Ally of The Outgoing KPFA Regime Panics as They Lose Control

From:edentosch
Date: February 8, 2010 5:22:10 PM PST
Subject: Inside KPFA

Hello Friends and Allies (or maybe not but I am hoping...)

Every now and then I feel the urgent need to communicate to people who
I know love KPFA as much as I do-- about what is going on inside this
great institution. Though I am no longer paid staff I am still working
as a volunteer and privy to what is going on on the political front.

Despite the fact that the Pacifica network (all 5 stations and the
national office) has 'lost' $4 million in the last year alone, has not
completed any of the budgets that were due in November, and KPFA is
more of less floating the rest of the network right now, 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.

This action was taken in the second meeting of the newly elected board
and without any of the evaluation procedures that would normally be
followed. It appears their reasoning is specious and largely fueled by
political aspirations as they do not have enough experience as board
members to have much understanding of how the station functions.

The removal of Lemlem from KPFA would leave us in a very fragile state
at a time when we do not have much wiggle room for errors. There is
little reason to believe that this power vacuum would benefit KPFA or
the network nor is there much likelihood that any viable replacement
candidates will be forthcoming considering the reputation of the
station and it's board.

This decision can be reversed: There is a Local Station Board this
weekend
Saturday Feb 13, 2010 11am - 4pm
North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave (at MLK)
This site is wheelchair accessible.

If you are not able to attend please leave a message for the Local
Station Board at 510 848-6767 X635 or contact them here:
http://lsb.kpfa.org/contact

Thank you for your time and concern and please circulate this email to
others who may also be concerned,
--
Eden Tosch