Peace and Justice Commission North Berkeley Senior Center Regular Meeting January 8, 2001
MINUTES
The meeting convened at 7:05 p.m. with Anne Wagley, chairperson, presiding. Steven Freedkin was sworn-in by the Secretary as a new member of the Peace and Justice Commission.
ROLL CALL
Present: Elliot Cohen, Stephen Glatt, Mark McDonald, Steven Freedkin, Anne Wagley
Absent: None
COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Denise Forest, regarding the death penalty.
Carol David, regarding the “no odor” announcement on the agenda.
Martin Ilian, Green Party of Alameda County, regarding Pacifica.
ACTION ON MINUTES
M/S/C (Wagley, Cohen) to approve the minutes for the regular meeting of December 4, 2000 as amended. Ayes: Cohen, Glatt, McDonald, Wagley; Noes: None; Abstain: Freedkin; Absent: None.
Commissioner Freedkin abstained because he was not a member of the Commission for the December meeting.
ACTIONS TAKEN:
M/S/C (Freedkin, Wagley) WHEREAS, Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) Chapter 3.68, establishing this Peace and Justice Commission, § 3.68.010 states, in part, "Peace is not a fictitious tranquil end-state, but the process of solving differences constructively, creatively, and non-violently"; and
WHEREAS, BMC § 3.68.070(B) states that the Peace and Justice Commission shall "Help create citizen awareness around issues of social justice and develop educational programs…."; and
WHEREAS, the Peace and Justice Commission has heard public testimony in support of this resolution; and MINUTES: REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 8, 2001
WHEREAS, BMC § 3.68.010 states, in part, "Individual citizens, unless organized, are virtually powerless in confronting and influencing larger governmental bodies"; and
WHEREAS, access to public communications is vital to enable citizens to effectively organize; and
WHEREAS, Berkeley-based radio station KPFA, 94.1 FM, a part of the Pacifica Foundation, has provided a voice for Berkeley-based groups and individuals promoting peace and justice for more than 50 yearsi; and
WHEREAS, local input into the governance of Pacifica Foundation and accountability for its actions were fundamentally compromised by action of the Pacifica National Board on February 28, 1999, purporting to change the Pacifica by-laws to eliminate the role of Local Advisory Boards (LABs), including KPFA's LAB, in appointing a majority of Pacifica Board members, instead making the Pacifica Board self-selecting ii,iii; and
WHEREAS, at the direction of Pacifica staff, KPFA was shut down and many of its staff and supporters were arrested on July 13, 1999; local staff remained locked out until Aug. 5, 1999iv; a Board member (now the Treasurer) discussed selling KPFA and/or WBAI in New Yorkv,vi; and communications equipment was installed that enables Pacifica to wrest control of the KPFA signal from the local community at any timevii; and
WHEREAS, Pacifica's national leadership has enforced changesviii at several of its stations that reduce local input and degrade the value of the Pacifica radio stations as voices for the promotion of peace and social justice; and
WHEREAS, Amy Goodman, award-winning host of Pacifica's "Democracy Now!" program, which provides a voice for peace and justice issues and activists including Berkeley activists, late last year complainedix of pressure from Pacifica management to "tone down" her coverage of peace and social justice issues; and
WHEREAS, around midnight December 22–23, 2000, the Pacifica Executive Director entered Pacifica's radio station WBAI in New York City, NY, changed the locks throughout the studio, fired the station manager and two long-time personnel with no notice or explanationx,xi,xii, all disturbingly reminiscent of the 1999 crackdown on KPFA in Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, members of the KPFA LAB, along with members of LABs at other Pacifica stations, have filed suitxiii against Pacifica claiming the by-laws change illegally disenfranchised the LABs and thus the communities they represent, including Berkeley; and
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WHEREAS, costs of the lawsuits for collecting depositions alone have reached $50,000xiv; and
WHEREAS, the KPFA LAB in September-October, 2000 implemented its own democratization, conducting the first-ever listener-sponsor election of members to the LABxv, thereby strengthening community input into KPFA;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Peace and Justice Commission thanks the City Council for its actions of Sept. 14, 1999xvi and subsequentlyxvii in supporting the lawsuit of the Local Advisory Boards against Pacifica Foundation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Peace and Justice Commission asks the City Council to direct the City Attorney to file a Friend of the Court brief in support of the plaintiffs in said lawsuit, emphasizing KPFA's historic and continuing vital role in supporting Berkeley community activism on issues of peace and justice, and the City's fundamental interest that the local community continue to have a major voice in KPFA's programming, including restoring the power of the Local Advisory Board to appoint members to the Pacifica Foundation National Board; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Peace and Justice Commission asks the City Council to allocate an additional $10,000 to support continuing costs of the lawsuit (not to include attorneys' fees).
M/S/C (Wagley, Cohen) that the Peace and Justice Commission supports the Commission on Aging’s proposal regarding the disenfranchisement of African-American and Haitian- American voters in Florida. Ayes: Unanimous; Absent: None.
NEXT MEETING DATE
Monday, February 5, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
MANUEL HECTOR JR SECRETARY
i "Founded in 1949 by Lewis Hill, a pacifis t, poet, and journalist, KPFA was the first community supported radio station in the USA." From "About KPFA,"
3 ii Verified Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief and for Damages for Violations of the Corporations Code and for Unfair Business Practices (Class Action), July 16, 1999,
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