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Pacifica Foundation Board member Michael Palmer resigned Monday. Local KPFA staff and supporters showed no regrets. 

An e-mail Palmer accidentally sent to a KPFA activist during the summer of 1999, intended for a fellow board member, discussed the possible sale of Pacifica stations KPFA and WBAI and heightened the tensions already at boiling point between the board, and the staff and volunteers at the stations. 

“I’m sorry that his tenure has caused so much damage,” said Local Advisory Board Chair Sherry Gendelman. “I’m happy that he has taken this course of action.” 

In his resignation letter to Board Chair David Acosta, Palmer wrote: “I also offer encouragement to other board members to protect themselves from the tactics employed by a small number of individuals and groups in opposition to the progressive message of the Pacifica Foundation.” 

The real estate offices where Palmer works have been the target of pickets who oppose his role on the board. 

In his resignation letter, Palmer praised the board for its work: “Early results indicate that the foundation is on the cusp of financial health and that the listening audience is growing enough to fully fund all operations. I commend the stewardship of yourself (Acosta) and your predecessor (Mary Francis Berry).” 

Gendelman said she hoped the resignation signaled further departures from the board by those who had acted “contrary to the mission of Pacifica.”