Interim KPFA manager leaving, but Pacifica’s Engelhardt refuses to follow bylaws in replacing him

Just after the recent fund drive ended, KPFA’s interim general manager Andrew Phillips announced he’ll be leaving as of June 30. KPFA’s Local Station Board (LSB) had been interviewing candidates for the permanent general manager position, and passed this resolution last month objecting to Pacifica executive director Arlene Engelhardt‘s apparent refusal to do her part, under the bylaws, to finish that process. The LSB had interviewed candidates and chosen a pool of 3 it found qualified. The bylaws require Engelhardt to hire a GM from that pool, but Engelhardt dragged the process out for months, then refused to make a choice.

KPFA board member Conn Hallinan, who headed the GM search committee, made this 5-minute report at last month’s LSB meeting, concluding that the rights of KPFA’s listeners and staff to run their station were being “eviscerated.”

KPFA’s local board chair Margy Wilkinson and vice chair Sasha Futran met with Engelhardt on June 5. Engelhardt told them she was not going to hire a permanent general manager from the LSB’s pool, but was instead looking for another interim GM to replace Phillips. She said she was talking to 4 people “suggested by media and communications professionals.” When Wilkinson and Futran pointed out to Engelhardt that this was the second time in her tenure that she was moving to appoint a manager without any consultation with KPFA’s local board or staff, she had no response.

Save Free Speech Radio News

YouTube clip of Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on FSRN
Democracy Now! in support of FSRN

Pacifica has apparently put those who provide the network’s national programming at the bottom of its list of bills to pay. It owes Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) more than $1 million. While Democracy Now! has enough resources to cushion the blow, Pacifica’s unpaid bills to Free Speech Radio News threaten its very existence.

FSRN was founded by freelance reporters protesting censorship at Pacifica the last time the network went off the rails. What started as a “strike cast” during the 1999-2001 Pacifica crisis later became an independent, worker-run collective producing news for Pacifica for over a decade.

“The idea that Pacifica will let this valuable news program die is shameful at best,” one FSRN correspondent told us. FSRN urgently needs to raise $40,000 this month to pay its contributors and stay on the air. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at FSRN’s website.

We also encourage you to VIEW AND CIRCULATE this special video message supporting FSRN from Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now!

Recall ballots on their way, says Pacifica’s election supervisor

Ballots in the extremely long-awaited recall vote of Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg are due to mail sometime in the next week. That’s according to our last communication from election supervisor Matt Ward (though if they mail out later, it wouldn’t be the first time Pacifica blew a deadline. Under Pacifica’s own rules, these ballots should have been out by New Year’s Eve 2011!).

KPFA Local Station Board chair Margy Wilkinson described what she had been able to learn about the recall and elections planned for later this year at all five Pacifica stations, during a report to KPFA’s local board June 2. | LISTEN to Wilkinson (2 min audio)

We urge you to VOTE YES on the recall, which is endorsed by a long list of KPFA listeners and workers. In addition, please help SaveKPFA ensure that Pacifica conducts this vote fairly and impartially by contacting us when you receive your ballot and when you’ve voted. You’re supposed to get a ballot if you’re a KPFA member — meaning you gave $25 or more in a one-year period.