The LSB then went into executive session 80 minutes later than planned. I can't say what happened, but the session lasted 20 minutes and in my opinion was a waste of time.

After starting more than an hour late the LSB spent another hour on the agenda, as the faction starting loading the agenda with attacks on the iGM and attempts to secure a patronage job for Bob Lederer. The Chair allowed the order of business to get away from her and made it much more difficult to resolve a lot of the issues.

The executive session started 40 minutes late, and was another waste of time.

The CFO talked about Pacifica being $1,300,000 in the red. He also described the ridiculous circumstances in which all of Pacifica's financial information, including WBAI's, vaporized from inept maintenance. It is being slowly recovered.

Held in Manhattan, this meeting focused on WBAI. The iGM reported that the Spring ‘thon had come in short. Faction crazies heckled when she reported having banned 6 non-Staff over the past year for violence and theft. She projected that major donor gifts would bring in an extra $75-$80,000 which is what the PNB meeting cost; she noted that we're always using whatever extra money we raise for current emergencies. The PD reported, “My position has been that the fund drives haven't failed that just everything else around it has failed, and then the pressure goes to the fund drives.” He said that the real problem was producers “speaking negatively” about WBAI on the air; he didn't mention his use of the air to make personal attacks on LSB members not in his faction. He said that program changes are necessary but the last time he tried that “the place went crazy.” When asked if he thought that the attacks on the LSB section of wbai.org also discourages donations he

said, “What the LSB does is up to the LSB, I have no input on it.”

This was actually a continuation of the previous LSB meeting. It started over an hour late. Although the agenda had been set at the previous meeting what was presented to the LSB as the agenda had a few little changes in it. It didn't take long to resolve the issues. The agenda items relating to Bob Lederer's attempt to secure a patronage job were all still on the agenda.

The faction brought a motion to set up an Ad Hoc Waivers Committee to issue waivers to listeners who don't donate enough money to become voting members of WBAI, or don't donate any money at all, and who don't devote 3 hours a year to the station. This committee is authorized to issue unlimited waivers to people and it's obviously one of the ways that the faction currently in charge intends to stay in charge by rigging the listener side of the elections.

I tried to amend it to say that databases compiled at station expense, except for ones that show people as donating some amount of money, couldn't be used to solicit waiver requests. That amendment got voted down. I've heard of a consultant, who doesn't show up anywhere in the budget but is paid by the station, compiling databases of people with in the listening area for the PD. I wonder how many thousands of waivers will be manufactured in this way?

There was an instant election after the motion passed to elect the three people who will decide all of the waivers issues. The following were elected to this Ad Hoc Waivers Committee: Vajra Kilgour, Shawn Rhodes and Cerene Roberts. Ironically, it will be three Staff members of the LSB who will be determining which listeners will get waivers for this next election.

The iGM wasn't present at this meeting, there were two fund raisers for the station going on at the same time as this meeting, the faction postponed their motions which attack her.

The Treasurer told us about how all of the WBAI financial data is having to be re-entered into the computer manually after Pacifica lost it all.