UPDATE    

Wednesday - June 14, 2000
From savepacifica@peacenet.org        
       

Pacifica Board Meets in D.C.; Mary Frances Berry Still In Charge California Joint Legislative Committee Releases Report Condemning Pacifica Actions

The Pacifica National Board meeting last weekend in Washington was, once again, characterized by secrecy and lack of communication and openness, according to KPFA staff and community representatives who attended.

It was apparent that Mary Frances Berry was still in charge, despite her nominal resignation at the last board meeting in February. A motion to mediate the crisis, put forth by newly seated New York board members Leslie Cagan and Beth Lyons, was avoided by a quick meeting adjournment.

Also, a majority of the board refused to adopt a by-law that would control and limit the possibility of selling any of the licenses; such sale had apparently been considered secretly by the board last year. KPFA board member Tomas Moran's attempt to get such a by-law considered was unsuccessful; for the second meeting in a row, Moran was told he had not met procedural requirements for such a motion, despite his presentation of evidence that he had done so. Moran was also once again denied his seat on the Governance Committee, which nominates board members. He was threatened with eviction by security guards when he took a seat at the committee meeting.

Contrary to board policy, KPFA board member Pete Bramson was not informed of the place and time of a closed Executive Committee meeting, and could not attend.

Several community speakers addressed the issue of KPFA being assessed the cost (at least $440,000) of the occupation and lockout last year. Berry claimed it had earlier been agreed that KPFA would pay the costs, despite witness' recollections that she has earlier stated the opposite. Carol Spooner, of North Bay for KPFA, attended a Technical Committee meeting where a commercial company, AudioBasket.com, make a presentation for a "Content Partnership with Pacifica." Such a "partnership" would involve 5-7 minutes of commercials per hour, violating the custom, practice, and principles of Pacifica.

Pacifica's once bloated bureaucracy, shrunk during the national office's late-night move to Washington D.C., is apparently growing once again. Pacifica's new executive director, Bessie Wash (whose station,

WPFW, censored all mentions of the crisis while she was manager there, and who has apparently now been herself hired without any open process) has hired a public relations consultant, Phyillis Shearer Jones, a former White House liason in the office of U.S. Trade.