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KPFA Concerned Listener Supporter Wants Money To Back Pro-Management Slate
The present management group at KPFA who have closed down the program council, called police to arrest and programmer Nadra Foster who was then beaten and have opposed the Unpaid Staff Organization from operating now want people to give money to the Concerned Listeners Group. This group has supported the management and removed community programming such as Poor Radio and Youth radio and want to make NPR an NPR type station. The Wellstone Democratic Club which is part of the Concerned Listeners as well as union bureaucrats and Democratic party hack Sharon Cornu are opposed to more community activist programming and instead want KPFA to continue to pump for the liberal Democrats.
This supporter of concerned listeners is now worried that the unpaid staff which do most of the work at the station are gettting organized and will be taking over the station.
This supporter of concerned listeners is now worried that the unpaid staff which do most of the work at the station are gettting organized and will be taking over the station.
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009
From: Jack Radey & Kathleen
Subject: Pacifica Local Station Board Elections.
Dear Portside, I would like to comment on the
recent post concerning the Pacifica Stations Local
Station Board (LSB) elections.
First, Pacifica has survived all this time as a broad
front of left, progressive forces, both political and
cultural. By appealing to a wide variety of audiences,
but with a unifying theme, it has been a shining
example of what we should be about. Sure, station
veterans will tell you how in any group of 40 Pacifica
people you would find 45 factions, but it has managed
to survive it pretty much intact. A number of years
back, there was an attempt by rightist forces to use
their control over the Pacifica National Board to try
to shut down this wonderful community institution, and
the listeners revolted and threw these bums out. My
wife and I are proud to have been a little part of
that.
Unfortunately, that victory contained the seeds of
possible disaster, as some of the less broadminded of
our comrades saw it as an opportunity to not only oust
the establishment types, but to take over the stations
as their own.
Anyone who spent their youth, as I did, in the movement
to end the war in Vietnam is familiar with the
techniques of sectarian take over of a broad front
organization. Every public meeting becomes a dogfight,
with bitter denunciations of one's opponents in the
organization, with name calling, explosive rhetoric,
and abuse until only the most dedicated continue to
endure meetings, and sane people who support the cause
decide that perhaps they can dedicate themselves to
some other aspect of the progressive movement that
doesn't produce so many headaches. Once the meetings
get small enough, in march the troops of meeting
packers, often advancing behind the banner, "Let those
who do the work make the decisions". Often this comes
from people who have never been seen in the work of the
organization, but were recruited specifically to pack
the meeting. Once this plague succeeds, the
organization becomes an advertising medium for the
ideas, events, and speakers of the organization behind
the take-over.
As someone who has listened to KPFA since 1964, when I
came up from Merced to UC Berkeley as a 17 year old
freshman, I have been hearing for a few years now
sounds that remind me sadly of the bad old days, when
we spent as much time fighting each other as our common
enemy. One example. The organization that claims to
represent the unpaid programmers at KPFA has found a
lovely way to gain in influence. It has taken the line
that if a program collective claims to have 50 members,
it gets 50 votes. Never mind that few of them may ever
have even visited the station. In this way a narrow
group has gained significant representation in KPFA's
affairs, by dint of what is essentially meeting
packing.
Your participation in LSB elections is indeed vital,
and some of the reasons for this are clear in the
statement, apparently from the notoriously sectarian
management at New York's WBAI, that kind of puts the
exhaust right there in the punchbowl for all to see.
To vote you have to have either contributed $25 to your
local station, OR volunteer three (3!) hours at WBAI
(not sure if this is true at other stations), OR GET A
WAIVER FROM A MEMBER OF THE CURRENT LSB. Say what?
Richard J. Daley himself would have gagged on this one.
My wife, hearing me read this aloud, asked if you
volunteered six hours, would you get two votes? One sad
fact must be shared with the readers of Portside. With
the exception of the flagship of Pacifica, Berkeley's
KPFA, most of the other stations are running at a
deficit, cannot raise enough money to keep themselves
afloat, precisely because their programming has become
so narrow, strident, and amateurish that their
listener, and thus financial base, has sharply eroded.
Yet these hollow shells of stations represent a
majority on the Pacifica National Board. If that was
all the bad news, it would be tragic, but bearable.
But it gets worse. Pacifica, not the local stations,
control the legal rights to the frequencies the
stations broadcast over. And the Pacifica National
Board controls the finances of all the local stations.
Thus money raised by KPFA is being used not only to
support stations that can't support themselves (this
would be OK, up to a point), but also to finance some
heavy spending, including hiring of board members and
members of their families, to good paying jobs, despite
a remarkable absence of experience or skill in radio
broadcasting, or any other notable qualification except
being politically aligned with the PNB majority.
There are elements on KPFA that have used their
positions as broadcasters to attack local management,
and those who dare to disagree with them, as Democratic
stooges, and racists. Gross lies have been told, about
the local station, not just at meetings but over the
air.
I urge Portside readers, and anyone else you know, who
listens to Pacifica, enjoys the mix of politics, music,
drama, information, and beauty and would not like to
see that become the broadcast arm of the We Have All
The ANSWERS Coalition to get involved, donate to your
local station, and vote in your LSB election. For
KPFA, I strongly support the positions of the Concerned
Listeners slate. We cannot allow this precious asset to
be lost. We would be sadly poorer without it.
Jack Radey
From: Jack Radey & Kathleen
Subject: Pacifica Local Station Board Elections.
Dear Portside, I would like to comment on the
recent post concerning the Pacifica Stations Local
Station Board (LSB) elections.
First, Pacifica has survived all this time as a broad
front of left, progressive forces, both political and
cultural. By appealing to a wide variety of audiences,
but with a unifying theme, it has been a shining
example of what we should be about. Sure, station
veterans will tell you how in any group of 40 Pacifica
people you would find 45 factions, but it has managed
to survive it pretty much intact. A number of years
back, there was an attempt by rightist forces to use
their control over the Pacifica National Board to try
to shut down this wonderful community institution, and
the listeners revolted and threw these bums out. My
wife and I are proud to have been a little part of
that.
Unfortunately, that victory contained the seeds of
possible disaster, as some of the less broadminded of
our comrades saw it as an opportunity to not only oust
the establishment types, but to take over the stations
as their own.
Anyone who spent their youth, as I did, in the movement
to end the war in Vietnam is familiar with the
techniques of sectarian take over of a broad front
organization. Every public meeting becomes a dogfight,
with bitter denunciations of one's opponents in the
organization, with name calling, explosive rhetoric,
and abuse until only the most dedicated continue to
endure meetings, and sane people who support the cause
decide that perhaps they can dedicate themselves to
some other aspect of the progressive movement that
doesn't produce so many headaches. Once the meetings
get small enough, in march the troops of meeting
packers, often advancing behind the banner, "Let those
who do the work make the decisions". Often this comes
from people who have never been seen in the work of the
organization, but were recruited specifically to pack
the meeting. Once this plague succeeds, the
organization becomes an advertising medium for the
ideas, events, and speakers of the organization behind
the take-over.
As someone who has listened to KPFA since 1964, when I
came up from Merced to UC Berkeley as a 17 year old
freshman, I have been hearing for a few years now
sounds that remind me sadly of the bad old days, when
we spent as much time fighting each other as our common
enemy. One example. The organization that claims to
represent the unpaid programmers at KPFA has found a
lovely way to gain in influence. It has taken the line
that if a program collective claims to have 50 members,
it gets 50 votes. Never mind that few of them may ever
have even visited the station. In this way a narrow
group has gained significant representation in KPFA's
affairs, by dint of what is essentially meeting
packing.
Your participation in LSB elections is indeed vital,
and some of the reasons for this are clear in the
statement, apparently from the notoriously sectarian
management at New York's WBAI, that kind of puts the
exhaust right there in the punchbowl for all to see.
To vote you have to have either contributed $25 to your
local station, OR volunteer three (3!) hours at WBAI
(not sure if this is true at other stations), OR GET A
WAIVER FROM A MEMBER OF THE CURRENT LSB. Say what?
Richard J. Daley himself would have gagged on this one.
My wife, hearing me read this aloud, asked if you
volunteered six hours, would you get two votes? One sad
fact must be shared with the readers of Portside. With
the exception of the flagship of Pacifica, Berkeley's
KPFA, most of the other stations are running at a
deficit, cannot raise enough money to keep themselves
afloat, precisely because their programming has become
so narrow, strident, and amateurish that their
listener, and thus financial base, has sharply eroded.
Yet these hollow shells of stations represent a
majority on the Pacifica National Board. If that was
all the bad news, it would be tragic, but bearable.
But it gets worse. Pacifica, not the local stations,
control the legal rights to the frequencies the
stations broadcast over. And the Pacifica National
Board controls the finances of all the local stations.
Thus money raised by KPFA is being used not only to
support stations that can't support themselves (this
would be OK, up to a point), but also to finance some
heavy spending, including hiring of board members and
members of their families, to good paying jobs, despite
a remarkable absence of experience or skill in radio
broadcasting, or any other notable qualification except
being politically aligned with the PNB majority.
There are elements on KPFA that have used their
positions as broadcasters to attack local management,
and those who dare to disagree with them, as Democratic
stooges, and racists. Gross lies have been told, about
the local station, not just at meetings but over the
air.
I urge Portside readers, and anyone else you know, who
listens to Pacifica, enjoys the mix of politics, music,
drama, information, and beauty and would not like to
see that become the broadcast arm of the We Have All
The ANSWERS Coalition to get involved, donate to your
local station, and vote in your LSB election. For
KPFA, I strongly support the positions of the Concerned
Listeners slate. We cannot allow this precious asset to
be lost. We would be sadly poorer without it.
Jack Radey
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IMC Network
For more on Rap Brown, see
http://www.imamjamil.com/articles/default.asp
and
http://www.imamjamil.com/articles/abriefchronology.asp
IF KPFA IS TO SURVIVE, IT MUST BE OF, BY AND FOR THE WORKINGCLASS, those of us who sell our labor (very important phrase) for less than $76,000 a year, usually much less, which in capitalist America today is overwhelmingly non-white, mostly African-American and Latino. If KPFA does not speak for the dispossessed, disinherited and disenfranchised, then no one needs it and it ceases to exist.
________________________________________
Pacifica Financial Crisis: Who is Responsible?
by Richard Phelps, former KPFA LSB Chair
Thursday May 14th, 2009 11:30 AM
For several years a collusion on the Pacifica National Board (PNB) allowed WBAI to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year with no oversight from the PNB. This put the entire Foundation at risk of bankruptcy. Who was part of the collusion and why did they do it? Read on to find out.
Recently WBAI management did not pay their rent for four months and received a Three Day Notice to pay or be subject to eviction. This was not promptly communicated to the financial or executive management of Pacifica. WBAI has been losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for several years and currently owes Pacifica over $1,000,000.00 in back central services contributions.
Each station contributes 20% of its listener-generated revenue to run the Foundation. When one station isn’t making its contribution the results are that the Foundation is short on money or the other stations have to pay more. This several year problem at WBAI and the current economic downturn has caused serious financial problems for Pacifica. The current Pacifica National Board (PNB), elected in January, gives hope for the survival of Pacifica.
Why didn’t Pacifica correct this problem early on? There was collusion among some PNB members from various stations to allow WBAI to do what they wanted to do with no oversight or accountability to the Bylaws or the listener/subscribers. The major players in this collusion were from KPFA, WBAI and WPFW, with a vote or two from KPFK and KPFT and the affiliate Reps on the PNB.
The Local Station Board (LSB) majorities at KPFA and WBAI generally elected three PNB members that supported this collusion and WPFW, until recently, often sent four. There are 22 members of the PNB, four from each station and two Affiliate Representatives. An LSB majority can elect three of the four PNB members for their station. With ten votes from KPFA, WBAI and WPFW it only takes three votes from the ten from the other two stations and affiliate reps to have a majority to control the PNB and continue this collusion. Until this last January the Colluders had the majority for several years.
Who are the Colluders and why did they do this? Local tyrannical majorities wanted to run their stations without regard to the Bylaws and with no oversight from the Foundation. At KPFA the “KPFAForward” (2004) and “Concerned Listener” (CL) (2006 & 2007) slates represented the same management/staff faction and generally endorsed majorities that sent three PNB members who consistently voted to protect and continue the collusion. This group included William Walker, Sarv Randhawa, Rosalinda Palacios, Mary Berg, Sherry Gendelman, Bonnie Simmons and Andrea Turner. They consistently vote/voted with the Justice & Unity majority from WBAI and the WPFW majority. They generally sit together at the PNB meetings and are regularly seen privately caucusing together at lunch and before and after meetings sometimes, with GM Lemlem Rijio when in Berkeley.
Prior to this year’s PNB, Bob Lederer was the Justice & Unity leader on the PNB. I have attended many PNB meetings and listened to most of the others on line. During those meetings if KPFA Colluder PNB members were not sure how to vote they often passed if Bob Lederer hadn’t voted or passed. When he voted they would follow. If you don’t believe me go to the archives of the meetings and listen. Rosalinda Palacios (2006) was especially consistent with following Lederer’s votes.
Whenever there was a move to correct the problems at WBAI the KPFA Colluders always voted with the others to protect the LSB majority at WBAI. Patty Heffley, the minority PNB Rep from WBAI, made a motion to have the PNB order the WBAI LSB to do a performance review of the general manager (GM) and the program director. The Bylaws require these to be done annually. At WBAI they had never been done, despite complaints from the LSB minority. The PNB Colluder majority refused to order the WBAI LSB to follow the Bylaws. Many others complained about WBAI being out of control and losing money and the Colluder PNB majority did NOTHING as the red ink continued to flow.
At KPFA the CL slate and the Rijio/Lilley management work together to make sure they maintain a majority on the LSB to elect three PNB members from their group. One of their methods was to have no election information on the air when the ballots went out and at the same time the CL sent a slate mailer. After the first time this happened I wrote a motion on the PNB Election Committee requiring election information to be on the air during the election. It passed out of the election committee by a 10-2 vote. The Colluder majority on the PNB voted it down. When they finally ran some candidate information they ran 22 candidate statements in a row, always with Sherry Gendelman first! At the April 2009 PNB meeting in Berkeley the new non-Colluder PNB majority passed a motion requiring broad election coverage on the air.
The Colluder majority was consistently against transparency. The Bylaws and California law allow Directors, PNB members, the “absolute right” to inspect all documents and facilities at any reasonable time. For years the Colluders fought to stop or hinder Directors’ Inspections. When inspections were finally allowed due to potential lawsuits it was discovered that $65,000 worth of equipment had been sent to a WBAI former GM’s father’s house and was not accounted for. As recently as 2008 a Director was ordered out of WBAI in the middle of a lawful inspection without any justification. Who gave the order? Dan Siegel, interim Executive Director, hired by the Colluder majority.
So when you hear Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Sherry Gendelman, Bonnie Simmons, Conn or Matthew Hallinan, Warren Mar or any of the CL allies complain about KPFA money going to shore up WBAI, they and their allies are responsible for this crisis for trading fiscal responsibility for their power to ignore the Bylaws, transparency and accountability.
To save Pacifica we must vote out the CL Colluders in the next election so they will not be able to send three Colluders to the PNB to ignore the Bylaws and progressive principles in favor of uncontrolled tyranny of the local majorities. KPFA is a Commons that belong to all of us and it must be protected and preserved above the CL/Rijio group’s desire for unrestrained and unaccountable power.
Richard Phelps, former Chair, KPFA LSB, 35 year listener/subscriber and former AM & FM Radio Announcer