Shawn
On Aug 8, 2010, at 10:10 PM, Bill Crosier wrote:

Here's what I have so far, for the draft agenda
for this evening's Election Committee meeting.
Please send me (or to this elections committee
list) anything else you'd like to add to the
agenda.
Below that is some information on proposed Bylaws
amendments dealing with elections (one of the
agenda items), and I hope you will review that
material before the meeting, too.  It has the
proposed amendments I sent out previously, along
with comments I've received so far.

All of you on the committee should have received
an automatic notice with the call in number and
code early this morning (and another notice
Sunday morning).  If you don't see it, check your
spam folder and if you still can't find it, let
me know.

My comment on Ken's motion:  Let's be sure to ask
any questions we have for Renee during the first
hour of the call tonight, as she won't be able to
stay on for the entire call.  I know the main
reason for not printing and mailing the complete
candidate info to all members is because of cost,
and she can clarify what the cost difference is.
When we passed the earlier opt-out motion in the
spring, this was before we had figures on costs
for printing and mailing.  I know Renee plans to
make it easy for members to get all the candidate
info (by requesting via phone or e-mail) in hard
copy in the mail, or via the web, and some people
prefer getting the info online rather than
keeping up with a printed booklet for several
weeks, but I admit we don't really know how many
people might not vote because of this.  My guess
is not many but I'd like to hear from people with
real experience in this area.

Bill

- - - - -

Draft PNB Elections Committee Agenda
Tuesday, Aug. 10, 8:30 PM EDT

1.  Call to order and roll call

2.  Approval of agenda (10 min.)

3.  Approval of July 22 meeting minutes (5 min.)
(Please review the draft minutes that Ken sent to
all comm. members the evening of July 22, after
the meeting.)

4.  Report from National Election Supervisor,
current status and plans (30 min.)
Note:  Renee said she will probably only be able
to be on the call for an hour this evening as she
has a lot of matters to attend to, regarding
elections.

5.  Report from each station area re: elections
(please have specifics on any problems or other
items needing
attention, and what needs to be done about them) (30 minutes)

6.  New Business (30 min.)

6A. Motion from Ken Aaron:  Send campaign
booklets to all voters except those who have
originated a request not to receive them.  Such a
request will be received by the LES via post,
email or phone.

6B. Other items?

7.  Confirm next committee meeting date (Tue. Sep. 14) (5 min)

8.  Review Action Items (5 min.)

9.  Adjourn (approx. 10:30 PM EST)

- - - - -

Proposed Pacifica Bylaws amendments dealing with
elections, with comments I've received so far:

1.  Stop defining one-third = 1/4

Proposed amendment #1:
Change the second sentence of Article Three, Section 7 from:
    "A quorum of the Staff Members shall be
one-third (1/4) of those Staff Members entitled
to vote on the matter, as of the applicable
record date."
to:
    "A quorum of the Staff Members shall be
one-fourth (1/4) of those Staff Members entitled
to vote on the matter, as of the applicable
record date."

Bill's Comment:
This section has caused confusion to election
supervisors ever since it was put in the Bylaws.
If the NES guesses wrong as to which fraction is
correct, it might be another reason for a losing
candidate to sue us.

Ken's Comment:
I think we do better with one third (1/3) not one
fourth (1/4) of staff.  Assuming this is to
accept/reject union contract changes etc, 1/4
could certainly lead to a small faction
controlling the vote.

Bill's comment #2:
Either 1/4 or 1/3 is OK with me, as long as it's
clear which fraction we want to use.

2.  Stop defining 30 = 31

Proposed amendment #2:
Change the first sentence of Article 4, Section 5 from:
    "In a Delegate election year, the nomination
period for seats being vacated shall open on June
1 and remain open for thirty (30) days, closing
on July 1."
to:
    "In a Delegate election year, the nomination
period for seats being vacated shall open on June
1 and remain open for thirty (30) days, closing
on June 30."
Comment:  The difference is only one day, but
let's be clear whether it's supposed to be 30
days (with nominations closing June 30), or 31
days (closing July 1).  It's another lawsuit
waiting to happen.

Ken's Comment:
I think it should be changed to:
    "In a Delegate election year, the nomination
period for seats being vacated shall remain open
for forty-five (45) consecutive days commencing
on June 1st or when electoral carts begin airing
on the station, which ever is later."

Bill's comment:
I'd rather not say it always should be 45 days.
I just want to remove the discrepancy between 30
and 31 days.  I think that if we can get the NES
and LESs hired early enough (as mentioned in the
next proposed amendment below), that 30 days is
enough.  In addition, if amendment #3 below is
approved, then we would not need to specify 45
days either because the NES could change it if
needed.

3.  Allowing the NES some flexibility in key
election dates/schedules, when the NES is not
hired by March 1:

Proposed amendment #3:
Add the following to the end of the first paragraph of Article Four, Section 5:
"Notwithstanding the above dates in this
paragraph, the National Election Supervisor
(NES), after consulting with management at all
stations to review plans for fund drives and
other possible conflicts with elections, may
adjust all the other dates in this paragraph as
necessary to ensure that there is (1) adequate
time for preparation for the elections at each
station, and (2) adequate promotion at each
station to obtain an adequate number of qualified
candidates.  For determining whether the
nomination deadline date should be extended, if
the number of candidates in each election is at
least twice the number of positions to fill, then
the number of candidates shall be deemed to be
adequate.  However, there is no requirement that
the nomination deadline be extended indefinitely
if this number of candidates is not obtained.
Any adjustments to the election dates should
ensure that the elections are completed and
certified by December 1 so the newly elected
Delegates may be seated as provided in Article
Seven, Section 6B."

Ken's Comment:
Sounds pretty good.

Background/Bill's comment:
Article 4, Section 4A and section 5 specify dates
regarding elections that we repeatedly have
trouble with.  It seems to be difficult to hire
our NES by March 1 of each election year, and
then we have other problems caused by inadequate
time for preparations, including:  recruiting,
selecting, hiring, and training LESs; recording
promotional carts and scheduling other on-air
election promotion, coordinating with station
managers about fund drive schedules, etc.  For
every election, the PNB and/or the NES has to
struggle with whether to change/extend certain
dates/deadlines, even when the Bylaws don't
provide for such changes, and we don't need to
invite more lawsuits and waste so much time
fussing over what we should do and what the
Bylaws allow.

An amendment was passed a couple of years ago
moving up the election schedule (to avoid
conflicting with fall fund drives and public
elections (in which so many of our board members
get involved), and giving more time between the
nominations close and the ballot mailing for the
election supervisors to do all that's necessary.
But we still have trouble meeting those dates for
every election, and it eats up lots of time for
the LSBs, PNB, election supervisors, and others
while not solving the problems (and sometimes
making things worse if the election supervisors
don't have enough time to prepare for the
elections).

Of course, we should still try to get an NES
hired by March 1, but if we continue having
trouble doing this, then an amendment may make it
easier to get our elections running with fewer
problems, without having to rush so much to start
the nominations period per the Bylaws date and
then extend various dates contrary to what the
Bylaws say anyway.

Also, note that Article 3, section 7 defines the
quorum requirements, and Article 4, section 5
already provides for extending the ballot close
date in order to achieve quorum (but not other
dates).  Therefore, this is already taken care of
and we don't need to add or change anything to
make sure we get enough ballots to achieve quorum.

4.  STV/IRV voting method with ties

Proposed amendment #4:

Change Article Fifteen, Section 1, Subsection B
"INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING METHOD", paragraph
numbered 2, from:
   "2. Each ballot shall list all candidates for
the position, on which ballot the voter shall
rank the candidates in order of preference (with
1 representing the voter's first choice, 2
representing the voter's second choice and so
on)."
to:
   "2. Each ballot shall list all candidates for
the position, on which ballot the voter shall
rank the candidates in order of preference (with
1 representing the voter's first choice, 2
representing the voter's second choice and so
on).  The voter may rank as many or as few
candidates as desired."

Ken's comment:
Better would be:
   "2. Each ballot shall list all candidates for
the position, on which ballot the voter shall
rank the candidates in order of preference (with
1 representing the voter's first choice, 2
representing the voter's second choice and so
on).  The voter may rank as many or as few
candidates as desired but should not use the same
ranking for more than one candidate (not mark two
or more candidates as rank 1).."

AND ALSO:

Change Article Fifteen, Section 1, Subsection B
"INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING METHOD", paragraph
numbered 4, from:
4. If no candidate ...

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Woops -- I left off the Bylaws amendments from the draft agenda.

Here's the revised item 6:

6.  New Business (30 min.)

6A. Proposed Bylaws amendments dealing with elections (20 min.)

6B. Motion from Ken Aaron:  Send campaign
booklets to all voters except those who have
originated a request not to receive them.  Such a
request will be received by the LES via post,
email or phone. (15 min.)

I apologize for the confusion.

Bill

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Re: PNB Election Committee meeting tonight -agendaPNB Election Com members

What I proposed was a motion, not a bylaws amendment.  This has to be implemented now, by the NES and ED, not sent out for debate amongst the stations.
  Send campaign booklets to all voters except those who have originated a request not to receive them.  Such a request will be received by the LES via post, email or phone.
The NES proposal to withhold Candidate Booklets unless specially requested by the voter is a direct action to disenfranchise the voters, setting extra hurdles to be passed if they want to vote.  This is discriminatory, similar to a literacy test but in this case it's a cyber literacy test.  It will result in law suits.  The NES is not the Treasurer, she is the NES.  She is also not granted the privilege of interpreting the best way to augment or change our election procedures.  This NES has assigned herself powers and authority that are not stipulated in the bylaws.  The PNB did not instruct the NES to implement internet voting nor to compel the voters to opt-in for voting material sent by post.  Trying to select and rank nine candidates is a difficult task if done over the internet absent a special interface to accomplish the task.  It is a degradation of the voting procedure.  Saving money by failing to mail Candidate Booklets is absolutely penny wise and pound foolish.  Perhaps the NES and/or LES would care to cut back their compensation to help with any budget shortfalls.  Perhaps the ED can help out by cutting down on travel expenses.  Let's not penalize the voters for the budgetary failures of management.

At some point, this NES will be gone.  We in governance will be here to handle the consequences of her actions and inactions.  Allowing the NES to alter our election procedures without the explicit instructions and/or consent of the PNB is a blatant disregard of the responsibility to uphold the bylaws and to govern the Foundation.

Ken Aaron

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----

From: Bill Crosier
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 6:42 AM
To: pnb_elections@googlegroups.com
Subject: [PNB_Elections:671] Re: PNB Election Committee meeting tonight -agenda

Woops -- I left off the Bylaws amendments from the draft agenda.

Here's the revised item 6:

6.  New Business (30 min.)

6A. Proposed Bylaws amendments dealing with elections (20 min.)

6B. Motion from Ken Aaron:  Send campaign booklets to all voters except those who have originated a request not to receive them.  Such a request will be received by the LES via post, email or phone. (15 min.)

I apologize for the confusion.

Bill

  Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:35:52 -0500
  To: pnb_elections@googlegroups.com
  From: Bill Crosier <k...@crosierbiomed.com>
  Subject: PNB Election Committee meeting tonight -agenda
  Cc: Arlene Engelhardt <arl...@pacifica.org>, Renee Asteria <n...@pacifica.org>
  Bcc:
  X-Attachments:

  Here's what I have so far, for the draft agenda for this evening's Election Committee meeting.   Please send me (or to this elections committee list) anything else you'd like to add to the agenda.
  Below that is some information on proposed Bylaws amendments dealing with elections (one of the agenda items), and I hope you will review that material before the meeting, too.  It has the proposed amendments I sent out previously, along with comments I've received so far.

  All of you on the committee should have received an automatic notice with the call in number and code early this morning (and another notice Sunday morning).  If you don't see it, check your spam folder and if you still can't find it, let me know.

  My comment on Ken's motion:  Let's be sure to ask any questions we have for Renee during the first hour of the call tonight, as she won't be able to stay on for the entire call.  I know the main reason for not printing and mailing the complete candidate info to all members is because of cost, and she can clarify what the cost difference is.  When we passed the earlier opt-out motion in the spring, this was before we had figures on costs for printing and mailing.  I know Renee plans to make it easy for members to get all the candidate info (by requesting via phone or e-mail) in hard copy in the mail, or via the web, and some people prefer getting the info online rather than keeping up with a printed booklet for several weeks, but I admit we don't really know how many people might not vote because of this.  My guess is not many but I'd like to hear from people with real experience in this area.

  Bill

  - - - - -

  Draft PNB Elections Committee Agenda
  Tuesday, Aug. 10, 8:30 PM EDT

  1.  Call to order and roll call

  2.  Approval of agenda (10 min.)

  3.  Approval of July 22 meeting minutes (5 min.)
  (Please review the draft minutes that Ken sent to all comm. members the evening of July 22, after the meeting.)

  4.  Report from National Election Supervisor, current status and plans (30 min.)
  Note:  Renee said she will probably only be able to be on the call for an hour this evening as she has a lot of matters to attend to, regarding elections.

  5.  Report from each station area re: elections (please have specifics on any problems or other items needing
  attention, and what needs to be done about them) (30 minutes)

  6.  New Business (30 min.)

  6A. Motion from Ken Aaron:  Send campaign booklets to all voters except those who have originated a request not to receive them.  Such a request will be received by the LES via post, email or phone.

  6B. Other items?

  7.  Confirm next committee meeting date (Tue. Sep. 14) (5 min)

  8.  Review Action Items (5 min.)

  9.  Adjourn (approx. 10:30 PM EST)

  - - - - -

  Proposed Pacifica Bylaws amendments dealing with elections, with comments I've received so far:

  1.  Stop defining one-third = 1/4

  Proposed amendment #1:
  Change the second sentence of Article Three, Section 7 from:
     "A quorum of the Staff Members shall be one-third (1/4) of those Staff Members entitled to vote on the matter, as of the applicable record date."
  to:
     "A quorum of the Staff Members shall be one-fourth (1/4) of those Staff Members entitled to vote on the matter, as of the applicable record date."

  Bill's Comment:  
    This section has caused confusion to election supervisors ever since it was put in the Bylaws.  If the NES guesses wrong as to which fraction is correct, it might be another reason for a losing candidate to sue us.

  Ken's Comment:  
    I think we do better with one third (1/3) not one fourth (1/4) of staff.  Assuming this is to accept/reject union contract changes etc, 1/4 could certainly lead to a small faction controlling the vote.

  Bill's comment #2:
    Either 1/4 or 1/3 is OK with me, as long as it's clear which fraction we want to use.

  2.  Stop defining 30 = 31

  Proposed amendment #2:
  Change the first sentence of Article 4, Section 5 from:
     "In a Delegate election year, the nomination period for seats being vacated shall open on June 1 and remain open for thirty (30) days, closing on July 1."
  to:
     "In a Delegate election year, the nomination period for seats being vacated shall open on June 1 and remain open for thirty (30) days, closing on June 30."
  Comment:  The difference is only one day, but let's be clear whether it's supposed to be 30 days (with nominations closing June 30), or 31 days (closing July 1).  It's another lawsuit waiting to happen.

  Ken's Comment:  
    I think it should be changed to:
       "In a Delegate election year, the nomination period for seats being vacated shall remain open for forty-five (45) consecutive days commencing on June 1st or when electoral carts begin airing on the station, which ever is later."

  Bill's comment:
    I'd rather not say it always should be 45 days.  I just want to remove the discrepancy between 30 and 31 days.  I think that if we can get the NES and LESs hired early enough (as mentioned in the next proposed amendment below), that 30 days is enough.  In addition, if amendment #3 below is approved, then we would not need to specify 45 days either because the NES could change it if needed.

  3.  Allowing the NES some flexibility in key election dates/schedules, when the NES is not hired by March 1:

  Proposed amendment #3:
  Add the following to the end of the first paragraph of Article Four, Section 5:
  "Notwithstanding the above dates in this paragraph, the National Election Supervisor (NES), after consulting with management at all stations to review plans for fund drives and other possible conflicts with elections, may adjust all the other dates in this paragraph as necessary to ensure that there is (1) adequate time for preparation for the elections at each station, and (2) adequate promotion at each station to obtain an adequate number of qualified candidates.  For determining whether the nomination deadline date should be extended, if the number of candidates in each election is at least twice the number of positions to fill, then the number of candidates shall be deemed to be adequate.  However, there is no requirement that the nomination deadline be extended indefinitely if this number of candidates is not obtained.  Any adjustments to the election dates should ensure that the elections are completed and certified by December 1 so the newly elected Delegates may be seated as provided in Article Seven, Section 6B."

  Ken's Comment:  
    Sounds pretty good.

  Background/Bill's comment:
    Article 4, Section 4A and section 5 specify dates regarding elections that we repeatedly have trouble with.  It seems to be difficult to hire our NES by March 1 of each election year, and then we have other problems caused by inadequate time for preparations, including:  recruiting, selecting, hiring, and training LESs; recording promotional carts and scheduling other on-air election promotion,
...

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