A step forward

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The following letter was sent to the pnb@Pacifica.org site as well as to the Pacifica Radiowaves forum. It was picked up by this blog unofficially and unashamedly.

Dear Mr Brown, Ms Casenave, Mr Diaz, Ms Roberts, and Mr Tshibanda et al of the PNB

This is a polite and quite sincere request for information from the five of you as well as a request for further information from the PNB as a whole.  

It relates to votes cast at the August 17 2017 PNB Executive Session.  

The report out from the PNB executive session held on August 17 states that three motions related to the Pacifica audits were passed at that executive session.

I am one of many concerned Pacifica listener members, including several attorneys, who have been actively tracking and documenting the board behavior of PNB members for over a year--as individuals and as voting blocks.  

Our goal is to examine the accusation, frequently made, that a subset of PNB members are working from within to sabotage Pacifica in hopes of walking away from the destroyed organization with valuable pieces of it and/or control over those pieces, or for some as yet identified self serving purpose. 

Should evidence of this sabotage be apparent, legal action against such PNB members could commence. This action could include civil AND CRIMINAL prosecution under a host of state and federal fraud statutes, including breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty, and conspiracy charges under the RICO statutes.  

As I understand it, a group of board members, acting in a coordinated fashion, and in collusion with each other can qualify as a corrupt organization or enterprise under the RICO statutes.  

Those found guilty under the RICO statutes can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for EACH RACKETEERING COUNT of which they are convicted. RICO includes 27 federal counts and 8 state counts under which legal charges can be brought. 

Collusion to commit fraud would be easy to prove, given the lock step voting pattern of the group of you, usually joined by Ms Washington, Ms Turner, and Ms Sorden.

This quote is from Wikipedia information on the RICO statutes: 

"Despite its harsh provisions, a RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court, as it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts."

Nothing would be easier to prove than "patterns of behavior" on the part of each of you as individuals and as a group. 

As you well know, a cornucopia of open source audio exists that would easily establish a coordinated voting pattern on the part of this group.  

In addition, evidence of coordination among you is not limited to voting patterns of your group, but also to the intense and unremitting and often successful vocal disruptions, designed to create delay and chaos, that your group engages in. Your behavior occurs every meeting along very well established, highly predictable guidelines and methods and absolutely suggests a coordinated or conspiratorial quality to your group.  

The report out from the August 17 2017 PNB Executive Session states that three audit related motions were approved. A vote count was given for the first motion only:

"The PNB accepts and approves the Audit Report, Management Letter, and Amended Tax Return prepared by Regalia & Associates for FY2015."

Failure to produce timely audits has afflicted Pacifica for some time now, without any clear explanation given as to why. This is but one piece of suggestive evidence of a "plan from within" to sabotage Pacifica.

The lack of timely audits is an existential threat to the Pacifica Foundation by at least two, and possibly more, mechanisms--denial of CPB funding and the revocation of Pacifica's tax exempt status by the Attorney General of the State of California. Other vendors, lenders, etc often demand to see audited financials before deciding whether or not to do business with Pacifica. Absence of the audits obviously seriously jeopardizes Pacifica's basic ability to function day to day. 

Therefore, I would respectfully ask that you clarify your vote on this motion to "clear your name" before the public. For starters, I would suggest responses to the following:

1) Published statements by each of the 5 PNB members referenced above who voted "No" on this motion to clarify the reasons and rationale led to your "No" vote.

2) So many of your votes, if not all, are in lock step with one another, whether on something as weighty as a Pacifica audit or as minor as extending time. This vote absolutely bears that stamp. Why would a reasonable person not conclude that your No vote was not part of a coordinated attempt to block approval of the audit, hurting Pacifica, potentially fatally if your side had prevailed? Please elaborate.

3) That the report from Executive Session for the August 17 meeting be amended to include the roll call results on the other two motions approved during this Executive Session.  

4). That explanation be given as to why these Audit Committee motions were made, discussed and voted under a cloak of secrecy in Executive Session. Under which of the limited "reasons for consideration in Executive Session" do these Audit related motions fall?

I would suggest that responses to the above be placed on the Pacifica Radio Waves Yahoo Group website, along with any other places you choose. 

Once your statements and the voting results outlined above are published, that you make yourselves available for written questions and answers to the public you serve on the Radio Waves group site. Or, in the case of Mr Tshibanda, responses to "The People" you purport to represent.

Thank you so very much,

S D Cohen