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complicated and unwieldy public comment procedure that had aided the disrupters at the previous meeting it was voted down by a wide margin.

The LSB elected Bob Owens and Carolyn Birden to the National Archives Committee.

LSB Treasurer Paul Surovell, who is also chair of the LSB Finance Committee, passed out a spreadsheet designed to help organize information about the station's finances. He reported that the process of preparing WBAI's draft budget for fiscal year 2005, which starts October 1, 2004, had begun.

The Treasurer also reported that there was a controversy over a prominent producer who raises a lot of money during marathons not being allowed to pitch. He said that the Finance Committee would be trying to determine whether or not WBAI Management was preventing this producer from pitching and rising money for the station.

WBAI GM Don Rojas reported that Teri Graham has been appointed WBAI Local Election Supervisor. Mr. Rojas offered himself as a facilitator between the constituencies that have been elected.

The chair of the LSB Programming Committee reported that there is an organized effort to stop the work of the committee. Faction members are showing up and fraudulently claiming to be members of the committee and the same people who have disrupted LSB meetings are disrupting this committee's meetings. He reported that the committee's structure was broken. The same sort of thing has been reported as happening in other committees.

The bylaws mandated Committee of Inclusion (COI) reported that it was considering extending its deadline for applications. The COI's structure is stipulated in the bylaws. The four LSB members elect other members to the COI by majority vote. At its first meeting the usual faction members showed up and demanded to be instantly made members of the COI, they disrupted the meeting and an attempt was made to prevent the recording of this public meeting.

The chair of the Management Evaluation Committee reported that the General Manager and Program Director had been given the Staff survey and had registered no objections to it. AFTRA had

reported no problems with the survey, but the Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee has called for a boycott of the Staff survey.

An attempt to rescind the previously passed motion authorizing the Staff survey failed.

LSB members may be interviewing Staff as part of the Management evaluation process.

Since the General Manager has resigned effective at the end of 2004, the LSB is probably going to set up a GM Search sub-committee. There is some controversy over how many Staff will be on this sub-committee. I think that we need a mix of Staff LSB members and Paid and Unpaid Staff elected specifically to this sub-committee. AFTRA and USOC will make presentations to the LSB about this at the August 12, meeting.

Waivers allow listeners to vote in the elections if they can't afford to subscribe. A motion to give a waiver to anyone who wants one was voted down. Had it passed there would have been nothing to prevent Scientologists or Jerry Falwell supporters from getting thousands of waivers and determining the outcome of the upcoming elections!


And Then They
Came For Me


At a meeting of the LSB's Finance Committee on July 29, I was assaulted by one of those employed by the faction currently in charge to create an atmosphere of intimidation at WBAI.

WBAI GM Don Rojas responded with the lightest disciplinary measure for assault in the history of WBAI, this after the assailant admitted in writing that he was trying to steal my camera from me. And yet this is more than has been done about other instances of assault over the past several months.

The GM also issued a ban on all photographing and videotaping at meetings held on station premises. Besides violating the Pacifica bylaws this policy could potentially cost Pacifica some of its yearly CPB grant which accounts for 15% of the budget.


three radios

All labor donated by and printing paid for by R. Paul Martin.


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