UPDATE: Hmm. SAG’s National Board received presentations from representatives of the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) and the activist group Saving the Lives of Our Own. “After thorough discussion of both sides of the issue, the Board voted 51.74% to 48.26% to publicly oppose the closing of the MPTF’s Long Term Care facility, SAG said in its news release Saturday night. So who on the SAG Board wouldn’t declare their opposition to the eviction of the facility’s elderly residents because of the closure? No one’s saying.

But this is who the grass-roots organization Saving the Lives of Our Own, which has been tirelessly protesting the closure and which maintains it is “completely neutral” in the election politics of SAG, thanked Saturday night on its website:

SAG NATIONAL BOARD ENDORSES MPTF LONG TERM CARE!
July 25, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA:

Thanks to the efforts of President Alan Rosenberg and spear-headed by First Vice President and Madame Chair Anne-Marie Johnson, with support from SAG Board Members Elliott Gould and SAG Senior Committee member Bill Smitrovich, and SAG Senior Committee / SAG Healthcare Safety Net Committee, the Screen Actor’s Guild National Board has voted to support Saving The Lives Of Our Own in their mission to keep Long Term Care open now and for the future, and to restore Motion Picture and Television Fund’s commitment of “Taking Care of Our Own”, adding their muscle in stopping the closure of the MPTF Long Term Care facility, and the eviction of the elderly Residents who helped build the motion picture and television industry.

Led by SAG actor and Saving the Lives of Our Own activist Daniel Quinn, whose compelling presentation to the National Board eclipsed that of Ken Scherer of the MPTF Foundation – the promise of the continuum of care that was founded by Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith will be a continued tradition for decades to come. With Daniel on the dais was Saving the Lives of Our Own activist Nancy Biederman and legal counsel James O’Callahan from Girardi and Keese.

As the reasons for the turmoil within the MPTF leading to the evictions start to see the light of day, it is evident that the days are numbered for those in the heirarchy of MPTF management.

SAG has spoken, and their will and determination bolsters and strengthens the resolve of the Residents and their families to keep the LTC doors open. More to come on this huge win for motion picture and television industry healthcare, and the elderly and infirm who are yet to be displaced.

Additonal thank you’s to Diane Ladd, Alan Ruck, Esai Morales, Frances Fisher, Nancy Sinatra, Connie Stevens, Kent McCord, Anne DeSalvo among others. The pioneering efforts of John Schneider and David Carradine will not be forgotten.

SAG’s news release tonight contained this quote:

“I think the extremely close vote is evidence of the difficult decision we wrestled with today,” said Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg. “The MPTF’s significant financial and operational concerns were absolutely heard, but after hearing the presentations from both sides of the issue, our board voted to oppose the closing and did so to try and preserve the legacy of the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Long Term Care historic commitment, in honor of the screen actors who founded it – Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin,” Rosenberg added.

It also said the full text of the SAG Board motion is as follows:

It was moved and seconded to approve that the SAG National Board publicly state the Guild’s opposition to the closing of the Motion Picture and Television Fund Long Term Care Facility.
Approved 51.74% – 48.26%

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.