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Indybay Feature
Resignation of Pacifica Executive Director Nicole Sawaya
There is an underlying culture of grievance coupled with entitlement, and its governance structure is dysfunctional. The by-laws of the organization have opened it up to tremendous abuse, creating the opportunity for cronyism, factionalism, and faux democracy, with the result of challenging all yet helping nothing. Pacifica has been made so flat, that it is concave – no leadership is possible without an enormous struggle through the inertia that committees and collectives and STV’s (no, not sexually transmitted viruses, but single transferable votes) can engender.
September 24, 2008
To: Pacifica National Board, Local Station Boards, All management and staff, Affiliate stations, collaborators, and stakeholders in Pacifica
Fr: Nicole Sawaya, executive director/CEO
On August 3rd I gave notice to the Pacifica Board that I would be leaving. September 30th (end of our fiscal year) will be my last day. Concurrently, I had written myself out of the FY09 budget, as the Foundation is hard-pressed to support two well-paid executives. You lead from the top.
Lew Hill is the founder of Pacifica, now almost a 60 year old non-profit media organization. If I could have a conversation with anyone to explain my departure, it would be with Lew Hill. So, I decided to write him a letter.
Feel free to read it, and to share with others who care about Pacifica. All I ask is that this preface always accompany the letter as it sets the context.
I thank you for the opportunity to serve!
Peace.
********************
September 23, 2008
Dear Lew Hill,
Greetings. My name is Nicole Sawaya, and currently, I’m the executive director and chief executive of the radio endeavor you started called Pacifica. It’s changed a lot.
You wouldn’t believe what your “killer app”, as some might portray it in 21st century lexicon, has spawned. Now there are 5 stations licensed to Pacifica in densely populated and roiling urban areas – millions of human beings within ear shot, all with easy access to the cheapest and most accessible broadcast mediums on the planet, radio. Yes, the planet. There is an Archive of programming and folios spanning decades – a repository and collection of voices that truly belongs to the people as part of the history of our country and the world. And, there are over a hundred smaller stations scattered through rural and urban settings -- cities and towns and ridge tops -- affiliated with Pacifica and broadcasting our programming – a network that has been in place for quite awhile.
Beyond that, your notion that the listeners would voluntarily financially support radio, journalism and cultural exchange, created a model for many, many non-commercial educational radio stations to apply. Your vision of public ownership of the airwaves put into practice with the radio license you applied for and grew as the first non-profit community licensee station, gained great traction and has been replicated exponentially.
We don’t exchange The Subscriber radios anymore for pledges, and you wouldn’t recognize how the fundraising marathons have changed – it’s a bit like an on-air shopping experience. But listeners continue to support us voluntarily with their hard earned money, and they’re not necessarily just bound to radios to listen to us.
An aside: When I was (briefly) general manager of your first station, KPFA, there was a Subscriber radio in the office, but it was tucked away and dusty. When I discovered it, soon after taking the job, I was so excited to learn of its history. It completely inspired me as Pacifica was heading to its 50th anniversary. So elegant, so innovative for its time, so smart.
Mr. Hill, what you conceived has had one of the highest impacts in media history. Not just the staunch belief in listener support, but your notions that journalistic enterprises should remain unfettered from any sort of business support in order to maintain credibility; that to help in striving for a more peaceful and just world, radio (or what we now refer to as media) programming should give access to myriad viewpoints and in-depth news, coupled with an exposure to the arts and to cultures and happenings from all over the world; that innovation is vital, have all lived on. You were a pioneer.
Fast forward to today.
Our country is at war. Our government is a death machine abroad and a fear machine at home. Our broadcast media is, in general, mind-numbingly useless, filled with shameless propagandists and completely profit driven. The earth’s climate is changing radically and the gap between rich and poor is larger than the Grand Canyon, with by far the larger group on the poor end. I could go on, but it would take a while.
Your Pacifica is showing signs of stress as well.
Sadly, it is no longer focused on service to the listeners but absorbed with itself and the inhabitants therein. I call it Planet Pacifica, a term I coined during my hiring process. There is an underlying culture of grievance coupled with entitlement, and its governance structure is dysfunctional. The by-laws of the organization have opened it up to tremendous abuse, creating the opportunity for cronyism, factionalism, and faux democracy, with the result of challenging all yet helping nothing. Pacifica has been made so flat, that it is concave – no leadership is possible without an enormous struggle through the inertia that committees and collectives and STV’s (no, not sexually transmitted viruses, but single transferable votes) can engender.
Pacifica calls itself a movement, yet currently it is behaves like a jobs program, a cult, or a social service agency. And oftentimes, the loudest and most obstreperous have the privilege of the microphone. There are endless meetings of committees and “task forces”– mostly on the phone – where people just like to hear themselves talk. Sometimes they get lucrative contracts from their grandstanding. It’s been grueling for someone in my position, someone like me who is not a process person, much less a political gamer. I keep asking: what’s the endgame? Paralysis has set in, coupled with organizational drift.
The programming isn’t attracting many listeners anymore, either. It skews towards the narrow in its editorial stance, leans towards the niche, and change to the programming can’t occur without a fight. The listening audience is small, in other words, the stations have yet to grow into their large signals.
Business practices are oftentimes shoddy and opaque and mirror the culture of our times – lots of self-interest with a focus on individual needs as opposed to performance, affordability, or the common good. And we’ve hit some tough economic times without having the general will to do the hard work necessary in order to ensure sustainability– contracting rather than continually expanding the size of our financial obligations. Basically, resources and airtime have been allocated for internal political purposes at the expense of service to audience, innovation, or the care and feeding of our broadcast physical infrastructure. Some of this has to do with the fact that very few people either on air or off air actually have radio experience, other than being part of Pacifica.
That was not the case with you, nor is it with me.
Conversely, there are many dedicated and smart people working within Pacifica. They may not work at full speed – it is rather “comfortable” especially for those who work unsupervised – but they make a consistent effort to give voice to the voiceless and hold government and power accountable. And those who work without self-interest or giving constant grief to management (a four-letter word in Pacifica) are to be applauded.
The overall media landscape has changed fundamentally. I find it exciting and wanted very much to bring Pacifica into the 21st century. The demographic of our country has changed as well, not to mention all the new generations now active and alert to the world around them. It is, to quote Victor Hugo, the best of times and the worst of times. Apparently, it’s always been like that.
Pacifica could take advantage of technology, both at the front end (content and programming) and the back end (infrastructure and business applications), but that would require the general will of the internal stakeholders, and that general will is not cohesive enough or even amenable to altering the status quo.
I have given notice and will be leaving Pacifica shortly. Despite my best intentions and determined and focused efforts, I was continually thwarted to do the job I was hired to do. I did my best to apply my knowledge, expertise, and creativity to Pacifica, and we made some forward progress.
I gave to those responsible for the governance and oversight, plans, clarity, and transparency. They cannot deny knowledge of the state of the network. Whether they act on it, or just call in consultants to tell them what time it is, is another issue. I tried to dispel magical thinking in all arenas and was relentless in my attempts to get some best practices and collaborations in place.
I had some success.
It’s not necessary for me to alliterate those successes. Despite being handed an enfeebled situation and having no resources to work with, I gave it my best shot and worked hard. And despite having to fight for every inch of standing, not to mention authority, I have enjoyed working with those who actually work and accomplish bona fide deliverables of consequence and service.
We stand now on the shoulders of hundreds, if not thousands of those who have contributed internally. And Pacifica is much loved and valued by its listener supporters. Pacifica will carry on, and it has been a challenging opportunity to, albeit briefly, help out.
I hope that all stakeholders remember that Pacifica is a public trust, a veritable weapon of mass information, and keep a big vision in play rather than petty politics.
Thanks for being a bold and brave broadcaster.
With much respect,
Nicole
To: Pacifica National Board, Local Station Boards, All management and staff, Affiliate stations, collaborators, and stakeholders in Pacifica
Fr: Nicole Sawaya, executive director/CEO
On August 3rd I gave notice to the Pacifica Board that I would be leaving. September 30th (end of our fiscal year) will be my last day. Concurrently, I had written myself out of the FY09 budget, as the Foundation is hard-pressed to support two well-paid executives. You lead from the top.
Lew Hill is the founder of Pacifica, now almost a 60 year old non-profit media organization. If I could have a conversation with anyone to explain my departure, it would be with Lew Hill. So, I decided to write him a letter.
Feel free to read it, and to share with others who care about Pacifica. All I ask is that this preface always accompany the letter as it sets the context.
I thank you for the opportunity to serve!
Peace.
********************
September 23, 2008
Dear Lew Hill,
Greetings. My name is Nicole Sawaya, and currently, I’m the executive director and chief executive of the radio endeavor you started called Pacifica. It’s changed a lot.
You wouldn’t believe what your “killer app”, as some might portray it in 21st century lexicon, has spawned. Now there are 5 stations licensed to Pacifica in densely populated and roiling urban areas – millions of human beings within ear shot, all with easy access to the cheapest and most accessible broadcast mediums on the planet, radio. Yes, the planet. There is an Archive of programming and folios spanning decades – a repository and collection of voices that truly belongs to the people as part of the history of our country and the world. And, there are over a hundred smaller stations scattered through rural and urban settings -- cities and towns and ridge tops -- affiliated with Pacifica and broadcasting our programming – a network that has been in place for quite awhile.
Beyond that, your notion that the listeners would voluntarily financially support radio, journalism and cultural exchange, created a model for many, many non-commercial educational radio stations to apply. Your vision of public ownership of the airwaves put into practice with the radio license you applied for and grew as the first non-profit community licensee station, gained great traction and has been replicated exponentially.
We don’t exchange The Subscriber radios anymore for pledges, and you wouldn’t recognize how the fundraising marathons have changed – it’s a bit like an on-air shopping experience. But listeners continue to support us voluntarily with their hard earned money, and they’re not necessarily just bound to radios to listen to us.
An aside: When I was (briefly) general manager of your first station, KPFA, there was a Subscriber radio in the office, but it was tucked away and dusty. When I discovered it, soon after taking the job, I was so excited to learn of its history. It completely inspired me as Pacifica was heading to its 50th anniversary. So elegant, so innovative for its time, so smart.
Mr. Hill, what you conceived has had one of the highest impacts in media history. Not just the staunch belief in listener support, but your notions that journalistic enterprises should remain unfettered from any sort of business support in order to maintain credibility; that to help in striving for a more peaceful and just world, radio (or what we now refer to as media) programming should give access to myriad viewpoints and in-depth news, coupled with an exposure to the arts and to cultures and happenings from all over the world; that innovation is vital, have all lived on. You were a pioneer.
Fast forward to today.
Our country is at war. Our government is a death machine abroad and a fear machine at home. Our broadcast media is, in general, mind-numbingly useless, filled with shameless propagandists and completely profit driven. The earth’s climate is changing radically and the gap between rich and poor is larger than the Grand Canyon, with by far the larger group on the poor end. I could go on, but it would take a while.
Your Pacifica is showing signs of stress as well.
Sadly, it is no longer focused on service to the listeners but absorbed with itself and the inhabitants therein. I call it Planet Pacifica, a term I coined during my hiring process. There is an underlying culture of grievance coupled with entitlement, and its governance structure is dysfunctional. The by-laws of the organization have opened it up to tremendous abuse, creating the opportunity for cronyism, factionalism, and faux democracy, with the result of challenging all yet helping nothing. Pacifica has been made so flat, that it is concave – no leadership is possible without an enormous struggle through the inertia that committees and collectives and STV’s (no, not sexually transmitted viruses, but single transferable votes) can engender.
Pacifica calls itself a movement, yet currently it is behaves like a jobs program, a cult, or a social service agency. And oftentimes, the loudest and most obstreperous have the privilege of the microphone. There are endless meetings of committees and “task forces”– mostly on the phone – where people just like to hear themselves talk. Sometimes they get lucrative contracts from their grandstanding. It’s been grueling for someone in my position, someone like me who is not a process person, much less a political gamer. I keep asking: what’s the endgame? Paralysis has set in, coupled with organizational drift.
The programming isn’t attracting many listeners anymore, either. It skews towards the narrow in its editorial stance, leans towards the niche, and change to the programming can’t occur without a fight. The listening audience is small, in other words, the stations have yet to grow into their large signals.
Business practices are oftentimes shoddy and opaque and mirror the culture of our times – lots of self-interest with a focus on individual needs as opposed to performance, affordability, or the common good. And we’ve hit some tough economic times without having the general will to do the hard work necessary in order to ensure sustainability– contracting rather than continually expanding the size of our financial obligations. Basically, resources and airtime have been allocated for internal political purposes at the expense of service to audience, innovation, or the care and feeding of our broadcast physical infrastructure. Some of this has to do with the fact that very few people either on air or off air actually have radio experience, other than being part of Pacifica.
That was not the case with you, nor is it with me.
Conversely, there are many dedicated and smart people working within Pacifica. They may not work at full speed – it is rather “comfortable” especially for those who work unsupervised – but they make a consistent effort to give voice to the voiceless and hold government and power accountable. And those who work without self-interest or giving constant grief to management (a four-letter word in Pacifica) are to be applauded.
The overall media landscape has changed fundamentally. I find it exciting and wanted very much to bring Pacifica into the 21st century. The demographic of our country has changed as well, not to mention all the new generations now active and alert to the world around them. It is, to quote Victor Hugo, the best of times and the worst of times. Apparently, it’s always been like that.
Pacifica could take advantage of technology, both at the front end (content and programming) and the back end (infrastructure and business applications), but that would require the general will of the internal stakeholders, and that general will is not cohesive enough or even amenable to altering the status quo.
I have given notice and will be leaving Pacifica shortly. Despite my best intentions and determined and focused efforts, I was continually thwarted to do the job I was hired to do. I did my best to apply my knowledge, expertise, and creativity to Pacifica, and we made some forward progress.
I gave to those responsible for the governance and oversight, plans, clarity, and transparency. They cannot deny knowledge of the state of the network. Whether they act on it, or just call in consultants to tell them what time it is, is another issue. I tried to dispel magical thinking in all arenas and was relentless in my attempts to get some best practices and collaborations in place.
I had some success.
It’s not necessary for me to alliterate those successes. Despite being handed an enfeebled situation and having no resources to work with, I gave it my best shot and worked hard. And despite having to fight for every inch of standing, not to mention authority, I have enjoyed working with those who actually work and accomplish bona fide deliverables of consequence and service.
We stand now on the shoulders of hundreds, if not thousands of those who have contributed internally. And Pacifica is much loved and valued by its listener supporters. Pacifica will carry on, and it has been a challenging opportunity to, albeit briefly, help out.
I hope that all stakeholders remember that Pacifica is a public trust, a veritable weapon of mass information, and keep a big vision in play rather than petty politics.
Thanks for being a bold and brave broadcaster.
With much respect,
Nicole
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I am sorry that you feel you have to leave Nicole, I love Pacifica but I don't love some of the so-called journalists who sit in sinecure at KPFA.
I enjoyed the format of writing a letter to Lou Hill. I'll respond by writing a letter the community blasting Dennis Bernstein. I'll bet he is one of the entrenched programmers we hear of. KPFA should fire him for his unprofessional spew.
When Dennis started ranting about the Aug 20th police incident and opened the lines for callers, I called in to say I thought it was irresponsible to use the airwaves for this and suggested he work with mgmt; he immediately cut me off. Apparently Mister Free Speech Radio understands that the power of the press belongs to those who have their hand on the volume knob. Free speech for thee not for me, eh Dennis?
Poor fool, using Ms Foster's assault by the BPD to re-live his ejection in 1999, and as a battering ram against what? The governement? The cops? Maybe little but mostly against the other people he is supposed to be working with at the station.
He said she had a broken arm and was pregnant, nether turned out to be true. Not one word of contrition for hyper-inflating the incident for political reasons. And in my experience, if you argue with the cops, or even assert your rights, you go down. I got my ass kicked by the SFPD just for mouthing off. Doesn't Ms Foster watch those cop shows on TV?
If Dennis had any huevos, he would resign from the EVIL KPFA and go out into the real world and try his luck in the rapidly changing world of media. He wouldn't stand a chance. I think he should be fired, for abusing the privelage of being on KPFA. He needs to move on.
I work at UC Berkeley as a gardener. I had to sit by and watch my employer commit rape against the grove because I need the job. Dennis thinks he can bite the hand that feeds him and still drink at the trough.
P.S. Aimee Allison and Andrea Mitchell are two welcome additions, women of color and very professional. I bet some of the old white male lefties are just jealous as hell.
hc
I enjoyed the format of writing a letter to Lou Hill. I'll respond by writing a letter the community blasting Dennis Bernstein. I'll bet he is one of the entrenched programmers we hear of. KPFA should fire him for his unprofessional spew.
When Dennis started ranting about the Aug 20th police incident and opened the lines for callers, I called in to say I thought it was irresponsible to use the airwaves for this and suggested he work with mgmt; he immediately cut me off. Apparently Mister Free Speech Radio understands that the power of the press belongs to those who have their hand on the volume knob. Free speech for thee not for me, eh Dennis?
Poor fool, using Ms Foster's assault by the BPD to re-live his ejection in 1999, and as a battering ram against what? The governement? The cops? Maybe little but mostly against the other people he is supposed to be working with at the station.
He said she had a broken arm and was pregnant, nether turned out to be true. Not one word of contrition for hyper-inflating the incident for political reasons. And in my experience, if you argue with the cops, or even assert your rights, you go down. I got my ass kicked by the SFPD just for mouthing off. Doesn't Ms Foster watch those cop shows on TV?
If Dennis had any huevos, he would resign from the EVIL KPFA and go out into the real world and try his luck in the rapidly changing world of media. He wouldn't stand a chance. I think he should be fired, for abusing the privelage of being on KPFA. He needs to move on.
I work at UC Berkeley as a gardener. I had to sit by and watch my employer commit rape against the grove because I need the job. Dennis thinks he can bite the hand that feeds him and still drink at the trough.
P.S. Aimee Allison and Andrea Mitchell are two welcome additions, women of color and very professional. I bet some of the old white male lefties are just jealous as hell.
hc
I dunno. Dennis Bernstein is pretty easy to listen to in the evenings, because he moves through a lot of different content and interviews. It is more like the other periods of the day when hosts focus on one very narrow topic for the whole hour, or there are large music blocks, that I switch to another station. On Saturday mornings, the Los Angeles Pacifica station has several hours of people talking about car issues. It's okay, but I keep flicking to other stations.
sorry, I confused andrea LEWIS name with an NPR reporter, A. Mitchell,wife of Alan Greenspan.
Why won't KPFA tell its side of what happened on the day of the violent arrest? What it its version of events? Who, exactly, called the cops? What was the thinking? If it is defensible in some way, you should be willing to at least describe it.
This article seemed to do a complete job of describing what happened. I think what still leaves everyone persistently confused is understanding the private personalities of these people. It doesn't make sense that people in our community could treat each other so badly, yet have apparently made a decent impression on many for years at the radio station.
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-09-04/article/31010?headline=Rough-Arrest-at-KPFA-Stuns-Station-Community
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-09-04/article/31010?headline=Rough-Arrest-at-KPFA-Stuns-Station-Community
We'd all sound good if we only had to be witnessed one or two hours a week, or one hour a day. The shows are uniformally good, except when a reporter goes off the farm like in this latest dust-up, but they have to work together behind the scenes and that's where the shit Sawaya describes happens.
Senior staff needs to move on. Let Pacifica restore itself. Allow the younger people a shot. The biggest problem is breaking out old-timers who think they own the place. Ask Bensky.
hc
Senior staff needs to move on. Let Pacifica restore itself. Allow the younger people a shot. The biggest problem is breaking out old-timers who think they own the place. Ask Bensky.
hc
You go to Cuba, and what do you find when you get back? jeeeze...
Nicole is right in every point, save one, and we can forgive her that.
There is democracy at Pacifica; what there is not is people willing to accept democracy.
Pacifica is split with factionalists and opportunists who see control of the airwaves as something that they are not only entitled to, but are also obligated to prevent anyone with a differing opinion from having access to.
Phelps and Wanzala's cronies want "more progressive programming"...so long as it's about the 9/11 conspiracies and how much more "radical" they are than anyone else.
They've even recruited Gerald Sanders, who lost his last elections at KPFA, Congress and California, running on the Peace & Freedom ticket, to try and isolate Pacifica into a political and legal backwater.
Were it not for their fervent monomaniacal belief system, one would think them police agents or COINTELPRO for the damage and harm that they bring to not just KPFA, but the whole of Pacifica.
That harm? Destroying the "big tent" concept of public radio that Lew Hill and the founders of Pacifica wanted to make available to ALL of Pacifica.
KPFA was never intended to speak with one voice.
KPFA was never intended to be doctrinaire, to be a bully pulpit, to allow itself to be marginalized, censoring those who don't espouse and embrace the outrage du jour.
And it was never intended to be a welfare state entity, providing any sort of entitlement that embraced exclusions and dominance as instruments of policy and management against those who genuinely understand and support KPFA.
KPFA lost a lawsuit for sexual harrassment, yet the harrasser is still there, still being paid, and now targetting the management in secret while publicly taking and making false claims about how
someone else treated a woman.
Never mind the thousands of dollars of electronics and equipment the harrasser tried to loot from KPFA; fortunately, all but a small fraction was recovered.
And the harrasser is kept on and paid because the harrasser supports and defends the factions, because the factions need that support to get any sort of legitimacy, and the toxic, non-democratic attacks on the mission of KPFA and Pacifica continue because of this and other
similarly poisoned coalitions.
It's these festering cancers on Pacifica that are destroying it; for the first time in decades, it seems KPFA is ignoring a presidential election in order to deal with these vipers at our collective bosom.
I'm not altogether certain if we would not be better off if these cretins were COINTELPRO agents and minions; at least with them, we would have some election programming, biased as it may be to counter the Pacifica Mission.
Nicole is right in every point, save one, and we can forgive her that.
There is democracy at Pacifica; what there is not is people willing to accept democracy.
Pacifica is split with factionalists and opportunists who see control of the airwaves as something that they are not only entitled to, but are also obligated to prevent anyone with a differing opinion from having access to.
Phelps and Wanzala's cronies want "more progressive programming"...so long as it's about the 9/11 conspiracies and how much more "radical" they are than anyone else.
They've even recruited Gerald Sanders, who lost his last elections at KPFA, Congress and California, running on the Peace & Freedom ticket, to try and isolate Pacifica into a political and legal backwater.
Were it not for their fervent monomaniacal belief system, one would think them police agents or COINTELPRO for the damage and harm that they bring to not just KPFA, but the whole of Pacifica.
That harm? Destroying the "big tent" concept of public radio that Lew Hill and the founders of Pacifica wanted to make available to ALL of Pacifica.
KPFA was never intended to speak with one voice.
KPFA was never intended to be doctrinaire, to be a bully pulpit, to allow itself to be marginalized, censoring those who don't espouse and embrace the outrage du jour.
And it was never intended to be a welfare state entity, providing any sort of entitlement that embraced exclusions and dominance as instruments of policy and management against those who genuinely understand and support KPFA.
KPFA lost a lawsuit for sexual harrassment, yet the harrasser is still there, still being paid, and now targetting the management in secret while publicly taking and making false claims about how
someone else treated a woman.
Never mind the thousands of dollars of electronics and equipment the harrasser tried to loot from KPFA; fortunately, all but a small fraction was recovered.
And the harrasser is kept on and paid because the harrasser supports and defends the factions, because the factions need that support to get any sort of legitimacy, and the toxic, non-democratic attacks on the mission of KPFA and Pacifica continue because of this and other
similarly poisoned coalitions.
It's these festering cancers on Pacifica that are destroying it; for the first time in decades, it seems KPFA is ignoring a presidential election in order to deal with these vipers at our collective bosom.
I'm not altogether certain if we would not be better off if these cretins were COINTELPRO agents and minions; at least with them, we would have some election programming, biased as it may be to counter the Pacifica Mission.
Old Lib's COINTELPRO baiting is as low as you can get . Karl Rove would be proud if it wasn't so clearly another avoidance of the issues and a personal attack.
Old Lib, I again challenge you to come out from where ever you hide, like Palin and Chaney, and debate the issues for all to hear. Let the people evaluate your lies and distortions when challenged by someone who knows all about your allies' dirty tricks at KPFA and Pacifica. How could you possibly aspire to Pacifica principles and its Mission if all you do is take dirty, cheap shots while in hiding??? Why are you afraid to debate the issues and be held accountable for what you say??
You and your allies don't have the word/concept "accountable" in your vocabulary or practice. The reason you attack me is because I am from the tradition of the "kid who said the Emperor had no clothes", and continue to out all the CL/Dismantler BS. You are afraid of the messages and want to kill the messenger instead of coming out and standing up in public for what you say from hiding.
Richard Phelps Former Chair KPFA LSB
Old Lib, I again challenge you to come out from where ever you hide, like Palin and Chaney, and debate the issues for all to hear. Let the people evaluate your lies and distortions when challenged by someone who knows all about your allies' dirty tricks at KPFA and Pacifica. How could you possibly aspire to Pacifica principles and its Mission if all you do is take dirty, cheap shots while in hiding??? Why are you afraid to debate the issues and be held accountable for what you say??
You and your allies don't have the word/concept "accountable" in your vocabulary or practice. The reason you attack me is because I am from the tradition of the "kid who said the Emperor had no clothes", and continue to out all the CL/Dismantler BS. You are afraid of the messages and want to kill the messenger instead of coming out and standing up in public for what you say from hiding.
Richard Phelps Former Chair KPFA LSB
Such self-aggrandizement and lack of accountability is embarrassing to read for listeners of KPFA who want a clear explanation of what happened in the Nadra Foster case and an understanding of the specific terms of your departure.
And in his typical style, Richard Phelps tries to create an argument out of somethingelse.
The point, dearest Richard, is that I wish we could state that you and your kindred spirits were, in fact, COINTELPRO agents and provocateurs.
It would make all of your actions and efforts more readily explicable.
Unfortunately, you and your kindred spirits have that fundamentalist taint of being "True Believers", the modern day 'skullcrackers' who attack and villify those who do not follow your "One Truth" dogma.
And you've spread it to WBAI and KPFK as well, and in so doing, have lit the match to doom Pacifica.
To quote Nicole Sawaya: "There is an underlying culture of grievance coupled with entitlement, and its governance structure is dysfunctional. The by-laws of the organization have opened it up to tremendous abuse, creating the opportunity for cronyism, factionalism, and faux democracy, with the result of challenging all yet helping nothing."
That is the taint left by your tenure on the LSB, so foul a stench that you were forced to resign so that a less public but no less toxic malefactor than yourself could take your place.
I wish that you were COINTELPRO, Richard, because your hostility towards those who are guilty of no more than having a different opinion than what you demand of everyone would be so much more easy to explain, your constant threats and demands for confrontation would be excusable, and your lack of willingness to compromise on even the most benign of proposals just to keep KPFA and Pacifica operating to speak Truth to Power would be so much more clear to us all.
But you are not, and that makes your actions and those of your cronies, allies, and hangers-on, all the more disturbing to everyone who wants to see KPFA, if not all of Pacifica intact, survive the looming catastrophe.
KPFA is not a courtroom or debating society where one "wins" or "scores points", as you treat it.
It is a place where all points of view are expressed, and the listener can be angered, saddened or empowered to act.
It is not "Political Central Command", where marching orders are given and the listeners expected to act as drones or robots, acting only on "acceptable" political actions.
It is not the "Revolutionary Junta", the "Central Committee", the "Steering Council", or any other moniker that some neo-prole can generate.
KPFA is a source of information, and the control that you seek is no less biased as what you claim exists, if not more biased than that.
We don't need fake injuries and pregnancies promoted by you and your kindred spirits to ratchet up the tension in the community over this; if you truly were as concerned as you pretend, you would have loudly and publicly offered your services to "get to the bottom of this".
But you didn't, in all the accumulated messages I found on my return; you could have played peacemaker/mediator and resolved this without the fabrications and misinformation.
Instead, you and your kindred spirits collectively chose to "score points".
And that tells more about the real concerns of you and your kindred spirits for KPFA and Pacifica than any messages of mine could ever do.
The point, dearest Richard, is that I wish we could state that you and your kindred spirits were, in fact, COINTELPRO agents and provocateurs.
It would make all of your actions and efforts more readily explicable.
Unfortunately, you and your kindred spirits have that fundamentalist taint of being "True Believers", the modern day 'skullcrackers' who attack and villify those who do not follow your "One Truth" dogma.
And you've spread it to WBAI and KPFK as well, and in so doing, have lit the match to doom Pacifica.
To quote Nicole Sawaya: "There is an underlying culture of grievance coupled with entitlement, and its governance structure is dysfunctional. The by-laws of the organization have opened it up to tremendous abuse, creating the opportunity for cronyism, factionalism, and faux democracy, with the result of challenging all yet helping nothing."
That is the taint left by your tenure on the LSB, so foul a stench that you were forced to resign so that a less public but no less toxic malefactor than yourself could take your place.
I wish that you were COINTELPRO, Richard, because your hostility towards those who are guilty of no more than having a different opinion than what you demand of everyone would be so much more easy to explain, your constant threats and demands for confrontation would be excusable, and your lack of willingness to compromise on even the most benign of proposals just to keep KPFA and Pacifica operating to speak Truth to Power would be so much more clear to us all.
But you are not, and that makes your actions and those of your cronies, allies, and hangers-on, all the more disturbing to everyone who wants to see KPFA, if not all of Pacifica intact, survive the looming catastrophe.
KPFA is not a courtroom or debating society where one "wins" or "scores points", as you treat it.
It is a place where all points of view are expressed, and the listener can be angered, saddened or empowered to act.
It is not "Political Central Command", where marching orders are given and the listeners expected to act as drones or robots, acting only on "acceptable" political actions.
It is not the "Revolutionary Junta", the "Central Committee", the "Steering Council", or any other moniker that some neo-prole can generate.
KPFA is a source of information, and the control that you seek is no less biased as what you claim exists, if not more biased than that.
We don't need fake injuries and pregnancies promoted by you and your kindred spirits to ratchet up the tension in the community over this; if you truly were as concerned as you pretend, you would have loudly and publicly offered your services to "get to the bottom of this".
But you didn't, in all the accumulated messages I found on my return; you could have played peacemaker/mediator and resolved this without the fabrications and misinformation.
Instead, you and your kindred spirits collectively chose to "score points".
And that tells more about the real concerns of you and your kindred spirits for KPFA and Pacifica than any messages of mine could ever do.
Old Lib: "That is the taint left by your tenure on the LSB, so foul a stench that you were forced to resign so that a less public but no less toxic malefactor than yourself could take your place. "
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
RP: No one forced me to resign. I did it as a matter of principle. Something you know nothing about. And just like Rove and his buddies you push the big lie and say it often enough in hopes that it will stick. If you know that me and my allies are not COINTELPRO then why do you keep mentioning it? Because you are sick and the farthest thing from progressive or principled. I will respond to all your BS tomorrow.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
RP: No one forced me to resign. I did it as a matter of principle. Something you know nothing about. And just like Rove and his buddies you push the big lie and say it often enough in hopes that it will stick. If you know that me and my allies are not COINTELPRO then why do you keep mentioning it? Because you are sick and the farthest thing from progressive or principled. I will respond to all your BS tomorrow.
Rumor has it that '' Old Lib'' is a Fresno Libertarian named Mark Hernandez . Hernandez not only lost his bid to get reelcted as a Listener representative to the KPFA LSB but the KFCF board UNANIMOUSLY voted him out as their rep to the KPFA board. In return for services rendered the Mgmt. allied '' Concerned Listeners' gaggle rewarded him with a postion as '' Parliamentarian '' , despite the fact that he's a anti-Socialist Libertarian and most of them are ex (or not so ex ) Stalinists .
It's uncertain if he's getting paid or if so how much . If however he's getting a dime it's too much since most Long time programmers do not even get reimbursed for gas .
So if ''Old Lib'' is that discredited Central Valley resident he's in no position to talk about Phelps !
PS The tide is turning at KPFA . 75 staffers (and growing ) have signed the '' NO CONFIDENCE'' in KPFA Mgmt . statement . Even longtime mgmt. buddies like Norman Solomon have signed another ''community '' letter denouncing the calling of the BPD on Nadra Foster..
Also more and more listeners want real cutting edge programming . At a time of deep crisis in Capitalism a lot of folks want to hear more than liberal band aids . Etc. Etc.
It's uncertain if he's getting paid or if so how much . If however he's getting a dime it's too much since most Long time programmers do not even get reimbursed for gas .
So if ''Old Lib'' is that discredited Central Valley resident he's in no position to talk about Phelps !
PS The tide is turning at KPFA . 75 staffers (and growing ) have signed the '' NO CONFIDENCE'' in KPFA Mgmt . statement . Even longtime mgmt. buddies like Norman Solomon have signed another ''community '' letter denouncing the calling of the BPD on Nadra Foster..
Also more and more listeners want real cutting edge programming . At a time of deep crisis in Capitalism a lot of folks want to hear more than liberal band aids . Etc. Etc.
I think we should just call them COINTELPAC for "Counter Intelligent Pacificans".
Stan "Inquiring Minds" Woods just demonstrated what I was pointing out; the 'go for the throat' attack dog mentality whenever any opinion or belief is challenged. In this instance, rather than deal with the issues, he attacks me as some other person (sorry, Mark is not me, and I am not Mark), then starts smears and innuendoes, guilt by association, and the typical arsenal of COINTELPAC tactics we've come to see from himself, Phelps and their kindred spirits.
If only these COINTELPAC people would use their energy to develop KPFA and Pacifica, we would not have the environment that they created that caused Nicole to depart.
And we would not have their pet entrenched staff threaten and strongarm KPFA staff and contributors into signing statements under duress or without all of the relevant facts.
Has UPSO ever provided a verifiable list of members to management, or is it still "here are the names, trust us that these are real people that give us a majority because we want mail-in ballots"?
Stan "Inquiring Minds" Woods just demonstrated what I was pointing out; the 'go for the throat' attack dog mentality whenever any opinion or belief is challenged. In this instance, rather than deal with the issues, he attacks me as some other person (sorry, Mark is not me, and I am not Mark), then starts smears and innuendoes, guilt by association, and the typical arsenal of COINTELPAC tactics we've come to see from himself, Phelps and their kindred spirits.
If only these COINTELPAC people would use their energy to develop KPFA and Pacifica, we would not have the environment that they created that caused Nicole to depart.
And we would not have their pet entrenched staff threaten and strongarm KPFA staff and contributors into signing statements under duress or without all of the relevant facts.
Has UPSO ever provided a verifiable list of members to management, or is it still "here are the names, trust us that these are real people that give us a majority because we want mail-in ballots"?
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