WHAT THE NEW BYLAWS WILL DO
* The new bylaws will reduce the size of the national board from 22 to 11 directors –There will be 5 “Station Representative Directors” elected directly by the Members at each station, and there will be 6 “At-Large Directors” elected by the Board as a whole.
* Eliminate the Local Station Boards — The current 24-member Local Station Boards at each station, which have proven to be ineffectual breeding grounds of factionalism, will be eliminated. Current members will be encouraged to join their station’s Community Advisory Board, which is mandated by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
* Recruit more qualified Board Members — Because the members at each station will directly elect their “Station Representative Director” to the Board of Directors, candidates will have to present themselves, their qualifications, skills, and experience to the voting membership instead of hiding on a slate of 10-20 people running for 9 positions on the Local Station Board. The members will have a much better basis to evaluate them and choose the most qualified person to represent their station. And the Board can recruit and choose the remaining 6 “At-Large Directors” for skills and experience needed on the Board.
* Reduce the number and cost of elections — Under the new Bylaws there will be a total of 5 elections in every 3-year period — members at each station, with both listeners and staff voting together, will elect one “Station Representative Director” every three years for a 3-year term. To provide continuity these elections will be staggered through the stations over 3 years so that all director seats do not turnover at once, with elections at 2 stations in year one, 2 stations in year two, and the fifth station in the 3rd year.
Currently, there are a total of 20 elections in every 3-year period – a staff election of 3 “Delegates” to the Local Station Board, and a listener election of 9 “Delegates” to the Local Station Board at all five stations in 2 out of every 3 years.
The current system is chaotic and costly. For example, the 2018 Delegate election report details 10 separate elections (Listener-Members and Staff Members at 5 stations) involving 123 candidates and conducted over nine (9) months from September 2018 through March 2019. If you’re interested you can read the report on that election here: elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Pacifica-Election-Final-Report-2018-by-RAP-1-1.pdf