Complaint #5 – Submitted July 16, 2019
The complainant requests anonymity. The complaint is similar to complaint #4 and also requests the disqualification of Robert Gartner as a KPFT listener candidate. The complaint states “Mr. Gartner has a very long and well- documented history of behavior that is in violation of the Pacifica Employee Handbook. Should Mr. Gartner be allowed to move forward with his candidacy this will likely endanger the safety of those candidates who are scheduled to “debate” Mr. Gartner and if elected to our Board, this will likely endanger the safety of fellow delegates and leave this Foundation vulnerable to litigation. Pacifica Management has deemed Mr. Gartner too dangerous to enter the Station, he is therefore too dangerous to be on the board of the station from which he was duly banned. For the safety and mental well-being of the future delegates, please withdraw Mr. Gartner’s candidacy”.
Discussion: Since this complaint is virtually identical to the previous complaint, we will refer to the previous response and reiterate that ANY threats or violence experienced within election-related activities like the candidate debates will result in punitive consequences, but that it is beyond the scope of the national election supervisor to enforce the Pacifica personnel handbook and that is the responsibility of the station’s management and executive staff, not a project-based independent contractor whose authority extends only to one set of specific election-related rules. The complainant may locate a process within Board of Directors standing policies that will address his complaint and the National Election Supervisor will fulfill any duties assigned to this position under that policy. See the discussion in complaints #4 and #6 for more detail,
Ruling: The complaint lies outside the scope of election rules enforcement.
English
Spanish