Lame-duck Pacifica board rushes to approve anti-dissent “loyalty” rules

Has there ever been a Pacifica board more out of touch with KPFA’s listeners? Three days ago,  the board’s lame-duck majority passed a McCarthy-like resolution to quash dissenters in the network.

Hundreds of listeners and staff wrote to members of the Pacifica National Board (PNB) earlier this month when the anti-dissent “loyalty” measure first came up, calling it a political witch hunt. (A sampling of the letters is here, and you can add your voice here.)

“Putting forward rules about ‘loyalty’ under the guise of financial duty is a trick that Joe McCarthy himself would have been proud of,” wrote listener Elly Larsen. “Stop the witch-hunting, get back to fixing the network, which is badly broken, or you’re going to lose the whole kit-n-caboodle with your juvenile power games.”

Drafted by allies of KPFA board member Tracy Rosenberg, the “loyalty” measure bans those who dissent from serving on local or national boards. Cloaked in references to “harmful or malicious behavior,” including “breaches of loyalty” and “fiduciary care,” its main target is the Morning Show 4 — KPFA board members Margy Wilkinson, Dan Siegel, Mal Burnstein and Conn Hallinan — who led a 2011 SaveKPFA campaign that collected over $60,000 in pledges to restore the KPFA Morning Show, after Pacifica claimed it cancelled the show for financial reasons.

Listeners pledging for KPFA Morning Show
A few of the hundreds of KPFA listeners who pledged to help bring back the Morning Show.

Hundreds of listeners gave pledges of support (not actual money) in that campaign,  but Pacifica refused to accept them. Rosenberg’s allies then slapped the four SaveKPFA activists with a lawsuit demanding $800,000 in “damages” for the fundraising activity, which they claim is “disloyal” to Pacifica. The lawsuit is pending, but Rosenberg has been publicly proclaiming it as a win for her side.

“I am appalled and shocked to hear that 4 KPFA listeners, all of whom are much respected in the community, are being sued for $800,000 for their KPFA fundraising activities,” wrote KPFA listener Alan Smith to the Pacifica board, echoing many others. “It is clear whomever drafted [the measure] has no sense of history or progressive values and does not belong on the Pacifica board.”

“The idea that someone breached their fiduciary duties by raising money for the station – NOT self-dealing – is itself ridiculous,” KPFA listener Clyde Leland wrote to the Pacifica board. “The further step of making loyalty a qualification for service on the Local Station Board is worse. It is sickening anti-democratic moves like this that are tearing this station apart.”

The “loyalty” measure was tabled on a vote of 11-9 two weeks ago, but mysteriously appeared on Pacifica’s phone meeting agenda last Thursday, during which it was “taken off the table” and immediately voted on it (a violation of procedure). Nia Bediako, a delegate from New York’s WBAI, has asked that the record show that the resolution was not properly before the body.

Contempt for listeners, democratic process

“The measure displays a stunning contempt for the process and the KPFA listenership,” said Margy Wilkinson, former KPFA board chair and one of the station’s delegates-elect to the Pacifica board, who listened to the meeting online. “It was clear from the discussion that Pacifica’s own attorney had counseled against adopting the measure, and we know that board members had received many messages from listeners urging them to reject it.”

Supporters of the “loyalty” measure included Pacifica board chair Summer Reese, a KPFK delegate, who despite having not been part of the meeting, phoned in just before the vote to support it, making the count 10-10. Then, KPFT delegate Bill Crosier, serving as chair, broke the tie, making the final recorded vote 11-10.

Several board members who supported the measure are lame ducks whose terms have technically expired. In violation of Pacifica’s bylaws, incumbent board members had unilaterally extended their own terms by delaying seating of incoming PNB delegates until late February.

How much damage can they do in the next month? The anti-dissent measure was only one of several measures passed which will further undermine local control at KPFA and other Pacifica stations. Newly-elected Pacifica delegates may move to reconsider the “loyalty” measure and others when they are finally seated next month. We’ll keep you informed.

We endorse YES on the KPFA recall!

Thanks to a grassroots campaign to return local control to KPFA, Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg is facing a recall endorsed by a long list of community activists,  listeners and staff. Ballots must be RECEIVED by AUG. 3 at: KPFA Recall Election, P.O. Box 11708, Berkeley, CA 94712 | Ballot info | BREAKING NEWS: Goodbye Arlene Engelhardt? Great news from the Pacifica National Board meeting in Berkeley | KPFA’s budget surplus and Pacifica’s audit: learn more

We urge you to VOTE YES on the recall!
(this is a partial list, see full list here)

ACT UP EAST BAY
AILEEN ALFANDARY, co-director, KPFA News
EMILY ALMA, Chico Peace and Justice Center, Butte Environmental Council, Occupy Chico, Chico Palestine Action Group
DR. NANCY ARVOLD, psychologist, social activist, feminist
L. AYRES-FREDERICK, Artistic Director, Phoenix Arts Association Theatre
TINA BACHEMIN, KPFA reporter
DAVID BACON, labor correspondent, former KPFA Morning Show; TNG/ CWA Local 39521
BOB BALDOCK, KPFA Public Events Producer
VIC BEDOIANPacifica Evening News Central Valley reporter, Fresno
JIM BENNETT, Former Interim General Manager, KPFA, Former Pacifica National Board Member, Former Operations Director, KPFA
LARRY BENSKY, Pacifica National Affairs correspondent (1987-2007)
LAYNA BERMAN, unpaid weekly programmer
IAN BOAL, social historian of the commons
SUMMER BRENNER, author, Richmond Tales, and community activist
MALCOLM BURNSTEIN, KPFA board member and retired civil rights lawyer
SCOTT CAMIL, Activist
CATHY CAMPBELL, president, Berkeley Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1078
CLAIRE CUMMINGS, former Food and Farming editor, KPFA
LAWRENCE DAVIDSON, former co-host of KPFA’s Probabilities
JIM DAVIS, filmmaker, Meeting Room
JANE DICKSON, artist
PAMELA DRAKE, Oakland activist, KPFA Local Station Board member
ELLEN DUBROWIN, listener, former programmer & off-air staff (unpaid)
STEVE EARLY, labor journalist (CounterPunch), TNG/ CWA Local 39521
BRIAN EDWARDS-TIEKERT, KPFA News
BARBARA EPSTEIN, professor, History of Consciousness, UCSC
JAN ETRE, Crafts Fair Coordinator
DANA FRANK, Professor, History, UC Santa Cruz, AFT 1299
JULIANA FREDMAN, public interest attorney and activist
JON FROMER, singer/songwriter, NABET/CWA Local 51 shop steward
GLORIA FRYM, writer
SASHA FUTRAN, member, KPFA local station board
DAVID GANS, music programmer, KPFA board member
SHERRY GENDELMAN, attorney, former chair, KPFA board; former chair, Pacifica National Board
PAUL GEORGE, director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
SUZANNE GORDON, journalist and author, NWU/UAW
ANDREJ GRUBACIC, anarchist historian, author of Wobblies and Zapatistas
MIGUEL GUERRERO, KPFA web producer, producer of Rock en Rebelion
CONN HALLINAN, foreign policy analyst, Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Study, columnist, LSB member
MATTHEW HALLINAN, listener rep, KPFA Local Station Board
JOHN HAMILTON, KPFA News anchor
WILLIAM HARVEY, Retired Sec/Treas CWA Local 9415, Retired President Alameda County Labor Council AFL-CIO
JANE HEAVEN, KPFA producer/host, field recording engineer
JANE HIRSHFIELD, poet, author, listener-member
JOHN IVERSON, health activist
SHEILA JORDAN, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools
RAMSEY KANAAN, KPFA unpaid staff, founder AK Press and PM Press, co-founder San Francisco Anarchist Bookfair
CHRIS KAVANAGH, former elected Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner (2002-2008), former Green Party of Alameda County Central/County Council member
LARRY KELP, KPFA producer and host, Sing Out!
LISA KERMISH, Vice President, UPTE-CWA Local 9119
SHELLEY KESSLER, Secretary-Treasurer, San Mateo Labor Council
ROSE KETABCHI, KPFA News
ERIC KLEIN, former FSRN tech producer; former KPFA News producer; former tech producer, Flashpoints
HELENE KNOX, poet, editor, KPFA listener & volunteer
JACK KURZWEIL, listener rep, KPFA board
JAMES LAFFERTY, host, The Lawyers Guild Show (KPFK); Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles
JOHN LAVINE, activist, former Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner
YING LEE, Asian-Americans for Peace and Justice
SASHA LILLEY, KPFA’s Against the Grain; Shop Steward, CWA Local 9415
LAURA LIVOTI, founder, Justice in Nigeria Now!
ROBERT LONGER, Exec VP, CWA Local 9421
TIM LYNCH, KPFA producer and host, unpaid staff
PHILIP MALDARI, KPFA’s Sunday Show; Shop Steward, CWA Local 9415
JOANNA MANQUEROSMusic of the World, unpaid staff
DAVID MARTINEZ, radical filmmaker
DIANA MARTINEZLetters & Politics, unpaid staff
EMILY MCMILIN, Former KPFA Station Engineer
PETER OLNEY, listener and ILWU organizing director
ZEESE  PAPANIKOLAS, listener, Oakland CA
EDDY PAY, KPFA music programmer
SCOTT PHAMFree Speech Radio News, Technical Producer
SALLY PHILLIPS, KPFA Producer, Host, Engineer
MAX PRINGLEKPFA News Reporter
LAURA PRIVES, former executive producer of the KPFA Morning Show; producer, Letters & Politics, KPFA board member, Pacifica National Board member
GLENN REEDERKPFA News anchor, unpaid staff
BLANCHE RICHARDSON, owner, Marcus Books
DERK RICHARDSON, host of KPFA’s The Hear and Now
FRANCESCA ROSA, member SEIU 1021, delegate, SF Labor Council
SUSAN SACHEN, Campaign Director, California Labor Federation
CHARLOTTE SAENZ, community artist and educator
LYNNE HOLLANDER SAVIO, Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award
LEWIS SAWYER, producer, Early Morning Music, former KPFA Receptionist
DAN  SIEGEL, civil rights and labor attorney, former Pacifica General Counsel
BONNIE SIMMONS, host, KPFA’s Bonnie Simmons Show; former LSB, Pacifica National Board member
SARA STEFFENS, Newspaper Guild/CWA District 9
SUSAN STONE, Former Director, KPFA’s Drama and Literature Department
VANESSA TAIT, KPFA News; co-founder, FSRN; author Poor Workers’ Unions; TNG/ CWA Local 39521
MARY TILSON, Host, America’s Back 40 (with Bette Beasley)
ANDREA TURNER, cultural and community activist, LSB member
SALLY VENABLE, president, CWA Local 9415
RICHARD  WALKER, professor, radical geographer & author of The Country in the City
KATHLEEN WEAVER, Author of Peruvian Rebel, listener/member
KRIS WELCH, KPFA’s Living Room
JOHN WHITING, KPFA Production Director and Program Producer (1960-1965); London Correspondent, Pacifica Radio (1966-1972)
BARBARA WHIPPERMAN, treasurer, KPFA local station board
MARGY WILKINSON, chair, KPFA Local Station Board
CAL WINSLOW, labor historian, co-author of Rebel Rank and File
RYCHARD WITHERS, Executive Director, Fresno Free College Foundation, General Manager, KFCF (Fresno)
EDDIE YUEN, KPFA’s Against the Grain
(Please note: all titles & organizations for ID only)

SEE the full endorsers’ list here, as well as additional lists of SaveKPFA’s endorsers supporters.

Why Recall Rosenberg?
Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg has been the principal defender of the current management at Pacifica, the corporation that owns KPFA. With Rosenberg’s support, and at her behest, Pacifica has:

Let’s get KPFA back in the hands of local listeners and staff — VOTE YES on the KPFA recall! Questions? Email us. Fill out this form to add your endorsement.

Listeners love KPFA’s new UpFront program at 7AM

The new UpFront program from 7-8 AM hosted by KPFA’s Brian Edwards-Tiekert and KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar brought in the highest number of pledges per hour during KPFA’s spring fund drive, raising nearly $40,000 in just 7 days — an astonishingly good response to a new show rushed onto the air with virtually no advance publicity.

That helped KPFA’s drive finish up with nearly $690,000,  about 7% short of its $740,000 goal. You can see a breakdown of pledges by program here. UpFront‘s presence in the AM drive time also clearly pushed other slots to higher fund totals.

UpFront is an initiative of the KPFA News Department, which was given the green light by interim general manager Andrew Phillips, who admitted the decision was a “180- degree turn” for him and that “politics” had prevented him from acting sooner. Phillips told KPFA’s board on June 2 he’d received overwhelmingly positive comments about UpFront. He said the Morning Show was disbanded by Pacifica’s executive director Arlene Engelhardt in “a very abrupt, unconsultative manner,” as a result of which he heard “tremendous pain, anger, frustration, anguish from this community.” | LISTEN to Phillips (1-min audio) [longer discussion below, in the LSB meeting, part 1]