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KPFA and the vast conspiracy: "New Day" Pacifica's Redbaiting Tactics
The faction trying to corporatize the Pacifica bylaws who call themselves "New Day Pacifica" have used redbaiting claiming that Pacifica has been taken over by the Green Party and the Workers World party. These rebating tactics show the real character of these people. It also raises questions about why programmers at KPFA are supporting these tactics by backing New Day Pacifica.
KPFA and the vast conspiracy
a voice in Oakland California
Saturday, April 3, 2021
KPFA and the vast conspiracy
KPFA and the vast conspiracy
It has been one of my firm beliefs that people accuse others of the crimes that they themselves are willing to commit.
A prime example is the national Republican party’s complaints about voting rights.
Republicans accuse the Democrats of wanting to create a permanent majority for themselves. This coming from the folk who have voter suppression laws in a majority of states, most of which are so gerrymandered that the Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in their state and federal delegations despite only having a slim majority of the votes, if that.
Yet Republicans accuse the Democrats of gaming the system.
They should, they have gaming the system on their minds.
I have found it hard to focus on any one subject trying to describe the far-fetched arguments and proposals made by the local KPFA board majority. So, for this bit of writing, let’s talk about conspiracy.
At this last KPFA meeting we went through the looking glass to a world where being a local leader of the Green Party was equated to being an elected official.
My friend James McFadden sits on the KPFA station board. He is also elected to the Alameda County Green Party Council. Greens do this by county. Democrats elect their delegates by Assembly District. Who knows how, or if, Republicans, Peace and Freedom or Libertarians elect their internal leadership? When they do, the internal party election is usually tacked onto that party’s specific ballot at Primary time.
KPFA has a very good rule that those on the payroll or who hold any leadership or elected position inside KPFA or Pacifica Radio cannot be an elected official or a candidate for elected office at the same time. My own election to the KPFA board left me as the runner up. One of the members of the station board ran for office in Richmond and I was asked to step up.
Many of us in Oakland know of Cat Brooks. She is on the air during the morning show on KPFA weekdays. When she ran for Oakland Mayor, she suspended her employment at KPFA until the election was won by Libby Schaff.
When I was on a nonprofit board, I voluntarily did not attend those board meetings when I ran for City Counsel and picked back up after that election was won by Dan Kalb.
This is all very normal.
At the last station board meeting a member of the faction formally known as “Save KPFA” accused James McFadden of breaking this rule, demanding that he resign based on a highly contrived argument that conflates an internal Green Party election with being a government official.
Then the accusations became bizarre. It included the idea that the Greens have some kind of KPFA board candidate training program and together with the Worker’s World Party they (we) are plotting to take over the station and only promote radical programming because we want to wreck the station.
It sounded a lot like Republicans calling Joe Biden a “socialist”.
At that point, I had to say something about this vast-Green-conspiracy theory. I pointed out that my recruitment to the KPFA board was because of my friend Tom Voorhees asking me to do it. I have known Tom since we met in Nicaragua in the 1980’s and he helped us with our radios there. This is long before the US Green Party or Save KPFA even existed.
And who the hell is the Worker’s World Party?
If “Save KPFA” hates them, they must be doing something good.
And why does the faction formally known as “Save KPFA” have conspiracy on the brain?
Surprise! They have a very real conspiracy of their own they are working on.
It is a bylaws scam. It is the second try at a bylaws scam.
So, before I explain, hear this.
VOTE NO ON THE BYLAWS AMENDMENT, IT IS A SCAM
“Save KPFA” got some of their former opponents to join them and now call themselves something like United for Independent Radio. They now have a front group or sub group called New Day Pacifica. That groups seems to have some serious cash for on-line promotion. They have gotten enough signatures to put their bylaws change on the ballot.
Again.
This is the second time that a bylaws change is being attempted by the same faction.
The idea is simple. Make sure that they, and only they, are in charge. The bylaws change is to eliminate the Pacifica Nation Board that we now have, elected by all 5 station boards in the Pacifica Network. Voting yes will appoint a 4-person junta to run things during the transition. The local station boards will be stripped of all authority. New elections under their new rules will take place sometime.
So KPFA will become a province of Myanmar?
One of the people behind this new takeover attempt also explained why they have good reasons not to hold on-air debates about these bylaws for the listener members. Instead, we will hold obscure discussions out of the limelight and broadcast on-air announcements worthy of George Orwell.
Your will find that statement on the front page of the kpfa.org website.
The New Day Pacifica slick email has a long list of notable endorsers. (So do the opponents.) Where does the money come from for such a media campaign? How did they get the membership list? Will equal time be given to the other views? Can they send an email to that same list?
“Save KPFA” sounds like the Republicans, and many Democrats, when they talk about how the sky will fall if they are not put in total charge. They throw around language where they are the only competent ones, and everyone else involved in KPFA and Pacifica does not know what they are doing; thus, disaster is always just around the corner.
The last time they tried a bylaws change it got overwhelmingly voted down.
And now the accusation out of their mouth is “conspiracy”.
I do not doubt their expertise on the subject.
a voice in Oakland California
Saturday, April 3, 2021
KPFA and the vast conspiracy
KPFA and the vast conspiracy
It has been one of my firm beliefs that people accuse others of the crimes that they themselves are willing to commit.
A prime example is the national Republican party’s complaints about voting rights.
Republicans accuse the Democrats of wanting to create a permanent majority for themselves. This coming from the folk who have voter suppression laws in a majority of states, most of which are so gerrymandered that the Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in their state and federal delegations despite only having a slim majority of the votes, if that.
Yet Republicans accuse the Democrats of gaming the system.
They should, they have gaming the system on their minds.
I have found it hard to focus on any one subject trying to describe the far-fetched arguments and proposals made by the local KPFA board majority. So, for this bit of writing, let’s talk about conspiracy.
At this last KPFA meeting we went through the looking glass to a world where being a local leader of the Green Party was equated to being an elected official.
My friend James McFadden sits on the KPFA station board. He is also elected to the Alameda County Green Party Council. Greens do this by county. Democrats elect their delegates by Assembly District. Who knows how, or if, Republicans, Peace and Freedom or Libertarians elect their internal leadership? When they do, the internal party election is usually tacked onto that party’s specific ballot at Primary time.
KPFA has a very good rule that those on the payroll or who hold any leadership or elected position inside KPFA or Pacifica Radio cannot be an elected official or a candidate for elected office at the same time. My own election to the KPFA board left me as the runner up. One of the members of the station board ran for office in Richmond and I was asked to step up.
Many of us in Oakland know of Cat Brooks. She is on the air during the morning show on KPFA weekdays. When she ran for Oakland Mayor, she suspended her employment at KPFA until the election was won by Libby Schaff.
When I was on a nonprofit board, I voluntarily did not attend those board meetings when I ran for City Counsel and picked back up after that election was won by Dan Kalb.
This is all very normal.
At the last station board meeting a member of the faction formally known as “Save KPFA” accused James McFadden of breaking this rule, demanding that he resign based on a highly contrived argument that conflates an internal Green Party election with being a government official.
Then the accusations became bizarre. It included the idea that the Greens have some kind of KPFA board candidate training program and together with the Worker’s World Party they (we) are plotting to take over the station and only promote radical programming because we want to wreck the station.
It sounded a lot like Republicans calling Joe Biden a “socialist”.
At that point, I had to say something about this vast-Green-conspiracy theory. I pointed out that my recruitment to the KPFA board was because of my friend Tom Voorhees asking me to do it. I have known Tom since we met in Nicaragua in the 1980’s and he helped us with our radios there. This is long before the US Green Party or Save KPFA even existed.
And who the hell is the Worker’s World Party?
If “Save KPFA” hates them, they must be doing something good.
And why does the faction formally known as “Save KPFA” have conspiracy on the brain?
Surprise! They have a very real conspiracy of their own they are working on.
It is a bylaws scam. It is the second try at a bylaws scam.
So, before I explain, hear this.
VOTE NO ON THE BYLAWS AMENDMENT, IT IS A SCAM
“Save KPFA” got some of their former opponents to join them and now call themselves something like United for Independent Radio. They now have a front group or sub group called New Day Pacifica. That groups seems to have some serious cash for on-line promotion. They have gotten enough signatures to put their bylaws change on the ballot.
Again.
This is the second time that a bylaws change is being attempted by the same faction.
The idea is simple. Make sure that they, and only they, are in charge. The bylaws change is to eliminate the Pacifica Nation Board that we now have, elected by all 5 station boards in the Pacifica Network. Voting yes will appoint a 4-person junta to run things during the transition. The local station boards will be stripped of all authority. New elections under their new rules will take place sometime.
So KPFA will become a province of Myanmar?
One of the people behind this new takeover attempt also explained why they have good reasons not to hold on-air debates about these bylaws for the listener members. Instead, we will hold obscure discussions out of the limelight and broadcast on-air announcements worthy of George Orwell.
Your will find that statement on the front page of the kpfa.org website.
The New Day Pacifica slick email has a long list of notable endorsers. (So do the opponents.) Where does the money come from for such a media campaign? How did they get the membership list? Will equal time be given to the other views? Can they send an email to that same list?
“Save KPFA” sounds like the Republicans, and many Democrats, when they talk about how the sky will fall if they are not put in total charge. They throw around language where they are the only competent ones, and everyone else involved in KPFA and Pacifica does not know what they are doing; thus, disaster is always just around the corner.
The last time they tried a bylaws change it got overwhelmingly voted down.
And now the accusation out of their mouth is “conspiracy”.
I do not doubt their expertise on the subject.
For more information:
http://donmacleay.blogspot.com/2021/04/kpf...
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Article Six, Meetings of the Board of Directors, Section 1: Time and Place of Meetings
The "Annual Meeting" of the Board of Directors shall take place in late January each year, or at such other times and places as agreed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The Board shall also regularly meet in March, June and September of each year.
PNB had 40 meeting days in 2018
PNB had 40 meeting days in 2019
PNB had 40 meeting days in 2020
PNB had 11 meeting days in the first three months of 2021.
So, PNB meets about 10 times more often than what the Bylaws calls for.
---
Article Five, Board of Directors of the Foundation, Section 1: Board of Directors -Eligibility, Number, Powers and Duties
E. SPECIFIC POWERS AND DUTIES
(3) Ensuring the financial health of the Foundation by adopting and monitoring an annual budget and overseeing an independent annual audit of the Foundation's books and accounts;
Pacifica has failed every audit since 2015.
Pacifica’s Board had forfeited nearly $7 million dollars in CPB grants since 2013.
Pacifica has no financial reserves and no money to pay a $3.2 million loan.
So, PNB has not been able to ensure the financial health of the Foundation.
---
The Pacifica National Board (PNB) meets 40 times a year, yet it cannot fulfill its number one duty which is to ensure the financial health of our listener sponsored network.
People see that the current Bylaws do not work.
People see that Bylaws need to be changed, which is why they sign on to New Day Pacifica.
Don MacLeay says that people trying to change the Bylaws is part of a vast conspiracy (a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful) and the New Day Pacifica Bylaws are a scam (a dishonest scheme; a fraud).
New Day Pacifica is pretty open about why the Bylaws needs to be changed, and how it should be changed.
https://newdaypacifica.org/
He is pretending he wasn't a member of the Pacifica National Board himself or that he hasn't served on the KPFA local station board for something like 9 of the past 15 years.
He is pretending that he is calling for change, when really what he is calling for is for himself to become a 3 year officer of the national board by fiat with the right to appoint several more board members without any approval from the members.
He is pretending that the "change-the-bylaws" faction aren't the ones who threw away the Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants by falling hopelessly behind on the audits beginning in 2014 when they staged a coup.
He is pretending that Pacifica didn't receive 2.5 million dollars in unanticipated windfall estate gifts between 2018 and 2020 and chose not to pay their loan debt with it.
The whole change-the-bylaws thing is a scam. Bylaws don't invigorate program content, they don't replace a vision and the ability to get things done and they don't pay down debt.
They just install one person and their friends into power and protect the status quo. If things are going to be different, then they have to be different. Why re-install people like Aki and Jan Goodman who are fundamentally complaining about actions they took? What is the point of that?
You tell me.
VOTE TO REJECT THE REFERENDUM FOR PROPOSED BYLAWS CHANGES. RESCIND YOUR VOTE IF YOU VOTED TO ACCEPT THE REFERENDUM: WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES, BUT THIS ONE CAN BE CORRECTED!
And be sure to register to vote in your local station by tomorrow if you are not currently a member: $25 for one year is the legal membership rate. Keep proof of your payment dated April 5, 6, or 7 (the deadline).
“It appears Pacifica is unable to map out an effective and safe strategy due to the disjointed nature of its various governance Boards which appear to be working at cross purposes… As auditors, we strongly recommend an end to the infighting and unproductive arguments which we have witnessed by listening to and reading Board minutes. The organization’s ability to continue as a going concern is directly related to its ability to follow a rational plan and financially sensible strategy.”
2019 Pacifica’s auditors, Rogers & Company, said:
“As has been communicated by the predecessor independent auditors, we also agree it would be beneficial for the Foundation to review its Bylaws and consider any revisions to simplify them and encourage more productive meetings….”
“…it appears that the Foundation and its several stations would benefit from changes designed to achieve a more productive governance process. We believe that all divisions should restructure their Boards with fewer members, which would hopefully reduce the number of disparate voices and result in more effective governance. Bylaws should be re-written to be more effective, restrict voting participation, and restrict impediments to efficient Board actions and procedures. The current process lends itself to protracted and unproductive discourse between participants....”
1. The illegal shutdown of WBAI in 2019 which Mr. Tanka enthusiastically supported.
2. The frivolous lawsuits against Pacifica initiated by Bill Campisi which Mr. Tanaka enthusiastically supported.
3. The attempt to corporative Pacifica in 2020 through a referendum that was defeated by a whopping 2-1 majority. Mr. Tanaka also enthusiastically supported that.
4. The attempt to throw Pacifica into receivership through a lawsuit initiated by some of Mr. Tanaka's colleagues on the KPFA LSB. Mr. Tanaka has not said what he thinks of that but neither has he gone on record against it.
5. The new attempt to corporatize Pacifica and overthrow its democratic governance structure, otherwise known as New Day Pacifica.
Mr. Tanaka is not only an enthusiastic supporter of this abomination, he is also one of the named officers that will be shoved down the throats of Pacifica if the referendum should somehow prevail. Mr. Tanaka claims to support democracy but he is more than happy to be named an Officer of Pacifica without going through the exercise of actually running against someone else in an election.
The various assaults against Pacifica that Mr. Tanaka has supported have so far cost Pacifica somewhere between $500K and $1 million. This is what the legal bills, costs of financing referendums, and lost fund drives and other dislocations as a result of the shut down of WBAI have cost Pacifica. I hope Mr. Tanaka is proud of his accomplishments.
And as far as the financial health of Pacifica, it is true that Pacifica does face financial challenges, as do virtually all other radio broadcast organizations, regardless of whether they are small community radio stations, large NPR stations or even commercial stations.
I should add that Pacifica problems in losing its Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding began when some of his colleagues from KPFA were running Pacifica. They badly neglected to monitor some elementary business practices and this resulted in Pacifica falling behind in our audits. That was the main reason for the loss of CPB funding. In those years the New York station, WBAI, was also saddled with a predatory lease for its tower at the Empire State Building which was clearly not sustainable.
Starting with a new PNB that came into office in 2018 there has been a concerted effort to fix the problems that caused Pacifica to lose its CPB funding and fall into debt. One of our best accomplishments was getting WBAI out of the predatory lease with Empire State. We saved $1.9 million dollars by getting out of the lease and reduced the monthly payments on the WBAI tower by 3/4, getting the rent down to a sustainable level. But in order to do that we had to take out a loan.
Mr. Tanaka and other proponents of the New Day bylaws rewrite never stop condemning the PNB for taking out that loan. But what was their alternative? It was the bankruptcy of Pacifica and the sale of the WBAI signal.
You decide which was worse, the breakup of Pacifica as a network and the loss of our voice in the most important media market in the country, or a loan that buys us time to get our affairs in order and maintain Pacifica.
Mr. Tanaka and the other New Day proponents have tried to panic Pacifica listeners by claiming that we are about to default on the loan and have no plans to pay it back! Well guess what, not only have we not defaulted on the loan, we just renegotiated the terms of the loan for another 18 months. We also received a very positive review from our Auditor who was impressed at the improvements that Pacifica has made in getting its financial house into order in the past 2 years. And we have very concrete plans to pay back the loan.
In contrast what does Mr. Tanaka and the other New Day people propose as their plan to pay back the loan? If they have any plan, we haven't heard it. We are somehow supposed to trust this group of inexperienced, hand-picked group of Officers to fix things. Some of the New Day proponents are on the PNB. Yet I have never heard any of them present any alternative financial plans either on the PNB or any of its committees. If you think that trusting Mr. Tanaka and his friends to fix Pacifica's financial problems is not an example of magical thinking I don't know what is.
If you agree or just want to learn more, please visit the Pacifica Democracy Project Alex Steinberg, Chair, Pacifica National Board, Writing in a personal capacity.
It's intention is to install a particular faction into complete control of the entire Pacifica Network for at least three years by rigging the bylaws.
Sure that cuts down on "fighting", but just saying we will solve the fighting by making sure our opponents have less seats on the governance bodies is pretty much the fascist approach to dealing with diversity of viewpoint.
You don't need permanent officers, self-appointed board members, and totally disempowering local boards in order to make the boards smaller.
Just reduce the number of seats proportionately. But that is not what this plan proposes to do. And the reason is that a proportionate reduction in the number of seats does not guarantee one faction a majority or a stranglehold on all the board officer positions for three years.
In order to do that we need a National Board that can work together to ensure the financial health of this member sponsored network.
The concern, which was expressed by our auditor, Regalia and Associates, is all the “the infighting and unproductive arguments which [they] have witnessed by listening to and reading Board minutes”.
Did you even read the previous message above yours, entitled "Non Responsive Posts"? In particular, the line which read, "...saying we will solve the fighting by making sure our opponents have less seats on the governance bodies is pretty much the fascist approach to dealing with diversity of viewpoint" -- ?
Specifically, there are several ways in which groups can reduce "infighting". A commonly-used method is "mediation". So why didn't the "New Day" people propose mediation, instead of a very expensive election (especially when Pacifica is having financial problems!)?
Could it be, as the author of the "Non Responsive Posts" message wrote, that the New Day people would prefer a fascist approach, instead of considering mediation?
Yes, it's true, that that reality may not be very pleasant to think about, but sometimes the truth does hurt.
Sent: Friday, April 2, 2021 9:10 PM
To: 'Jan Goodman Pacifica (xxx [at] gmail.com)' ; Lynden Foley (xxx [at] att.net); 'Akio Tanaka' ; 'Dick and Sharon (xxx [at] yahoo.com)'; 'LSB' ; 'Pacifica National Board'
Subject: Bad Day for New Day
Dear Jan, Lyndon, Aki and Sharon:
This latest piece of yours (https://newdaypacifica.org/background-report-pacificas-finances-lack-of-stable-leadership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=background-report-pacificas-finances-lack-of-stable-leadershipis) is over the top for mis- and disinformation. It is hard to find even one sentence that is not completely wrong in this entire piece. Are you too lazy, too stupid or just don’t care to even attempt to get correct financial information? There’s no point in my delineating the specifics because it’s clear you don’t care about facts or the truth – or you just don’t have the capability for either.
I’ve watched Jan for over five years totally ignore KPFK’s finances, which resulted in KPFK running an operating deficit of $700k two years in a row, and then watched Jan leak confidential personnel information to reward the GM who created the deficit. (Jan is not alone, there’s plenty of blame to go around). The only thing Jan has accomplished, besides wasting tons of Pacifica money and some self-dealing, is getting her friend Harvey Wasserman a slot on KPFK’s grid, who couldn’t get a show otherwise.
Whether one thinks so-called “democracy” of electing Pacifica’s board/s is good or bad for Pacifica, either way the problem is not the by-laws. It’s grandiose idiots like you who for some reason think that you have any relevant competence to lead Pacifica to a better place.
I would say “shame on you” but it’s clear you don’t have the capability for that either.
Kim
Does the old Latin truism pertain to Tanaka's (seemingly casual) bearing of false witness against Pacifica's elected governance stewards, its senior managerial and accounting appointees and the auditing professionals that are now in the process of putting Pacifica's fiscal and operational house in order: "Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus" ["false in one thing, false in everything."]?
Eric C. Jacobson
Member: KPFK LSB
“The New Day Pacifica Bylaws will correct excesses of the present bylaws by reducing the size of the board, getting the Local Station Boards out of station management, and having direct elections of National Board Members, rather than our present, baroque two stage voting process.”
- and pick the other Board members themselves ?
- what are their qualifications to run a large nationwide non-profit radio network, aside from the fact that they've been around for years ?
- what exactly IS their plan to "fix" Pacifica financially ?
- do they have one ?? has anybody seen it ??
- who stands to make a LOT of money here ??
these licenses and the real estate are worth millions
- what is the past track record of the Fabulous Four we're
supposed to appoint by way of referendum ?
- why is JanG ( Vice Chair to be ) named in the LA lawsuit ?
- wasn't Aki the PNB Secretary in 2017 when his Crisis Group faction at KPFA mandated that KPFA LSB members support "the bankruptcy option" if they wanted to be elected as 2018 PNB Directors ?? didn't the PNB call that an irregular election in 2018, leading to Bill Campisi's (KPFA LSB) lawsuit to seat Susan da Silva and knock out Tom Voorhees? didn't Aki support that effort ? didn't they have another irregular election to put Aki on the PNB ? maybe a gunpowder residue test is in order
- Sharon Kyle published an Ed Asner advertorial supporting the NDP
what's missing from her boilerplate disclaimer at the bottom is a fullthroated notice that as the owner of the LA Progressive, she is also in line to become the new Pacifica Chair. .shouldn't she add that ?
- etc, etc - the more you dig, the more worms ..
- maybe leave the "bylaws" aside for a moment, and look at the "personnel" ??