BOARD REPORT Alice ChanThe February meeting of the Pacifica National Board was an event that had to be seen to be believed. Carol Spooner of the Committee to Remove the Board said that she was most struck by "the outrageously contemptuous conduct of the chair and her utter disregard for parliamentary rules of civilized debate…you really had to be there."
Three important impressions remain with me: the Board’s reliance on Arbitron ratings as a means of measuring the performance of the stations; the transition in the composition and leadership of the Board; and the evolution of Tomas Moran, Board member from the Northern California area.
The reliance on Arbitron ratings or Metro numbers is very troubling. As Tomas Moran pointed out in the general meeting, market surveys of listeners cannot measure the performance of a network whose mission is to "give a voice to the voiceless." Nevertheless, the Board pays great attention to market surveys. On Friday the 25th, while in Executive Session (not open to the public) the Board heard a report from David Giovannoni, of AudioGraphics, which stated that "for most Americans, Pacifica does not exist," and "Pacifica has crossed the line from under-performance to irrelevance." Mary Berry quoted this report as evidence that the network is in dire peril, and that those who do not agree are "in a state of denial." Ken Ford, the new Vice Chair, said "I look at numbers. A .02% audience share means nobody is listening."
Not every Board member agreed that market surveys are the best method of measuring station performance. Aaron Kriegel, from the Los Angeles area, stated "we can increase listenership by playing a lot of music, but that isn’t the message of Pacifica." But he and Tomas Moran are clearly in a minority on this issue.
Several times over the weekend we heard that Pacifica has a potential 40,000,000 listeners, not including the network affiliates’ audience. If that is true, then more than 15% of the population of the United States can be influenced by what they hear on a Pacifica station.
Having this potential to be a significant influence on the future of American politics is what has put Pacifica in such grave danger. Since the beginning of the ’90’s, the political elite have sought to eliminate Pacifica’s unique ability to criticize the political status quo. The Board is accomplishing this with a simple one-two combination punch. First they made themselves entirely self-selecting. Now, under cover of "fiduciary responsibility," they make what sounds like a reasonable case for increasing listenership by eliminating radical programming, without any recourse to the listeners who support the network with their pledges.
Lynn Chadwick resigned at this meeting. While no one is shedding tears over her resignation as Executive Director, the naming of Bessie Wash as her replacement is hardly reassuring.
Ms. Wash has up until now been the General Manager of station WPFW in Washington DC, the station that boasts the highest audience-share of any station in the Pacifica network. She likened her report on WPFW’s status to President Clinton’s State of the Union address. Her report refers to programs on WPFW which she states "would be competitive in any market in the country," a remark which indicates she views the Pacifica Network as a business rather than as a listener-supported non-profit organization. Tomas Moran objected to Wash’s nomination as Executive Director, stating that there had been no open process for her nomination, nor had there been a search for qualified candidates. He and Rob Robinson voted against her nomination. Johns, Ford, and Kriegel abstained.
Mary Berry also resigned as the Chair of the Board. Several times during the weekend’s meetings, Berry referred to her pleasure that her term was expiring, once saying that there was a mistake in the Board packet’s notation that her term expired in 2001 instead of "thank God 2000." She expressed sympathy for those who had been "seduced" into serving on the Board, as she said she had been, and thanked Lynn Chadwick "for her willingness to persist in these difficult times." Berry stated that she would use the remainder of her term, which expires in September, in "efforts to heal Pacifica." However, after the very critical Public Comment period of the general meeting, she said "I can see it will be a difficult job to engage in the healing process," and mentioned that the same people keep showing up at the Board meetings, "saying the same things."
David Acosta replaces Berry as Chair of the Board, along with Ken Ford as Vice Chair. Ken Ford is the Board member who tore up in my face the envelope I delivered to him from the KPFA Steering Committee, an action that spoke eloquently for itself. The Executive Committee, in a highly irregular procedure, made the nominations without soliciting nominations from the Board as a whole. Tomas Moran questioned the process, stating that there had been no notice that the Chair and Vice Chair would be elected at this meeting. Apparently there is nothing in the By Laws about how to select the Chair. Milspaugh moved, and Palmer seconded the nominations. Robinson opposed, and Moran abstained.
Five new people were elected to the Board, three to be seated immediately, and two in June. Two of the new members seated in February are very troublesome. John Murdock spoke to the Governance and Structure Committee, stating that he is not a labor lawyer, although his law firm, Epstein, Becker and Greene, states on its website that it "offers counsel and representation to management in …maintaining a union-free workplace…" When Board members Farrell and Robinson questioned Murdock about his involvement with litigation around union activies, Mary Berry broke in to say "Mr. Chairman, I protest this unwarranted invasion of his personal life." An astonishing comment, since no one had mentioned his personal life.
Neither Bertram Lee nor Leslie Cagan spoke to the Board in any public meetings, but Mr. Lee, who has a background in buying and selling radio stations, said in an interview that he sees nothing wrong with Pacifica taking corporate underwriting. "Corporate donations don’t bring with them any control of any kind," he said. Leslie Cagan is from the New York area, and is said to be an activist with a long history. Two more members will be seated in June: Beth Lyons from New York, and Valerie Chambers from Texas.
The entire slate of five was presented for a vote, all or none. Moran and Robinson voted no, and Kriegel abstained.
Throughout the weekend, Tomas Moran was like a stinging wasp that would not leave the Board, and particularly Mary Berry, alone. He refused to allow any irregularity in process to pass by without comment. It is that very irregularity of process that has allowed the Board to make up the rules as they go along, while wresting control of Pacifica away from the listeners.
Moran was elected to the Board in October, 1999. His stated mission at that time was to bridge the gap that separated the Board from the KPFA staff, LAB, and listeners. It was apparent from his actions at this meeting that he has abandoned the hope that the gap can be bridged while this current Board is seated.
Moran brought to the Board a Free Speech resolution to rescind the "Dirty Laundry Rule," but it was not presented to the Board for a vote because, Berry said, it had not been reviewed by committee. She would refer it to committee for consideration in June unless Moran would move and could get a second to present it for a vote at this meeting. He moved, but did not receive a second.
Moran also brought to the Board a "No Sale" By Laws amendment that was not presented for a vote because of an outrageous maneuver by the Governance Committee. In October when Moran was elected to the Board, he was seated on two committees: the Governance and Structure Committee, and the Development Committee. But apparently the Governance Committee met and voted not to present the "No Sale" amendment without notifying Moran of the committee meeting. When Moran protested, Acosta said that had been a mistake, but Berry stated loudly and angrily "you are not on this committee!" Moran then asked where were the minutes of the October meeting, to show that he had in fact been seated on that committee. Those minutes have not yet been made public; the current explanation is that they were destroyed by a computer virus. But regardless of the status of those minutes, everyone on the committee knew that Moran had been seated on that committee last Fall. No one spoke up to contradict Berry.
Moran stood alone in opposition to Berry. She rebuked him time and again, hoping to intimidate him into silence, as she has with other board members, but he did not give up.
In yet another irregular move, Berry stated that the dates and the location of the next Board meeting would be announced at a later date. The Board had waited until the last possible moment to announce the location of the February meeting, apparently to cause confusion and sow disorganization into those wishing to attend. The listening public must continue to show a presence at these meetings, to report the events and bear witness to the outrages.