MEMORANDUM

TO: Local Elections Supervisors
All Candidates for Local Station Board for the Pacifica Foundation

FROM: Kenny Mostern, National Election Supervisor

RE: Timing of Enforcement of Fair Campaign Provisions, including
Retrospective Enforcement of Provisions, for 2004 elections

DATE: August 4, 2004

Timing of Enforcement of Fair Campaign Provisions, including Retrospective Enforcement of Provisions, for 2004 elections

The Pacifica Foundation Bylaws set forth specific “Fair Campaign Provisions,” which must be followed by candidates in Local Station Board elections. The Bylaws state that the National Elections Supervisor is responsible to “confirm said elections’ compliance with these Bylaws,” a clause which has been interpreted to mean, among other things, overseeing candidate compliance with the Fair Campaign Provisions.

The language of Bylaws Article 4, Section 2B implies that individuals are “candidates” before they are “nominees.” For example, the statement that “the names of up to five (5) of the candidate’s nominators may be listed at the end of a candidate’s statement” makes sense only if one is a “candidate” at the time one seeks “nominators.”

However, the Bylaws do not specify exactly when an individual becomes a “candidate,” and therefore when they are bound by Fair Campaign Provisions.

The following are the working rules by which the Fair Campaign Provisions will be enforced for the 2004 elections. These working rules are considered necessary by the National Elections Coordinator because of the clear intent of certain individuals to get around Fair Campaign Provisions by not declaring their candidacies. Such actions are against the spirit of the Bylaws. The provisions in this memo are in place unless and until they are overruled by a resolution of the Pacifica National Board, or by a Bylaws amendment.

1. Any individual who has requested of the Local Elections Coordinator a nomination packet, including the signature sheet, for a Local Station Board election, will be recognized by the Local Elections Coordinator as a “candidate.” Once recognized, such individual will be entitled to the privileges afforded candidates, such as the opportunity to post a candidate statement to the web. Such individual will also be restricted by the airtime restrictions and other provisions of the Fair Campaign Provisions, both those in the bylaws and those adopted by the National Elections Coordinator. Such individual will receive all new memos regarding campaign rules by email or other means as they are promulgated.

2. In the event that an individual has not requested of the Local Elections Coordinator a nomination packet, including the signature sheet, but has stated publicly that they are a candidate, their actions will also be monitored as to their conformance to the Fair Campaign Provisions. Such “public statement” shall include, but not be limited to: statement over the airwaves; statement to the Local Elections Coordinator or to a member of the Local Election Board; statement at a public forum held by the radio station or any entity officially associated with the radio station; or other statement as determined to be “public” by the Local Elections Coordinator. Should such individual be in violation of Fair Campaign Provisions during the period that is being monitored, and later formally become a candidate, s/he may be retrospectively deemed in violation of the Fair Campaign Provisions and be subject to penalty.

3. An individual who has not requested of the Local Elections Coordinator a nomination packet, including the signature sheet, and who has not made a public declaration of their candidacy, cannot be monitored as a candidate. However, if they engage in practices that clearly violate the Fair Campaign Provisions – such as being interviewed on the air in ways that are determined by the Local Elections Coordinator to promote their name recognition and prominence – and later become candidates, they may be retrospectively deemed in violation of the Fair Campaign Provisions and be subject to penalty.