposition to the ruin being wrought by the most dangerous and unqualified leader in our nation’s history. But KPFK is about to go dark if we don’t act. Please do your part and sign the New Day Pacifica bylaws petition."



Jodie Evans, Co-founder of Code Pink, Board Chair of Rainforest Action Network, activist, documentary producer









Teresa Allen, long-time KPFT volunteer, former Pacifica National Board member, co-author of current Pacifica Bylaws: "We have seen the weaknesses of the current Bylaws that I helped to write in 2003, and I believe significant change is needed. This New Day Bylaw proposal merits serious consideration from our membership and I urge members to sign the New Day Pacifica petition."



Sharon Kyle, publisher and co-founder of the LA Progressive: "I support Pacifica and am honored to be part of the effort to bring Pacifica back to financial and organizational health — there is so much work to be done." If Pacifica members vote to approve the New Day Pacifica bylaws, Sharon will become Pacifica's National Board Chair for the 2021-2023 transition period.




Mitch Jeserich, host of Letters and Politics at KPFA, and also heard on KPFK






Aileen Alfandary, KPFA News Director







Wally James, Host of the Progressive Forum on KPFT, also member of the Pacifica National Board:

"Pacifica is at a very critical time and the current bylaws are not working as intended. We need a change and I support the new bylaws."






Brian Edwards-Tiekert, KPFA, co-host of Up Front






Jonathan Alexander, KPFK Network Administrator/Security Analyst/Engineer, former Chair of the Pacifica National Board: "Why is it always the shows with an actual listenership that get attacked, rather than the ones that no one is listening to and no one is donating to? These are the types of shows that Governance protects. Our current General Manager is a true leader and a good businessman, with the majority of the hard-working staff at KPFK behind him. Which in my six years of experience on Pacifica Governance always makes you the enemy. Current Pacifica Governance does not represent the listeners, it does not represent the staff. When there's an attempt to change the bylaws all factions clutch on like Grim Death to keep things exactly the way they are, stagnant and dying. We need a change."



Jerry Sumrall aka Larry Winters, KPFT host of Spare Change: ““Our Local Station Boards and National Board are a joke. They drive away volunteers and donors with their constant infighting and insults, and meddle in station operations where they don’t understand what they’re doing. The PNB has even put our buildings at risk by using them as the collateral for a $3+ million loan due next April with no repayment plan. Our governance needs major reform if our stations and Pacifica are to survive. Please support the New Day Pacifica Bylaws.” Larry was also the former (unpaid) interim General Manager, stabilizing KPFT’s finances and making sure the station paid its Central Services for Pacifica every month.



Miguel Paredes, Executive Producer of Soul Rebel Radio, KPFK, Board Member of the ACLU of Southern California








Adrienne Lauby, KPFA co-host of Pushing Limits: "Year after year, good people go to the Pacifica Board year after year. They spend their life blood in a struggle to bring people together and so something positive. And, yet every year we fall deeper into the economic hole that will inevitably end the network. The problem is structural. We have to try these new by-laws. At this point we have no other choice."




Mimi Kennedy, TV co-star of Mom and frequent KPFK guest







Kiyana Williams, KPFK Audio Engineer/Editor/Producer: "I support the newly proposed bylaws. In order for Pacifica and its stations to improve its place in the world of media, society, and the future - which is NOW - some serious and fundamental changes need to be made at the source of the hindrance."





Roy Tuckman (Roy of Hollywood), KPFK host of Something's Happening: “For once we have a chance of getting a democratic structure which will allow us to get something done, not just argue. This gives me hope that Pacifica won’t disappear next April, when the big loan is due.“




Harvey Wasserman, KPFK host of California Solartopia: "These proposed bylaws hugely help democratize and simplify what’s now a convoluted, paralyzing and outdated governance structure." Harvey is also History Professor, author of The People’s Spiral of US History and Harvey Wasserman’s History of the United States, and co-convenor of the Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Coalition.




Nancy McAfee, long-time KPFT co-host of Blues on the Move. Had to give up hosting Roots Radio due to an illness in the family: "The survival of KPFT radio and the entire network of Pacifica stations requires the immediate ratification of the New Day Pacifica Bylaws. If Pacifica stations are important to you -- please give this initiative your heartfelt and complete support!!!"





Mansoor Sabbagh, KPFK oo-producer and engineer of Roy Tuckman’s Something's Happening, and former Pacifica National Board Director





Cary Harrison, Former/periodic host on KPFK, Air America, and CBS







James and Colleen Nagel, KPFT hosts of Howlin' the Blues







Philip Maldari, host of KFPA's Sunday Show: "I often get asked, 'Why does Pacifica always seem in crisis?' I tell them that we have a governance structure that promotes conflict and discourages cooperation. That's why we have to change the bylaws."





Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, progressive journalist, former KPFK Interim Program Director: "These proposed Bylaw changes are essential for the survival of the Pacifica network, which has been paralyzed due to the internecine wars on the overly-powerful and overly-populated governance boards. These new Bylaws are the remedy. As we need Pacifica now more than ever, please support The New Day Pacifica Bylaws Petition."




Eric Mann, host, Voices from the Front Lines and co-chair of bus riders union




Other endorsers include these and a growing number of others:

Henry Slucki, 35 Year Co-Host of Access Unlimited on KPFK: "We at Pacifica, including staff, listeners, and management are basically of one mind—we support a progressive agenda, while we have varying notions of how you implement it. Our present 2 to 3 level structure often creates gridlock, so I like the idea of a simpler structure which will make it easier to get things done for our common purpose, rather than being bogged down in a lot of rhetoric." Henry is also a charter subscriber of KPFK, Ph.D. Retired Faculty, Keck School of Medicine, USC.

Ismael Parra, Southern California Chair of Writers' Union: "Times are changing rapidly in directions that are good and not so good. I support the bylaws change campaign because it is a change in a good direction. I know the history of continuous support for Pacifica given by supporting PNB and listeners and staff members who are proposing and/or supporting these changes. I support them in this effort. They and their predecessors have kept Pacifica on the air since its inception and have changed with the times to keep it going. They have been there for decades through thick and thin and are proposing a leaner way to keep the stations going and manageable."

Suzi Weissman, KPFK Host of Beneath the Surface

Terry Guy, KPFK Co-producer of Community Calendar, KPFK Membership

Teddy Robinson, KPFK host of Stairway to Heaven

Cat Brooks, KPFA Upfront

Bob Baldock, KPFA Events Producer

Larry Bensky, Pacifica National Affairs Correspondent, retired

Reyna Cowan, KPFA Cover to Cover

Sheela Gunn-Cushman, KPFA Pushing Limits

Doug Henwood, KPFA Behind the News

Timothy Lynch, KPFA Dead to the World

Bonnie Simmons, KPFA The Bonnie Simmons Show

Kris Welch, KPFA Talkies

Mark Humphrey, KPFK Roots Music and Beyond

Tom Lutz, KPFK LA Review of Books

Steve Pride, KPFK IMRU

Barry Smolin, KPFK Head Room

Steve Weatherwax, KPFK Front Office Manager

David Collingsworth, KPFT The Prison Show

Dalton Harris, KPFT Bluegrass Depot

Michael Honig, KPFT Thinkwing Radio

Joanna Jetton, KPFT Bluegrass Depot

Hank Lamb, KPFT The Prison Show

Genie Mims, KPFT Down Home Blues

Elizabeth Stein, KPFT The Prison Show