Was that a Constructive Atmosphere at the Pacifica Board Meeting?

A Report on the Meeting Within the Meeting Within the Meeting

It was an overcast morning as the last of four members from the Houston Committee for People's Radio (HCPR) jumped into the taxi (driven by a fifth member) to take us to Bush Airport for a flight to attend the Washington, DC area meeting of the Pacifica National Board (PNB). This group was only part of a larger contingent travelling to DC that weekend from Houston, but our collective (generally) joyous mood set the tone for much of what occurred at the PNB meeting. A few hours later, we arrived at Reagan Airport on the way to the nearby Crystal City DoubleTree Hotel, where the PNB meeting would be held, just blocks from the Pentagon in Northern Virginia. We wound up sharing the hotel shuttle bus with none other than Bob Farrell, the chair of the PNB. Farrell seemed surprised about how disarming we were in our short discussion during the ride. It was an apt example of the constructive mood that we promoted throughout the entire meeting.

The first public meeting of the PNB was to occur in about an hour, so we grabbed a bite, and moved downstairs with others in great numbers to the conference room for the opening of the PNB meeting. The room was full of listeners/activists from all over the United States. The meeting was officially convened with some perfunctory remarks and then the microphones were opened for public comments. A great many New Yorkers lined up to speak about their situation, each going well beyond their allotted time of three minutes. Our Houston group signed up to speak on the two specific topics we would push for the entire weekend: the appointment of our listener-elected interim KPFT Local Advisory Board (iLAB) to replace the management-appointed KPFT Local Advisory Board (LAB) and the immediate dropping of the false charge of trespassing against combination KPFT LAB and iLAB member, Teresa Allen, who had a court appearance that very day. The four HCPR members present during the opening meeting eventually made their way to the microphone and stood with each other as a group while three spoke consecutively. We were cordial and endearing, but very assertive in what we wanted.

The public comments went on for hours, with more people filling the room as time went on. Once the public session had ended, the various ad hoc meetings began. The listeners/activists set up camp in the hotel lobby, where various strategies were plotted and discussed, led by a contingent from the New York scene. The PNB members themselves shuffled from room to room for their own brainstorming sessions. This situation would repeat itself all weekend long. In the meantime, bonds were being formed and renewed between many of the people who had previously only gotten to know each other online. Finally around 1am or so, people headed to their rooms for some rest before the resumption of the PNB meeting early the next morning.

As the sun rose on Saturday morning, the hotel restaurant began to fill with Pacifica people looking for a little breakfast and gallons of coffee to help them get through the coming day's activities. We trekked back downstairs to the conference room for another round of demands on the PNB. What was funny was how the PNB spent so much time during the meeting criticizing themselves. PNB member, Bertram Lee, amused all present with his angry outbursts directed against his fellow board members, his throwing of chairs and his angling for fistfights with particular members of the audience.

The meeting continued with more public comments delivered by the stream of listeners/activists arriving continually. Eventually, a plan from the PNB was proposed to restructure Pacifica. But the assembled throng would have none of it and gave the deal a big thumbs down. Then the PNB retired for more ad hoc meetings and the listeners/activists did the same, for hours on end.

By that point, many of us had been stuck in the hotel for 24 hours with nothing but speeches and meetings as our existential reality. Once the final PNB session had ended for the day, we were got out into DC proper for some air, dinner and a change of pace. Our group's travels would prove to be an adventure in and of itself, with circuitous climbs up seemingly five-story broken subway escalators, a sidetrip to hear Amy and roundabout subway journeys. As torturous as it was, the trip was an exhilarating expenditure of pent-up energy.

By midnight, enough of us were gathered and relaxing in the hotel lobby (with the bar, a few steps away) before making a pilgrimage to the sixth floor for Cannibal's Firewater Party, sponsored by yet another activist faction from New York. The party rocked on and we strategized and drank from Martini glasses until past 4 AM.

Sunday morning was a virtual repeat of Saturday's events, save for the hangovers. Overnight, more Houstonians had arrived. Once breakfast had ended, we ritually made our way downstairs to begin the final session of the meeting. There was, however, no immediate resumption as the PNB had began a series of private meetings with all parties to the struggle to hash things out in preparation for yet another proposal to restructure Pacifica.

The listener/activists went back into their ad hoc-meeting mode; creating proposals, doing floor voting and arguing positions. A group of the Houston attendees stated their case before the board in the wrap-up of the private meetings. Finally, the board decamped and the PNB meeting was resumed. A final proposal for restructuring Pacifica was unveiled (described elsewhere in this issue), and unanimously approved by the 10 members of the PNB who were present.

Some activists were happy with parts of the proposal, but Houston was severely unsatisfied, having just failed to gain official recognition to the KPFT iLAB (although the dropping of charges against Teresa Allen was an agreed-upon "Hot Issue" for rapid resolution).

Then the official meeting was adjourned, which led, of course, to yet another activist meeting on-site. Everyone readied for the trip back home and there was lots of shared bear hugs and kisses all around, sufficing until next time. The communal weekend was coming to a close.

Four Houston attendees once again lucked out on a free lift to the airport, this time from one of the PNB members. On the way, we talked about all things Pacifica, and other activist concerns, as well. An opinion was voiced that although everyone enjoys humor as a way of making political points and drawing people to the issues, sometimes it suits to drop the act and work seriously to bring the important issues before the public. And that once peace has been brought to Pacifica, a career in mainstream politics, working perhaps on low-income housing, could be a worthwhile investment of time and energy. And maybe even a reasonable career move. So it was a productive meeting in more ways than one.

Three of us ended up on the same flight back to Houston, but instead of talking (or meeting ad hoc), we just slept.

-EJ, 11/28/01