Earthwatch Commemorative Broadcast: Undercurrents 1989-1990

A special commemorative edition of Earthwatch featuring some historic broadcasts from Robert Knight.

The Not-Ready-For-Mainstream News
with
Dennis Bernstein and Robert Knight
 

In this commemorative broadcast of Earthwatch, we hear from Robert Knight through his work on Undercurrents in1989 and 1990.

 

http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/wbai_140626_000000earthwat.mp3

The first segment includes a series of broadcasts on "The US Agenda - Conflicts in Central America", including a May 18, 1989 phone call from Manuel Noriega to WBAI, on the impending US invasion.

In the second segment, a series of Undercurrents reports on the Panama Invasion from January of 1990, including broadcasts of Robert Knight's interview of Manuel Noriega done on-site in Panama, Dennis Bernstein's interview of Congressman Charles Rangel, and an investigative report by Allan Nairn.

The third segment from January 8, 1990, features a report from Phyllis Bennis and an interview with Admiral Eugene Carroll on both Columbia and Panama.

Robert visited Panama in November and December of 1989. He received the Polk Award for his reporting in January of 1990. Robert Knight's ground-breaking work is featured in the 1992 documentary film The Panama Deception, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.  The film is critical of the US military during the 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States. It includes footage of mass graves uncovered after the US troops had withdrawn, burned down neighborhoods, as well as depictions of some of the 20,000 refugees that fled the fighting.






Is the legendary Pacifica Radio Network about to be dismantled?

Here’s why you should sign the court petition at
http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition
to stop the shameful attempt to break up Pacifica
(Please forward this letter to your own email lists)
 
The threat to the Pacifica Network
 
Dear Friend of Pacifica –
 
A “rogue” board faction has narrowly seized control of the Pacifica Radio Network after a hotly disputed (and possibly illegal) vote, which is now being challenged in court. The faction’s stated intention is to dismantle the legendary progressive radio network – in a large part, it appears to me, to satisfy the grudge of a politically connected San Francisco Bay Area attorney.
 
The faction members want to sell what they call Pacifica’s “weak” East Coast stations, and use the proceeds to “endow” their own stations in California. First station on the chopping block will be WBAI (in New York), then probably WPFW (in Washington, DC), followed by KPFT (in Houston).
 
The faction trying to break up Pacifica is directed by a California attorney named Dan Siegel (whose employee now sits on the Pacifica board, and appears to be intentionally destabilizing foundation operations).

But Siegel and his board faction are being challenged in court by 8 other board members, the Pacifica Directors for Good Governance (PDGG), who oppose the plan to dismantle Pacifica.

 
                    These are the 8 Pacifica board members now in court to remove
                                                      Siegel and his destructive faction from Pacifica affairs.
                                         Please sign their court petition at http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition
 

 

 

 

A recent article in Los Angeles Indymedia News, by attorney Eric C Jacobson, explains

Siegel’s destructive war against Pacifica better than I can.

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2014/04/263659_comment.php#263660

 

 
                                          Why does Siegel want to dismantle Pacifica?
 
Siegel is a former Pacifica National Board member who it appears was forced to resign as Pacifica’s legal counsel for (a) incompetence and (b) improper and possibly unlawful behavior. Humiliated and resentful, he revenged himself on Pacifica soon after by maliciously (and falsely) testifying under oath, during a court deposition, that in his opinion the foundation had fired its Chief Financial Officer because he was Black. This resulted in an unjustified $440,000 judgment against the network. Currently, because of his political activities, Siegel is legally barred from serving on the Pacifica board.
 
But the recent board takeover by Siegel’s faction permits him to revenge himself still further against Pacifica. He can now leverage his wealth, his law firm, and his political connections to take over the network – and then destroy it. Apparently, he plans to force Pacifica into insolvency, so that it will have no choice but to sell one or more of its stations.
 
And Siegel isn’t hiding his plans:
 
In a July 7, 2012, speech to his local KPFA radio board, Siegel said, “There were actual people who would buy WBAI for enormous amounts of money... [so] making that change [selling WBAI] does not seem as radical as it might be otherwise.” And, in a June 7, 2014, article in The Villager, he is quoted as saying he would “sell WBAI to save KPFA.” < http://thevillager.com/2014/03/20/after-directors-firing-wbai-sale-is-now-rumored/ >
 
Alarmingly, Siegel’s faction on the board has moved quickly, and has taken steps (see below) that seem designed to force Pacifica into insolvency (something you can help prevent by signing the PDGG court petition at http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition)
 
Here is what the Siegel faction has been up to:
 
■ Within days of illegally seizing the board, the Siegel faction abruptly fired Pacifica Executive Director Summer Reese, in violation of her contract – deliberately putting cash-strapped Pacifica on the hook for at least $315,000 in compensatory payments for wrongful termination (and pushing the network closer to insolvency).
 
■ They then removed some of the network’s most popular and progressive programs from the air, which may make enough listeners angry enough to refuse to donate during the next fund drive (squeezing the network still further).
 
■ The faction is also currently maneuvering to change Pacifica’s bylaws (by fiat) to make itself self-perpetuating.
 
■ Recently, the faction lowered morale and upset Pacifica staff members (two of whom, I am told, have resigned in protest) by re-hiring one of the faction’s members as Chief Financial Officer – even though that person had been previously fired for incompetence and cited for workplace abuse of female staff personnel. But by re-hiring him, the faction is now able to prevent auditors from monitoring suspected embezzling and audit deficiencies by firing – or threatening to fire – any accounting or executive staff who try to implement corrective procedures. For example, in a recent audit, the sum of $7 million – more than half of Pacifica’s entire yearly income! – had to be placed in suspense accounts because of improper documentation. In addition, $80,000 in cash seems to have mysteriously gone missing altogether on the books of KPFA (Siegel’s station). But the faction won’t release the documentation for an audit.
 
■ At least one – possibly two – of the faction’s board members have long rap sheets (i.e., multiple felony convictions). Under the Federal Communications Act of 1934, these convictions could block or even invalidate Pacifica’s re-licensing. Yet not only did those board members cover up their felony convictions before taking their board seats, they have also refused to voluntarily step down,  even though two of our five radio stations are up for re-licensing this year.
 
But that is not all.
 
■ In a 2012 preliminary ruling by the California Court of Appeals, the Chair of the Pacifica National Board -- appointed by the Siegel faction -- was found (along with Siegel himself) likely to have committed a breach of fiduciary duty against Pacifica by diverting money away from the foundation to a private fund.
< http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/A132296.PDF >
 
■ Another appointment of the faction – this one as Secretary of the Pacifica National Board – is currently banned from the premises of the New York Pacifica station (WBAI) for acts of physical violence.
 
■ Moreover, less than 60 days after the Siegel faction seized control of the board, Pacifica’s corporate attorney quit in disgust because the faction persisted in deliberately violating the bylaws. Guess who got Pacifica’s legal work after Pacifica’s law firm quit? None other than Siegel’s own law firm, thanks to a secret phone meeting of the board -- for which (are you paying attention?) only members of the Siegel faction were given the phone number and allowed to participate. Does this even pass the laugh test for legality?
 
■ Now that he is once again in control of Pacifica’s legal affairs, Siegel admits that he has already billed Pacifica $25,000 in just the past few weeks alone – which is ironic, since that billing is for a lawsuit precipitated by the actions of Siegel’s own board faction. In previous years, when Siegel was Pacifica’s legal counsel (as well as National Board Member and Executive Director), he may have billed the network for as much as half a million dollars in what many, including myself, regard as questionable legal fees – fees which, in large part, seem to have been a result of his own poor decisions and/or improper actions in those jobs. In fact, according to former Pacifica National Board member Shawn Casey O’Brien,
 
“Dan Siegel was Pacifica’s legal counsel for years and during his reign [he] cost Pacifica hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, by practicing what appears to be a very self-serving and sloppy form of lawyering.”
 
Here is a particularly bizarre “Siegel incident,” which demonstrates his willingness to violate the law in pursuit of controlling Pacifica. In the “Final Report on the Pacifica 2007 Elections” < http://www.pacificaelections.net/2007-8%20pacifica%20elections%20final%20report.pdf >, Casey Peters, Pacifica’s National Election Supervisor, wrote the following:
 
“Regardless of my desire to maintain absolute integrity in each of the local elections throughout the cycle, I was forced to capitulate [to Siegel’s demands] .... I realize now that this was an unforgivable error on my part and that I should have publicized the fact that the Interim Executive Director [Siegel] was using extortion to intimidate the National Elections Supervisor and wrongly influence the outcome of the elections to the detriment of members of the Pacifica Foundation.

“Essentially, Dan Siegel in his dual roles as corporate counsel and Interim Executive Director engaged in threats and manipulation to unlawfully control the outcome of Pacifica elections. This constitutes the highjacking of the vote count....

A few days later, Dan Siegel entered my home illegally without any prior notice, and without ringing the bell, knocking on the door or announcing himself. Siegel startled my wife Marilyn, who was home alone, in our living room and she yelled at him to get out. His intent was to confiscate election equipment and materials .... Siegel had apparently been drinking, and sat in a rented SUV flashing his headlights into our bedroom. Marilyn called the police to stop the harassment. We seriously considered pressing trespass and assault charges, but felt any publicity about the incident would not look good for the Pacifica Foundation.”
 
For someone so quick to break the law, Siegel is also surprisingly quick to call in the police.
 
For example, just weeks ago, Siegel’s faction called the police to KPFA, claiming that Summer Reese (the Executive Director they had just fired in violation of her contract) was packing a gun. The charge – clearly intended as harassment of an opponent -- was as ludicrous as it was false, which the police quickly ascertained and left.
 
Calling in the police seems to be an old Siegel habit. When he was on the board of the Oakland Unified School District (from 1999 to 2006), Siegel spearheaded bringing armed police into Oakland schools. Later, in January 2011, a young Black man named Raheim Brown was brutally beaten and then gunned down by one of those same armed police. But though the policeman (Sgt. Barhin Bhatt) may have fired the gun, it was Siegel who concocted the policy that allowed Bhatt to have a gun on a high school campus. (Will Siegel’s next gift to Pacifica be armed security police at every station?)
 

One last (sobering) fact. It might interest you to know that it was Siegel who negotiated and signed off on the infamous 2007 Democracy Now! contract that many place at the heart of the network’s financial crisis, and which accounts for two thirds of Pacifica’s debts.

 
                                 The lawsuit of the 8 “Pacifica Directors for Good Governance” (PDGG)
 
A lawsuit has been brought against Siegel by 8 Pacifica board members, the Pacifica Directors for Good Governance (PDGG). They intend to stop Siegel and his faction from bankrupting Pacifica and forcing it to sell off WBAI or one of its other East Coast stations in order to survive. (Siegel plans, as he has stated publicly, to divvy up the cash windfall from such a sale, which could be as high as $50 million, between the Los Angeles station (KPFK) and his own station in Berkeley (KPFA).
 
Full disclosure: I am a member of the WBAI local Board of Directors, so I certainly do not want to see WBAI sold, or the Pacifica Foundation dismantled. But neither do the myriad listeners who have already signed the PDGG court petition. That petition – because Pacifica is legally governed by its listeners – is an important part of the PDGG  presentation to the court.
 
Which is why I have already signed the PDGG petition at http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition
 
Please understand that the 8 board members bringing this lawsuit are not wealthy. Most are ordinary working people, some of whom live on small fixed incomes. But they have decided to risk their financial security in what has proved to be a costly lawsuit – simply because they believe that Pacifica is worth saving.
 
To my mind, they are heroes. For even though massively outmatched by Siegel’s wealth and political connections, they fight on -- supported (thank heavens) by contributions from Pacifica listeners who are shocked by Siegel’s apparent intention to dismantle Pacifica. But in addition to being shocked, these listeners are also angry – angry at discovering that Siegel may have grown richer, year after year, by (intentionally or foolishly) entangling Pacifica in a web of unnecessary and avoidable lawsuits, then steering the profitable “defense” of Pacifica to his own law firm. The financial cost to Pacifica, as estimated above by former board member Shawn Casey O’Brien, could amount to millions of dollars.
 
Whether you decide to contribute to the PDGG lawsuit or not, I hope you will at least sign the legal petition of these 8 brave Pacifica directors at http://www.jotformpro.com/PDGG/petition. As I said, I have already signed. I have also made my own contribution. Can I count on seeing your name, along with mine, on the petition when it is submitted to the court?
 
Regards,

Gary Null on the future of Pacifica and WBAI

Tonight at 8pm, following his Progressive Commentary Hour at 7pm, Gary Null will be doing  a one-hour special report on the future of Pacifica and WBAI.
Listen on the live stream: http://www.prn.fm/radio-player.php

"The" Uprising at KPFA

"The" Uprising at KPFA

May 26, 2014 at 2:47pm

Berkeley-On Memorial Day morning at Berkeley's KPFA radio, the AM hour did not go off as planned. A sudden programming change was announced only 5 days ago to replace the Morning Mix, a programming collective including Andres Soto from the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the legendary Project Censored, authors for more than 30 years of the "Censored" collections of the year's most-neglected news stories and the nation's most prominent media literacy educators, Hard Knock Radio's Davey D, a nationally known African-American reporter and commentator, Steve Zeltzer's labor program, the Poor News Network and several others, driving out of KPFA's prime time the few new Bay Area-based programs generated in the last few years. The replacement plans would have substituted Uprising, which has occupied the 8am hour at Los Angeles sister station KPFK, for the last decade, 5 days a week.

But that's not what happened. At the last minute, 100 community members showed up at KPFA's doors. At 8am, despite the on-air announcement Uprising was to follow, the station aired a special Morning Mix open house with hosts Sabrina Jacobs, Steve Zeltzer and Anthony Fest with Andres Soto and Peter Phillips and support from Flashpoints.

The festive rally ended with the station's heavy metal doors thrown open to the sidewalk and supporters filled the lobby during the impromptu broadcast which featured several guests by telephone and supporters on the air talking about why they came to the protest/broadcast and what the Mix has meant to them.

KPFA news staffers remained on the second floor of the building and did not come down the stairs to greet the protestors for the hour-long duration of the open house.

On Tuesday, supporters are again invited to an AM open house at the station's downtown Berkeley studio at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Way and Berkeley.

The sound archive will be available on Soundcloud shortly, but for the moment can still be heard on KPFA's archives. http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/103151

The Morning Mix came onto KPFA's air in the fall of 2010, after two years of more than a half million dollar deficits drained KPFA's million dollar reserve down to zero. A recovery plan approved by the national board unanimously in October of 2010 called for $375,000 in staffing reductions.

Many staffers at the station and members of the community have come to see the Mix as precious open space in the schedule that is accessible for a wide range of content and focuses on local issues often neglected by pundits and celebrities, as well as more subversive analyses of race, class and political issues than is present in two-party-based political affairs coverage. The flexibility in the Mix provided opportunities often missing at KPFA, where program slots are usually held for a decade or more and have been known to be passed down from one family member to another.

The proposed replacement program, Uprising, hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar claimed to have posted large sums of money during a one week fund drive pre-emption in Berkeley. The extravagant amounts claimed by the Save KPFA faction in a newsletter they distribute were bizarre, with receipts exceeding $11,000 an hour and close to $100,000 in one week of broadcast. Kolhatkar's show, which has been on the air in the morning in LA for close to a decade, collected an average of $2,051 an hour on KPFK during its ten fund drive broadcasts on KPFK between May 1 and May 17, 2014,  never once cracking the $3,000 mark and once collecting as little as $600. The KPFK fund drive dailes for May 1-20 can be seen here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/f5v8jwv6wz1wij7/KPFK+Fund+Drive+Dailies+5-1+to+5-20.pdf)

Long-time La Onda Bajita and Flashpoints co-host Miguel Molina exploded on-air on Friday May 23rd at 5:30pm in the closing hours of KPFA's extended fund drive. Molina reported that less than 5 days before the change was abruptly announced, interim manager Richard Pirodsky told Project Censored co-host Dr. Peter Phillips he would not be making changes prior to his departure, leading Molina to ask who exactly was making the decisions, if not Pirodsky. Molina stated the "slashing and scattering" was destroying the morale of a new group of emerging producers. Molina's complete remarks can be found here in audio and here in video. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/flashpoints-on-kpfa-radio-may), (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1087)

The latest tumult comes only days after an eight week occupation of the foundation's Berkeley headquarters ended on May 13th after an illegitimate majority set off chaos by suddenly firing the executive director only weeks after a permanent hire and reinstating a CFO who had been let go for poor performance and workplace complaints. The re-hired CFO has still not been able to enter the headquarters without being accompanied by aprofessional mediator and the investigation report has vanished for months.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit-wit-radio-may-11-2014)

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at: EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Monday Morning

Monday Morning

May 25, 2014 at 4:00am

Berkeley-Berkeley's KPFA was smoldering after an abrupt decision that dislocated a group of 6 community-based 1-hour am programs in favor of an imported program from LA. The replacement of the Morning Mix, a programming collective including Andres Soto from the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the legendary Project Censored, authors for more than 30 years of the "Censored" collections of the year's most-neglected news stories and the nation's most prominent media literacy educators, Hard Knock Radio's Davey D, a nationally known African-American reporter and commentator, Steve Zeltzer's labor program, the Poor News Network and several others, driving out of KPFA's prime time the few new Bay Area-based programs generated in the last few years. The change is also exacerbating the station's internal tensions around race, class, and gatekeeping and fraying relationships with groups like the Richmond Progressive Alliance, who have been doing some of the most impactful and effective grassroots organizing anywhere in the Bay Area signal.

Long-time La Onda Bajita and Flashpoints co-host Miguel Molina exploded on-air on Friday May 23rd at 5:30pm in the closing hours of KPFA's extended fund drive. Molina reported that less than 5 days before the change was abruptly announced, interim manager Richard Pirodsky told Project Censored co-host Dr. Peter Phillips he would not be making changes prior to his departure, leading Molina to ask who exactly was making the decisions, if not Pirodsky. Molina stated the "slashing and scattering" was destroying the morale of a new group of emerging producers. Molina's complete remarks can be found here in audio and here in video. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/flashpoints-on-kpfa-radio-may) (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1087)

Molina asked listener-sponsors and members of the public to come to KPFA between 7 and 8 am on Monday May 26th to support the Morning Mix staffers.

The replacement program, Uprising, hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar was claimed to have posted large sums of money during a one week fund drive pre-emption. The extravagant amounts claimed by the Save KPFA faction in a newsletter they distribute were bizarre, claiming receipts exceeding $11,000 an hour and close to $100,000 in one week of broadcast. Kolhatkar's show, which has been on the air in the morning in LA for close to a decade, collected an average of $2,051 an hour on KPFK during its ten fund drive broadcasts on KPFK between May 1 and May 17, never once cracking the $3,000 mark and once collecting as little as $600. The KPFK fund drive dailes for May 1-20 can be seen here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/f5v8jwv6wz1wij7/KPFK+Fund+Drive+Dailies+5-1+to+5-20.pdf)

The wacky numbers may be another example of the creative accounting often in play at Berkeley's KPFA, whose books were left unreconciled for 18 months, events income was unprocessed for up to a year after receipt, and whose last permanent general manager left a $375,000 check uncashed in a desk for 15 months. Or they may indicate an attempt by a group of wealthy individuals to "purchase" the morning drive time hour in Berkeley for Kolhatkar and the program.

Some Bay Area listeners posted on Kolhatkar's website letters suggesting she ask for a different time slot on KPFA. (http://uprisingradio.org/home/2014/05/22/uprising-expands-to-kpfa-in-northern-california/#comment-969534)

The latest tumult comes only days after an eight week occupation of the foundation's Berkeley headquarters ended on May 13th after an illegitimate majority set off chaos by suddenly firing the executive director only weeks after a permanent hire and reinstated a CFO who had been let go for poor performance and workplace complaints. The re-hired CFO has still not been able to enter the headquarters without being accompanied by professional mediators and the investigation report has vanished for months.

The end of the national office occupation was witnessed by a KPFA member who wrote this essay about his experiences. (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1076)

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit)

In a somewhat uneventful national board meeting on May 22nd, both Interim ED Duncan and the re-hired CFO gave brief reports in which they indicated lack of knowledge about many of the foundation's affairs. A motion to attend to securing a general counsel absorbed much of the meeting and was prevented from being dealt with at the meeting by the illegitimate majority. The audio can be heard here. The board ran out of time and did not proceed to a closed session afterwards. (http://www.kpftx.org).

KPFA LSB member (and United for Community Radio member) Samsarah Morgan wrote this piece in April about her experiences on KPFA's local station board. (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=414)

The workplace tensions at KPFA, which have occasionally exploded into violence, most notoriously in 2008 when unpaid staffer Nadra Foster was violently arrested in the lobby in August of 2008, are the subject of this 2005 email by a paid staffer objecting to harassing signs being posted around the station by a shop steward. The email, which was submitted into discovery in a lawsuit, conceals the identity of the two, and has the employee concluding that "I feel that X was very disrespectful to me and was participating in an action that will only help to create an even more hostile workplace than we all (sic) ready have at KPFA." The complete email can be read here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/w29f029wvxg1e1v/Hostile+Work+Environment.pdf)

 KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at: EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

What Majority?

What Majority?

May 18, 2014 at 6:23pm

Berkeley-As the first week after the TRO ruling passes, the extent of the shaky foundation of the 2014 rogue board continues to emerge. The lack of eligibility of not one, but two of the twelve directors claiming to constitute the majority of the board is unquestionable. Boards of directors of CA nonprofit organizations have only the powers and authorities vested in them by the organization's bylaws, and in this case, that's not looking like anything at all.

WPFW listener representative Tony Norman, who is currently claiming to be vice-chair of the board,certified to Pacifica that he did not hold a public office when elected to the local board in DC. That was false. Norman's position as an elected neighborhood commissioner is described by the DC Board of Elections as an elected public office and by the District of Columbia Office of the Corporate Counsel as an elected official of the District of Columbia government. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/xzleg0ix6vctdbl/Public+office.pdf) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/k20nnn4q4bjv0cb/tony+norman.pdf)

Pacifica's bylaws state that "no person who holds any elected or appointed public office at any level of government , federal, state, or local , or is a candidate for such office shall be eligible for election". (http://www.cosmicterror.net/bylaws/art4sec2.html)

KPFT listener representative Hank Lamb is a member of the KPFT unpaid staff and would not have been eligible to join the local or national boards as a listener delegate. Lamb's KPFT station email contact form can be seen here. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/pnuembn916spx8s/KPFT+90.pdf)

The Pacifica bylaws differentiate between classes of members and do not permit station staff members, paid or unpaid, to fill listener representative positions.  "Any Listener-Sponsor Member in good standing, except radio station management personnel or Foundation management personnel or staff members, may be nominated for the position of Listener-Sponsor Delegate for the Foundation radio station with which s/he is affiliated". (http://www.cosmicterror.net/bylaws/art4sec2.html)

So what to make of these endemic bylaws violations? While they certainly indicate sloppiness in carrying out Pacifica's elections over the last few years, the more important index is that, without the invocation of an "emergency", ongoing lack of compliance with bylaws introduces real questions about board authority. Seating ineligible directors does not constitute an emergency.

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?page_id=662)

Director Lamb, who has made previous appearances in Pacifica In Exile for his rant on the gun rights of patriots and threatening emails to network staffers, also presents the problem of multiple felony convictions. The Communications Act of 1934 allows the Federal Communications Communication (FCC) to order a party applying for a broadcast relicensure with felony convictions to show cause for why they should be granted a broadcast license. With two of Pacifica's stations in the relicensure process right now (WBAI-FM and KPFT-FM),
Lambs failure to disclose his long rap sheet on his candidate statement introduces an element of risk that Pacifica's board should have (and did not) consider with advice of counsel, before risking both station's licenses. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/tah49s3jjn3bl4i/Pacifica+Candidate+Statement.pdf)

In a horrifying social media comment, KPFA local station board member Mark Hernandez  (and Save KPFA member) proposed biometric surveillance at the front door of the community radio station in Berkeley before dismissing the idea as "too expensive". Biometric surveillance, which is often referred to as "face-recognition software" is one of the Orwellian devices recently floated for Oakland's Domain Awareness Center (DAC) before the Oakland City Council rolled back the proposal due to a huge community uproar.

KPFA LSB member (and United for Community Radio member) Samsarah Morgan wrote  this piece in April about her experiences on KPFA's local station board. (http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=414)

The last edition discussed Dan Siegel's unethical investigation of sexual and racial harassment charges he knew in advance to be false at Pacifica. This pattern of facilitating false charges has come up before inSiegel and Yee's legal dossier when a 2010 ruling in Moreno vs. Ostly resulted in a sexual harassment claim rebounding against Siegel and Yee's client with a $1 million dollar award for defamation. The prevailing side mentioned that "the system is not to be used to bring claims that are not legitimate because you have some sort of personal vendetta". (http://www.mediafire.com/download/oq0354df10o0q22/Atty+Labeled+%27Sexual+Predator%27+Wins+%241.pdf#39;Sexual_Predator'_Wins_$1.pdf)

Siegel and Yee were sanctioned for "misuse of the discovery process" and engaging in a "charade". (http://www.mediafire.com/download/vjwa50jnl8wrx5g/Court+Sanctions+Plaintiff+and+Counsel+for+Misuse+of+Discovery+Process%2C+Including+Failing+to+Reveal+That+Relevant+Cell+Phones+were+Discarded+_+Electronic+Discovery+Law+Blog.pdf)

Siegel testified in 2011, as a sitting board member at KPFA, on behalf of former CFO Lonnie Hicks, that Hick's firing was caused by racism. Hicks won a $440,000 settlement and Pacifica shortly afterwards lost its directors and officers insurance policy and was only able to secure coverage at 3x the price, greatly exacerbating the financial stress at the network. Siegel's deposition (in a long and short version) can be found here. Multiple board members have reported over the years that Hick's financial statements were chronically confusing and they believed him to be concealing information. The controller Hicks hired and worked with for many years was later found to have been convicted of embezzling $90,000 from a previous employer and was let go by Reese in 2012 after charging personal items on the nonprofits credit card.
(http://www.mediafire.com/download/s24vs9uqb9gbkk4/Hicks+Siegel+Depo+pgs+115-117.pdf)
(http://www.mediafire.com/download/pud1n61m3m7t3xm/Hicks+Siegel+Depo+100317.pdf)

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit)

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced a town hall meeting at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

The Business of Collapse

The Business of Collapse

May 16, 2014 at 4:31am

Berkeley-While waiting for the next court appearance on June 3rd, disconnects between vacuous executive reports and the reality of the grim situation at Pacifica are vivid. A bizarre chair's report professes ignorance about the financial state of the network. It also states the hijacked workplace investigation report about multiple complaints against the re-hired CFO that has been in Wilkinson's sole possession since March 17th, will be released to the board after Pacifica's HR firm returns a call. Wilkinson's contention appears to be a phone call she placed in March has not been returned for two months, preventing her from releasing the report to the rest of the board. The full report can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/ae6t4zvnbmsim7g/Gmail+-+%5BPacificaRadiowaves%5D+Fw_+Public+Chair%27s+Report+--+feel+free+to+share.pdf#39;s_Report_--_feel_free_to_share.pdf)

To fill in the financial picture for the purported chair and the public:

1) WBAI's antenna/transmitter rental space on NY's Empire State Building is $150,000 past due in rent and the final payment deadline is May 23rd, after Reese negotiated an extenson in April.

2) KPFT's, whose re-licensure application has been frozen since August 1, 2013 will need to apply for a 5th consecutive waiver to operate at less than full power. The station's transmitter is entering the 8th year of its anticipated 10 year lifespan and "cannot" run at full power without risking catastrophic system failure.

3) WPFW has been fundraising for two weeks and has achieved only 15% of its goal, presenting a disastrous scenario for the next few months.

Behind the scenes, hints are being made about "corporate restructuring" of the national headquarters. Restructuring is likely to futher destabilize the accounting system, which has recently had to deal with a year's worth of missing event income at KPFA, a KPFK bookkeeper filling out other people's tax returns on KPFK's accounting computers, piles of unreconciled books, and more than half of 2012 income booked at the various stations being placed in "suspense accounts" by auditor Armanino McKenna, meaning local records did not clearly indicate where the money came from.

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=981

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here
http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=91

Reese spent May 14th testifying at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of Pacifica in the case filed by SAG-AFTRA after Wilkinson gave final approval to personnel changes that had not been signed off on by the union local. SAG-AFTRA had agreed not to file at the time of Reese's attempted firing on March 13th, but reneged and filed at the NLRB two weeks after Reese's termination.

An interview with Reese can be found here. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=429

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit

New documents emerging revealing some of the tangled history that led to the current crisis. In order to shed light on the path to network breakup; some selected "wayback machine" documents will be released from time to time in order to allow the public, station members and journalists acess to information.

This first archive addresses two very current players in the 2014 Pacifica destabilization. In 2008, volunteer programmer Nadra Foster (who had been with the station for more than 14 years), was arrested violently in KPFA's lobby after management called the police. The event shocked many, and happened a year after the unpaid staff organization was derecognized, a traumatic event for a workplace with a long history of volunteerism. GM Lemlem Rijio sent an email to then-corporate counsel Dan Siegel (now the attorney for the rogue board majority) about a letter signed by 56 staffers upset at the Foster arrest and the preceeding derecognition, which might have provided an avenue for resolving the issue without the use of police. The September 8, 2008 email has Rijio saying "all this because I derecognized the unpaid staff organization". Rijio specifically mentions Voices of the Middle East producer Shahram Aghamir who was newly elected as a staff representative on KPFA's LSB, having gotten the highest number of votes ever recorded for a KPFA staff candidate, as opposing her actions. The email can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/mhny52ofw90m2hb/No+confidence.pdf

A month later, on October 11, 2008, Rijio again emailed Siegel, this time filing formal complaints of sexual and racial harassment against "Aghamir and co", now expanded to include national board member Joe Wanzala and local board member Tracy Rosenberg. Rijio's complaint said the board members were criticizing her "because she was a black woman", not due to concerns by more than a 1/4 of the station's staff about volunteers being arrested and jailed. http://www.mediafire.com/download/igagp92aa5c5yjw/Rijio+Complaint.pdf

Corporate counsel Siegel failed to disclose or divulge the earlier email of September 8, 2008. The email confirmed no sexual or racial harassment had taken place and Rijio's concerns were about the impact of the open letter on her attempt to land the managerial job permanently and wanting to smother criticism of the derecognition of the unofficial bargaining unit for volunteers. Unethically Siegel proposed to investigate the bogus charges, while concealing his knowledge that they were false.
 
Pacifica eventually admitted the charges were bogus, apologized to the three, and re-recognized the Unpaid Staff Organziation. Rijio was let go after she was found to be hiding a $375,000 check in her desk drawer for 14 months. Wanzala and Aghamir say a Google search on their names still reveals the false sexual harassment charges against them.

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced more town hall meetings:

One on May 17th at the Marcus Garvey building at 1485 8th Street in West Oakland http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-west-oakland-town-hall-meeting-liberty-halljubilee-westmarcus-garvey-bldg-1485-8th-st-oa

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st. http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-radio-media-community-town-hall-meeting-saturday-june-21-2014-1-3pm-eastside-arts-allian

A second document goes back to 2005, when news reporter Brian Edwards-Tiekert (and current member of the rogue board majority) left a printout of an email he wrote at a station communal printer. The misplaced email referred to "dismantling the local station board" and "making his enemies responsible for the problems to come" (presumably the financial problems). The elected station boards had been in existence for less than 2 years at the time of their proposed dismantling. The email can be found here. http://www.mediafire.com/download/4cse6t24y7byslj/Edwards-Tiekert+.pdf

What has recently come to light is an NLRB complaint Edwards-Tiekert filed claiming he was being discriminated against by the finding of the letter.
Then Pacifica counsels Howard, Rice Nemorovski wrote a scathing letter that resulted in the immediate dismissal of the charges. The letter states "Edwards-Tiekert's charges are simply elements of his political infighting with various members of the board and management at KPFA. He continues to abuse board processes for ends completely unrelated to the purposes of the Act. The factual allegations and legal theory put forth by this party are insulting nonsense". http://www.mediafire.com/download/t3032vlt4szubav/NLRB+Tiekert+2005.pdf

Years later, the pattern of abusing board processes to prevent transparency and accountability hasn't let up a whit.



###
Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.
 

Court Order

http://www.savekpfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Order-denying-PJ-granting-TRO.pdf

A Morning After at Pacifica National Headquarters

A Morning After

May 14, 2014 at 4:51am

Berkeley-A day after issuance of a 3-week temporary restraining order, a fairly remarkable meeting happened at the Pacifica national headquarters on May 13, 2014.

With about seven "occupiers" in residence, and after the departure of executive director Reese in the AM in deference to the court order, the three staffers brave enough to come into work eventually met with purported chair Margy Wilkinson. The three women, who according to their own reports, have experienced severe harassment during the 7 week occupation, with community members present and bearing witness, laid into Wilkinson about their distress about the rehire of former chief financial officer Raul Salvador after 5 workplace complaints were filed, and talked in detail about KPFA's obstruction of their work towards the completion of the audit, as well as their concerns about retaliation from the board majority. An eyewitness who didn't want to be identified, reported "I think all three of the women who came in were in tears at one point or another at the very idea that she would force them to work under Raul Salvador again. When Margy asked about the audit, the staff also let her know in no uncertain terms that KPFA is the problem. Margy tried to say she wasn't going to talk to them about it, but they didn't let her evade the issue with all of us there. It explains a lot of why Summer felt she needed to go in there to protect her staff, and to protect the organization."

The upshot is that the national headquarters closed early at 2:00pm Pacific and there are apparently more meetings scheduled tomorrow. Workers, occupiers and rogue board members all have left the building for the day.

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=981

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=91

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Texas stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the weaker units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

The deadline for Texas station KPFT to apply for its 5th consecutive low-power waiver from the Federal Communications Commission while delaying re-licensing until it solves the transmitter problems, is May 27th, or 14 days from today.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced more town hall meetings:

One on May 17th at the Marcus Garvey building at 1485 8th Street in West Oakland http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-west-oakland-town-hall-meeting-liberty-halljubilee-westmarcus-garvey-bldg-1485-8th-st-oa

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st. http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-radio-media-community-town-hall-meeting-saturday-june-21-2014-1-3pm-eastside-arts-allian

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Three Week Narrow Restraining Order Granted

Berkeley- Alameda Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou issued a temporary restraining order today pending a new preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for June 3, 2014 at 9am in Department 15. The restraining order states ""Pending the hearing on the order to show cause (on June 3rd), Reese is enjoined from entering, remaining, blocking ingress into or egress from, or the passage of persons into and out of PFR's national office at 1925 Berkeley Way. The court at this time, limits the temporary restraining order to Summer Reese herself. PFR has not identified Does 1-100 and each of them, their agents, employees and representatives and all persons acting in concert or participating" with her, nor has it provided any information that would allow anyone seeking to enforce this order who these individuals may be. PFR may seek to expand the scope of this temporary restraining order upon a showing that those individuals are trespassing at the national office or committing a nuisance or disorderly conduct"

The full temporary ruling can be found here.  http://www.mediafire.com/download/609la5sdxzti0ax/Order-denying+PJ-granting+TRO.pdf

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=981

The narrow ruling did not substantively address the underlying issues and focused exclusively on Reese's physical presence at the nonprofit's headquarters. It will be in effect until June 3rd, with a PDGG opposition due to the court on May 20th. Upcoming hearings will include the June 3rd hearing as to whether the restraining order will continue past that date, a June 12th hearing on whether to remove Siegel and Yee as Pacifica's legal representative in the matter going forward, and the PDGG legal complaint in toto.

The ruling indicated that at this time, the court is not yet convinced that the PDGG directors will prevail in the long-term, which is the legal standard that must be met to merit the issuance of a preliminary injunction. The underlying legal case will continue to trial or settlement, with the temporary restraining order up for reconsideration on June 3rd.

The specific focus of the ruling leaves many matters up in the air for a while longer, including breach of fiduciary duty charges against the rogue board majority, the status of the terminated/rehired CFO with numerous workplace complaints and a hijacked workplace investigation report, several sets of contested board minutes, the questionable status of the board officers, and the long-term status of Reese and whether she is entitled to injunctive relief due to being fired for failing to disclose a social security number, and what the economic impact of that inadequately-noticed termination will be on the struggling nonprofit.

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here
http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=91

The court decision, if upheld on June 3rd, may also clear the way for "organizational darwinism" (as the decision to partition the network was described by attorney Dan Siegel) to prevail as the California stations may be poised to throw the weaker East Coast and Midwest stations overboard by either withholding financial support or selling off the wekaer units to endow the stronger ones, as some board members have publicly recommended.

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit-wit-radio-march-30th

Management instability will continue with the interim executive director appointed by the rogue board majority describing his tenure in the position as "just a few months" and the board having no search process for a replacement convened or underway, opening the prospect of at least one more proposed interim executive director appointment following Duncan, if no corrective action is taken eventually by the court.

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced more town hall meetings:

One on May 17th at the Marcus Garvey building at 1485 8th Street in West Oakland http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=946

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.

###
Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

EX-CFO Chases Away Payroll Vendor

May 9, 2014 at 11:19am

Berkeley- Former chief financial officer Raul Salvador has reportedly so upset payroll vendor Paychex Inc with daily harassing phone calls and emails, that the East Bay payroll processing firm has pulled the plug on Pacifica's payroll account and is currently refusing to issue payroll checks for the upcoming payroll on May 15th. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/uxjfutjaeb0m40s/Payroll+Problem+Alert.pdf) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/p8672euqhn9p8z4/E122Paychex_letterhead.pdf)

The failure of the payroll processing company to issue checks opens up a cascading series of disasters, as the firm automatically processes a variety of deductions and additions, including federal and state taxes, garnishments, union dues, seniority bonuses and pension payments. At least 3 of the 5 Pacifica stations have no full-time bookkeeper on site, even if one person could manually calculate and issue all of the required checks. Payroll failure can be expected to result in new National Labor Relations Board grievances at all 4 unionized units as well as greatly distressing 161 employees who expect to be paid and paid on time.

Salvador's attacks on the payroll vendor follow a series of letters issued on law firm Siegel and Yee's letterhead, first by board member Jose Luis Fuentes (http://www.mediafire.com/download/a5c2esgh7be66ob/Paychex_letter_3-28-14.pdf) (http://www.mediafire.com/download/fede3ba8p5lfe51/fuentes_email.pdf)  And then by Oakland mayoral candidate Dan Siegel, (http://www.mediafire.com/download/fanvmp5a9we5sgh/Sandra_Cain.pdf). Both letters implying that the firm was serving as Pacifica's general counsel, although they have not been appointed to that position and have no authority to send letters to the firm's vendors instructing them to do anything. Pacifica has had no general counsel since the resignation of Terry Gross of Gross, Belsky and Alonzo at the end of March.

The ongoing reckless behavior of the board majority, in addition to causing distress and confusion to vendors and employees, who may be faced with delayed compensation from these latest stunts, points to a pattern of risking institutional failure in the pursuit of an agenda of dissolution and the forced sale of one or more units to endow the rest.

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?page_id=662)

The CFO position reports directly to the executive director and to the board of directors. Several PDGG directors tried repeatedly to discuss the possible failure to issue the payroll at the May 8th national board meeting and the ex-CFO and the Siegel law firm's destructive actions, but were not allowed to by the board majority.

Little was accomplished at the 4 hour national board meeting, which largely consisted of another shutdown by the board majority of any meaningful discussion. To briefly summarize: (the open session audio is available here (http://kpftx.org/archive.php) and the closed session audio is not available):

A continuing breach of order point regarding the occupation of the chair position by Margy Wilkinson and refusal to draw lots by the board majority despite the 11-11 tied vote for board chair since February of 2014 was voted down again. KPFA staff rep Brian Edwards-Tiekert attempted to argue that the purported chair's ruling that the point was "dilatory" could not even be discussed.

Documents emerging that vice-chair of the board Tony Norman certified falsely that he held no elected public office (http://www.mediafire.com/download/k20nnn4q4bjv0cb/tony+norman.pdf)  and was ineligible for Pacifica board service from December of 2010 to March of 2014 (http://www.mediafire.com/download/xzleg0ix6vctdbl/Public_office.pdf) were ignored by the board majority.

A motion to compel the distribution to the full board of the certified workplace investigation report on the numerous complaints against the former CFO was moved to closed session, where it was never discussed. Wilkinson hijacked the report on March 17th and has not disclosed its contents to the board of directors nor to the 5 staffers who filed the complaints.

Requests to provide the board with the letter of retainer between the law firm Siegel and Yee and the Pacifica Foundation were refused. Requests to provide the board with any contractual documents signed with a contractor to run the 2014 delegates election were refused.

In the closed session of the board meeting, which again proceeded with no agenda in violation of open meeting requirements, two incorrectly reported motions were corrected in 2-month old meeting minutes and then further corrections were shouted down and the remaining errors in the March 6, 2014 minutes were passed into the record. No other work was conducted.

Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org, kpfk.org, wpfw.org,kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

The PDGG vs. Pacifica complaint can be found here in a 137-page full complaint (http://www.mediafire.com/download/2t8jah3fdykrr0l/PDGG_2014-04-15_pp001-137.pdf) , a 24-page Memorandum of Points and Authorities (http://www.mediafire.com/download/vl5ggcll8tyfum8/Memorandum_of_Points_and_Authorities.pdf)  and a 70 page response (http://www.mediafire.com/download/499g11zz54glvk2/SR_TRO_Opposition.pdf)  to the Siegel and Yee TRO requesting court permission to call the police into Pacifica's headquarters. (http://www.mediafire.com/download/264o97gmwl6cb6n/Request_for_TRO_to_Evict_From_The_National_Office.pdf_)

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=91)

KPFA local station board member and Oakland community activist Samsarah Morgan wrote about her perceptions after a year on the board here. (http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=414)

A satirical look at the chaos at the radio stations and what the future holds amid rumors of a network breakup by the Twit Wits comedy troupe (produced by noted theatrical producer George Coates) can be found here. (https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/twit-wit-radio-march-30th)

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced more town hall meetings:

One on May 17th at the Marcus Garvey building at 1485 8th Street in West Oakland (http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-west-oakland-town-hall-meeting-liberty-halljubilee-westmarcus-garvey-bldg-1485-8th-st-oa)

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st. (http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-radio-media-community-town-hall-meeting-saturday-june-21-2014-1-3pm-eastside-arts-allian)

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

###

Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.

Hearing Day

Berkeley-Various aspects of the PDGG vs. Pacifica lawsuit package (now expanded with a Siegel and Yee restraining order request and cross-complaint) were heard in Alameda Superior Court on the morning of May 6th. In a lengthy hearing, 5 witnesses testified. KPFA programmer Brian Edwards-Tiekert was the only witness for the Siegel and Yee side, and told a couple whoppers on the witness stand, including misquoting bylaws about telephonic meetings and asserting board member service at Pacifica is compensated when it is not. There were 4 witnesses for the PDGG side including 2013-2014 board member Richard Uzzell, Reese, national office senior accountant Joyce Black and 2013 PNB member Tracy Rosenberg.

The hearing largely revolved around issues of meeting notices, contracts/offer letters and the issue of Reese's lack of a social security number, which is the stated reason for the motion to fire her from Siegel and Yee associate Jose Luis Fuentes.

The judge agreed to review all of the pleadings and issue her decision as quickly as possible.  Nothing was released on the court's website at press time.

For those who want to take a look at all of the legal filings to date: here is a cheat sheet.

April 4th PDGG - Original Complaint http://www.mediafire.com/download/8u7340q7vy4uq77/Case+HG14720131.pdf
Request for Injunction PDGG http://www.mediafire.com/download/ik2km35b5988eji/Injunction+Request+-+Amended.pdf
Memorandum of Points and Authorities PDGG http://www.mediafire.com/download/vl5ggcll8tyfum8/Memorandum+of+Points+and+Authorities.pdf
April 15th PDGG - Amended Complaint http://www.mediafire.com/download/2t8jah3fdykrr0l/PDGG_2014-04-15_pp001-137.pdf
Siegel - Opposition to Preliminary Injunction http://www.mediafire.com/download/rsj3an8o9fox1zo/Response+to+Preliminary+Injunction+Request.pdf
Siegel - Request for TRO to Evict from National Office http://www.mediafire.com/download/264o97gmwl6cb6n/Request+for+TRO+to+Evict+From+The+National+Office.pdf
April 30th PDGG Reply Brief http://www.mediafire.com/download/jxud95xpjzi9zub/April+30+PDGG+Reply+Brief.pdf
Siegel Cross-Complaint for Monetary Damages from Summer Reese http://www.mediafire.com/download/4qu7b6u2ere137a/Cross-Complaint+for+Monetary+Damages.pdf
Reese - Opposition to Request for TRO http://www.mediafire.com/download/499g11zz54glvk2/SR+TRO+Opposition.pdf

The 5 Pacifica stations went into fund drive this week, with reasonably positive numbers so far. Pacifica-In-Exile readers are strongly encouraged to donate to their local stations. If the May 6th preliminary injunction request is granted, there will be a need to settle out the new lawsuits and labor grievances, meet equipment needs, and repair the havoc of the past few months. All 5 station websites (wbai.org, kpfk.org, wpfw.org, kpft.org, kpfa.org) as well as pacifica.org, can process online donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Your support will help to avert a threatened break-up of the network and keep all 5 radio major-market licenses non-commercial and non-corporate for the long run.

A FAQ about the events of the last 90 days can be found here. http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?page_id=662

An open letter signed by hundreds of the network's staffers and supporters objecting to the breach of Reese's contract can be found here http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=91

A community forum held at the Berkeley Federation of Universalist Unitarians (BFUU) discussed the current situation last Sunday and is available on video. http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=916.  The crowd was overwhelmingly opposed to the actions of the rogue board majority. Listener Daniel Borgstrom wrote about the forum and the last local station board meeting here.  http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=924

KPFA's Community Advisory Board announced more town hall meetings:

One on May 17th at the Marcus Garvey building at 1485 8th Street in West Oakland
http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-west-oakland-town-hall-meeting-liberty-halljubilee-westmarcus-garvey-bldg-1485-8th-st-oa

One at EastSide Arts Alliance at 2277 International Boulevard in Fruitvale on June 21st.
http://www.kpfa.org/events/kpfa-radio-media-community-town-hall-meeting-saturday-june-21-2014-1-3pm-eastside-arts-allian

Disputed chair Margy Wilkinson is reported to have said with regard to Reese's attempted firing; "it isn't illegal until someone says it is".

Reese has continued to report to work at the national headquarters since March 17th.

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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.