[Peace-discuss] Re: URGENT! Democracy at WEFT under threat (again)

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Mr. Bee, your Bobness -

I have actually found Randall Cotton to be a pleasant, intelligent, 
reliable and motivated guy.

Maybe you should be giving him some slack, since you both likely
have a Universal Excuse for your Bulldada behaviour?

T3H whole community will be better served if you boys would find some 
way to
settle your differences amiably.

Wayne

P.S.:  Bob Lives.

mark bee wrote:
> Randall Cotton wrote:
>   
>> The democratic, community nature of our community radio station, WEFT
>> 90.1FM is (once again) under serious threat.
>>
>> Background:
>> -------------
>> Every year, WEFT conducts an election for Board members in which each
>> WEFT Member (anyone who contributes $40 or more) is given the
>> opportunity to vote by mail-in ballot. Anyone is allowed to run (the
>> station Bylaws only require Illinois residency and U.S. citizenship).
>> You may remember that last year, the sitting Board of Directors
>> tampered with the election by changing the rules in the middle of
>> that election.
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
> Their action favored the incumbent candidate (the
>   
>> Chair of the Board at the time) to the disadvantage of the 5
>> challenging candidates.
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
> It was the Chair himself who proposed the
>   
>> motion to change the rules.
>>     
>
>   In order to move business along according to the desires of the Board as a whole, as is his normal function.
>
>
>   
>> This resulted in a lawsuit by 16 WEFT
>> Members that successfully forced the Board to rescind their decision
>> as part of an out-of-court settlement. The Chair was ultimately voted
>> out of office as part of that same election because of his
>> involvement in this matter.
>>     
>
>   Actually, because of a hateful lie-filled direct mail campaign undertaken
> by Mr. Cotton or his cohorts.
>
>
>   
>> For reference, the lawsuit is online at:
>>
>> www.reformweft.org/lawsuit.pdf
>>
>> Though I was heavily involved in the effort to reverse last year's
>> tampering, I was not a candidate myself. This year, I did come
>> forward as a candidate. And this time, the Board has acted even more
>> aggressively to manipulate the election. Last Tuesday evening, May
>> 27th, the Board simply voted to bar me from running, even though they
>> had already accepted and formally announced my candidacy on May 15th.
>>
>> Our community radio station is supposed to be democratically run
>> through this democratic election process. The Board is the highest
>> governing
>> body at the station. For that body to attempt to dictate who may or
>> may not run in a Membership-wide election for seats to that very body,
>> profoundly harms WEFT's democracy. In this way the integrity of the
>> station's democratic foundation and community nature stands to be
>> severely compromised.
>>     
>
>   In fact, it does not, as Randall Cotton is the only member of WEFT ever to have his volunteer status revoked - as a result of his refusal to meet and discuss his behavior at the station - or to engage in a three year campaign of conspiracy-theory-drenched lies and libel regarding same rather than deal with his disciplinary action and end it amicably.
>
>
>   
>> My candidacy:
>> ---------------
>> I decided to run for the Board in this year's election (scheduled to
>> start next week) in part to help correct the culture that lead to
>> last year's election corruption.
>>     
>
>   And again, this corruption claim is a hateful lie concocted by Randall
> Cotton, a claim which he can never prove.
>
>
>  But there are other reasons as well.
>   
>> In fact, WEFT has many problem these days
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>  and is quickly losing
>   
>> support in the community. We attract donation pledges at less than
>> half the rate we did 5 or 6 years ago (and 38% less than even one
>> year ago). The candidacy statement I submitted to WEFT provides more
>> detail on this and also a rundown of other issues affecting the
>> station adversely these days. This statement is online at:
>>
>> www.reformweft.org/candidacy.pdf
>>     
>
>   And is another list of ridiculous, hateful lies concocted by Randall
> Cotton, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>   
>> I complied with all requirements for submitting my candidacy and on
>> May 15th, the station formally announced me as a candidate along with
>> two others. A copy of this announcement is online at:
>>
>> www.reformweft.org/announcement.html
>>     
>
>   And, of course, Mr. Cotton was fully aware that his volunteer status was
> still revoked when he decided to run.
>
>   
>> My investigative report:
>> ------------------------
>> 10 days after submitting my candidacy, on May 24th, I published a
>> comprehensive report regarding a different serious issue at WEFT that
>> motivated my candidacy - the performance and management of the paid
>> Underwriting Coordinator. It's a very well-documented investigation of
>> the poor performance of the station's Underwriting Coordinator
>> position, the ineffective management of that position, and the
>> failure of the Board of Directors to correct the situation for more
>> than 2 years. The report is about 13 pages long (but with more than
>> 120 pages of supporting documentation). The focus of the report
>> details precisely how this state of affairs is harming the station
>> and its mission. The report is available online at:
>>
>> www.reformweft.org/ucreport.pdf
>>     
>
>   ..And is another ridiculous example of the incredible lengths
> Mr. Cotton has gone to during his three-year campaign of hateful lies.
>
>
>   
>> Removal of my candidacy:
>> ----------------------------
>> Three days after I began publicizing that report, on May 27th, at the
>> WEFT Board of Directors monthly meeting, the Board went into an
>> unannounced "closed session" (Board meetings are generally required
>> to be open to the public). During that closed session, the Board
>> voted to bar me from running and remove my name from the list of
>> candidates.
>>
>> Though I have long been speaking out about problems at the station and
>> advocating for change (as a Member, Volunteer, Associate and also
>> while serving on the Board previously from 2004-2006),
>>     
>
>   This is Randall-code for long term passive-agressive harrassment and lie
> campaigns - and eventually, tampering with the station and the transmitter
> without authorization - against those individuals at WEFT who disagree with
> him.  This record resulted in his suspension in late 2005, and a recall vote
> being undertaken stationwide by the Associates to remove him from his Board
> position, and subsequent failure to be re-elected (while running on
> platforms consisting of masses of similar, hateful lies) to the Board by
> both the Associates and the Members.
>
>
>  I believe my
>   
>> recent investigative report, released 3 days before I was barred,
>> combined with my efforts to help reverse last year's election
>> tampering,
>>     
>
>   Still, of course, a ridiculous lie, for which no proof will ever be
> offered.
>
>
> contributed heavily to the Board's decision to remove me
>   
>> from the election. This action provides a very damaging appearance
>> for the Board and severely harms the station's democracy and the
>> organization's integrity.
>>     
>
>   In fact, it has no effect whatever on anyone who has not had their
> volunteer status suspended and refused to fix the situation before
> volunteering for the Board.
>
>
>   
>> What can you do to help?
>> --------------------------
>> Regardless of whether you've ever contributed to WEFT, the station is
>> meant to serve the community as a public service. Anyone in the
>> community has the legitimacy to communicate their reaction regarding
>> this decision to the Board. You can send mail to boardchair at weft.org
>> to formally register your opinion and urge the Board to reverse their
>> decision before the ballots are mailed out on June 5th. Given that
>> the Chair has been the primary advocate for this action, however, I
>> would also suggest sending a copy of your communication to
>> weft-comm at curadio.net so that it is documented publicly. weft-comm is
>> an open, public community mailing list that was set up to discuss
>> issues regarding WEFT (it was recently set up independently from the
>> station after WEFT's management shut down the station's only open
>> discussion mailing list, "wefta").
>>
>> You can also subscribe to the weft-comm at curadio.net mailing list and
>> join in discussion regarding this and other station matters by
>> visiting www.curadio.net on the web.
>>
>> Thanks for your attention to this issue and I hope you'll take action
>> to oppose what's going on. Not because it's a matter of unfairness to
>> me personally. That is not the issue and is of no significance (by
>> the way, Board seats are not paid positions and are not compensated
>> in any way). The issue is the damage being brought against what is
>> supposed to be and what we've all understood to be a community media
>> resource, democratically run by its paying Members.
>>     
>
>   Such damage being, once again, a figment of the fevered vengeful
> imagination of one Randall Cotton, for which no real proof will ever be
> offered.
>
>
>   
>> Indeed, WEFT's Bylaws encompass many democratic provisions, not just
>> this election. And democratic control of public access to media
>> channels is already in a desperately poor state in this country.
>> Community media channels provide an invaluable alternative to
>> increasingly monolithic and conglomerated corporate media and are
>> only becoming more important and precious with time.
>>
>> But for years, the current leadership at WEFT has been closing the
>> station in on itself,
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>   
>> erecting walls instead of reaching out,
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>   
>> becoming more and more insular and self-serving.
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>  And there have been
>   
>> serious management problems that are being ignored
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>  (the matter of the
>   
>> Underwriting Coordinator I delineate in my report is hardly the worst
>> of it).
>>     
>
>    A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
> Now the leadership is engaging in a direct and quite
>   
>> undemocratic attempt to control who may or may not join that
>> leadership. If this is allowed to stand, it will set a horrible
>> precedent,
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>  deal a severe blow to the community nature of this
>   
>> important public media access service and institution,
>>     
>
>    A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
> and turn WEFT
>   
>> into even more of an insider's club than it already is.
>>     
>
>   A ridiculous lie, for which no real proof will ever be offered.
>
>
>   
>> There are other ways you can help - please contact me IMMEDIATELY
>> for details if you're interested. Immediate action is necessary due to
>> election-related deadlines - the deadline to gain voting eligibility
>> is tomorrow, Saturday May 31st and the ballots are scheduled to be
>> mailed out to WEFT Members on Thursday, June 5th . Please feel free
>> to reply to me directly via email or, if you prefer, call me any day,
>> any time between 7:30AM and 1AM regarding this matter at 217-351-8644
>> (home) or 217-722-8470 (cell).
>>     
>
>   And be prepared for the usual obsessively planned and shaped
> propagandistic lie campaign against anyone and everyone at WEFT who had to
> be involved in stopping Randall's reign of error, both back in 2005 and ever
> since.  Mr. Cotton will of course omit his own behavior, which extends from
> destructively modifying the station's $25,000 remodeling project without
> authorization to vengefully discussing the living arrangements of a female
> Board member on the main station list.
>
>
>   
>> Randall Cotton
>>     
>
>
>   Why didn't you resolve your volunteer suspension when you had chance after
> chance - during the three years you chose instead to lie and defame the
> Board and Committee Chairs who were forced to vote on it - to do so. Mr.
> Cotton?
>
>
>       
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
>
>   
-------------- next part --------------
Skipped content of type multipart/related