By Aileen Alfandary, guest commentary
Editor’s Note: This is a counterpoint to a recently published op-ed calling for a ‘No’ vote on the recall election.
July 12, 2012
I am asking for your YES vote to recall KPFA board member Tracy Rosenberg. During her time as a KPFA Local Station Board member (she also serves on the Pacifica National Board), Rosenberg has supported Pacifica as it conducted a war on KPFA’s staff and listeners by:
- purging KPFA’s biggest fundraiser and most listened-?to local program (The Morning Show), causing morning pledges to drop by more than half and putting the station’s fragile finances at risk
- conducting illegal, retaliatory layoffs
- wasting more than $100,000 of listener money on an anti-?union law firm
- diverting workers’ retirement contributions for other purposes
- slapping gag rules on KPFA’s staff
- illegally barring KPFA’s elected representatives from taking their seats on Pacifica’s Board.
Tracy Rosenberg claims that she helped save KPFA from bankruptcy. A close examination of that claim shows it doesn’t hold water. Virtually the entire reduction in staffing in 2010 was from union members who took voluntary layoffs. When the dust settled, and Pacifica was forced to rehire Brian Edwards-Tiekert, the only involuntary layoff that occurred in 2010 was that of the other Morning Show co-host who had been paid for a grand total of 27 hours a week. It’s absurd to claim that this small salary saved KPFA from bankruptcy. It’s quite the contrary. The reduction in fundraising from purging the Morning Show cost us dearly and drove listeners away from KPFA.
As many of you know, I’ve worked at KPFA for more than 30 years and love and cherish this free speech institution. Tracy Rosenberg has inflicted severe damage and can be expected to lend full backing to Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt’s plan to carry out more unnecessary layoffs that will cause further damage to a KPFA. We need to send them a strong message that enough is enough!
This recall ballot should have gone out a full six months ago, but Pacifica stalled and then stalled some more. Now it has gone out in the midst of summer, when many KPFA subscribers will be out of town. Every vote will make a difference. Please mark your ballot YES and drop it in the mail today.
Bay Area native Aileen Alfandary is the long-time News Co-Director of KPFA. This open letter expresses her individual beliefs and convictions.
The Hunger Site
August 26, 2012 at 9:20 am
The truth about you is becoming clear and ever more apparent made so by your desperate lies and campaign of calclated disinformation. YOU. Finally, people get what you are really about-your own job security-yours and the handful of favorites that make up the ‘save kpfa for themselves’ cabal. Karma is real. Read the comments-and sit back as the fingers whose handwriting on the wall points to YOU and your selfish and self serving agenda.
August 7, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Rosenberg sues over KPFA recall, ballot count delayed
It’s been almost a year since SaveKPFA
submitted over 800 signatures from KPFA listener-members seeking the
removal of Pacifica Treasurer Tracy Rosenberg — the architect of
Pacifica’s purge of the Morning Show. Against our wishes, and over our
repeated protests, Pacifica delayed the recall election past December 31
— which was the date called for in its own rules and bylaws. That
bought Rosenberg’s supporters six months to raise money for a “no”
campaign mailing.
In a bizarre turn of events, Rosenberg has now sued
Pacifica over that very delay. Her legal argument? That the gap between
the voter eligibility deadline Pacifica set when it verified the recall
petitions, and the date Pacifica actually mailed the ballots, is too
long. Her suit asks for the recall election to be thrown out altogether,
and asks the judge to make Pacifica pay her attorneys’ fees. Don’t
expect Pacifica’s attorneys to defend this one too vigorously…
On August 1, an Alameda County Superior Court judge issued a temporary
order to place all recall ballots under seal until a hearing on
Rosenberg’s lawsuit, now scheduled for September 10. On August 4,
SaveKPFA observers documented the retrieval of recall ballots from a
Berkeley PO box this weekend, and their sequestration in a nearby safe
deposit box. They report what appears to be a VERY LARGE number of
ballots waiting to be counted.
See: http://www.savekpfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ballotsatpostoffice.jpg
SaveKPFA offers a few thoughts on these latest developments:
Rosenberg could have raised her procedural concerns much sooner —
perhaps even before ballots were mailed. The suit doesn’t appear to be
the action of someone who wants a smooth election process, but rather
that of someone seeking maximum delay.
Rosenberg filed the suit
just before ballots were to be counted, and sought an order to prevent
the counting itself (rather than to prevent Pacifica from acting on
whatever the count was). This indicates Rosenberg expected to lose the
vote count.
Any remedy likely to come from her lawsuit —
including an entirely new election — is unlikely to produce a different
result. So Rosenberg appears to be playing for time.
Rosenberg
told the East Bay Express that the vote was too expensive, but KPFA
listener-member Mark Spindler told the Daily Californian that “the
question should be why is Pacifica teaming with anti-union attorneys” to
use donations to fight listeners and staff. He added that Rosenberg
“needs to be held accountable for what she has done, and this recall is
the vehicle for that.”
July 24, 2012 at 2:25 pm
KPFA RECALL ENDORSERS is growing daily! BALLOT DEADLINE AUGUST 3rd!
We urge you to VOTE YES on the KPFA recall!
(titles & organizations for ID only)
ACT UP EAST BAY
CRAIG ALDERSON, secretary, KPFA LSB
AILEEN ALFANDARY, co-director, KPFA News
PAUL ALLEN, listener, Oakland CA
EMILY ALMA, Chico Peace and Justice Center, Butte Environmental Council, Occupy Chico, Chico Palestine Action Group
DR. NANCY ARVOLD, psychologist, social activist, feminist
MARY AYERS, listener, Los Altos Hills CA
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
TERRY BALDWIN, listener, Half Moon Bay CA
MARGARET BANNERMAN, listener, San Francisco CA
MICHAEL BARGLOW, listener, public school teacher
CYNTHIA BARTON, listener, Campbell CA
CASEY BASTIAANS, listener
MARTHA DUENAS BAUM, Listener
VIC BEDOIAN, Pacifica Evening News Central Valley reporter, Fresno
SUSAN BELL, Teacher, listener, San Mateo CA
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
LARRY BILICK, listener, Berkeley CA
BARBARA BLONG, listener, San Francisco
IAN BOAL, social historian of the commons
JIM BOGEN, listener, subscriber
POLLY BOISSEVAIN, listener, Concord CA
JAN BOUDART, member
SUMMER BRENNER, author, Richmond Tales, and community activist
RUTH BRITTON, long-time listener, educator
CARLOS BURNS, listener
MALCOLM BURNSTEIN, KPFA board member and retired civil rights lawyer
RICHARD BYRD, listener
SCOTT CAMIL, activist
CATHY CAMPBELL, president, Berkeley Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1078
YVONNE CAMPBELL, Public school teacher, Martinez listener
JENNIE CARPENTER, listener, San Francisco CA
LAURA CIAPPONI, listener
KAANII CLEAVER, listener, Fort Collins CO
ELLENA CLEE, listener, Acampo CA
SHIELA COCKSHOTT, listener, Belmont CA
LARRY COHEN, listener
JOYCE COLE, listener, San Anselmo CA
GENE COYLE, economist & listener
CHRISTOPHER CRONIN, listener, San Francisco
A. DONALD CROSS, Listener, Retired speech pathologist, Equity Actor
MARIAN CRUZ, listener, Hollister CA
CLAIRE CUMMINGS, former Food and Farming editor, KPFA
RICHARD DARROUGH, long-time KPFA listener
LAWRENCE DAVIDSON, former co-host of KPFA’s ProbabilitiesALISON DAVIS, listener, San Mateo CA
JIM DAVIS, filmmaker, Meeting RoomJANE DICKSON, artist
PAMELA DORNFELD, listener, Bodega Bay CA
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
CARLOS ECHEVARRIA, listener, Inglewood CA
BRIAN EDWARDS-TIEKERT, KPFA News
DAVID ELLIS, Listener, Professor Emeritus Cal State Fresno
MARY ENGSTROM, SEIU-retired
PAUL ENGSTROM, SEIU-retired
BARBARA EPSTEIN, professor, History of Consciousness, UCSC
CARYL ESTEVES, listener, Berkeley CA
JAN ETRE, Crafts Fair Coordinator
MICHAEL EVANS, listener
KIRSTEN FALKE-BOYD, listener, Berkeley CA
DR. RUTH FALLENBAUM, Psychologists for an Ethical APA
DEE FARLON, listener, Oakland CA
JEFFRY FAWCETT PhD, unpaid weekly programmer
JODY FERGUSON, longtime listener, Menlo Park
BARBARA FITZPATRICK, listener, musician
BOBBIE DEE FLOWERS, listener, New York NY
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
MARY FROMER, organizing director, SIEU Local 707, Sonoma Co. (retired)
GLORIA FRYM, writer
SASHA FUTRAN, member, KPFA local station board
DAVID GANS, music programmer, KPFA board member
DWION GATES, listener
JANET GEIS, publisher, Open Exchange magazine
SHERRY GENDELMAN, attorney, former chair, KPFA board; former chair, Pacifica National Board
PAUL GEORGE, director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
AYESHA GILL, listener, Oakland CA
HELEN GILLILAND, listener, Alameda CA
FRANCES GOFF, KPFK Supporter
SUZANNE GORDON, journalist and author, NWU/UAW
CARYN GOTTFRIED, listener, Moraga CA
KATE GOWEN, listener, Petaluma CA
ANDREJ GRUBACIC, anarchist historian, author of Wobblies and ZapatistasMIGUEL GUERRERO, KPFA web producer, producer of Rock en RebelionLENA HAHN-SCHUMAN, organic landscape management
CONN HALLINAN, foreign policy analyst, Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Study, columnist, LSB member
MATTHEW HALLINAN, listener rep, KPFA Local Station Board
SHAWN HAMILL, listener, Sebastopol
JOHN HAMILTON, KPFA News anchor
WILLIAM HARVEY, Retired Sec/Treas CWA Local 9415, Retired President Alameda County Labor Council AFL-CIO
NICOLE HEARE, Writer/listener
JANE HEAVEN, producer/host, field recording engineer
PETER INGRAM HILL, listener, Mill Valley CA
JANE HIRSHFIELD, poet, author, listener-member
JULIAN HOROWITZ, longtime listener/supporter
JOHN IVERSON, health activist
DONNASUE JACOBI, listener, Menlo Park CA
RICH JOHNSON, 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!GREGORY KELLY, listener, Orinda CA
LISA KERMISH, Vice President, UPTE-CWA Local 9119
DAVID KESSLER, listener; Bancroft Library staff, U.C. Berkeley ; CUE-Teamsters
SHELLEY KESSLER, Secretary-Treasurer, San Mateo Labor Council
ROSE KETABCHI, KPFA News
SANDY KING, retired school teacher and administrator
ERIC KLEIN, former FSRN tech producer; former KPFA News producer; former tech producer, FlashpointsJAMES KLEINBERG, listener, Bayside NY
HELENE KNOX, poet, editor, KPFA listener & volunteer
G. TERRY KOCH, listener, Santa Clara CA
LINDA KRANTZ, listener, phone volunteer, contributor
JIM KRATZER, pediatrician, listener-supporter since 1949
CHRISTOPHE KREIS, listener, San Francisco CA
JACK KURZWEIL, listener rep, KPFA board
JAMES LAFFERTY, host, The Lawyers Guild Show (KPFK); Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles
MARCIA LARIS, listener
OLIVIA LAROSA, listener, social justice organizer, tax practitioner
JOHN LAVINE, activist, former Berkeley Peace and Justice Commissioner
GUADALUPE LEDESMA, listener 30+ years, San Anselmo CA
YING LEE, Asian-Americans for Peace and Justice
CLYDE LELAND, listener, Berkeley
ELIZABETH LEONE, PhD, applied linguist, activist, Fresno listener
SANDRA LESSENDEN, listener
ROBERT LEVERANT, longtime Sebastopol listener, psychotherapist
ARTHUR LEVITT, listener, Belmont CA
PATTI LIBERMAN, listener, Moraga CA
LORI LIEDERMAN, 2nd generation listener, retired union representative
BARBARA LILLEY, listener, Palo Alto
SASHA LILLEY, KPFA’s Against the Grain; Shop Steward, CWA Local 9415
LAURA LIVOTI, founder, Justice in Nigeria Now!
RENEE LOCKS, artist/writer
HENRY LOEB, listener, Parkville MD
ROBERT LONGER, Exec VP, CWA Local 9421
CRAIG LOUIS, Listener
PATSY LOWE, listener, Palm Springs CA
TIM LYNCH, KPFA producer and host, unpaid staff
KAREN MACLEOD, University Council-AFT
PHILIP MALDARI, KPFA’s Sunday Show; Shop Steward, CWA Local 9415
SHARON MALDONADO, listener
JO ANN MANDINACH, listener, Palo Alto CA
ESTHER MANILLA, former Morning Show and Fund Drive producer
JIMMY MANKIND, poet, writer, listener
JOANNA MANQUEROS, Music of the World, unpaid staff
DAVID MARTINEZ, radical filmmaker
DIANA MARTINEZ, Letters & Politics, unpaid staff
BARRIE ANN MASON, listener, Santa Rosa CA
MARA MATH, Listener
SUSAN MCDONOUGH, Labor activist, former KPFA Local Station Board member
CAROL MCFARLAN, listener, artist
EMILY MCMILIN, Former KPFA Station Engineer
ALEX MENDELSOHN, 30-yr listener, Ashland OR
BOB MEYER, President, Progressive Perspectives
JOAN MIURA, long-term listener
JON MORRIS, listener, Morning Show fan
MARY MORTON, listener, Tulare CA
BLAIR MOSER, writer & community organizer
DENIS MOSGOFIAN, listener, retired lithographer, former GCIU Local 4N president, San Francisco
LANI MULHOLLAND, Listener, San Francisco CA
PATRICK NANCE, listener, Tiburon CA
CLARK NATWICK, 53-year listener, Pacifica CA
SHEILA NEWBERY, listener, Berkeley CA
MEAVEEN O’CONNOR, listener, Berkeley CA
PETER OLNEY, listener and ILWU organizing director
Dr. KARI ANN OWEN PhD, artist and instructor
ZEESE PAPANIKOLAS, listener, Oakland CA
EDDY PAY, KPFA music programmer
DAVID PEARSON, listener, Sebastopol CA
SCOTT PHAM, Free Speech Radio News, Technical Producer
SALLY PHILLIPS, KPFA Producer, Host, Engineer
JACOB PICHENY, listener, member AFT 2121
KARMA PIPPIN, listener
CODY POTTER, UOU-Media Workers Guild, CWA 39521
MARY POWER, listener, Berkeley CA
L. DARLENE PRATT, listener/member, psychotherapist, Berkeley CA
MAX PRINGLE, KPFA News Reporter
LAURA PRIVES, former executive producer of the KPFA Morning Show; producer, Letters & Politics, KPFA board member, Pacifica National Board member
RICHARD QUINT, member listener for over 35 years
KEVIN RATH, listener, Executive Director of Manos Home Care
GLENN REEDER, KPFA News anchor, unpaid staff
J. CORAL REIFF, long time listener, San Francisco CA
HAYDN REISS, listener, San Anselmo CA
CELIA REYES, listener, Oakland CA
BLANCHE RICHARDSON, owner, Marcus Books
DERK RICHARDSON, host of KPFA’s The Hear and NowDAVID RITCHIE, listener
LINDA ROMAN, listener, Oakland CA
FRANCESCA ROSA, member SEIU 1021, delegate, SF Labor Council
ROBERT-HARRY ROVIN, listener, CEO of WRITEON! creative writing program
SUSAN SACHEN, Campaign Director, California Labor Federation
CHARLOTTE SAENZ, community artist and educator
DAVE SALDANA, Former local station board member
CLARA SANTISO, listener, Somis CA
LYNNE HOLLANDER SAVIO, Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award
JACK SAWYER, President, Parker Street Foundation
LEWIS SAWYER, producer, Early Morning Music, former KPFA Receptionist
LIBBY SAYRE, CWA District 9
MARY SEPULVEDA, listener, Pleasant Hill CA
ESTELA SERRANO, Academic, listener
SONA SHAH, Clark University postgrad
JEFF SHELBY, listener, San Francisco
BETH SHERMAN, listener, Palo Alto CA
DAN SIEGEL, civil rights and labor attorney, former Pacifica General Counsel
DANA SILVERNALE, listener, Blue Lake
BONNIE SIMMONS, host, KPFA’s Bonnie Simmons Show; former LSB, Pacifica National Board member
GLORIA SIMONEAUX, listener, San Rafael CA
MICHAEL ALLAN SLAUGHTER, Founder, VaiVecchio Press
LYNN SONFIELD, listener, Berkeley
JANINE SOPP, member of WBAI (NY), Grassroots Education Movement, Change the Stakes Campaign
DANIEL STAUBER, listener, Oakland CA
SARA STEFFENS, Newspaper Guild/CWA District 9
BONNIE STERLING, listener, West New York NJ
ROSALIE STEWARD, listener, Petaluma CA
SUSAN STONE, Former Director, KPFA’s Drama and Literature Department
JIM SUESS, listener, San Rafael CA
TIM TAFFE, 30-yr member & Iowa political correspondent
VANESSA TAIT, KPFA News; co-founder, FSRN; author Poor Workers’ Unions; TNG/ CWA Local 39521
CHRIS THOMAS, listener, Boulder Creek CA
MARY TILSON, Host, America’s Back 40 (with Bette Beasley)
BEATRICE TOCHER, listener, San Rafael CA
LESLIE TOWNSEND, College professor
ANDREA TURNER, cultural and community activist, LSB member
JAMES TURNER, listener, San Francisco CA
JOHN VAN EYCK, former KPFA board member
KATHY VAQUILAR, listener, Oakland CA
SALLY VENABLE, president, CWA Local 9415
RAINER WACHALOVSKY, CTO, Santa Rosa City Schools
RICHARD WALKER, professor, radical geographer & author of The Country in the CityNOAH WEAKER, listener, teacher
KATHLEEN WEAVER, Author of Peruvian Rebel, listener/member
MICHAEL WEBER, listener, Berkeley CA
BRIAN WEISSBUCH, herbalist
KRIS WELCH, KPFA’s Living RoomERMA WHEATLEY, listener, Berkeley CA
JOHN WHITING, KPFA Production Director and Program Producer (1960-1965); London Correspondent, Pacifica Radio (1966-1972)
BARBARA WHIPPERMAN, treasurer, KPFA local station board
DOROTHY WIGMORE, listener, Oakland CA
MARGY WILKINSON, chair, KPFA Local Station Board
CAL WINSLOW, labor historian, co-author of Rebel Rank and FileRYCHARD WITHERS, Executive Director, Fresno Free College Foundation, General Manager, KFCF (Fresno)
JIM YARBROUGH, listener
WILLIAM YEAGER, listener, Petaluma CA
EDDIE YUEN, KPFA’s Against the GrainVERONICA ZARATE, listener, The Woodlands TX***See additional lists of SaveKPFA’s ENDORSERS & SaveKPFA’s SUPPORTERS***
July 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Here’s a simple point that should have been made a long time ago. The website kpfaworker has a point of view, and every right to express and disseminate it, but it does not represent all KPFA workers, paid or unpaid, and should not presume, by its name, to do so.
See SF Bay View, “KPFA Workers for Tracy Rosenberg,” http://sfbayview.com/2012/kpfa-workers-for-tracy-rosenberg/.
July 15, 2012 at 8:33 pm
As a long-time listener, I heartily endorse this recall. Then we need a change in leadership. I hope we elect NEW people to all the local and national boards who (unlike Tracy Rosenberg, Arlene Engelhardt & their friends) aren’t defending their turf, cherry-picking their statistics, and attacking their “enemies,” but who can reflect on their actions fairly and treat others with respect and civility.
Then, if they can put in place the policies to make Pacifica a good place to work – i.e., stop union-busting, stop name-calling, stop targetting people for their beliefs – we can attract brilliant managers, staff and programmers who can make excellent radio again.
Can it be that hard to find such people among Pacifica’s vast community?
July 15, 2012 at 8:27 pm
I’m a KPFA worker, or rather, Pacifica worker myself. Pacifica because I produce KPFA Evening News more Saturdays and Sundays than not, and occasionally contribute to Flashpoints or the Morning Mix, but I spend more time on the weekly hour I co-produce remotely for WBAI-N.Y.C. t was, as a listener subscriber, part of the original SAVE KPFA formed at the end of the 1990s, but I don’t, as a listener or a worker, feel that the foundation is at war with me now. Neither do staff, who signed the KPFA Staff Endorsers’ Statement on the Stop the KPFA Recall website, http://www.stopthekpfarecall.o… This list includes far better known KPFA programmers than myself, paid and unpaid: Davey D. Cooke, Dennis Bernstein, Bonnie Faulkner, Shahram Aghamir, Kate Raphael . . . I’ll post the list, but first, don’t you think, considering the disagreement between KPFA workers, paid and unpaid, that it might be inappropriate to create an organization and blog site whose name suggests that it represent ALL KPFA workers, even though it represents none of us on this list?
Shahram Aghamir – Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
Nick Alexander – reporter, producer; member of API (Asian Pacific Islander) Specials radio collective.
Khalil Bendib – Voices of the Middle East & North Africa
Mary Berg – A Musical Offering
Dennis Bernstein – Flashpoints
Bonnie Bone – Early Morning Music
Joseph Bolden – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Afrikahn Jahmal Dayvs – Ear Thyme
Davey D. – Hard Knock Radio, Morning Mix
Lisa Dettmer – Women’s Magazine
Joseph Estrada – Full Circle
Bonnie Faulkner – Guns & Butter
Anthony Fest – Weekend News, Morning Mix
Ann Garrison – Weekend News
Lisa Gray-Garcia – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Mickey Huff – Project Censored, Morning Mix
David Landau – Morning Mix
Adrienne Lauby – Pushing Limits, Morning Mix
Clay Leander – Unpaid Staff Program Council Representative, LaRaza Chronicles
Adam David Miller – Poet
Evangeline Mix – Volunteer Receptionist
Miguel Gavilan Molina – La Onda Bajita & Flashpoints En Espanol
Joy Moore, Fund drive, Full Circle, About Health
Robbie Osman – Across the Great Divide
Peter Phillips – Project Censored, Morning Mix
Emmit Powell – The Gospel Experience
Kate Raphael – Women’s Magazine
Malihe Razazan – Voices of the Middle East & North Africa
Andy Lee Roth – Project Censored/Morning Mix
Art Sato – In Your Ear
Nina Serrano – Book Waves: Open Book, La Raza Chronicles
Andres Soto – Morning Mix
Frank Sterling – Flashpoints, Full Circle
JR Valrey – The Morning Mix, Hard Knock Radio, Transitions on Traditions, Block Report Radio.com
Carla West – Flashpoints
Mari Villaluna – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Steve Zeltzer – Morning Mix
July 13, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Here’s the introduction to one of the most informative pieces I’ve found on the KPFA recall. It’s by KPFA’s local station board chair (link to entire essay follows):
“Let me paint a picture of where KPFA is now — because it should concern all of us — no matter which side we’re on,” writes Margy Wilkinson,
chair of KPFA’s local board in an open letter to listeners. Wilkinson
cites evidence of the dramatic loss of listenership following Pacifica
management’s purging of the station’s most listened-to program, the Morning Show, produced
by a crew of young, diverse journalists. What follows is a tale of
stunningly undemocratic dirty-tricks, financial mismanagement and
anti-union maneuvers that have caused KPFA listeners to demand an
immediate change in Pacifica’s management — starting with the recall of
Pacifica treasurer Tracy Rosenberg.
READ THE ENTIRE LETTER HERE:
http://www.savekpfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/MargyWilkinson_YesonKPFArecall.pdf
July 13, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Alfandary’s claims are simply lies. To get the real story on this issue go to: http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?page_id=2
People need to understand that what is really going on, is that a small handful of paid staff are trying to hijack control of the station away from the listeners and non-paid staff (the latter which make up 80% of the workforce at KPFA). Alfandary’s small paid staff cabal has, over the years, managed to throw out a previous union which represented all of the workers at KPFA (both paid and non-paid) and replace it with a myopic CWA local which only represents the paid staff and has thrown the interests of the non-paid workers – who are the heart, blood and soul of the station – completely under the bus. Alfandary’s cabal has done everything in their power to aggressively shove the non-paid workers completely out of the KPFA decision making process.
The cabal has also succeeded in getting rid of the KPFA program council, which was made up equally of paid staff, listeners, and non-paid staff, who all together had made decisions democratically about the programming on the station. Now, Instead, this handful of self oriented paid staff, has completely cut listeners and non-paid workers out of the process, and engages in constant wars with station management, trying to entrench their own programs and pay.
So what this is about is a small group of people trying to take over the station to serve their own selfish interest and salaries, at the expense of everyone else, in a way that seriously threatens the open free speech mission of the station that has guided it for over six decades.
If this cynical cabal succeeds in this self serving deceptive recall campaign, they will shift the balance of power on the Local Station Board to their faction by one vote, thereby ensuring that they will control the station; and they will likely selfishly drive it into the ground and into extinction.
So it is very important for listeners to vote ‘NO’ on this recall.
July 14, 2012 at 9:30 am
Eric’s got it wrong. Read KPFA’s labor history here: http://www.kpfaworker.org.
KPFA’s work is made possible by both unpaid and paid staff. Paid staff at KPFA are represented by CWA Local 9415. While unpaid staff at KPFA do not have collective bargaining rights under labor law, many are strong supporters of labor rights for themselves and coworkers, and believe in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in the paid staff, and working together for a stronger, healthier station. Both paid and unpaid staff are voting members of the Pacifica Foundation, and together elect 6 representatives to their 24?member local station board.In the mid?1990s, Pacifica management made it clear they intended to get tough with KPFA’s union. Pacifica management hired an anti?union consultant to fight the existing union, United Electric workers (or UE), which represented KPFA, WBAI and KPFK staff. At KPFA, while unpaid staff were not dues?paying members of the union and were rarely were active in it, they had some protections under the contract, such as reimbursement and grievance rights.Pacifica went to the National Labor Relations Board to challenge the unpaid staff’s rights. The NLRB made a ruling, which remains in effect to this day, that unpaid staff be excluded from the union. (See http://www.glib.com/nlrb_08?26?99.pdf )Later, in 1999, Pacifica also hired armed guards, locked the staff out of KPFA and piped in programming from afar. After more than 2 weeks, staff and community solidarity forced the network to back down and reopen the station.By the mid 1990s, many Bay Area manufacturing businesses had closed and UE’s membership base had shifted to Southern California; the closest local was in Los Angeles. When the UE contract expired, KPFA’s paid staff decided they needed a union that was better positioned to help them fight Pacifica. With the support of UE, and after the old contract had expired, they chose to organize with the Communications Workers of America Local 9415, which had a thriving local in the East Bay and represented thousands of other Bay Area workers.In 1997, groups of unpaid staff attended a series of meetings with CWA representatives, who offered to represent the unpaid staff, to the extent legally possible. However, at that time, not enough unpaid staff members were interested in joining the union.All staff, whatever their status, should have workplace protections such as a grievance procedure, a safe and healthy working environment, reimbursement for expenses, etc. We invite all staff to come together to discuss these issues, in the spirit of cooperation and for a better KPFA.
July 14, 2012 at 4:21 pm
These ‘KPFAWorker’ claims are complete bullshit, and anyone who goes to the original link that I cited will see how and why. See http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?page_id=2
July 14, 2012 at 8:19 pm
One of the most discouraging things about the KPFAWorker website is that its author, or authors, never identify themselves. KPFAWorker has been publishing anonymously for two years now. Why? Should I be afraid of identifying myself here because I disagree with KPFAWorker?
The station has a self-governance structure. We have Local Station Board elections, according to the by-laws. We disagree about a lot of things; that’s why we have elections. The disagreement shouldn’t be reason to hide from one another behind pseudonyms. I’d like to think they’re honest disagreements and that we all deserve some respect for our respective positions.
July 15, 2012 at 12:10 pm
KPFAworker.org is an independent website created by a collective that includes paid and unpaid staff at KPFA, as well as community and union allies.
We support the labor rights of all workers at the station. We strongly believe that KPFA and Pacifica, as progressive institutions of the left, should not be at war with their own workers. We are also working for the return of local control at KPFA. Many of our supporters are listed on our solidarity page.We’d like to remind readers, and especially KPFA and Pacifica management, that worker organizing is protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act. We encourage you to read this short labor history of KPFA.
July 15, 2012 at 4:19 pm
I found “Solidarity Messages,” which includes some staff, but doesn’t tell me who’s authoring most KPFAWorker posts, al though Brian E.T. did sign the last there.
I’m a KPFA worker, or rather, Pacifica worker myself. Pacifica because I produce Evening News more Saturdays and Sundays than not, and occasionally contribute to Flashpoints or the Morning Mix, but I spend more time on the weekly hour I co-produce remotely for WBAI-N.Y.C., and I don’t feel that the foundation is currently at war with me. Neither do the staff, who signed the KPFA Staff Endorsers’ Statement on the Stop the KPFA Recall website, http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?p=867 This list includes far better known and more often heard KPFA programmers than myself, paid and unpaid: Dennis Bernstein, Davey D. Cooke, Shahram Aghamir, Kate Raphael . . . I’ll post the list, but before I do: Don’t you think, considering the disagreement about this, between KPFA workers, paid and unpaid, that it’s inappropriate to create an organization and blog site whose name suggests that it represents ALL KPFA workers, when it represents none of us on this list?
Shahram Aghamir – Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
Nick Alexander – reporter, producer; member of API (Asian Pacific Islander) Specials radio collective.
Khalil Bendib – Voices of the Middle East & North Africa
Mary Berg – A Musical Offering
Dennis Bernstein – Flashpoints
Bonnie Bone – Early Morning Music
Joseph Bolden – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Afrikahn Jahmal Dayvs – Ear Thyme
Davey D. – Hard Knock Radio, Morning Mix
Lisa Dettmer – Women’s Magazine
Joseph Estrada – Full Circle
Bonnie Faulkner – Guns & Butter
Anthony Fest – Weekend News, Morning Mix
Ann Garrison – Weekend News
Lisa Gray-Garcia – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Mickey Huff – Project Censored, Morning Mix
David Landau – Morning Mix
Adrienne Lauby – Pushing Limits, Morning Mix
Clay Leander – Unpaid Staff Program Council Representative, LaRaza Chronicles
Adam David Miller – Poet
Evangeline Mix – Volunteer Receptionist
Miguel Gavilan Molina – La Onda Bajita & Flashpoints En Espanol
Joy Moore, Fund drive, Full Circle, About Health
Robbie Osman – Across the Great Divide
Peter Phillips – Project Censored, Morning Mix
Emmit Powell – The Gospel Experience
Kate Raphael – Women’s Magazine
Malihe Razazan – Voices of the Middle East & North Africa
Andy Lee Roth – Project Censored/Morning Mix
Art Sato – In Your Ear
Nina Serrano – Book Waves: Open Book, La Raza Chronicles
Andres Soto – Morning Mix
Frank Sterling – Flashpoints, Full Circle
JR Valrey – The Morning Mix, Hard Knock Radio, Transitions on Traditions, Block Report Radio.com
Carla West – Flashpoints
Mari Villaluna – Poor News Network, Morning Mix
Steve Zeltzer – Morning Mix
July 13, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Here’s the website for the opposing position: Stop the KPFA Recall: http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?page_id=25
For the statement of KPFA Staff opposing the recall, endorsed by Hard Knock Radio and Morning Mix host Davey D. Cook, Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein, Project Censored hosts Mickey Huff and Peter Phillips, Workweek Radio hosts Sabrina Jacobs and Steve Zeltzer, and many more, see http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?p=867
For Stop the KPFA Recall’s complete endorsement list: http://www.stopthekpfarecall.org/?page_id=25
And you haven’t subscribed and thus can’t vote in this election, please consider giving $25 or three hours of your time to KPFA this month, both to support KPFA and, so as to receive a ballot in the fall LSB election: http://www.kpfa.org/support
July 13, 2012 at 6:06 pm
So most of the staff who oppose the recall got their on-air gigs via loyalty to Rosenberg and Engelhardt, who purged the young, diverse Morning Show programmers and took their places.
So we get lousy Steve Zeltzer on labor instead of the brilliant David Bacon. And Dennis Bernstein & Davey D (who are already on evening drive time) instead of Aimee and Brian. We have no food and farming from Claire Cummings, no film reviews, no wonderful, lively coverage of local events and books….
And you think this is an improvement?
July 15, 2012 at 11:41 am
Please explain to me how the so called ‘SaveKPFA’ cabal’s intention of getting rid of Davey D and Hard Knock Radio is supportive of ‘diverse’ programming.
July 13, 2012 at 8:45 am
We urge you to VOTE YES on the KPFA recall!
(titles and organizations for ID only)
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 BEDOIAN, Pacifica 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, 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 MANQUEROS, Music of the World, unpaid staff
DAVID MARTINEZ, radical filmmaker
DIANA MARTINEZ, Letters & 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 PHAM, Free Speech Radio News,
Technical Producer
SALLY PHILLIPS, KPFA Producer, Host,
Engineer
MAX PRINGLE, KPFA News Reporter
LAURA PRIVES, former executive producer
of the KPFA Morning Show;
producer, Letters & Politics,
KPFA board member, Pacifica National Board member
GLENN REEDER, KPFA 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
See the ENTIRE endorsers’ list at:
http://www.savekpfa.org/kpfa-listeners-look-for-your-recall-ballot-then-vote-yes
July 12, 2012 at 10:56 pm
I’m conflicted..will a “yes” vote mean I’ll no longer hear UFO coverup conspiracy stories on KPFA?
July 12, 2012 at 11:25 am
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readers. Is great …!!!!