From: "Michael Lubin"
Date: Thu May 13, 2004 8:42 am
Subject: revised minutes of the PNB Election Review Committee, Thursday, May
6, 2004


In attendance: Carol Spooner, Julie Rodriguez, Ray Whitfield, Sandra Rawline,
Grace Aaron, Melinda Iley-Dohn, Michael Lubin, Cerene Roberts,Carolyn Birden,
Bill Gallegos, Teresa Allen, Mike Gillespie, constituting a quorum. Kalonji
Olusagun was also present for the early part of the meeting, but not during the
votes.

Absent: Miguel Maldonado, Miguel Molina.


Carol Spooner convened the meeting by teleconference at around 5:10 p.m.PDT.

It was agreed without objection to hold elections for Chair by mail.
Nominations for Chair were opened. Michael Lubin nominated Carolyn Birden.
Cerene Roberts nominated Julie Rodriguez, who declined. Carolyn Birden
nominated Carol Spooner, who declined. Julie Rodriguez nominated Bill Gallegos,
who declined. As there were no other nominations, Carolyn Birden was accepted
as Chair by acclamation, obviating the need for elections by mail.

Nominations for Secretary were opened. Bill Gallegos stated that he was
unavailable to do this meeting, but volunteered to do the next one. Carol
Spooner nominated Michael Lubin, who agreed to be Secretary for this meeting
only.

Carol Spooner pointed out that the committee needs to prepare a final
written report for the PNB by May 26 to give them enough time to review it
prior to the next PNB meeting beginning on June 3. She suggested that the
three committee members from each station interview their Local Elections
Supervisors from the previous election.

Bill Gallegos raised the issue of the scope of the committee, stating the
need for it to investigate diversity issues. Carol Spooner stated that the
national board had decided that this is not within the scope of the
committee, which is confined to the administrative issues pertaining to the
last elections. She stated that the PNB decided that the Committees of
Inclusion should deal with diversity issues, in keeping with the bylaws.
Bill Gallegos stated that this was a problematic and artificial separation.
Julie Rodriguez stated that the administrative problems with which the
committee is charged did in fact impact diversity.

Various members mentioned elections reports that would be available relevant
to the work of the committee.

Cerene Roberts made the following motion:

___________________________________________________________________________
The (WBAI) LSB Election Review Committee requests that the PNB Election
Review Committee request that Pacifica's Executive Director request written
reports from the National Election Supervisor and all five Local Election
Supervisors about the conduct of the last LSB elections, and share those
reports with the Pacifica membership.

If any parts of any such reports are deemed to fall under one of the
exemptions specified in the Pacifica by-laws for public release of
information, the WBAI LSB ERC asks the PNB Election Review Committee to
request that such reports be released on a confidential basis to all five
LSBs, and if this is deemed legally problematic, to the PNB.

The WBAI LSB ERC urges the Pacifica Executive Director to facilitate the
writing of these reports within 10 days, and if this requires payment for
the additional time spent, WBAI LSB ERC asks the PNB Election Review
Committee to recommend that the Executive Director expedite such payments.
___________________________________________________________________________

Cerene Roberts stated that the elections supervisors might already have
prepared reports, which would require no compensation, but if not they
should be fairly compensated.

Carol Spooner seconded the motion, provided that the motion be amended to
state that the National Elections Review Committee itself would ask for the
reports.

Mike Gillespie offered an amendment, changing "five Local Election
Supervisors" to "six Local Election Supervisors," since there were two at
WPFW. Cerene Roberts noted that there were two Local Election Supervisors
at WBAI as well, but stated that her motion asked for the report to come
from one supervisor per area, who would be likely to take into account the
work of others.

Teresa Allen raised a concern that the elections supervisors could
effectively name their own price for the writing of the reports.

Ray Whitfield stated that if writing reports wasn't part of the job duty of
elections supervisors, it should have been.

There was some discussion of how many days the committee should wait for the
reports.

Carol Spooner stated that the cost of getting reports would be well worth
while given the cost of mistakes in the elections process.

Carol Spooner stated that the Executive Director is overburdened, and
offered an amendment that someone in each signal area contact the Local
Election Supervisor, instead of having the Executive Director do it. Teresa
Allen objected that having five people making contacts would be too
complicated. Carol Spooner offered an amendment that the Chair of the
committee would contact all of the supervisors. There was some discussion
of how to contact the supervisors, how to pay for the reports, and whether
reports had already been done, after which this amendment was accepted
without opposition. The motion as amended is as follows:

___________________________________________________________________________
The Chair of the PNB Election Review Committee shall request written
reports from the National Election Supervisor and all five Local Election
Supervisors about the conduct of the last LSB elections, and share those
reports with the Pacifica membership.

If any parts of any such reports are deemed to fall under one of the
exemptions specified in the Pacifica by-laws for public release of
information, such reports shall be released on a confidential basis to all
five LSBs, and if this is deemed legally problematic, to the PNB.

The Pacifica Executive Director shall facilitate the writing of these
reports within 10 days, and if this requires payment for the additional time
spent, the Election Review Committee recommends that the Executive Director
expedite such payments.
___________________________________________________________________________

The motion as amended was passed 11-0, with Carol Spooner, Julie Rodriguez,
Ray Whitfield, Sandra Rawline, Grace Aaron, Melinda Iley-Dohn, Michael
Lubin, Cerene Roberts, Bill Gallegos, Teresa Allen, and Mike Gillespie
voting in the affirmative.

Carol Spooner moved, "That this committee request a copy of the National
Supervisor's already prepared report from Pacifica's lawyer, to be held in
confidence until further notice." Bill Gallegos seconded the motion. After
some discussion, the motion was passed 11-0, with Carol Spooner, Julie
Rodriguez, Ray Whitfield, Sandra Rawline, Grace Aaron, Melinda Iley-Dohn,
Michael Lubin, Cerene Roberts, Bill Gallegos, Teresa Allen, and Mike
Gillespie voting in the affirmative.

Cerene Roberts explained the electronic communications options, and asked
for all communications to be through the Yahoo! Groups list. Carol Spooner
stated that this would help those who get too many e-mails.

Someone from each signal area explained the election review situation at
their station.

Carol Spooner asked Carolyn Birden to ask the Executive Director for a
progress report regarding the hiring of a new National Elections Supervisor,
and she agreed.

There was some discussion of the best way to select Local Election
Supervisors.

The committee agreed to hold its next meeting at 5:00 p.m. PDT/7:00 p.m.
CDT/8:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 14.

There was a lengthy discussion of various problems that arose in the last
elections, including staff versus listener membership, write-in voting,
people not getting their ballots, and disparities in enforcement of rules at
different stations. Several issues involving the membership list were
discussed, including the need to clean up the list, members' access rights
to the list, confidentiality requirements for those who examine the list,
and the MEMSYS software used for the list. There were also discussions of
whether waivers are within the purview of the committee, and who can be on
local election committees.

The meeting adjourned at around 6:30 p.m. PDT.


Respectfully submitted,

Michael Lubin