Ally of The Outgoing KPFA Regime Panics as They Lose Control

She says,

"the local board has voted to fire our GM of 4 years, Lemlem Rijio. They can do this with a simple majority and the support of the Pacifica ED with no checks and balances from listeners and no input from staff or anyone else who is intimately connected with the daily functioning of the station. "

How is there no "checks and balances" if the local board is comprised of listener and staff representatives chosen by the people.

Perhaps the writer has issues with a real democratic process.

What about checks and balances with how Lemlem Rijio has performed as GM? (in league with the CL faction)What about the disproportional cut backs and attacks to "Flashpoints" which has NOT been adequately explained by Lemlem Rijio? How about the fact that the Berkeley Police Dept was called to the station regarding Nadra Foster? Anytime the police get called in on a situation, things escalate and people either can get hurt or killed by them. There has been NO satisfactory answer to that. And what about that check for $375,000 that was "misplaced" for over a year and not deposited? Would you "forget" about a check for an amount that large?She has proven herself to be an incompetant , unfair and certainly someone who gives the appearance of rewarding her friends and punishing her enemies. She has no place in KPFA anymore. She should be given an chance to explain her actions, and if she fails to be forthcoming, she should go.

Has been for the last five years.
"Democracy" in this case is only for the self interested, and it doesn't matter which faction. The "entrenched" continue to be attacked by those who WISH they were "entrenched" and once they complete their purges, a new round of wanna-be entrenched will come for them. As it ever was.

I welcome Lemla Rigio being bumped . She deserves that action . But i really do not understand why we have to learn about it from a CL supporter. I know how Executive sessions work . i used to be a Unionized City worker . You cannot quote people or cite their votes without their permission . But you can not only announce the decisions afterwards but you are required to do so . The union members, or in this case the listeners and staff , need to know what's up .
The board should have announced the vote to oust the Manager .
i cannot go nearly as far as the previous post . There is a very big difference between the Independents slate and the CL . I voted for them and Peoples Radio . Speaking of which i still don't understand why those two couldn't have united . However i wil save that for another thread .

I agree with Eden Tosch on one thing . Everyone should turn out for the Feb. 13 LSB neeting .
But not to oppose the righteous firing but to support it !!!!!!!!

If Lemlem is being fired (on what would have been the newly elected Board's second meeting), then it seems it's being done without any sort of real evaluation of her job, but rather it's based rumors and half truths. It will support the idea that the new majority is acting out of political motives and their own agendas, rather the real community's interest, which was their claim in the election. KPFA is not a hobby, or a weekend debate club for bored retirees and disaffected radicals. It's a public radio station with the very real financial expenses and fundraising needs that every public radio station has.
The recession has hit every public radio station hard. KQED, KALW also had a hard time raising money.
KPFA has had 4 GMs in 6 years, clearly the Board is not all that skilled at choosing good replacements.
If the Board is determined to fire Lemlem, they had better come up with a very skilled replacement and soon, or by this time next year, there may not be a radio station to argue about.

You say KPFA in recent years, lost millions of dollars is continuing to lose listeners and money daily; staff representation and listeners would be remiss not to question the efficacy of the lead administrator. Leaving a failing GM in place because of longevity of tenure is counter intuitive and clearly not the answer. That Rijio kept her position for as long as she has despite an original agreement to leave after 6 months is telling. She was an IGM made permanent in the middle of a firestorm of controversy centering around an in-station police incident, caused by an unapologetic lack of process, lack of written instruction or structure or direction, again all red flags, indicative of a failure to effectively administrate, and a lack of broad based media experience, depth and common business sense. Rijio lacks maturity and strength of character as indicated by a vindictive streak; she shows a willingness to compromise, playing fast and loose with the truth, smoothing over controversy with soothing buzzwords of peace, cooperation and tolerance while igniting controversies with poor decisions delivered with a heavy and insensitive hand. This is not a tough but fair boss. Rijio is unfailing, unflinching and unfair, the kind of unfair that invokes lawsuits and wrongs listeners who expect their money to be effectively adjudicated. She shows a willingness to compromise business principles to grant favor to those she likes while running rough shod over staff whose personality, appearance, talent and abilities stand contrary to her own and who outdistance her creatively. She is arrogant, ignorant, self indulgent, insecure with a mean spirited sensibility capable of cruelty and harassment. Unaware that she is being observed by staff and listeners, she operates as if the CEO of her own corporation without the experience a corporate job demands. Threatened by inhouse talent she manipulates union rules and staff regulations to control and eventually oust them. Remember how the station used to have teenagers running award winning programs? Youth Radio? Gone with the stroke of Rijio's mean pen, meanwhile another young white male producer, whom she considers an advisor and ally, made a similar on air faux pas, without adverse effect as much as a slap on the wrist and for whom she overrode seniority and affirmative action law and union requirements to promote. The message that sends out is is not what pacifist Lew Hill had in mind when he conceived of community empowered radio. Lemlem has her own idea of community. It is her community and damn the consequences. Well the damn consequences have arrived. She remains unrepentent, is both deliberate and determined, corrupt, ill advised and immature.. Rijio defies station bylaws to end UPSO, the KPFA Program Council, acts in violation of the mission statement, creates a hostile work environment by failing to establish protocols which would have prevented an onsite police action, ignores rules and regulations concerning the handling of non profit funds and responsibilities affecting the processing of those funds by withholding and failing to report monies in excess of a nearly $400,000.00. She has refused to report regularly to the board of directors, failed to attend required meetings, failed to hold required meetings, walks out in the middle of job interviews with candidates she dislikes, and thus discriminates against potential employees and all the while continues to go on the air, piously begging for money while knowingly and willfully reporting false budget totals during station fund drives for almost two years. This is just what we are aware of NOW. No telling what would be revealed by a thorough and independent audit, and this is just the beginning. Staff and Listeners are being had on too many levels and for too long to ignore. Except, of course by you. If however you are aware of these many concerns, and yet still voice confidence in her leadership, you fail to understand the connection between leadership and effective administration and how pivotal it is to KPFA's success. Considering the legal, financial and moral implications and ramifications of a manager who routinely mishandles money and manhandles staff she needs to be under serious review. But, if you wish to continue following her lead, than maybe when Rijio is shown the door you should follow her out.

Chris, the reality is that Lemlem would not have kept the IGM position except for a LSB majority, Concerned Listeners, that was putting power before the Mission. I was on the GM hire committee and Lemlem didn't meet the minimum requirements to be considered for a GM interview, much less the position. She backed into the job when Roy Campanella left, and was made permanent when a resigning ED promoted her on the ED's last day as she was walking out the door. She was reviewed more than once by the LSB. The results are confidential. Lemlem could authorize the release of the reviews if she wanted you and the world to see them. Your comment about several GM's is sorta true and yet your allies were in the majority when Jim Bennett was promoted to IGM, and when Roy Campanella was chosen and when Lemlem was continued. Those are the facts regardless of how you try to spin what has been happening.

The sound you just heard was a collective sigh of relief. It is about time. And THANK YOU.

Hmmmm...let's see. I just finished listening to Letters from Washington, again. That is a full morning of news. Boring and dry. Why? With all the quirky, different exciting programming options available for KPFA to air, perhaps a rare archival piece, even a daily or weekly uncommon archival special. Listeners could call in or vote on, discuss, and create dialogue around. That would rally listeners, stimulate discussion, develop an audience and agitate especially grumpy listeners all of which makes interesting radio and interesting radio draws a crowd and that is what pumps up audience numbers, which means formerly lagging donations are pouring in from loyal Listeners who tend to listen when they are being listened to. All would be welcome. How exciting. Exhilarating! Why not offer a free cup of tea or coffee to the morning show listener of the day? It would wake listeners up, help them to recharge before starting their day, and bring up audience numbers. It would also serve to highlight the differences between what KPFA has to offer that stations do not. It would brighten and lighten our on air sound. I mean it would sound like the station appreciates listeners every day not just during fund drives. Instead KPFA has been dumbed down to sound like KQED's sickly cousin. KPFA should not be about imitating what someone else is doing better. KPFA is an original. It is THEE original. KPFA is different or at least it was different, diverse and divergent. Now under present programming, it is killing the people who listen to KPFA in Berkeley with an expectation of the varient, the enlightened. KPFA's signature is in its Vision. It should be the personification of the its Mission. Right now, we're driving'em away in droves. KPFA is thee grassroots radio station that started a trend in community radio and rocked the world. It is that that has caused this station to last over 60 years. And so NOW you want to change programming to NPRish news all day all the time. YAWN. Do not give credence to the mistaken concept that progress means change, as in changing a seven grain loaf into white bread. This is an award winning station that is changing to gratify the egos of a couple of mundane personalities, boring newsreaders who drone on endlessly about pedestrian, rehashed CNN information or AP copy done better by KCBS. GO back to community news that no one covers, kick the station doors in with youngsters, seniors and enthusiastic volunteer reporters organized to ramshackle coverage of news the way only KPFA could, or used to. Mark Mericles' class is an uncommon gem, it provide lots of new blood. If they are not chased away by resentful, insecure, entrenched managers. There's city councils and school board meetings in Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, no body really covers those in depth and there's plenty of meat there. I mean follow them home, wake them up, take our own polls and get an interview now not later type of stories. Berkeley HS science classes? How do students feel? Everyone knows how the teachers and administrators are doing. Why not interview more teenagers, by teenagers? And controversy. Don't just follow news, why not create it? Why can't the morning show put someone on the street and talk live to people about anything, including what they had on the air that morning, if they were listening, or what is bothering them or what they had for breakfast, who they listen to, who they tweet, blog or Facebook friend and what about what new news and your problems today. Man on the street is always enlightening and often surprising. Once a week regular features are enough to give listeners something to look forward to and put a little punch in the program. Right now the morning show is okay, but Oy! It could be so much better. Science, music and art classes have gone missing and no one covers the dilemma of funding them. What works and what does not. What do parents think? How is the disabled community coping? Plenty to talk about there... There are gangs in Oakland, Berkeley and S.F. that would love a chat on air, especially gang members in juvie hall or state prison. Pelican Bay is full of stories. Who last talked with guards warden and prisoners there? UCB and whatever happened to the trees and the folks who tied themselves to them? Sacremento and the Assembly? C'mon now. There is follow up news with a thousand other local color stories...if only KPFA stuck with its original sound, off beat and unavailable anywhere else on the dial or planet, unrepentant radical, jelled into a one of a kind radio. Right now its turning into one of a boring kind. What is the remedy? In part it is changing the Program Director but it is also the direction of the programming. Meanwhile, for my 2 cents, stay away from NPResque or Yawn radio. Well Loyal Listeners and other KPFA-ites am I just blowing smoke? What would you like to see, hear, taste and touch from KPFA? Offer suggest now or complain later, hold your peace now, then hold your nose later...
Here is another question: How on earth did Brian manage to get promoted while the other two members of the evil triumvirate, Lemlem and Sasha were/are removed from their gigs?. Yeah, sure he lost an election, and there's a possible recall and the cost of the recall election. But all of that is only more cause to wonder why KPFA is so unfailingly good to someone who has played the station for a chump. It brings into question managements' judgment, why is are the women, Rijio and Lilley losing power meanwhile the third leg of the triumvirate, Brian, goes whistling home for dinner? No wonder he thinks he can do anything and get away it. Who else interviewed for the morning co host position? How many applied? Who was on the interview committee? Philip is a perfect match for Sunday mornings. I hope when the interview process is over and a final decision is made he wins the slot. He should been given a shot at the Sunday show from the start. But lets not rehash previous poor decisions, lets just stick to the ones on the air now. Let's work together and fix what is not working . All news all day is already done by somebody who does it better. Break up into day parts and analyse what really works, after the morning show and the second hour with Democracy Now and let a little local color in. Letters from Washington can be heard late at night by late night news freaks. Nothing wrong with newsfreaks they love news and we love them, but give them news late at night too, not just dull you to death with way too much dry ass morning news. Think about it. What do other dues paying Listeners, music freaks, news freaks and long time listeners who contribute to KPFA think? What do you the stations uspport system prefer? Want more of? Less of. More KPFA or KQED/KCBS bs Clones? KPFA is a great original but a poor copy. All I know is I 'd rather have the real deal than even a good copy any day. What do other listeners think? Speak and speak now.

Maggie, I'm sure you have a lot to say. Your post is very difficult to read as one dense block of text. It would be much easier to read and understand if you broke it up using paragraph breaks (using the enter key, to create some space every now and then)

When Richard states about Lemlem that "She was reviewed more than once by the LSB. The results are confidential. "
That is a half truth and it's sad that he needs to dress it up with snide comments in his title. This kind of attitude is what gives me the impression that Richard and people like him do not have my or the station's best interest at heart.

Lemlem was reviewed more than once by the LSB, but as he also points out, those results are confidential. The new board members can't see any of those evaluations. So any decision they made was not based on those evaluations.
If the board could say "we have reviewed all of Lemlem's past evaluations and talked to her and people who work with her, and made a well considered decision based on that information" I would be much less upset with their decision. But I sincerely don't that's what happened, and I think Richard doesn't think that's what happened either. So to say that "She was reviewed more than once by the LSB." is really a half truth and as former KPFA Board chair, Richard really can't claim ignorance on what he was saying.

Lem Lem has received two negative reviews . Both a majority of the staff and the Board have given her a big thumbs down .
Both her supporters at the station and her many opponents know the results .
See how quickly the loyal flunky Eden Tosch went into action .
Forget the joke of ''confidentiality ''.
It's time for Riggio to go and B. E. T. be recalled .

Prior confidential documents are legally available to new LSB members, they must also keep them confidential. Many of the current LSB members are incumbants. The new LSB majority knew what it was doing and why, and it was long over due. It is too bad Chris, that you and your allies have often chosen to ignore the truth and choose to personally attack me or others that bring out the facts. Here are some more facts about Lemlem and her allies, the people that you blindly follow, with paragraph breaks.

KPFA: TEN YEARS AFTER THE 1999 HIJACK ATTEMPT

After mass listener support rescued KPFA and the Pacifica Foundation from a self appointed Pacifica National Board (PNB) that was planning to sell KPFA or one of the other stations and take the “community” out of the network, new democratic Bylaws were written and adopted. The Bylaws process was long and difficult and like all new progressive ideas on governance they aren’t perfect. Neither is the U.S. Constitution, which has 27 amendments and still needs some major work. You can read the Bylaws at http://www.pacifica.org/governance/PacificaBylaws-new.html . Pacifica’s Bylaws state a commitment for peace and social justice, Article One, Section 3. It seems inconceivable that peace and social justice can even be approached with out a democratic process with transparency and accountability. As Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

What has become clear, as Pacifica embarked on a new democratic path, is that everyone that fought the Hijackers didn’t do so for the same reason! Most listener activists and some staff supported the new democratic process and welcomed the involvement and input of the listener/subscribers who are the regular audience and the financial supporters of the station and Pacifica.

At KPFA some staff and their listener supporters sought to defeat the Hijackers so that they could control KPFA and make the decisions about who gets air time and jobs. This latter group has used the power of the stations progressive reputation and the power of the microphone to maintain control and frustrate the new Bylaws in many ways. The staff/ listener group I am referring to was identified by an e-mail from Brian Edwards-Tiekert to the other “insiders” that became public in 2005. You can read the e-mail at http://peoplesradio.net/Dismantle.htm. The author acknowledged its authenticity and the group now claims that it never met to discuss “dismantling the Local Station Board (LSB)”, aka the democratic process, or “how do we make our enemies own the problems that are to come?” The other members of this group were a mix of listeners, paid staff, unpaid staff and management in 2005, when the e-mail was written. Most have moved up in the power hierarchy: Lemlem Rijio, then Development Director, now General Manager; Sasha Lilley, then paid staff, now Interim Program Director appointed by Lemlem Rijio; Bonnie Simmons, then LSB staff representative, now PNB; Amelia Gonzalez-Garcia, then unpaid staff, now paid Director of Arts and Public Affairs; Sherry Gendelman, then Listener LSB, now PNB; Lisa Rothman, paid executive producer of the Morning Show, Lisa had a beautiful baby and in 2006 left KPFA. This group has been supported by their electoral counter parts, first called KPFAForward in the 2004 election and now Concerned Listeners (CL).

Let’s see what these folks have done to “dismantle the LSB”*. In 2003 the KPFA Program Council, made up of paid and unpaid staff and listeners, voted to move Democracy Now! (DN!) to Prime time, 7-8am and move the morning show to 8-10am. There had been significant listener demand/support for this time change and having worked several years in radio, AM & FM, I know the following, it is common practice and common sense to put your most popular/dynamic program in prime time. Lisa Rothman didn’t want “her” program moved from “its” prime time position and her allies in the control group made sure it didn’t happen.

In May 2004 the LSB voted to move DN! to prime time as per the Program Council’s prior vote and set up a protocol on how to deal with program changes with management and the Program Council. The new interim GM, Jim Bennett, refused to make the time change and ignored the LSB Resolution*. Dan Coughlin, the Executive Director (ED) of Pacifica, appointed Jim Bennett. Coughlin was an ally of the KPFA control group and worked closely with them to stifle transparency and Director’s Inspections of the financial records. Director’s Inspections are an “absolute right” given to Corporate Directors to facilitate their fiduciary responsibilities, California Corporations Code Section 6334 and Article 12, Section 3 of the Pacifica Bylaws. For more information on why the PNB allowed this to happen see my May 14, 2009 article http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-05-14/article/32873?headline=The-Pacifica-Financial-Crisis-Who-is-Responsible- .

In 2007 GM Lemlem Rijio and her appointed Interim Program Director, Sasha Lilley, quietly ended the Program Council after some months of describing it as “advisory.”* The LSB under CL majority control ignored the previous Resolution codifying the Program Council and did nothing to save the Program Council. The CL majority didn’t vote to overturn the prior resolution since that would have exposed their undemocratic nature. They just looked the other way.

In 2007 GM Rijio took away the official status of the Unpaid Staff Organization (UPSO)*. UPSO existed to represent the unpaid staff at KPFA, more than 200 people. These are the people who do the majority of the work that goes on the air. After a two-year struggle UPSO is now being recognized after a change in Pacifica leadership and a directive to GM Rijio to do so. See the May 14, 2009 BDP article for more details on the change in leadership.

The vote on UPSO recognition at the LSB in 2007 was one of the very few times the CL didn’t vote in lock step to support Rijio’s consolidation of power. However the few defections didn’t change anything since at that time they controlled the PNB in collusion with some others local tyrannical majorities. This collusion elected Sherry Gendelman Chair of the PNB in 2008 and she did nothing to change the UPSO denial by the KPFA GM. Only after a change in the PNB majority, with the CL collusion losing control did the new PNB Chair and Interim ED, Grace Aaron lean on the KPFA GM to reinstate the UPSO.

The CL slate literature for the 2006 and 2007 LSB elections was silent on the issues of the Program Council and the DN! move to prime time. http://www.PeoplesRadio.net and most listener activists have consistently supported a Program Council with listener participation and the DN! move to prime time.

In January of 2009 the CL LSB majority voted to meet only once every other month.* This despite the backlog of work to be done and how it effected the selection of LSB members to important PNB committees. All the stations elect the committee members in February. This year KPFA didn’t elect their committee representatives until March, despite my bringing this up to them during the January meeting before the vote to meet half as often and not in February.

How has the CL maintained its slim majority on the LSB. Here are some of the dirty tricks they have used to dominate the elections. In 2006 and 2007 GM Rijio refused to allow any election information to be broadcast when the ballots were sent out. Rijio’s justification was that there was, coincidently, a fund drive in progress. Election information was broadcast during fund drives at other stations. Each year CL spent thousands of dollars and sent out a slate mailer to arrive with the ballots during the election black out imposed by their ally Rijio. To top that off, in 2007 when they finally did run some candidate carts, they ran all 22 at once and Sherry Gendelman was first. After the election there was only one news story on KPFA about the election. Interviewed were Sherry Gendelman, a CL candidate, Matthew Lasar, a CL endorser, and Dan Siegel and Larry Bensky both CL allies and supporters and both guilty of using station or Foundation resources to support CL or attack their opponents in violation of election ethics. No listener activist candidates were interviewed.

In the upcoming election there will be ample airtime for the election since the new PNB majority has resolved that it will be so. Bonnie Simmons a CL/Rijio group PNB member recently made a motion to rescind the Resolution to require ample airtime for the election. As of this writing her motion hasn’t been up for debate and vote. However it comes out, the CL/Rijio group’s desire to limit information about the election and the candidates is clear and stands in stark contrast of the Mission of Pacifica.

Over a year ago Rijio took the visible link to the LSB page off the front page of the KPFA web site and hid it under “ABOUT”*. They don’t announce the LSB meetings on the front page of the web site and often don’t announce them on the air as required by the Bylaws.


When they did the 60th anniversary celebration for KPFA and Pacifica this year they held a $300 dinner. I support having fundraisers and there also should have been a celebration open to the majority of our listeners. There was nothing official about the 10th anniversary of the struggle against the Hijackers, which brought 15,000 people to a rally and ended with new democratic Bylaws.

What is clear from the actions described above is that the CL/Rijio/Lilley regime has sought to eliminate democratic centers of power at the station and reduce listener input and concentrate power and control in their hands contrary to the Bylaws. At a LSB meeting in 2007 Rijio referred to the Bylaws when addressing the LSB as “your” Bylaws. Sasha Lilley has also made comments attacking the Bylaws.

“Our leadership elite may still want to believe in democratic principles-they certainly profess that they do-but in practice they have shown themselves all too willing to violate those principles in order to gain or retain power”, Cornel West from his book Democracy Matters. And if democracy matters for you, it is time for a new majority on the KPFA LSB.

Vote for people with a consistent history of support for democratic process, transparency and accountability. Do not vote for any Concerned Listener candidates or anyone they endorse. Vote for http://www.PeoplesRadio.net candidates.

Richard Phelps, former Chair, KPFA LSB, 35 year listener/subscriber, former AM & FM radio announcer. July 6, 2009.


The Pacifica Financial Crisis: Who is Responsible?
By Richard Phelps
Thursday May 14, 2009

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 percent 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, 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 power.

Richard Phelps is a former Chair of KPFA’s Local Station Board.

The Concerned Listener Management Group is Changing the Culture of KPFA, Adopting Commercial Values: Putting Money Before the Mission and Honesty

“The most important thing of all is the unfettered flow of radical information, culture, arts, news and politics that you get here on KPFA”. (Sasha Lilley, Interim Program Director) on KPFA, May 20, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. during a fund drive)

I happen to agree with this statement. It fits right in with our Bylaws: Article One, Section 2, in part: “In radio broadcasting operations to promote the full distribution of public information…” (Emphasis added.)

Unfortunately, from the current CL administration, it is only sales talk. As I pointed out in previous articles, Berkeley Daily Planet, “Alternative Home Shopping Network” etc., 5-22, 6-12, 7-24, 2008, the CL/Rijio administration has quietly been selling important speeches and public affairs programs that they DO NOT PLAY ON THE AIR FOR ALL TO HEAR! I have no problem with selling as many as possible, as long as they are played on the air for all to hear, that is our Mission.

Below you will find a partial list of these speeches and programs. During a fund drive the Morning Show folks proudly proclaimed three times during the pitching that “ The Great and Mighty Walk was not available anywhere else”. I easily found it on the web and purchased a copy for 1/3 of KPFA’s price. The entire program has never been played on the air, like those on the back page! Shouldn’t honesty to our listeners be a fundamental principle at KPFA/Pacifica?

I have a simple solution for the problem of getting them on the air. We have four music programs on M-TH at 8 pm. To free up a two-hour time slot to play these programs, Tuesday or Wednesday could be freed up for public affairs by either the Monday and Tuesday programs or the Wednesday and Thursday programs alternating every other week on one night. This way we could have an interesting weekly program with speeches and public affairs available for our audience to sit down in their comfortable chairs and listen to after dinner. It could also be used for hot topics when they come up, like police shootings, Single Payer, invasion of Gaza etc. I will gladly volunteer to help put it together.

When we don’t have any current programs and catch up with the backlog, we could play something topical from the Archives (police brutality, Palestine etc.) or have a political discussion time for callers, similar to Air America, so our listeners could share their ideas with each other about current topics. Having these speeches and programs on will increase loyalty and thus donations. It will put some excitement on the air. It would also bring back subscribers we have lost.

Then we will be able to say on the air what Sasha Lilley is quoted as saying above, and it will be an honest statement, not a sales pitch to get you to buy something that should be played for all to hear. We won’t have two classes of listeners: those that can afford to spend hundreds of dollars to hear speeches and programs and those that can’t and don’t get to hear them. This change will be in line with Pacifica’s goal to have a diverse audience. Low-income people are more oppressed by injustice in our society and need to know who is doing it to them and what they can do to fight back. Also low-income people are more proportionally women and people of color. We should want all these folks to be loyal listeners and not be priced out of important programs and be resentful.

Please tell management that KPFA must be honest to its listeners and play speeches and programs for all to hear, regardless of wealth: (510) 848-6767 ext. 3 or http://www.kpfa.org/contactus/



KPFA PREMIUM$: must buy to hear! (Is this part of our Mission?)

Tariq Ali Berkeley 2008
Naomi Wolf Berkeley 2008
Robert Fisk 2008
Vandana Shiva
Noam Chomsky 2008
Deep Sports Dave Zirin & Michael Lewis Berkeley 2007
Thomas Frank Berkeley 2008
Michael Eric Dyson 2007
Winona La Duke Green festival 2008
George Lakoff In Santa Monica
Michael Eric Dyson 2008
Gallagher v. Hitchins Debate
Howard Zinn 2007
Naomi Klein Financial Crisis
God is Great Debate 2007
911 Forum
David Harvey’s Marx on Capital, free on line, $ 250 from KPFA
Rachel Corrie Speaks 2007
Take Back America Conference 5 CDs
Derrick Jensen “Now this war has two sides.” 2 CDs
Steve Bezruchka “Is America Driving You Crazy”
Steve Bezruchka “Health & Wealth”
Michael Klare
Maude Barlow
Erwin Chemerinsky debates John Yoo 2 CDs
Naomi Klein and Tariq Ali at Left Forum
Left Forum Opening and Closing Plenaries
Michael Meade “The World behind the World”
Karen Armstrong “Understanding Islam and the West”
Isabel Allende At Dominican University
Dr Joy Degruy Leary “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome”
Jack Rasmus Financial Crisis in America; Global Context
Harry Belefonte – Commeration of 40th Anniversary 1968
Van Jones Speaking in Oakland
Amy Goodman at 2008 Green Festival
Robert Scheer in LA
Brecht Forum with Tariq Ali
Susan George Neoliberalism
Ethics of Synthetic Biology
Rumi 800 Birthday 2007 2 CDs

As far as I know none of these have been completely played for all to hear. They have all been sold. This is a partial list. How many of these would you have liked to hear? Do you feel cheated? Does this build a loyal audience? 2003-2008>50% increase in paid staff and 5,000 lost subscribers. For more information go to http://www.Peoplesradio.net. Don’t vote for any Concerned Listener candidates in the upcoming election.

Richard Phelps, Former Chair KPFA LSB, 35 year listener/subscriber, former AM & FM Radio Announcer.

Richard Phelps still fails to declare his own self interest as a failed applicant for the GM job.

How sycophants like Eden Tosch can justify the regime of an incredibly high-handed, anti-democratic regime such as that run by Lemlem Rijio is beyond belief. This is a person who was hired on Nicole Sawaya's last day as Exec. Director of Pacifica in a final "fuck you" to the station and network, despite a signed letter of "no confidence" by scores of KPFA staff!

That Lemlem "unrecognized" the only nonpaid staff organization, lost listeners by the thousands and ran a "my way or the highway" regime at KPFA seems to matter not at all to Tosch. Does she simply worship power, regardless of its destructiveness?

And oh, the small tiny matter of Lemlem holding on to a check to the station for $375,000 FOR 13 MONTHS, delivered to her by LSB member Sherry Gendelman does not seem to enter into Tosch's fawning sycophancy.

The Local Station Board, which is elected to perform such duties as hiring and firing GMs apparently has done so after the check scandal and other revelations came to light. That is what they are democratically elected by the listeners and staff to do when mismanagement and incompetence occur. They are doing their job and should be supported, not pathetically challenged as though they are just meanies picking on poor little Lemlem. Poor baby.

Enough of the "Concerned Listener" slate of management shills. Out with them!!! They should all be recalled for aiding and abetting this misadventure in mismanagement!

Every time I post some history, aka the truth, that the CL folks can't handle some anonymous CL ally attacks me personally as they sometimes do others. To imply that my interest in KPFA is monetary is a real joke, just one of their continuing "projections" of their individualistic and power before Mission morality onto their opponents. If I took any job at KPFA or Pacifica I would be making much less than I do as an attorney/mediator. And they know that I have volunteered hundreds of hours of legal work, often exposing their manipulations of the bylaws and other legal issues and hundreds of hours educating our listeners about their misdeeds. This thread is not about me so don't buy the distractions. The things I have posted are an accurate history of what the Rijio/CL management group has done over the years. Why don't the CL and their allies respond to the factual issues I and others raise? Their silence speaks for them very loud and clear!

FOLKS. i VERIFY EVERY WORD RICHARD PHELPS STATES AND HE MUST BE HONORED AND PRAISED FOR HIS DETERMINED
EFFORTS THAT HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR RESCUING PACIFICA AND I WILL RAPIDLY REJOINAFTER CALLING
PACIFICA AN EBEMY OF THE PEOPLE FOR TWO MANY YEARS.
TIEKERT MUST ALSO BE REMOVED QUICKLY. I INFORMED BY PHONE THAT A 20 TIMES VENEZUELAN OIL FIELD EXISTS OUITSIDE OF PUERTO PRINCE WHICH WAS MOST LIKELY THE QUAKE CAUSE WHEN MANIPULATED BECAUSE IT WAS N O T
FELT IN SANTA DOMINGO AND U.S. TROOPS ARE THERE TOO INSURE U.S. ROBBERY OF THIS OIL WHEN MIDDLE EAST OIL RUNS OUT. HE IS INCOMPETENT AND IRRESPONSIBLE. A DEMOCRATIC PARTY HACK.

Yesterday's LSB meeting was full to capacity . KPFA Management got a couple of dozen to turn out in support of their nominal boss Lem Lem . They whined and moaned about how valuable she is and what a outrageous action her reported firing was and how it should be reversed .
One interesting comment was from Mitch Jessrich , Host of the Democrat Party oriented show , '' Letters from Washington '' . He stated that the staff ''by a overwheming majority '' backed Lem Lem . But only a few months ago about 80 staff members, Union and UPSO, signed a vote of NO CONFIDENCE IN THE GM Open Letter . i guess Mitch isn't too good at basic Math .
A "Blast from the Past '' spoke . Alan Snitow ,a former ED of Pacifca in the 90's made a plea for Lem Lem and threatened that '' Major Donors '' would stop contributing if she wasn't reinstated . It should be noted that Snitow admitted that he hadn't attended a LSB meeting in a decade . But yet he claims he's very knowledgable re the situation . One might think that he should have educated himself by attending at least a few meetings and spoke to others than just his prosperous ''Major Donor '' buddies before he makes impassioned threats re a Listener Boycott .
Others spoke . Bob English , a recently retired SF City Worker Union activist, voiced his support for Riggio's ouster but added that the LSB should issue a Public statement about the matter. The Rules of Confidentially do not exclude announcing decisions reached in Executive Session . A staff member associated with the Saturday Morning Gospel Show (I didn't get her name ) said that she had serious concerns about a Management that calls the Police on Unarmed , Non threatening staff members and sits on a 375 K check until it expires !
Richard Phelps spoke about the dire threat from the recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited unlimited Corporate contributions to electoral campaigns and proposition ballot measures and the need for a strong democratic Pacifica to be a consistent voice fighting that .
Stan Woods noted the irony that many of the same people that pushed aside former GM Gus Newport and demonized Roy Campanella are now so concerned about fairness re Lem Lem .
Re declining donations he asked where were people like Snitow when during the Bush years when we should have been dramaticallly growing , KPFA lost approx. 27 % of it's listener subscribers . He attributed that to ''lackluster, bland NPR style programming '' that turned off many listeners , especially young activists .
One little footnote . As the Public part of the meeting was breaking up, Chris Stehlik shouted at Richard Phelps that Richard and he should ''step outside '' !
This followed Phelps asking Chris not to personally attack him online .
I don't think anyone took Stehlik 's faux macho challenge seriously . He isn't the street fighting type !
I do think that it reflects the increasing demoralization that the '' Concerned Listener'' crowd must be feeling . The new decade hasn't started well for them
A few off the cuff observations . Not intended to be a detailed account . Look to Daniel Borgstrom.'s upcoming article for that .

Werner, many people worked very hard and long to defeat the CL/Rijio management group and there is much work to do to consolidate the victory for democratic process and Mission first radio. As we consolidate democratic processes and fair play and end the patronage and cronyism, the real work begins: maximizing the potential of KPFA and Pacifica to Educate and Activate people to develop a peaceful and just culture in our country and to save our planet.

We must continue to build the unity of the democratic forces since the old guard will continually try to regain control. We could have gotten here sooner had our side of the isle avoided internal power plays and unified to defeat the CL/Rijio folks. Hopefully people have learned some lessons and it will be easier to build and maintain unity. We must do things in a transparent and inclusive manner to continue building the new culture as we improve the station and the Foundation.

It appears that Rijio is finally gone, although no one above stated her final day so we can all CHEER LOUDLY!

We do know that the Board had to fire her because otherwise there would BE NO KPFA because the friends of Flashpoints who contribute their books and the like to the fundraisers have threatened to withhold all support for any KPFA fundraisers UNTIL FULL FUNDING FOR FLASHPOINTS IS RESTORED INCLUDING FLASHPOINTS EN ESPANOL (that has been replaced for about 3 Fridays now by the awful "Flashpoints in Review"), UNTIL NORA FRIEDMAN HAS HER FULL 40 HOURS AND UNTIL FLASHPOINTS HAS ITS BOARD OP PERSON. Was all this done at this Board meeting too? Until we have a definitive and affirmative statement that Flashpoints has all of the above named restoration, we are not contributing to KPFA. The next fund drive starts February 16, so this LSB had better make it snappy.

Having listened to KPFA for practically all of its 60 years, I can recall the February fundraiser starting before and going through President's Day, a day when lots of people are home and able to contribute. In addition to FULLY RESTORING FLASHPOINTS AS STATED ABOVE, THE FUNDRAISING STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED.

And the next questions are: Who is replacing Rijio? When are we going to have a Sunday morning show that is a labor news and culture show? When are we going to have news programs committed to peace and interviewing the candidates from the 2 peace parties, Peace & Freedom and the Green Party? There is not much time as the US is collapsing rapidly. The March 4 California school strike should be broadcast all day long on KPFA and KPFK with live interviews from the students, staff and teachers.

I am boycotting KPFA and it breaks my heart. I know that there aren't enough dollars to go around, but the way the management has handled so many issuse from the Concerned Listners to FlashPoints funding (especially Nora Barrows-Friedman's hours!!!) has me holding back. Things may look a little better now, but until FlashPoints has FULL FUNDING I won't be contributing and will be working to ask my friends and neighbors to withhold thier money as well and donate to alternative progressive causes.

So far my little campaign has yeilded 6 of us that are not going to contribute till FULL FUNDING. I anticipate that there will be more as more people get abord the boycott bandwagon.

PF, KPFA FUND FLASHPOINTS NOW!

I understand your frustration and concern about Flashpoints. Nora makes great contributions as do all the Flashpoints staff. I would suggest a different method of protest. Make a pledge contingent on restoring Flashpoints and get as many people as possible to tell the people answering the phone "I am donating $100.00 to KPFA and as soon as Flashpoints has it stafff back I will send in my check". This will have a much stronger impact that just saying you are going to boycott. This will show them just how much they are losing.

I am very curious what will be said on the air during the fundraising drive . If the reports that Rijio being fired are accurate Will that be annouced on the air ? Or will Rijio be allowed to stay on for the duration of the drive ?
I hope not . I could foresee a scenario where her and her CL supporters would use the drive to further a campaign to keep her position . It wouldn't have any legal basis if the LSB and the PNB have voted to remove her . But that might not be enough to keep them from raising hell .
Perhaps they would hope to block a truly progressive, let alone, Radical replacement for Rijio .Then there's the threat from Alan Snitow that '' Major Donors'' wouldn't contribute if Rijio is canned.
So while i usually listen far less than normal during the Fundraising drive, ( a lot of the speeches and self promoting authors don't interest me,) I will try to listen closely this time especially during the pitches . If Rijio is on constantly and Brian ET and others are repeatly singing her praises -- Look out !

KPFA and Pacifica appear to be finished. A recent NY Times article describing the complete idiocy of board meetings at WBAI summed up perfectly what has become of the network. Political grandstanding, inane babbling and a failure to complete even the most basic tasks expected of a non-profit board has brought the station and network to the brink of ruin. Attending a few meetings myself in the past has given me a first-hand view into the muck.

A handful of people with little, or no practical experience serving on non-profit boards, can be elected. Experience and expertise in any field that could be of use to the network is eschewed in favor of who can be the loudest and spew the most irrelevant rhetoric. These people represent much of what is currently on offer on the networks air, i.e. -- crank conspiracy theories, faith healing and astrology. It is a burned out hippy's dream, but a nightmare for any other listeners.

The flag-ship afternoon drive program is an embarrassment of pre-digested opinions disguised as news. The host is merely a "left" carbon copy of Limbaughesque windbaggery, minus any discernable talent. My advice to anyone who is a member of the responsible and clear-headed left, and wants to save the network, is to do away with these boards ASAP, instill a respect for professionalism and know-how, and re-program the station from the top to the bottom in a grid that makes sense. Re-establish the station's credibility by getting rid of the tin-foil hat conspiracy programs and equally loopy, unscientific astrology mumbo-jumbo and focus your energies on shoring up the few good remaining programs and try to replicate their success. The other option is to continue the way you've been doing things, hand the whole mess over to the fruit bat loonies and watch it all come apart within a year. The choice is yours, meanwhile I'll go listen to something that doesn't make my stomach turn, or make me laugh out loud in ridicule. Good luck.

Actually the situation is even more dire.
There are delusional people who still think that Obama is the President of Hope and Change and the reason US is building hundred of bases amidst Iraqi oil fields and Caspian Sea gas fields is because we are fighting the terrorist that attacked US on 9-11.

If you need any more proof of the demented, half-wit, anti-semitic state of the bunch that are currently in charge at Pacifica, look no further than the previous post. That's today's Pacifica in a nutshell. Sad.

The anti-democracy forces are upset because we are finally overcoming them, and that is what the last few posts here are about.
You can identify that faction by these assertions:
* "KPFA is finished"
-- finished because people have taken back control of the network from the patterns of exclusive, illegitimate power in which the direction of programming was limited to each factions' plan, and attention is again paid to making the stations progressive, inclusive, & solvent. We "watched it coming apart" under the rule of cronyism, and are making it sound!

* KPFA is being dragged down financially by other stations such as WBAI
-- even though it was they who want to "support Management and Staff" who protected other Managements instead of fulfilling their responsibility to guide and protect the network.
Do we care if NYC with its huge potential listenership loses their Pacifica station?
Apparently they do not. They want to dump the rest of the network.

* The stations can't be run by democratically chosen board members because they are not "professionals"
-- even though these LSB members may be people who are leaders in non-profits, respected because they want to fulfill the KPFA mission, instead of having the orientation of corporate experts in broadcasting and management.
Democracy - Okay for running a country, but Not In Our Backyard!

* KPFA as it is now is full of loonies, extreme radicals, and conspiracy theorists.
-- Please, no investigative journalism, no passion. Stick to the AP wire. Appeal to "moderate progressives" - there are more of them and they have more money than the kooky radicals. KQED did it!
Let's hear only the "reputable" left - reputable to the Democrats. The "sane" people are threatening not to listen to us.
Why are Flashpoints, Guns & Butter, Voices from the Middle East, etc., so popular? Forget what the other listeners want. Forget diverse views. The CL knows what people should hear.

* "Your Bylaws" (a quote from our General Manager)
-- They do not like them because they promote a democratic structure.

* Elections are too expensive, and not everyone votes so how can they be democratic?
-- it's cheaper if we appoint "professionals" to make all the decisions for every community.

The Bylaws and the elections were put in place after a small undemocratically chosen group tried to consolidate their own control of the station, and make it more moderate - and the listeners got it back.
Shades of 1999!
No wonder none of that faction attended the recent "Taking Back Pacifica 1999" show, and tried to kick it upstairs at the Craft Show!

Criticizing the state of Israel for what it is doing to the Palestinian people is not being anti-Semitic.( Do you really think that bombing hospitals and schools is justifiable? Starving people- is that OK? How is that different from what was done to the heroic resisters of the Warsaw Ghetto? )The state of Israel is a racist and apartheid state which does act as a policeman in the Middle East at the behest of the capitalist/imperialist rulers of the U.S.(support of the bloody regimes in Latin America in the 1980's, support of apartheid South Africa, etc)It is wrong for people to stand quiet on various horrors because it makes them feel uncomfortable. However, that anti-Semitic/ racist nutball who put all of that anti-Semitic crap up on the Indybay board should have never been allowed to post that crap on the board! These racist pigs and nut cases can crap on people all throughout society- why should we tolerate this crap by posting it here? In fact, posting stuff like this on Indybay is a provocation. Would people allow the Nazis or Klan to parade say in Skokie, IL or in Harlem? Pacifica needs to be more out there in providing voices of resistance to the crimes of this system and calling for people to resist the crimes of the U.S.- including those of Obama. It doesn't need to be homogenized or slowly killed off. It is far past time that Pacifica really confront it's problems head on and deal with them in an honest way, or otherwise , when we need it we will lose this precious voice of humanity and resistance.

I say let the loonies have it. Give it to the grandstanding windbags robotically spewing rhetoric. Let them have their "democracy", which less than 10 percent of the listener members take seriously enough to vote in. News flash, hardly anyone cares. Let the boards continue to drain the station's resources, refuse to raise money, and turn the station into a loony tunes megaphone. The network is bleeding money and losing listeners as it is. You've won a great victory "real" left. Problem is it'll all be gone in a year and hardly anyone in the Bay Area will notice or care. Nice job "real" left. What will you listen to after you've driven the station into the ground?

Some of the posts that rant about the '' Loony Left'' seem to be written by outright Right Wingers, Fox Fans, not even the ''Moderate '' ''Concerned Listener'' mob .
People like Joe Wanzala , Well respected African Immigrant , Traci Rosenberg ,Director of Media Alliance and Banafleh (Director of Amnesty International on the West Coast ! ) are '' Loony Leftists '' ? What was ''crazed ''about the comments of Gabreilia from the Gospel Hour , Max Blachett, or Peoples Radio folks like Bob English or Stan Woods ? They all sounded Congent, factual and and articulate to me .
If i'm mistaken and these Hit posts are scribbled by CL supporters i strongly suggest to people like the Hallinan Brothers that they talk to and restrain their more rabid cadre . After all how far in this rhetorical war do you want to go ? What will those in the Democratic Media camp in Pacifica be called next ? "'Outside Agitators'' ?
So CL is losing votes. That happens when you're in the Minority . That what Democracy Looks like ! Get used to it .

The nasty accusations, mean spirited jibes, elaborate insults and lies thrown at the new board members, is the clear work of the bitter election losers and paid staffers who lost the majority and power in the last election. Good. You know you've done the job well when the entrenched and wanna be entrenched group starts crying...Get out and stay out! The Vision is intact and the Mission moves forward. Constant and ongoing awareness is key.

I had the bad idea to email a complain about the last tuesday against the grain rising fund show since its feature an old interview of howard zinn and one of the last wish of howard zinn is that none of his work be used during kpfa fund rising UNTIL FLASHPOINTS IS BACK TO HIS NORMAL FUNDING. SO since it seems to punish me i have not been able to open any of the archive files like if my ip was banned.its looks like the people in charge of kpfa represent every single values the founders of this station stand against . The obscenity to betrayed one of the last wish of the great howard zinn show a great moral turpitude .Kind of sad way to be.

That last post is based on an absolute fabrication. Howard Zinn did no such thing. Just about a week before his death, Zinn told KPFA's events coordinator he had absolutely no idea about any boycott and wasn't at all interested in internal KPFA politics. Stop spreading this lie.

Instead of placating sore Democratic Party hack losers let us move on to build a real ONGOING non election focused COALITION of all Progressive National Forces made up of: Women Controlling their Own Lives Wage working people deserving Control over their working lives Indigenous persons who have had their land and heritage robbed Nurses and other medical workers demanding SINGLE PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE African Americans still suffering from neglect of receiving REPARATIONS for ENSLAVEMENT, Persons of non traditional sexual direction requiring equality with traditional persons. All who no longer approve the right of persons of money and wealth to dominate those not so situated and wish to create a world that is no longer possible. Those who insist that education and information to effect our lives be available to all who seek it. Those who seek to abolish death penalties including all wars. This unity must be an ongoing commitment to continue struggling until WE ACHIEVE OUR GOALS and we commit to each one of these goals until they are achieved and that is the only road yhat will assure our victory for the whole HUMAN RACE, I encourage any and all revisions and additions to this hugely expanded MISSION statement. It is a MISSION for our whole nation and our human race. g

It seems "Lie Detector" is wrong -
Howard Zinn along with others *did* refuse to permit his
work on KPFA, to support Flashpoints.
See the 3d paragraph of their petition:

From MondoWeiss:
"Join Howard Zinn, Richard Falk and others in helping to save Flashpoints
by Adam Horowitz on December 14, 2009

"So far this fight has included a petition signed by prominent guests that have appeared on the show including Howard Zinn, Dahr Jamail, Anthony Arnove, Dr. Richard Falk, and Peter Phillips (of Project Censored). The petition reads:

Dear KPFA and Pacifica Radio Management and Boards:

We, the undersigned, are very concerned about the recent cutbacks aimed at Flashpoints.

This show in particular has been an extremely important platform for our work as journalists, writers, scholars, activists and social critics. We value the level of truth-telling and depth of analysis that is unparalleled on the network. Flashpoints is a unique program that has done an exquisite job of bringing together a broad range of otherwise-silenced issues and voices to the public.

As frequent guests on Flashpoints and other shows on KPFA, we intend to refuse to be interviewed or to allow prior work to be aired, or to give permission for our books, CDs, DVDs and other work to be used as premiums during KPFA’s fund drives until Flashpoints is restored completely.

This means that Nora Barrows-Friedman must be reinstated to a full-time position, and that Flashpoints be provided with a permanent Technical Producer.

In a time of great despair, and as truth is crippled as wars expand, people have fewer sources of alternative information with which to act. Flashpoints has always been a beacon of media democracy and political courage, and we expect KPFA and Pacifica to do the right thing by supporting this essential program instead of destroying it."

Was that supposed to be proof of anything? Anybody can put out a statement and add names to it. Truth is Zinn didn't care about this silly little spat just like pretty much everyone else except for about a dozen or so kooks.

What is your saying Zinn doesn't say that prove?
Anyone can assert anything about anyone they want, especially if they're dead,
and without any details/evidence to contradict evidence we already have, there is no reason to believe it.

Judging by the garbled, semi-literate nature of that last post, it's easy to see that these people will believe anything. You forgot to mention that Elvis, the Queen of England and the winner of American Idol also signed that Flashpoints letter. What a sorry lot.

For more on this story, watch the IndyBay Media section.

> Lemlem Rijio resigned from the position as General Manager of KPFA effective March 31st, 2010.
>
> I thank Lemlem for her service to KPFA and Pacifica. However, she has decided to move on to pursue other interests.
>
> She thanked Pacifica for allowing her to be a part of a network that stands for peace and expressed her desire for continued success of KPFA and the Pacifica network.
>
> Arlene Engelhardt
> Executive Director
> Pacifica Foundation

I have been informed by Amelia Gonzalez that she was paid staff before she was promoted. I am sorry for getting that fact wrong in an article posted here.

Richard Phelps