Join Your Local Board

Become a candidate in your next station Local Station Board election beginning in June of 2021. Or encourage other qualified station members to become candidates. Our governance is only as strong as its board members. Find out more information about local station boards. If you have questions about becoming a candidate or need more information, contact Dr. King Reilly at: kingreilly@roadrunner.com or 1-323-839-0985.

Resources:

Pacifica Election Website

Introduction to Local Station Boards

The following material is not authored or approved by the Pacifica Foundation or any of its staff. Verification of statements made should always be checked against the actual Bylaws.

This page is intended to orient new members to the Local Station Board (LSB).

Basic Business Units

• Pacifica has five radio stations,
• the Pacifica Radio Archives (PRA),
  1. on the 2nd floor of KPFK with tapes going back to 1949,
• a network of 250+ radio stations that participate as affiliates, and
• the National Office.

Affiliates

Basic Structure of Governance

The Local Station Board has 18 Listener Sponsor LSB Members + 6 Staff LSB Members = 24 Members on the LSB. Each has a 3 year term. Maximum 6 years consecutive.

Each LSB elects 3 Listener Sponsor Directors and 1 Staff Director to sit on the Pacifica National Board (PNB). The candidates for PNB Director must have served for 1 year on the LSB to qualify.

Three Areas of Operation For LSB Members

• LSB Meetings – Usually meets once per month on a Sunday. If you miss three in a row without an excused absence you are off the board.
• LSB Advisory Committee Meetings – Participation is voluntary, usually meeting once per month. If you miss three in a row without an excused absence you are off the committee. All committees serve at the pleasure of the LSB. Motions passed by these committees go up to the LSB for approval and, if approved, are forwarded to the PNB or occasionally implemented at the local level. Committees usually include Finance, Personnel, Programming, Outreach, Governance, Committee of Inclusion. As need requires there may be a GM or Program Director Evaluation Committee and/or Search Committee. Meetings are usually in person at the station.
• PNB Committee Meetings – Participation is voluntary, usually meeting once per month. If you miss three in a row without an excused absence you are off the committee. All committees serve at the pleasure of the PNB. Motions passed by these committees go up to the PNB for approval and, if approved, are implemented. Committees usually include: The National Finance Committee (NFC Includes the Chief Financial Officer, one Director from each station area and the Treasurers from each Station.), Audit, Personnel, Programming, Outreach, Governance, Committee of Inclusion. As need requires there may be a Executive Director or Chief Financial Officer Evaluation Committee and/or Search Committee. Meetings are by teleconference.

The Key Elements to Sitting on a Local Station Board

• The Mission Statement – This is the “raison d’être” of Pacifica. It also contains primary rules for operation
• Roberts Rules of Order – Select a simplified version that works for you.
• The Bylaws – This is an indexed version, easier to read.
  Especially
  • Article Seven: Local Station Boards and
  • Section 3: Specific Powers and Duties and
  • Section 4: Other Local Station Board Powers and Authority and
  • Section 10: Local Station Board Advisory Committees
• The Programs we broadcast – you can listen to most of these on the Internet by using the Online Archive Interfaces (KPFA Archive, KPFK Archive, KPFT Archive, WBAI Archive, WPFW Archive). Most programs are on the Audio Archives for 90 days.
• The Station websites – social network footprint and public events (KPFA Online, KPFK Online, KPFT Online, WBAI Online, WPFW Online).
• Pacifica Employee Handbook – A revised version was to be published by February 2019.

NOTES:

The officers of the LSB are the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, elected by the LSB. Sometimes a Parliamentarian is also elected or appointed.

Anyone can be elected as Secretary of the LSB and does not have to be an LSB member. Past Secretaries usually wind up getting on the board in the next election.