Welcome to People's Radio

see also:
http://kpfaelection2009.blogspot.com/2009/10/kpfa-listener-election-preliminary.html
To see the initial count click on 1 for Round 1.
{To see candidate's slate affiliations go to this list on Events page}

ICR=Independents for Community Radio CL=Concerned Listeners PR=Peoples Radio VJ=Voices for Justice Radio
=================================================================================
SUMMARY of results:       (Runner up = alternate)
New/reelected Listener Reps = 5 from ICR; 4 from CL (1st alternate = CL)
New/reelected Staff Reps =        2 from ICR; 1 from CL (1st alternate = CL)

New/re-elected LSB members = 7 ICR and 5 CL
All continuing incumbents=         6 ICR and 6 CL
KFCF continuing rep =                                  1 CL aligned

Analysis: There was a gain of one pro-democracy listener board member over the previous board!
There was a also one gain in the Staff election; see below.
There are now 13 pro-democracy reps and 12 anti-democracy reps.
This bare majority may or may not be significant, depending on attendance of pro-democratic members,
unity of these members, & dropping out of any members.
So far there are potential problems in all these areas, so we can only hope for the best!

===================================================================================
All Listener Candidate Rankings: at 28th round
9 elected:
1. Banafsheh Akhlaghi ICR
2. Dan Siegel CL
3. Conn Hallinan CL
4. Henry Norr ICR
5. Andrea Prichett ICR
6. Akio Tanaka ICR
7. Sasha Futran ICR (?)
8. Andrea Turner CL
9. Pamela Drake CL

10. (1st runner up) John Van Eyck CL
11. (2nd runner up) Richard Phelps PR
12. (3d) Rahman Jamaal McCreadie ICR
13. (4th) Donald Goldmacher CL
Richard Phelps of People's Radio is the 2nd alternate in this latest count,
meaning he has a chance of being seated if/when 2 listener representatives withdraw during their term.
Usually 1 or 2 alternates are seated in this way.
14. Lara Kiswani ICR
15. Jack Kurzweil CL
16. Ann Hallatt ICR
17. Steve Zeltzer VJ
18. Virginia Rodriguez CL
19. Adam Hudson ICR
20. Mike Smith CL
21. Stan Woods PR
22. Shara Esbenshade ICR
23. Jim Curtis PR
24. Gerald Sanders PR
25. Mark Hernandez CL
26. Judith Gips ind.
27. Jaime Cader VJ
28. Jim Weber ind.
29. Write-In
Mary Prophet - ICR - resigned prior to ballot submission
Evelyn Sanchez - ICR - disqualified

The staff election
There was a gain of one pro-democracy board member from the staff, over the previous board
Elected:            D= pro-democratic A= anti-democratic
1. Anthony Fest D
2. Renee Geesler D
3. Laura Prives A
Alternates:- (The next to be seated if any of the above 3 drops
out of the LSB during their term)
Antonio Ortiz A
David Gans A
Emiliano Echeverria D

Continuing LSB members (9)
(aside from those who were reelected)
Listeners (9)
Chandra Hauptman   ICR
Tracy Rosenberg   ICR
Sureya Sayadi   ICR
Joe Wanzala ICR
Dianne Enriquez   CL
Sherry Gendelman   CL
Matthew Hallinan   CL
Susan McDonough   CL
Warren Mar CL
Staff (3)
Shahram Aghamir ICR supporter
Naji Ali ICR supporter
Brian Edwards-Tiekert CL supporter
KFCF (affiliate station)
Rych Withers   CL supporter

An election analysis by Mara Rivera:
This is an analysis/opinion about the LSB election results.
Send along any thoughts you have about it.

Our side did not lose ground in this election, we gained a little, without getting the decisive victory we hoped for.
The CL lost a little, and made a move to disqualify Henry Norr over a technicality, which was judged invalid by the
National Election Supervisor.
A couple of people on our side, including one ICR candidate, also supported this challenge. Their motivation may
have been aconflict over the order of recommendations of the various candidates on our side.

There were more candidates on our side than seats, so there was a ranking made of candidates by some in the ICR,
which the whole group did not determine, and was not observed by all candidates on their separate flyers.
The ICR did not present itself as a slate, or meet as a group, so it may have seemed unclear to many as to how to
observe those rankings. Henry & I were attacked for the order of candidates given on his flyer (I because I reproduced
his flyer as a presentation of the ICR platform, unaware of the order of candidates on it).

With such a close division between the 2 sides, the pro-democracy side's effectiveness will depend on their unity and
their attendance, since the CL votes with much unity and good attendance.
And any candidates dropping out could change the balance at any time, and we have only the 2nd and 3d place
alternates.
There are at least 2 or 3 of our reps who have had problems with attendance, for various reasons, and one rep whose
allegiance is somewhat shaky, raising fears that this person will manipulate their swing vote status to gain personal
privileges (in committee assignments and so on).

Some ideas as to why we did not have a better win:
* Too many candidates
* Inability to form a unity slate, due to differences in approach, tone & personality, dominance problems;
the difficulty of coalition work
* Dependence by voters on mailers to choose candidates, bringing money into the election as a determining factor
* A large voting bloc made up of followers of the CL, such as Wellstone Democratic Club members,
& Alameda County Labor Council, which endorses the CL without interviewing other candidates.
Many of these voters are not familiar with the issues and just follow their CL leaders' recommendations.
* A general unfamiliarity with the issues and difficulty in choosing between candidates in spite of the forums.
* That allegiance people have for their favorite programmers, and identify KPFA with these programmers and present management; many of whom do not believe in a democratic governance for KPFA.
* The problem that one sector - programmers - have access to the airwaves and with it also more credibility.
This has been illustrated recently in the anti-democratic presentations by programmers Sasha Lilley & Doug Henwood
using Matthew Lasar as a KPFA expert, speaking against KPFA elections along with Aileen Alfandary head of the
News Department, on Lilley's show, and with Doug Henwood supporting him on Henwood's show.
In neither case was there another opinion given, though the KPFA community is deeply divided about this issue.
They avoided doing these programs during the election, but no sooner was the voting concluded than they both had
these programs; Doug's being a rebroadcast of the program he'd had immediately preceeding the election campaigns.
These folks are all aligned with the CL in their desire to eliminate elections at KPFA, or, they sometimes claim,
"an all-elected board" - so says Lasar, as someone said, playing Good Cop to Alfandary's Bad Cop who wanted an
all unelected board.
For more on these one-sided events see:
"KPFA Management" - about the Lilley Against the Grain presentation
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/issue/2009-10-22/article/33988?headline=KPFA-Management
Program archived at http://kpfa.org/archive/id/55430 See the comments below on that page.

"Give KPFA Democracy Some Support"- about the Henwood program
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/24/18626646.php
Program archived at http://kpfa.org/archive/id/55538
Their complaint that the inability of KPFA listeners to make wise electoral decisions or even have the interest
for it is a reason to throw out board elections, is ironic, when those things are the result of the KPFA ruling elite's
aversion to democracy which causes them to keep listeners in the dark about governance, ignorant & disinterested.

KPFA can't be a community station without democratic decision making.
-- Mara Rivera

People's Radio candidates
2009:
         Click on candidate's name for their longer statement

Gerald Sanders   LSB member and former PNB Director, former LSB Outreach committee, Mumia activist, SF “8” activist, IBEW member, union activist, State Committee of the Peace & Freedom Party

Richard Phelps   Former LSB member, LSB Chair 10-05 to 12-06, Committee experience: PNB Election and Governance, LSB, Outreach, Programming, Personnel, former AM & FM announcer,. Mediator

Stan Woods    Former LSB member, former Program Council member, Committee experience: PNB Governance, LSB Outreach. ILWU Local 6 member, supporter of the Woodfin Hotel Workers struggle for justice, Cental Committee of the Peace & Freedom Committee

Jim Curtis     Founding member of Northbay for KPFA in Sonoma County, activist with the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, KPFA activist since 1999, artist, teacher

To be able to vote in this 2009 election you had to have been a current subscriber by july 15th 2009
see below

Michael Parenti – Author & lecturer
Dr. Peter Phillips – Project Censored director

The Peace & Freedom Party of California
The San Francisco Green Party endorsed all our candidates
The Alameda Green Party endorsed all our candidates
The Petaluma Progressives
The Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance
Richard Gage - AIA, Architect, Founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth
Tony Sustak - Treasurer of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), former Richmond Greens leader, community activist

Jack Heyman – ILWU Local 10 Executive Board member rank & file organizer
Clarence Thomas - ILWU Local 10 Executive Board member
Jack Ford – Teamsters Local 921 SF Chronicle Truck Drivers former president
Liana Molina – Woodfin Hotels Boycott coordinator
Eva Royal - Cesar Chavez Holiday Committee Chair, former UFW Bay Area Regional Manager/organizer
Alan Benjamin - Delegate to the SF Labor Council for Office and Professional Employees International Union #3

Robert Knight - WBAI & KPFA newscaster, of the Knight Report on Flashpoints
Bonnie Faulkner - Host of Guns & Butter, KPFA
Miguel "Gavilan" Molina - Host of Flashpoints, La Honda Bajita
Francisco Herrera – Musician, KPFA Flashpoints contributor
Anthony Fest - KPFA newscaster, staff rep to LSB -endorsing all People's Radio candidates individually
Henry Norr - KPFA LSB* -endorsing all People's Radio candidates individually
Joe Wanzala - vice chair of the PNB* -endorsing all People's Radio candidates individually
Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia - Editor of Poor Magazine, host of Poor News Network

David Janda - KBBF, member of Voces Cruzando Fronteras, photogapher
Melvin Dickson - Editor-in-Chief, Black Panther Commemorator Newspaper
Melvin Johnson - Reporter, Black Panther Commemorator Newspaper
Tommi Avicolli-Mecca - queer artist, housing activist
Daniel Borgstrom - Author, former Marine against the war, KPFA activist, author www.danielborgstrom.com

Election timeline

June 1st       Nomination period begins
July 15th       Nomination period ends. All candidates must have their forms in
Starting August 15th    Candidates will be given air time to share their qualifications.
August 29th   Ballots will be mailed to all KPFA members
October 15th    ALL BALLOTS MAILED IN MUST BE RECEIVED BY THIS DATE! Walk in ballots will be accepted until midnight (October 15)
November 15th     The election will be certified if the quorum for the election is met

Date of Record
To run as a candidate or to vote, a person must have been a member in the period from July 16th 2008 to July 15th 2009

A person qualifies for membership by:
1 Paying $25 to one of the stations
2 Volunteering at a station for a minimum of 3 hours
3 Obtaining a waiver from the Local Station Board.

*************

If you've misplaced your ballot, look for a large BLUE envelope!
If you need a replacement, don't hesitate to request one right away! see below.

- - -> *If you have not received your ballot but think you should have, perhaps even need a waiver, or have misplaced yours contact
Renee Asteria, Elections Supervisor
election@kpfa.org
(510) 848-6767 ext 626

New from Renee: LAST MINUTE BALLOTING
I will be accepting ballots Thursday October 15th as well as providing last minute replacements. So just come to the station that day from 5pm on.
We will have volunteers at the door and I will be there 5 to 12 midnight.
You can also drop off your ballot Wednesday or Thursday during business hours (a strong box will be kept at the reception to receive ballots), or T,W, or Th at 6:00 sharp, when you can also request a replacement ballot from Renee. Call first:
510 230 8960 after 5 pm Tuesday or Wednesday,
after 4:00 pm Thursday.

LSB Ballot Tutorial please distribute:
http://pacificafoundation.org/ballot_tutor09.htm

KPFA Elections
po box 773
Berkeley, CA
94701-0773

[If you are a current station member you should have received a ballot soon ofter August 29th.
If you're not sure whether you've paid within the 1 year period for current membership, July 16 '08 to July 15 '09
CHECK on your MEMBERSHIP STATUS:
email Chris@kpfa.org
or call Chris Stehlik at (510) 848-6767 ext 253

Send Chris any CHANGE of ADDRESS you may have had.]
Please Vote!

Although it's too late for purposes of voting in this election, you can support KPFA by paying the subscription fee of $25 or more - the usual payment is $75 -
online at http://kpfa.org/support
or by telephone at (510) 848-5732 or
(800)439-5732

Our candidates' longer statements

Gerald Sanders

My name is Gerald Sanders, I live in West Oakland. I have been a been a listener of KPFA since 1975. I am a union Electrician, a member of the IBEW local 595. I have a 40 year history of social and political activism. I am and have been centrally invoved in the struggle to save the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal. I am on the steering committee of the Mobilization to Free Mumia and I am a founding member of the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia (LAC). The LAC initiated and helped organize the 1999 Oakland School District Teach-In on the Death Penalty and the case of Mumia and the April 24 [same year] West coast ports shutdown by the longshoremen, ILWU, demanding freedom for Mumia .
I am a founding member and supporter of Berkeley Copwatch. I have been active in many other political arenas.
For example in 1996 I ran for the school board, representing District 3 [West Oakland] in alliance with the teachers union. In spite of the fact that my opponent out spent me 10 to 1, I received 46.4 % of the vote.
I have been involved in grassroots radio for some time.
I volunteered at KPOO at a time when we where still using egg containers to sound proof the studio. I worked on the Amandla Program at KALX.
I was among the founders of Free Radio Berkeley (a micro-transmitted station, 104.1 FM) and functioned as convener and on various committees.

In the course of all my activities it has become increasingly clear how important KPFA is to our community. During the Pacifica crisis in 1999 I, as a member of the Frank Little Club, helped organize the main demonstration in support of KPFA. Since Pacifica is still under the gun, my primary concern is to insure that the stations we already have continue to exist.
I would also like to see Pacifica extended to as many new locations as possible. I would also like to assist KPFA in deepening its roots in the Black community and the Labor movement.
I think that the fact that I am a socialist gives me a perspective that strengthens my ability to bring people together at a time in which we are being attacked by the powers that be up and down the line. Brothers and sisters, I would appreciate your vote.

For Gerald's endorsers see Our Endorsers above.

Richard Phelps

My name is Richard Phelps. I have been actively involved in peace, social justice and labor activities for over 40 years. I have been a listener/subscriber for 35 years. I have 5+ years of full time AM/FM radio experience and I have done several programs at KPFA over the years.
See #6 on my candidate questionnaire for details of my extensive experience relevant to serving on the Local Station Board (LSB). I previously served on the LSB and was twice elected Chair. While on the LSB I missed only one meeting when my daughter graduated from college. I have attended many Pacifica National Board (PNB) meetings and have listened on-line to most of the others and have obtained summaries of the meetings I have missed. I have provided free legal consultation to several PNB members from 2004 to present.

What I am about to tell you comes from my heart and my direct knowledge and experience. Some of my allies have told me that it is impolite to be this direct and that I won’t get any votes by telling people the straight truth. My getting elected will mean nothing if we lose KPFA and Pacifica. I am one of those people who believe that “ the truth shall set us free.” I am often the kid who says, “the Emperor has no clothes.” And now I must tell you the naked truth.

Pacifica is in serious financial trouble. KPFA has a $300,000 deficit this year and has gone from 28,000 subscribers to 20,000 in the last five (5) years under the Concerned Listener(CL), formally KPFAForward, supported management group. To see the “insiders” in this group go to http://peoplesradio.net/Dismantle.htm . (Rain Geesler is no longer an insider.)

During these same 5 years WBAI has lost several hundred thousand dollars a year and is $1,000,000.00 behind in its contributions to Pacifica. WBAI received a three-day notice from its landlord earlier this year, $132, 694.86 behind in rent. Here is a link to that document: http://pacificana.org/public/files/WBAI/Media2009/3DayNotice.pdf

Who is responsible for bringing Pacifica so close to bankruptcy? The CL management group and the prior WBAI/WPFW managements and LSB majorities protected each other from accountability on the PNB, allowing the red ink to flow at WBAI. Please read this Berkeley Daily Planet article. Here is a link: http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2009-05-14/article/32873?headline=The-Pacifica-Financial-Crisis-Who-is-Responsible-
This same CL group has ignored our democratic Bylaws, eliminated the Program Council and disenfranchised the Unpaid Staff Organization for two years. Here is a link to an article that details their anti-democratic history. Please read: http://indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/15/18608185.php
If you do not have computer access call my office and I will mail you copies, (510)268-9919.
The time for change is NOW! We really do risk losing KPFA/Pacifica if CL gets a majority on the LSB again. Both articles can also be read at peoplesradio.net

Please read and investigate before you vote. Thank you.

Endorsers: Michael Parenti, Robert Knight, Henry Norr, Joe Wanzala, Anthony Fest and labor activists Jack Heyman and Clarence Thomas

Stan Woods

It’s now the 10th anniversary of the notorious attempt to destroy our Pacifica network.

In response there was an uprising of listener-supporters that recaptured KPFA and Pacifica from the "hijackers". Those who turned back the attempt to destroy the Pacifica network were a very diverse group, ranging from International Union vice-presidents to teenage anarchists, from every grouping (and sub-grouping) across the progressive spectrum. In the aftermath there was a widespread feeling that the best way to avoid another takeover was to democratize the station and the network. I've been an active player in that democratization process.

I'm an Oakland resident who moved to the Bay Area at the end of the seventies. Since then, I've been a strong supporter of KPFA. I was an occasional program guest, former member of "Save KPFA", active participant in the summer 1999 demonstrations and rallies. I strongly encouraged members of my union to join these actions, and was suspended and faced with losing my job due to my role in a union job action in solidarity with KPFA.

I was an elected community representative on the Local Advisory Board from 2002 to 2004 and I also served on the Program Council. I also was elected to the Local Station Board. I have also been active in Pacifica affairs nationally. I have attended many national board meetings, co-coordinated logistics for the June 2002 interim Pacifica National Board meetings, and actively participated in the intense debates re the bylaws that were approved in 2003.

In my activism over the decades, despite differences I may have with this or that program, I have always known, to paraphrase the old Kentucky labor anthem, "Which side (KPFA) is on."

Nevertheless. serious problems remain at KPFA and Pacifica. Since 2003 KPFA has lost approximately 25% of our subscribers. This was during a period in which we should have dramatically expanded due to the widespread hatred for the wars abroad and intense concern for the economic disparity at home. That’s why I’ve been very disturbed by what's occurred since the seating of the new governing board in January 2006. It's become clear that there is a faction on the board that is not committed to our media democracy. Far more could have been accomplished without their delays, filibustering, and in general transparent contempt for listener-activists.
This faction, calling itself the ‘’ Concerned Listeners’’ (CL), have put their local power before the declining support for Pacifica. They are also silent at the station Management’s handling of the incident involving Nadra Foster, a long time unpaid staff member. A minor dispute that could have easily been resolved, instead was dramatically escalated by the calling in of the cops and the subsequent manhandling and arrest of this Black single mother.

They have opposed the reconvening of the decision-making Program Council that was dismantled by their allies in management in violation of a LSB Resolution passed in May of 2004. KPFA’s General Manager was recently ordered by the new Interim Executive Director to reinstate the Unpaid Staff organization. The CL majority on the LSB had quietly supported their management allies. Despite the huge workload of the LSB the CL majority imposed a bimonthly meeting schedule.

I'm running on the Ten Points of People’s Radio. Transparency in all areas (programming, management, finances, etc.) is essential for our experiment in media democracy to succeed. I urge you to vote for myself and the other People's Radio and allied candidates.

I am endorsed by Jack Heyman, Clarence Thomas (ILWU #10 ) * Joe Wanzala (Vice Chair PNB*), LSB members* Henry Norr and Anthony Fest, author Michael Parenti, and Bonnie Faulkner of Guns and Butter.
*For identification purposes only.
For further info go to peoplesradio.net peoplesradio.net.

Jim Curtis

I am Jim Curtis. I live in Santa Rosa and work in Sebastopol.
I have been actively involved as a listener member of KPFA since the Lock-out there in 1999 and was one of the founding members of Northbay for KPFA in Sonoma County. We helped set up elections, rewrite the by-laws, and published a KPFA folio which documented the struggle with the old board up until the settlement of the Listeners Lawsuit.
My involvement has continued since then, because I believe inequities in the management of KPFA and Pacifica have prevented its boards from fully implementing their governance functions, as required in the new bylaws.
This disenfranchises both the listener members and most of the staff.
Therefore, I've also been involved with the Coalition to democratize Pacifica in Berkeley, the KPFA support group at the Social Justice Center of Marin, Media Action Marin, and the Peoples Radio listeners activist group.
I've been a Northbay peace and justice activist with the Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County, protesting against the war in Central America, the Afghanistan and Iranian invasions and occupations, the inequity of the Bohemian Grove, and the construction of the Rancho Secco nuclear reactor and the Warm Springs Dam.

My background is primarily as a visual artist. I've created murals on CALtrans freeway undercrossings in Santa Rosa and elsewhere with socially relevant themes and created a non-profit corporation called the Visible Surface Mural Works, Inc. After that, my main interest has been in conducting life drawing and print making workshops; until recently, when I began putting programs on the Santa Rosa Community Media Center's public access TV station.

For Jim's endorsers see Our Endorsers above