Have you voted yet?
Your KPFA subscription includes the right to vote for Local Station Board (LSB) candidates. Rescue Pacifica urges you to use that right to vote! Voting will close at 9:00 PM Pacific Time this coming Friday, October 15, 2021.
If you can’t find the email with your ballot be sure to look in your junk/spam folder – it was sent from Pacifica Foundation vote@simplyvoting.com .
Who are the Rescue-Pacifica candidates?
There are nine LSB seats to be filled by KPFA subscribers in this election, and Rescue Pacifica is fielding nine great candidates (click on a candidate’s name to read his/her election statement):
James McFadden
Elizabeth Milos
Donna Carter
Pete Farruggio
Adisa Armand
Don Macleay
Daniel Borgström
Rich Stone
Amber Jayanti
The Rescue-Pacifica team of candidates includes antiwar military veterans, union activists, educators, health-care workers and more.
Your support will enable these candidates to engage their dedication and experience for the benefit of KPFA.
Your KPFA LSB ballot uses a form of voting in which the voter ranks the candidates (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).
Please vote for all nine Rescue-Pacifica candidates, in any order you like. The more Rescue candidates elected, the better the chances of enacting reforms to improve KPFA!
Who endorses the Rescue-Pacifica candidates?
Bill Balderston of the Oakland Education Association, Clarence Thomas and Jack Heyman of the ILWU, Eduardo Martinez of the Richmond City Council, Karen Pickett of the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters, and Mary Ratcliff of the SF Bayview newspaper, to name a few. Also KPFA staff members Andres Soto, Dennis Bernstein, Joy Moore, Frank Sterling, Mickey Huff and others. See the complete list of dozens of endorsements at: rescuepacifica.net/endorsements.
Why go to the trouble of voting?
It matters who is elected to the LSB. Please click this link to learn what distinguishes the Rescue-Pacifica candidates from the opposition slate: rescuepacifica.net/there-is-a-difference
Please don’t elect the fox to guard the hen-house! A man who sued Pacifica to try to set aside its democratic electoral system does not belong on the board of a Pacifica station!
pacificainexile.org/archives/10016
Among the most crucial differences is that Rescue Pacifica advocates a return to democratic decision-making about programming, and the restoration of the Program Council (which was eliminated by a previous management in 2008).
Why is that so important?
We advocate democratic decision-making on principle, but also because it’s the best way for KPFA to keep up with changing times. KPFA introduced many new programs in the early years of this century (when a Program Council still existed) but since then it has mostly stood still. In fact, valuable programs like Work Week (KPFA’s only labor show), Twit-Wit (one-of-a-kind political comedy) and Discreet Music (new / experimental music) were canceled by management without explanation.
This was disrespectful to both the staff and listeners of these programs. Meanwhile, many important communities and constituencies remain unrepresented or under-represented on KPFA’s airwaves, including Asian-Americans, LGBT people, and youth. KPFA will not succeed in a changing world by standing pat; this has been proven by the ongoing decline in subscribership, now only about half what it once was.
As well as acting to update and diversify programming, KPFA needs to diversify how it gathers and delivers information. The station should build partnerships with journalists (including student journalists) around the Bay, and beyond, to become a true region-wide news outlet. Live video coverage of demonstrations and other events, streamed on the KPFA web site, should be a regular feature.
Innovations like these are needed if KPFA is to remain relevant in a changing media world, but they won’t happen by themselves. Our historically-activist radio station needs an activist Local Station Board to push for progress.Please vote, and vote for the Rescue-Pacifica team of Local Station Board candidates!
Thank you,
Rescue Pacifica
(an alliance of KPFA listeners and staff members)