Pacifica board leaders and dissidents reach mediated settlement
Updated from an article in
Current, Nov. 5, 2001
By Steve Behrens
Pacifica Radio's new board chairman and plaintiffs who sued to oust the board say that they reached a mediated settlement Nov. 1 [2001] that could end the conflict ripping apart the left-wing network.
"Pending approval of some details by interested parties, we have a done deal," new board Chairman Robert Farrell told Current Nov. 2. He called the 12-hour mediation "a stunning success."
Plaintiffs announced the next day that they were "confident that a final agreement will be reached" early during the week of Nov. 5. Until the pact is completely approved they said they could not give details.
Farrell also said he couldn't discuss terms, but predicted an interim board would be established "to chart Pacifica's future," and the board would have "greater representation of local advisory boards."
The interim board would have one year to write new bylaws for Pacifica and arrange for election of a permanent board, according to a summary of the settlement made available to Current. The interim board would include 19 members, including:
Such a deal would respond to Pacifica dissidents' fervent complaints that the national board has pushed aside activist volunteers and their elected local board members.
"I'm taking a moment to celebrate," said Sherry Gendelman, one of the plaintiffs, in a press release. "The task of rebuilding and democratizing the network will be a great one."
If the mediated settlement falls through, Pacifica may have a new board forced upon it. Four lawsuits to remove the present board come to trial Jan. 7, according to Carole Spooner, one of the plaintiffs. She said an Alameda County Superior Court judge is scheduled to rule Nov. 19 on a key issue: whether the Pacifica Foundation must be bound by wording in its Articles of Incorporation limiting it to five board members. Pacifica now has about three times that many, despite several resignations.
Two more key Pacifica Foundation figures dropped out last week: Vice Chairman Ken Ford, who resigned Oct. 31, according to Farrell. Like four other board members who have resigned since spring, Ford was targeted for repeated picketing and public condemnations by the Pacifica Campaign, which is fighting for control of the network.
Ford took extra heat last month after making a comparison between the anti-board "zealots" and Osama bin Laden's crew. "I see parallels between this group and al Qaeda ... They have an innate anger towards society as a whole," he told the San Francisco Examiner. He later apologized for the comparison.
Also gone is Bessie Wash, executive director since March 2000. Wash, onetime manager of Pacifica's Washington station, resigned Oct. 30, Farrell said. Wash told the Washington Post that she submitted her resignation late in September and stepped down early on Farrell's request. Joanne Meredith, Pacifica's national development director, was tapped as interim executive director.
Farrell looked on the bright side of Wash's departure.
"This is the opportunity to provide space for new leadership to develop, for us to move toward a more central place called common ground," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
At the same time, critics reported that Pacifica was late in paying bills, including a power bill for its Berkeley station, KPFA. Farrell said Pacifica was in a sound financial condition but typically has cashflow problems at this time of year. Activists meanwhile continued attempts to deprive Pacifica of revenues. The Pacifica Campaign last week scheduled picketing at Pacifica's KPFK in Los Angeles and urged a boycott of its fund drive.
Only Pacifica insiders would know why they had a delegation in mediation sessions last week, but outsiders could see plenty of potential reasons: finances, a weary and shrinking board and an approaching legal showdown. Also, 15 community radio stations suspended their affiliations with the network in October; included were key stations KGNU in Boulder, WORT in Madison, WERU in Blue Hill, Maine, and KBOO in Portland, Ore.
For Farrell, a former Los Angeles city councilman, returning to Pacifica's political mission was reason enough to stop the internal struggle.
"There is a place for us in the discussion about the war against terrorism and the national security state," he told Current. "We are patriotic Americans, and we believe the defense of the Bill of Rights is as patriotic as anything else. We've been missing out on a leadership role in this great debate that's taken place."
Farrell said the Pacifica board authorized mediation "a long while ago," but it didn't happen until he became chairman in September. "It's my watch, it's happening," he said. He appointed the negotiating committee that represented the board last week: new board member and former Washington, D.C., mayor Marion Barry, Pacifica treasurer Wendell Johns and himself.
"We are new people, we come with different perspectives," Farrell said.
The parties mediated for 12 hours on Nov. 1, with plaintiffs in one room and board reps in another. A professional mediator, retired California Supreme Court Justice Edward A. Panelli, shuttled back and forth, Farrell said.
Farrell said the mediation is part of his "peace initiative."
It was neither ordered nor supervised by the court, Spooner said in a memo to supporters last month. There were no guarantees that mediation would work, she said, so plaintiffs in the four lawsuits were moving "full steam ahead," preparing for about 40 depositions to be taken in November and December.