Month: February 2020

Dear KPFA subscriber,

You’ll be receiving a ballot on Tuesday, Feb. 18 asking you to approve or reject a replacement set of bylaws for the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA’s parent organization.

Please vote, and vote NO on this poorly-thought-out plan!

After the infamous 1999 takeover attempt at KPFA, new bylaws were put in place providing for Local Station Board (LSBs), elected by subscribers and staff, at the five Pacifica stations. 

Representatives from the five LSBs then constitute the Pacifica National Board (PNB),which sets network-wide policies.

The replacement bylaws would turn back the clock, by making most PNB seats filled by appointees, not elected representatives. And the Local Station Boards would disappear entirely.

Without a local station board, where will KPFA listeners take their concerns about programs or other issues? And who will hold local management to account?

So to maintain the right to elect Local Station Boards in the future, KPFA subscribers need to reject the replacement bylaws.

Your “no” vote protects your right to vote in the future.

At least one supporter of the replacement bylaws has been proclaiming “listener democracy has failed.”

We at Rescue-Pacifica believe instead that KPFA and Pacifica need more democracy and participation, not less. For example, we call for the restoration of a Program Council, so that management cannot unilaterally cancel valuable programs without explanation (as just happened to KPFA’s only labor show).

There’s also no doubt that the Pacifica stations, and the network as a whole, are confronting severe financial problems. But eliminating locally-based listener democracy won’t solve those problems.

Many KPFA staff members and local community activists, including Dennis Bernstein, Mary Ratcliff, Michael Parenti, Miguel Molina, Marilyn Langlois, Eduardo Martinez, Peter Phillips, Mickey Huff, and many others are urging a NO vote on the replacement bylaws; see the list at www.rescuepacifica.net
So please take a moment to vote, and vote against turning back the clock!

Keep KPFA and Pacifica moving forward.

Rescue Pacifica

If you would like to contribute to the Rescue Pacifica Voter Education Project to defeat these substitute bylaws, you can do so here.

To give a quick update on Pacifica news: the raid on WBAI was permanently reversed by NY State Supreme Court judge Melissa Crane on November 6, 2019 and WBAI returned to the airwaves at midnight, exactly one month after IED Vernile pulled the plug. Vernile’s employment at the Pacifica Foundation has been terminated. 

The Rescue-Pacifica candidates vigorously condemn the shutdown of KPFA’s sister station WBAI in New York City. On October 7, there was an attempt by Pacifica’s interim Executive Director (“iED”) to close the station and terminate all WBAI staff. This surprise attack took place in the middle of WBAI’s fall fund drive, as well as the voting period for the Local Station Board elections. It is completely at odds with what democratic, transparent and responsible governance should look like, and contrary to Pacifica’s original grassroots mission. Fortunately, a New York judge issued a stay to prevent iED John Vernile from dismissing the WBAI workers and interfering with the station’s operations, pending a hearing to be held on October 18th.

 For long-time KPFA supporters, the attack on WBAI should bring back unhappy memories of the 1999 takeover attempt at KPFA. The cast of characters is different this time, but the objective appears to be the same – to replace local community-based hosts with shows piped-in from elsewhere, and perhaps to eventually sell the station’s valuable broadcast frequency.The attack on WBAI is the latest in a series of recent undemocratic actions to happen recently at the network. A group calling itself “Restructure Pacifica” has been circulating a petition to replace the present Bylaws with a system that would eliminate listener-elected Local Station Boards. There is also an attempt underway to remove KPFA board member Tom Voorhees from the Pacifica National Board, despite Tom’s unmatched knowledge of radio.The Rescue-Pacifica candidates for the KPFA Local Station Board believe that KPFA and its sister stations should uphold the values of democracy, transparency, and community-based decision making. We oppose undemocratic power grabs, including the attempt to close WBAI.

Report from Pacifica National Board Director Tom Voorhees can be read here. 

“DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Foundation radio stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.”