proposed Pacifica By-Laws amendment

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Casey Peters

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Mar 24, 2011, 12:53:18 AM3/24/11
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Dear PNB Election Committee members,

Please allow me to resubmit for your consideration a proposal I made four years ago shortly after I became National Elections Supervisor. It was based on my observations from two terms as Local Election Supervisor for KPFK in 2003-4 and 2006, and from discussions with board members.

My suggestion is to hold Pacifica Local Station Board elections only in odd-numbered years. The reasons are:
(a) To allow Pacifica people to participate in governmental elections. Because Pacifica By-Laws ban members from running for LSB and simultaneously for public office, this would remove interference with such candidacies in congressional and presidential election years as was the case in 2004, 2006, and 2010 and will be again in 2012.
(b) To give new LSB members time to settle in and focus on Pacifica governance before another potentially divisive election cycle comes around.
(c) To save the Foundation money by running elections only three times every twelve years rather than four times.
(d) To provide a regular biennial election cycle for Pacifica supporters rather than the confusing two-years-on, one-year-off model now in place.
(e) To increase term limits to provide those who have served more respite and to allow participation of more new blood on our Local Station Boards.

The last point raises the second part of the proposal. If elections are held only in odd-numbered years, the term of office will necessarily be extended to four years. My suggestion is that the term limit provision of the By-Laws be amended to require two years out of service between each single four-year term. However, if board members prefer, a question may be put to the membership to decide whether the two-year hiatus will go into effect after two terms rather than one.

2011, being a year off from Pacifica elections, would be a good time to consider this proposal. It would presumably be placed on membership ballots concurrently with the 2012 LSB elections and go into effect with the 2013 elections. That is, the 2012 ballot would elect members to a 3-year term ending in 2015 and if this proposal is approved, the 2013 ballot would elect members to a 4-year term ending in 2017.  That would make 2012 the last time Pacifica elections conflict with national elections. 

I would be happy to answer any questions about this proposal at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Casey Peters
paci...@mail2casey.com



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Terry Goodman

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Mar 24, 2011, 3:17:11 PM3/24/11
to Casey Peters, pnb_el...@googlegroups.com
On Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:53:18 -0700, Casey Peters wrote:

<snip>


>The last point raises the second part of the proposal. If elections are
>held only in odd-numbered years, the term of office will necessarily be
>extended to four years. My suggestion is that the term limit provision
>of the By-Laws be amended to require two years out of service between
>each single four-year term.

<snip>

Because of the "a year equals 365 days" PNB misinterpretation of
bylaws language, a 23-month out of service period is preferable -- it
would prevent the two year hiatus becoming effectively a four year ban
on returning candidates if a second week of December Delegate seating
date was scheduled a couple of years after a third week of December
Delegate seating date. (Actually, the disqualification game might
play out with election dates rather than seating dates when Election
Supervisors qualify candidates, but the principle is the same. It was
not the intent of the Pacifica Bylaws, for example, to disqualify from
Director service any Delegate with less than 12 full months of service
as an LSB Member due to any post-election seating delay).

A one year out of service mandate should be avoided with four year
terms as it could prompt some second-termers to resign a year early
for third-term election qualifying purposes.

But realistically, isn't eight years total of Pacifica governance
service more than sufficient punishment for any person's lifetime?
With a simple individual limit of eight years total elected Delegate
service specified in the bylaws, individuals smart enough to take a
well-deserved breather after their first four-year terms could then
determine for themselves when and if they have sufficiently recovered
for a second and final four-year attempt at making a difference in
Pacifica via the democratic method.

FAIR WARNING:.
After a transition from three-year to four-year terms, we might
reasonably expect to see a 15% to 25% increase in the number of
Delegate vacancies due to death or resignation. With elections in
odd-numbered years, at least half of these vacancies will occur more
than a year after the previous election, when significantly fewer
individuals in the alternate pools are stll available as substitutes.
Those individuals chosen to complete terms under the automatic
appointment provisions in the Pacifica Bylaws with elections only in
odd-numbered years will thus tend to have been at least as
significantly less preferred by the electorate in two out of every
four years as the substitutes we currently risk appointing from stale
alternate pools in only one out of every three years.

Due to the above concern, and to reduce the potential for mid-year
vacancies forced by term limits that arises whenever an alternate is
twice re-elected, I would recommend an additional bylaws amendment
such that substitute Delegates serve only until replaced in the next
scheduled delegate election rather than having them complete a vacated
term. Additionally, depending on how it is written, the transition
from a six consecutive year term limit to an eight year lifetime term
limit might allow the re-election of a former Delegate to a nominally
four-year term for which they may only serve two years.

To re-establish the stagger while preserving continuity, in any year
where more than 9 Listen-Sponsor Representative Delegates and/or 3
Staff Members Representative Delegates are to be seated, the
additional Delegates (along with any six-year service returning
Delegates elected) should be assigned two-year rather than four-year
terms.

--Terry Goodman

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