PNB Elections Committee
August 27, 2007
Proposed Agenda
1. Amend & Approve Agenda (10 min)
2. Review and Approval of Minutes (7/23/07)
(5 min)
(Minutes outstanding: 5/20/07, 6/3/07,
6/17/07)
3. Special Reports
A. Elections Supervisor (10 min)
(Peters will be in transit and might
not connect, he has sent a brief report via email)
B. Update from Director members on any
PNB motions relevant to the committee's work (5 min)
C. Committee Report to PNB (1 min)
4. Subcommittee Reports
A. Campaign Finance Reform Subcommittee
(Birden) (5 min)
(No subcommittee motions)
5. Workgroup Reports and Issues
A. Technology Follow-up (Williams)
(No report)
B. Staff Lists (Lederer) (5 min)
(No workgroup motions)
C. Tabled Motions on Composition of
Staff Lists Workgroup (20 min)
(Gatewood Substitute to Birden Motion)
Resolved: that future meetings of the
staff lists workgroup be
webstreamed and that efforts be made to
broaden the input
through public email lists.
(Birden Motion)
Whereas, Article Seven, Section 6.C of the
Pacifica Foundation Bylaws
requires meetings "open to the public
and to all Members, with the
exception of those meetings dedicated to,
or predominately regarding,
personnel, proprietary information,
litigation and other matters
requiring confidential advice of counsel,
involving commercial or
financial information obtained on a
privileged or confidential basis
or relating to a purchase of property or
the use of engagement
of services whenever the premature
exposure of said purchase or
sale or, in the LSB's sole opinion, may
compromise the legitimate
business interest of said radio station or
the Foundation," and
Whereas, the same section of the Bylaws
states that "No person shall
be required, as a condition for attendance
at any public meeting or
to publicly comment, to register his/her
name or to provide any other
information, " therefore be it
RESOLVED, that all meetings including
teleconferences of the
Elections Committee and its subcommittees,
workgroups, and other
organized meetings of its members shall be
webstreamed or, if
webstreaming is not possible for technical
reasons, teleconferences
shall be open to members of Pacifica.
Members of Pacifica other
than members of the Elections Committee
and those appointed or
elected to a work group or subcommittee
who are joining a
teleconference may take part in the
deliberations if such
participation is approved by a majority
vote of the EC members on the
call. No member taking part in the
deliberations after such
approval shall be required to register his
or her name or provide any
other information in order to
participate. Be it further
RESOLVED, that all such workgroup and
subcommittee meetings shall
be publicly announced at least five days
in advance, with the
announcement to include instructions for
interested parties who wish
to listen to the webstream or the
teleconference.
D. Membership Lists (Roberts) (10 min)
E. Motion on Teleconference Phone
Systems (Birden) (5 min)
5. Unfinished Business
A. Motion that Directors report PNB
actions regarding election
matters to the Elections Committee
(Birden) (5 min)
(Possibly mooted)
6. New Business
A. Recommending Subsidiary Amendment to
the Language of a Proposed
Bylaws Amendment Previously Noticed
(Goodman) (20 min)
(Time sensitive)
WHEREAS, Amendments have been proposed to
Article Four, Section 8 of
the Pacifica bylaws that, if approved by
the membership in November
2007, could allow an interpretation that
delegates elected by the
membership in that same election are
disqualified for violation of
new term limits,
AND WHEREAS, the amendment currently
proposed for Article Four,
Section 7 of the Pacifica bylaws
specifies "seated in 2008" in
reference to delegates to be seated in
December, 2007, says that
term limits are to take effect
immediately, and allows an
interpretation that newly elected
delegates may be subject to the
new term limits in a manner that would
immediately disqualify them
from seating,
AND WHEREAS, The Rules of Order allow
subsidiary amendment to
proposed bylaws amendments where the
change in text is within the
scope of the original notice,
BE IT RESOLVED, That the PNB Elections
Committee recommends that
each Assembly of Delegates and the
Pacifica National Board, in their
September 2007 meetings, replace the
proposed language for amendment
of the bylaws section on the transition
election to remove such
ambiguities, as follows:
[Art. 4] SECTION 7. TRANSITION
ELECTION
If bylaws amendments establishing
four-year terms are approved
by the membership, they shall take
effect immediately for those
delegates elected for seating in
December 2007, and the previous
bylaws term limits of no more than two
consecutive 3-year terms or
6 consecutive years shall no longer
apply. The terms of the
Delegates elected for seating in
December 2006 shall remain
three-year terms.
If any term limits are approved by the
membership in 2007, those
term limits shall be applied at the
next Delegate election in
2009. If "No Consecutive
Terms" are approved by the members, then
Delegates elected for seating in
December 2006 will not be
eligible for reelection in 2009, and
Delegates elected for seating
in December 2007 will not be eligible
for reelection in 2011. If
"Maximum Two Consecutive
Terms" are approved by the members,
then Delegates who were first elected
for seating in December 2006
will be eligible for reelection in
2009, however Delegates who
were first elected in February 2004 and
reelected for a second
term in 2006 and Delegates who were
elected for seating in
December 2004 (whether or not they had
previously been elected for
9-month terms in February 2004) and
reelected for a second term
for seating in December 2007 will not
be eligible for reelection
to a third term in 2011. If "No
Term Limits" are approved by the
voters, then Delegates elected for
seating in December 2006 and
December 2007 will be eligible for
reelection in perpetuity. In
the case of a Delegate seated to
complete a term vacated by a
departed Delegate, service of two
years or more shall be
considered a term; service of less than
two years shall not be
considered a term.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That upon
approval of this motion, the
Committee Chair, with the assistance of
the Director members of the
Committee, shall seek endorsement of this
subsidiary amendment from
the seven Directors who proposed the
amendment for which revision is
sought, and shall then communicate to the
chairs of the Assemblies
of Delegates and the Pacifica National
Board the recommendation of
this Committee and the endorsements, if
any, received from the
proposing Directors.
NOTE:
The current proposed amendment for this
section reads as follows:
[ART. 4] SECTION 7. TRANSITION ELECTION
If bylaws amendments establishing
four-year terms are approved by
the membership in 2007, they will take
effect immediately. In that
event, any Delegates and Associate
Station Representatives seated in
2008 and in future elections shall be
granted four-year terms, and
any Delegates and Associate Station
Representatives serving
three-year terms in 2007 shall serve
their original terms, subject
to the term limits, if any, approved by
the membership in 2007.
Consecutive term limitations applicable
to Delegates shall also
apply to Associate Station
Representatives."
7. Adjournment
TOTAL ESTIMATED TIME: 101 minutes
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To: PNB Elections Committee
From: "Casey Peters"
Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:45:23 -0700
Subject: NES report to Elections Committee
Please accept my apology for possibly not
being available for the Monday night meeting. I will be in transit, riding and
Amtrak train, and may not be accessible to telephone reception.
Allow me to remind you that the Date of
Record for voting membership in the 2007 elections is AUGUST 31 - this coming
Friday. Most stations are hosting membership events on the 30th or 31st,
and those events will double as signature
gathering opportunities for
LSB candidates.
Revised lists of Unpaid Staff members
should be posted prominently at
each station no later than September 4.
The deadline for contesting those lists is September 15.
I strongly urge anyone who is considering
running for a seat on your
Local Station Board or who knows anyone who
may be willing to serve on the board to contact your Local Election Supervisor
immediately to get a candidate packet
(email addresses: votekpfa@gmail.com
votekpfk@gmail.com
votekpft@gmail.com
votewpfw@gmail.com
or download it from
http://www.pacificafoundation.org/elections
and spend some time writing your candidate
statement (up to 500 words).
It will benefit all concerned if you turn
in your petitions and other
candidate materials EARLY rather than
waiting for the deadline of September 25.
Thank you.