At its recorded phone meeting April 12, the Pacifica National Board (PNB) devoted a full 45 minutes to discussing emails it is receiving from KPFA members opposed to Pacifica Radio's hire of union-busting law firm, Jackson Lewis. Sadly, this conversation did not involve any re-thinking of the decision to hire the union-busting lawyers.
Instead, PNB members debated whether or not to block the hundreds of protest emails its getting from listeners supporting SaveKPFA. PNB member Ken Aaron (KPFK/Los Angeles) said he thinks the people writing to the board “are not human” and their communications were “spam” that should be prevented from reaching the board. From SaveKPFA‘s website, people have a choice of sending their email directly to the PNB’s address, or sending it via a web form, which is then forwarded by SaveKPFA‘s web volunteers. | LISTEN to 30 second audio clip of Aaron
Several PNB members said they were appalled at the proposed limitations on listener comments. SaveKPFA member Andrea Turner, who is 1 of 4 KPFA delegates on the PNB, thanked listeners for writing and said she hoped they would continue doing so. Turner pointed out that a member-driven non-profit founded to advance free expression shouldn’t be scared of hearing from its own constituents. | LISTEN to 1 minute audio clip of Turner
Efforts to block or divert emails sent through SaveKPFA‘s webpage failed by a one-vote margin, with these 9 members VOTING NO on the motion: Nia Bediako (WBAI/NYC), Wesley Bethune (KPFT/Houston), Lydia Brazon (KPFK/LA), Revalyn Golde (WPFW/Washington), Campbell Johnson (WPFW, Washington), Laura Prives (KPFA/Berkeley), Marcel Reid (WPFW, Washington), Dan Siegel (KPFA/Berkeley), and Andrea Turner (KPFA/Berkeley).
PNB treasurer Tracy Rosenberg, who is facing a recall from her constituents at KPFA, VOTED YES to blocking incoming listener messages. She was joined by 7 other PNB members: Ivon Alcime (WPFW/Washington), Teresa Allen (KPFT/Houston), Ken Aaron (KPFK/LA), Carolyn Birden (WBAI/NYC), Bill Crosier (KPFT/Houston), Ali Lexa (KPFK/LA), and George Reiter (KPFT/Houston).
Earlier in the same meeting, PNB chair Summer Reese complained about KPFA listeners making “a lot of noise” regarding the election supervisor she hired for the Tracy Rosenberg recall vote. Hundreds of listeners have been writing the PNB to ask why recall ballots had still not been mailed nearly four months after Pacifica’s own deadline for that to happen.
Over 1200 listeners have signed a petition demanding Pacifica appoint an impartial election supervisor from the American Association of Arbitrators or a similar organization. As we reported in our last issue, Reese recently hired a person named Matt Ward to supervise the recall, but gave no information about him. Multiple efforts by SaveKPFA activists to ask both Reese and Ward himself about his experience, or his timeline for the election, did not produce answers. Reese told the PNB that because Pacifica had previously hired election supervisors who she said “don’t appear to have had any qualifications to be election supervisors,” it was therefore “inappropriate” for KPFA listeners to ask about the qualifications of the person she hired to oversee the Rosenberg recall. | LISTEN TO 2 min audio clip of Reese
You can hear the entire PNB meeting in this three-part public recording: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3. (The discussion of the recall and KPFA’s listener emails begins about 8 minutes into part 2 and continues through the vote at the end of part 3).
“KPFA listeners and staff have the right to know how the radio network they support is run and what our donations are paying for,” said KPFA board chair Margy Wilkinson. “Let’s keep speaking up loudly and clearly, until we get our station and network back on the right track.”
For more, see SaveKPFA's website or KPFAWorker's website.
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