Albert Solomon Candidate Statement

Edict on the statement of Mr. Albert Solomon

by National Elections Supervisor Casey Peters

The Candidate Packet issued to all persons who expressed an interest in running for any of the five Local Station Boards contained a checklist of nomination requirements and copies of Fair Campaign Provisions with guidelines on candidate statements. The checklist reads, in part: “In drafting your statement, you may begin with your name, include your experience, skills, and the main theme you want to emphasize in your opening paragraph, as this is all many voters may read.”

Pacifica Bylaws Article Four Section 2-B sets forth required documents that the nominee for Local Station Board shall submit. Point (3) requires: “a written statement of up to 500 words in length by the candidate introducing himself/herself and his/her interest in, or qualifications for, servings as a Delegate, which statement shall be distributed, or otherwise made available, to the Members entitled to vote along with the written ballot”.

When candidates submit statements which may be considered inappropriate, we need to look for compliance with the Bylaws.

Pacifica Election Supervisors are not an investigatory body, nor a court of law. We do not have the time and energy, the expertise, nor the legal authority to hold hearings and weigh evidence.

However, in the case of Albert Solomon, whose racially-charged entry has been deemed offensive by Pacifica activists nationwide, not only the spirit but the letter of the Bylaws was violated, in that his statement contained no information "introducing himself/herself and his/her interest in, or qualifications for, serving as a Delegate."

A precedent was set for such circumstances in 2003 at KPFK when Chris Condon and John Wenger were disqualified as candidates for not having submitted valid candidate statements in a timely manner. Therefore, Mr. Solomon has not qualified as a candidate for the WBAI Local Station Board.

Pacifica National Board resolution

Motion:  Discriminatory Delegate Candidate Statements        Moved by Acie Byrd, 2nd Lisa Davis

1.     The Pacifica National Board (PNB) declares that it is contrary to the Pacifica mission     and the Foundation's policy forbidding discrimination, and shall not be allowed, for any     Delegate candidate to use Pacifica resources to distribute discriminatory statements     on the basis of race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity,     ability/disability, or age, as part of any written or oral election-related statements.

2.     The PNB charges the Committee to Investigate Allegations of Racism and Sexism     with developing recommendations to the PNB for a mechanism to administer and     enforce the above-stated policy, and also supports the existing work of the Committee     to develop a plan for anti-racism training throughout the network. 

3.     The PNB condemns the racist characterizations in the candidate statement of WBAI Delegate candidate Albert Solomon, who has since been disqualified, as discriminatory against people of African ancestry and contrary to the Pacifica mission.

4.    The PNB urges the National Election Supervisor to arrange that:    

a)    an on-air statement noting Mr. Solomon's disqualification and summarizing this motion be aired on WBAI with the same frequency as the candidate carts;   

b)     a mailing be sent to all WBAI members with the text of this motion and an explanatory note;    

c)     the original candidate statement of Albert Solomon be restored to the Pacifica website so that all are clear on the offensiveness of his words, alongside the text of this motion; and   

d)     the text of this motion be published prominently on the pacifica.org/elections webpage and on the webpage with the WBAI Listener Candidates.         

Yes- 8;      [Acie, Rob, Ray, Bob, Lisa, Michael, Margaret and Sarv]       

No - 2;      [Thomas, Wendy]       

Abstain -3 [Chandra, Lydia, Sandra]

STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY ALBERT SOLOMON: