The Occupation At The Pacifica Foundation: An Interview With Summer Reese

First, thank you Labor Video Project for this beautiful video. Summer Reese is an outstanding witness on her own behalf and is extremely knowledgeable about finances, which her position requires. It is clear from her description of the financial crisis at Pacifica Radio Network that the entire network would disappear from the face of the earth immediately if she filed a breach of contract lawsuit instead of insisting on remaining on the job as Executive Director.

Second, the moment that we have been waiting for has finally arrived. The Complaint for Declaratory, Preliminary and Permanent Injunction relief has been filed in Alameda County Superior Court on April 3, 2014, Action No. HG14720131, entitled Pacifica Directors for Good Governance vs. Pacifica Foundation Radio, Rodrigo Argueta, Lydia Brazon, Jim Brown, Benito Diaz, Adriana Casenave, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Jose Luis Fuentes, Hank Lamb, Tony Norman, Lawrence Reyes, Cerene Roberts and Margy Wilkinson in their official capacities as members of the Board of Directors of Pacifica Foundation Radio. The Plaintiffs, individually are Carolyn Birden, Janet Coleman, Heather Gray, Kim Kaufman, Luzette King, Janet Kobren, Janis Lane-Ewart, Manijeh Saba and Richard Uzzell, all directors of Pacifica Foundation Radio. No hearing has yet been set.

Please note Jose Luis Fuentes is an attorney at the office of Dan Siegel of Siegel and Yee, who was equally malicious in his attack on Pacifica when he sat on the Local Station Board and the Pacifica National Board.

You can see the first page at https://www.facebook.com/notes/tracy-rosenberg/pacifica-directors-for-good-governance-appeals-to-the-courts-to-rein-in-chaos/10201806206538205

You can see the entire Complaint, with Summer Reese’s declaration and all exhibits at the Alameda County Superior Court website, which, unlike most if not all other California counties, has all pleadings available for public view online. You go to the court’s Domain Web at
http://www.alameda.courts.ca.gov/pages.aspx/domainweb

You then click on Case Summary to get the Case Summary page where you type the action number: HG14720131.

You then get Register of Actions, the Calendar, all attorneys and other information on the case at
http://apps.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/html/index.html

To download the complaint or any other document, click Image (TIFF) next to the document name. For the Complaint, you will see a listing of 119 pages. The Complaint is page 1 through 23, followed by Ms. Reese’s declaration of 8 pages, and then all of the exhibits referred to in the Complaint. If it is too tedious for you to print one page at a time, this Complaint will probably be on the 2 websites of United for Community Radio very soon:
http://2014.supportkpfa.org/
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedForCommunityRadio

The Complaint is a ringing indictment of the criminal behavior of the individual defendants who clearly are part of a government operation to destroy the only nationwide radio network that speak truth to power in capitalist, and increasingly fascist USA. Pacifica has been under government attack since its inception on April 15, 1949 when Democrat Harry Truman was president, and that attack has continued by both Democratic and Republican administrations. It was born at a time of comparative prosperity in this country; today we are experiencing a Great Depression at least as bad as that of the 1930s, thus making it difficult for community radio to survive such an attack. We all must support the Plaintiff in this lawsuit as best we can if we want KPFA and all the other stations in the Pacifica Radio Network to survive.

To lift our spirits as we carry on, the old civil rights song, We Shall Not Be Moved, has new lyrics for this struggle, found at:
http://2014.supportkpfa.org/?p=449
Chorus:
We shall not! We shall not be moved!
We shall not! We shall not be moved!
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water
We shall not be moved!

Tell Margy Wilkinson that she is not our boss!
Tell Margy Wilkinson that she is not our boss!
Just like a bull… let loose into a china shop
The Network could be lost! (chorus)

Tell Brian E.T. to stop the power coup!
Tell Brian E.T. to stop the power coup!
Just like a bully…in a school yard fight!
This coup just ain’t right! (chorus)

Tell Dan Siegel to not destabilize!
Tell Dan Siegel to not destabilize!
Just like a master… makes his dog back off
Dan Siegel, please be wise! (chorus)

Tell Jose Fuentes, calm down and cool your jets!
Tell Jose Fuentes, calm down and cool your jets!
Just like a fool …does things that he regrets
Calm down and cool your jets! (chorus)

This is not the way to “Save KPFA”!
No! This is not the way to “Save KPFA”!
Just like a despot… wants us to obey
This is not the way! (chorus)

This is rash and reckless, and causes disarray!
This is rash and reckless, and causes disarray!
Just like a traitor… knows how to betray!
We will not obey! (chorus)