Pacifica board votes 11-5 to censure Gray and Uzzell for role in secret contract

gotethicsThe Pacifica National Board (PNB) voted 11-5 on August 14 to censure members Heather Gray (affiliates rep) and Richard Uzzell (KPFT) “for the illegal, unauthorized, and irresponsible act of signing a secret contract with the former Interim Executive Director Summer Reese, which they dated January 30, 2014 and in which they made promises that exceeded the terms approved by the PNB, and which a judge has affirmed is invalid. Their action, the ill will and controversy it caused, and the continuing costs to defend against a lawsuit in which the false contract was used have caused serious damage to the Foundation.” | BACKGROUND on the secret contract here

During discussion of the motion made by board member Adriana Casenave (KPFT), SaveKPFA member and elected Pacifica financial chair Brian Edwards-Tiekert (KPFA) called their actions “an astonishing abdication of any commitment to the well-being” of Pacifica. The five members who voted against the censure motion were Heather Gray (affiliates), Richard Uzzell (KPFT), Janet Coleman (WBAI), Janet Kobren (KPFA) and Kim Kaufman (KPFK). | LISTEN to audio of Edwards-Tiekert (1:30 min); the entire board discussion is near the end this recording.

Uzzell is currently facing an effort to recall him from the Pacifica National Board at his home station of KPFT in Houston. Gray will face re-election in December, when the same board that voted to censure her will decide whether she can continue to represent Pacifica’s affiliate stations.

RELATED STORIES:  Pacifica: putting the pieces back together (includes financial report) | Lawyer representing board minority jumps ship | Finally, local control at KPFA

KPFA’s new general manager: Quincy McCoy

Quincy McCoy
Quincy McCoy

After years of interim management, KPFA will finally have a permanent general manager: Quincy McCoy, a radio veteran with 30 years of experience in a diverse range of positions.

Pacifica issued this press release with the news, noting that McCoy currently serves as executive director of the Museum of Children’s Arts in Oakland, having previously worked as chief of operations for Salon Studio at Salon.com and vice president of Radio for MTV Networks and Rhapsody America. McCoy was also on the board of Youth Radio International, and published No Static: A Guide to Creative Radio Programming (2002).

Pacifica’s interim executive director Bernard Duncan chose McCoy from a pool of candidates put forward by KPFA’s Local Station Board (LSB), as per Pacifica’s bylaws. Duncan said McCoy’s “combination of experience and personal attributes is rare, and we are pleased to see him move KPFA through the next successful phase of its development as a key component in the Bay Area’s media landscape.”

Duncan announced late last week he will be moving back to his native New Zealand; Pacifica will begin a search to replace him. Interim KPFA general manager Richard Pirodsky will continue to serve as iGM of KPFK in Los Angeles.

Pacifica moving forward, as injunction against fired executive issued

silvergavelPacifica’s National Office next door to KPFA is functioning once again, three weeks after an Alameda County court granted the network a temporary injunction against former executive  Summer Reese, who along with her mother and a small band of supporters, were obstructing the network’s operations. UPDATE: The court issued a preliminary injunction reiterating its ruling against Reese 6/2.

Judge Ioana Petrou’s 17-page decision on May 12 demolished every single argument of the plaintiffs, the so-called “Pacifica Directors for Good Governance,” who filed a lawsuit on Reese’s behalf. Evidence raised during the hearing confirmed that Reese’s allies on the national board had prepared and signed a separate, secret contract with her that would have made Reese essentially unaccountable and unfireable — and given her a huge pay increase to $105,000 a year — all without the knowledge of the rest of the board.

For these reasons, the judge issued an injunction upholding the validity of the board majority’s action and ordering Reese to leave the national office immediately. But that injunction was temporary, and now the court will rule on whether to make the injunction permanent. While the issues are the same, Reese and her supporters are now challenging the right of Pacifica’s lawyers to represent Pacifica – a move clearly borne of desperation on their part.