Page One

After two and a half years fighting Pacifica in the streets, the media and the courts, KPFA supporters say they have won the battle – a mediated agreement that will reconfigure the national Pacifica board. 

Still, there’s more to do before they can boast that they’ve won the war – including the reinstatement of Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” news program on Pacifica’s New York Station WBAI and the return of Larry Bensky to his paid position on the national Pacifica staff. 

“This is a major victory for us,” said attorney Dan Siegel, in a letter to the plaintiffs obtained by the Daily Planet. Siegel noted, however, that the agreement is yet to be put into writing formally and Pacifica’s insurance companies still have to sign off on the agreement, stipulating the amount of money they will pay for plaintiffs’ attorney fees.  

Mediators Sherry Gendelman and Tomas Moran both declined to comment on the settlement until it is finalized. 

In the mediated settlement between the Pacifica National Board and those who sued them – members of local advisory boards, members of listener groups and dissident board members – the parties agreed to set up an interim board of 19 people. According to the Siegel memo, the board is to consist of: 

• Six members appointed by plaintiffs. 

• Eight members appointed by defendants. 

• Five members, one each appointed by a local advisory board chair, which could include the chairs themselves. 

“Within one year, the interim board shall rewrite the bylaws and arrange for the election of a new national board,” Siegel writes, adding that the interim board will appoint its own officers, executive committee, search committee for new personnel and shall appoint interim national staff. 

In his commentary on the plan, Siegel said it was not clear what a judge might have decided, had the case gone to trial. There could have been a series of appeals, dragging the case on, he said.  

Some say the fight between KPFA staff and its listener-sponsors on the one hand and the Pacifica National Board on the other about three years ago, when then-station manager, Nicole Sawaya, began asking for detailed information on the station’s finances. 

Sawaya never did get her information, but instead, on March 31, 1999, did not get her contract renewed. At the time, then-executive director, Lynn Chadwick, said she could not reveal reasons for Sawaya’s dismissal.  

In response, programmers went on the air denouncing the ouster of the popular station manager. Pacifica management, in turn, went on the attack, instituting a gag order against talking on the air about Sawaya’s removal. 

Many programmers continued to talk about the issue and some, including Robbie Osman and Larry Bensky, were removed from the airwaves. In conjunction with the battle fought on the air, Camp KPFA sprouted in the street outside the station, with volunteers spending the night to “protect” the station. On the Pacifica side, security guards were hired to protect the building and a public relations firm was hired to explain the board’s actions. Pacifica eventually closed KPFA down and piped in music from off site. Community opposition grew to the point of a 10,000-person march through Berkeley, in support of reopening the station. 

The mediated victory is a fragile one, Siegel warned in his memo. According to his calculations, there will be a 10-9 majority, with those favoring the plaintiffs in the lawsuits in the majority. 

“This means that we can write bylaws that place control of Pacifica in the hands of its listeners and subscribers, insure that good staff is selected, solve the problems at WBAI, KPFA, etc, (and) engage enthusiastically in fund raising to save Pacifica....”  

Siegel cautioned, however, that given the slim majority, plaintiffs will have to get along and make sure “that minor disputes or personal fractions do not erode the unity of our forces.”