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Acosta and VanPutten resign from Pacifica National Board 6-13-01 (resignation letter at bottom of page) |
From:Patty Heffley [Coalition for a Democratic Pacifica - New York] Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 4:42 AM Chair of Pacifica + another RESIGNS and Meeting CANCELLED Hey everybody, We got three for the gipper today. Yep, The chair of Pacifica, David Acosta from the Houston area and Karolyn Van Putten (Berkeley ) have resigned as of immediately. YIPPEE!!!! This info comes from Leslie Cagan, one of the dissident board members from NYC. That makes it 7 questionable board members and 5 fabulous dissidents. ALSO the Pacifica National board that was to be meeting in New York on July 1, 2001 has been CANCELLED!!!! We received this word from Carol Spooner from the Committee to Remove the Pacifica board and a plaintiff in the listeners' lawsuit. She spoke to Daly Temchine the counsel for Pacifica. Now we have to keep the pressure on the Washington DC board members. Murdock, Ken Ford, Bertram Lee and Bessie Wash, the director. The Washington DC connection needs to be examined. To wit: we need to get busy on electing the WBAI Local Advisory board so we will have democracy on our side and the National board will be fed with people WE chose not some appointed people without accountability. It is time for a structural change. It sounds harsh but the fact is "power corrupts" to paraphrase a fine phrase. Few people behave fairly when they have no accountability. It goes to their head. Heck, even I do it. Ha ha ha ha . That is why we need elections and recall of board members. It's not personal, it is a fact. It is a national issue and perhaps we can encourage the other 3 stations to elect their local boards as well just like KPFA did. Let's not forget that the listeners have a right and will do a good job of keeping things in order. After all we learned a lot from the radio so the listeners need a part in this. What has happened to Pacifica is a structural problem and it needs a structural fix, not one of personality. so go to http://www.wbai.net and sign the form on the elections page to receive a ballot. More later,
Patty
Thank you all for caring and keep it up. ---------------------------------------------
Date sent: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 22:58:00 -0400
Acosta and VanPutten resign!!! Friends - The day of victory appears to be almost at hand! Leslie Cagan just called from Cape Cod to say that Board Chair David Acosta (Houston) and reactionary Board member Karolyn Van Putten (Berkeley) -- both the subjects of pickets last week -- submitted their resignations from the Board tonite. She read me the text emailed to all Board members by Bessie Wash's assistant, Jennifer Spearman. The resignations take effect immediately. If no one else quits, that limits the hijackers to a 7-5 majority, but the word we're hearing is that others may want to bail as well -- they apparently are saying they can't take the pressure. This is a fantastic tribute to all the hard work and struggle that thousands of folks have waged on multiple fronts -- lawsuits, direct actions, rallies, boycotts, LAB elections, on-air defiance & education, and all the rest -- for years, but especially since December. We can't let down our guards until all the hijackers have left, and then we have the very hard work of reconstructing a progressive, democratic, participatory network. But for now, let's savor the victory.
And don't forget to keep the pressure up on Secretary Andrea Cisco by
picketing her business/home on Friday from 5-7 pm.
This news comes hard on the heels of the following email from Carol
Spooner:
Subject: Board meeting cancelled
Bob -- My attorneys spoke with the board majority's attorney Daly Temchine this afternoon. Temchine confirmed that they are going to cancel the board meeting on July 1st. --Carol Spooner ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RESIGNATION LETTER Below are the two memos that were sent to the full PNB by Jennifer Spearman earlier tonight....sorry I wasn't able to get them to you sooner. Leslie [Cagan] --------------------------------------
FIRST MEMO
Dear Pacifica Board Members: I received the resignation of Karolyn van Putten Pacifica National Board of Directors, effective immediately. I thank her for her unselfish time and devotion to the cause of Pacifica's progress.
David G. Acosta
Jennifer Spearman
------------------------------------
SECOND MEMO
The Executive Director has asked that I forward the resignation letter from the Chair. It is attached and below. Dear Pacifica Board of Directors: I hereby resign my position as Chair and Director of the Pacifica National Board of Directors effective June 12, 2001. I want to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your dedication and tireless efforts to move Pacifica forward. You all have sacrificed other areas of your lives to be here, and sometimes at great cost. I have the utmost respect for all who have served Pacifica without expectation of benefit, except for the knowledge that you have helped continue, improve, and expand the Mission of Pacifica. My personal relationships with past and present members will be forever cherished. My experience with Pacifica for the last seven years has been a fulfilling one, and I leave knowing that together we have made the Network better than it was when we got here. Our audience has increased significantly and we are on firmer financial ground than ever before. We have made the name of Pacifica aware in previously unaware places. Some would argue that this may not always be a good thing, but in the last few years, the myriad of discussions and arguments concerning freedom of individual speech, social justice, independence in the media, and direction of the network, have only strengthened Pacifica's importance in the world. I want to thank our Executive Director Bessie Wash for her collaboration with me and for doing an outstanding job in an almost impossible environment. I wish her well in the future and ask my colleagues to continue to support her. I also want to thank the rest of management and staff for their support of the Board. I wish them well in their sometimes thankless efforts to simply do their jobs, and I applaud their resolve. I am tempted to reflect on some negative aspects of our struggle to bring Pacifica to more people who really need it, (in my view, the whole world does) but I choose to dwell on the positive reality that Pacifica has been, is and can be...a healer.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Spearman
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