To: Scott Egan, Bill Risner, John Murphy

From: Larry Bruce

Re: Petitions and Election   

Date: Feb 9, 2004

Thank you for your letter of February 2 regarding the petitions for a special bylaw election for the FCB. Your letter raises some significant issues which must be resolved so that we can move forward.

1.   Certification of petition signatures. You were requested to suggest an independent auditor to make a bid to certify the petition signatures. You did not do so. Your observation that local, state and federal elections do not have verification procedures is false and irrelevant. KXCI has no record of member signatures which can be used to ensure that signatures on the petitions match those of the members. By your own admission, well over a hundred of those who signed were not members. By any minimum standard of fiduciary responsibility to ensure that this petition reaches the requirements set in the bylaws, an independent certification of the petition is necessary. The implication that the Board is trying to "price you out of the election" is absolutely false. We have aggressively sought out a reasonable bid for certification. If you are unwilling to offer any suggestion for an independent auditor, we will choose the most cost effective and reliable bid.

2.   Election procedures. Your suggestion that the Democracy Initiative manage the election process by printing and mailing the ballots and choosing the independent entity to certify the count must be rejected under the FCB bylaws. The Board holds the sole legal responsibility to call, manage and certify elections. Any other procedure would be an abrogation of the Board's responsibilities under the FCB bylaws and Arizona corporate statutes. We have offered to discuss your proposals for election process and management. That offer still stands.

3. Financial Obligation: The bylaws are extremely clear that in the case of a special election "all expenses shall be borne by the petitioner." There is no exemption in the bylaws for any expense related to the election process. Once costs are determined, you will be contacted regarding payment.

The Board is committed to moving this process forward without any unnecessary delay. We therefore ask that you suggest an independent auditor to certify the signatures and manage the vote count, so that a bid can be obtained prior to the February 18 BOD meeting. We also ask that you make any proposals you have regarding election procedure that meet the guidelines noted in item 2 above at the same time. The BOD will consider in good faith your concerns and suggestions and will work to keep the costs of the election process reasonable. Please provide a response prior to the February 18 BOD meeting in order for election costs and procedures to be finalized and the election scheduled.