Tel: 310.563.8600
Fax: 310.563.8670
E-mail: rwirta@cbre.com

Talking Points

1. Chaos and mismanagement have characterized Palmer¹s stewardship of the nation¹s oldest listener sponsored radio network.

2. Palmer's second and final term on the Board has expired.

3. Palmer is a defendant in three separate lawsuits seeking his removal, including one backed by the California Attorney General.

4. His "smoking gun" E-mail clearly indicates his goal of selling Pacifica stations, including WBAI 99.5 FM in New York.

5. As Treasurer, he has secreted the books from mandated public scrutiny, once needing a California State Senate subpoena to reveal the books.

6. He supports management practices of censorship, firing without cause, banning of volunteers, harrassment, misinformation and race baiting.

7. CB Richard Ellis will be held publicly accountable for his behavior.

Please be polite but firm. Call as often as you feel you must to ensure that your discontent with CBRE VP Micheal Palmer is understood by his employers.

Background

Yesterday, two representatives of the Pacifica Campaign visited the Executive Office of CB Richard Ellis in Los Angeles, raising our concerns with the behavior of Micheal Palmer and calling for his resignation.

CB Richard Ellis claims it is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, brokering over $44 billion dollars in deals annually (1999 figures). Micheal Palmer, Pacifica Board Treasurer, is a Vice President and Salesperson in the CBRE Houston office. The Houston office specializes in setting up maquiladora production facilities in Mexico. The CBRE Mexico Advisory Group trumpets Northern Mexico's source of "labour, labour, labour." Although Palmer has publicly denied involvement in establishing sweatshops, he privately bragged of it to a former Pacifica staffer.

Palmer is the author of the notorious email discussion of the sale of Pacifica stations that sparked the crisis at KPFA in Berkeley in 1999 ( see the memo at http://www.counterpunch.org/sellmemo.html ).

His second term on the Board ended last March, so he should by all accounts be gone. As he is central to the clique of hijackers, however, he remains. During a public comment period during the recent Pacifica board meeting in Houston (the comment period occured only due to the demands of the standing room-only crowd), Palmer openly mocked listeners who have taken the time to write him with their concerns. He asked for more such post cards, which he sarcastically asserted he was "using for an art project."

Palmer came to the Board as a member of the KPFT Local Advisory Board (LAB). He was invited to the LAB because he raised a significant amount of money for an apolitical retreat center. His progress from the LAB to the national board remains a mystery to himself, as evidenced by his deposition in the http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica/lawsuits/palmerdepo.htm Palmer has no connection to the history or tradition of Pacifica, is unaccountable and hostile to Pacifica supporters, his term on the Board has expired, and he must resign now.

Please make this call, send an email, and/or fax today! The only way we will win this struggle is by concerted action!