Modesto 2024 KPFA Local Station Board Election Forum

8/10/24 Modesto 2024 KPFA Local Station Board Election Forum
1:00 PM
Valley Improvement Projects
1224 K Street,
Modesto, California

Monday, August 5, 2024
Thomas Helme
tom [at] VIP209.org
Valley Improvement Projects is holding a KPFA Local Station Board forum at Valley Improvement Projects headquarters (1224 K Street, Modesto, California, 95354) on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 2:00 pm PST.

KPFA is part of the national Pacifica Radio Network. Pacifica Radio Network stations are governed by democratically elected Local Station Boards (LSB), which are composed of listener-members and staff. As part of the 2024 KPFA LSB election cycle, all KPFA LSB candidates are invited to participate in this forum, and all members of the Central Valley community are invited to attend, at the headquarters of Valley Improvement Projects (VIP), a non-profit organization dedicated to social and environmental justice. (See https://valleyimprovementprojects.org/ )

The Pacifica Radio Network was founded in 1949 by antiwar pacifists dedicated to promoting peace and “a lasting understanding between nations and between the individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors; to gather and disseminate information on the causes of conflict between any and all such groups; and through any and all means compatible with the purposes of this corporation to promote the study of political and economic problems and of the causes of religious, philosophical and racial antagonisms.” (See Pacifica Foundation Mission Statement, https://pacifica.org/about_mission.php)

Among the non-profit educational purposes of Pacifica Radio, which includes the encouragement of the arts and “other creative activities which will serve the cultural welfare of the community”, Pacifica Radio is dedicated to “radio broadcasting operations [which] promote the full distribution of public information; to obtain access to sources of news not commonly brought together in the same medium; and to employ such varied sources in the public presentation of accurate, objective, comprehensive news on all matters vitally affecting the community.” (See Pacifica Foundation Mission Statement, https://pacifica.org/about_mission.php)

VIP engages in several social and environmental justice projects, including Modesto CopWatch, which advocates for policing reform and police accountability in the public interest of the community. Both organizations provide “”Know Your Rights” information to community members and increase community oversight of local law enforcement agencies to eliminate abuse, profiling, and harassment.” (See https://valleyimprovementprojects.org/ )

The mission of VIP is: “To improve the quality of life of underrepresented and marginalized residents of California's Northern San Joaquin Valley by advocating for social and environmental justice.”

The public service to the community, the common ground and mutual interests of Pacifica Radio and VIP have inspired the convening of this forum.

The purpose of this forum at VIP is to provide an opportunity to the 2024 KPFA LSB Candidates and members of the Central Valley community as well as all KPFA listeners to dialogue in the interest of mutual understanding and in the spirit of mutual aid.

KPFA is a terrestrial radio station with a wide signal range reaching the Silicon Valley-SF-Oakland Bay Area. KPFA is also accessible beyond its terrestrial signal range via livestream and audio archives at KPFA.org. Broadening community engagement is mutually beneficial for Pacifica Radio, for community organizations, like VIP and Modesto CopWatch, and for the people in the communities served by such organizations. It is also important that KPFA LSB candidates have an opportunity to engage with diverse communities in the Bay Area and adjacent Central Valley communities. Many people, who live in the Central Valley, commute daily to the Bay Area for work. This makes these shared interests all the more intertwined and vital.

It is coming to light that Project 2025, the rightist agenda for this upcoming presidential election, has named Pacifica Radio as an entity, which it is planning to shut down. Our communities’ interests are at stake. Therefore, our communities deserve an opportunity to address this issue and what can be done to stop this threat to the Pacifica Radio Network.

In light of the forces at play in this election, these are all important discussions, which all communities with an interest in the community radio model, which Pacifica represents, deserve to hear about first-hand from all KPFA LSB candidates.

To participate in this forum, please contact Thomas Helme: tom [at] VIP209.org

The host and moderator of this KPFA LSB Election Forum will be Valley Improvement Projects
director Thomas Helme.

All candidates, moderator/hosts, timekeepers and others are required to fill out and sign the following Google Form, agreeing to the ground rules below: https://forms.gle/fsoY8cRmXSoPeyGo6

Your electronic signature ensures you, as participant, have read, and agree to abide by, the ground rules.

Election Event Ground Rules 2024

GROUND RULES
• All election events must be open to all listeners and all candidates and must not promote one specific candidate or slate.
• MODERATOR: The election event (debate, forum or other format) must be run by a moderator, who does not act as a spokesman for the station or any individual candidate or candidate slate on the subjects discussed, but has the sole function of ensuring that the ground rules are observed.
• DISCLAIMER: At the beginning and end of the election event, the moderator must state that the views expressed are those of the candidates, not of the radio station or Pacifica Foundation, and that the sponsorship of the debate is not an endorsement by the sponsor of any candidate.
• The moderator must clearly explain the events format and time limits allotted to candidate statements or responses.
• All participants (Moderators / Hosts, Timekeepers, Board Operators, Candidates) must disclose, in writing, any affiliations with, and/or endorsements for, any candidates, or candidate slates to the National Election Supervisor using this form.
• There will be no substitutes or stand-ins for the candidates. In the event of absence, candidates can provide a 1 minute statement (140 words) to be read by the moderator.
• Candidates will be introduced by their name.
• Random sequence can be generated by random.org in order to decide the order of candidates' responses.
• Candidates can bring notes, pad and pens for taking notes.
• Time should be equally allotted to candidates and stated clearly by the moderator. • The candidates will not interrupt one another.