33 KPFA Staff and Listeners Oppose Finance Committee Motion

Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:57:19
To:
Subject: 33 KPFA Staff and Listeners Oppose Finance Committee Motion


FREE THE MANAGERS
—OR MAYBE NOT

The following 33 staff, local board members and long-time listeners
at KPFA urge you to vote Against this motion from the Finance
Committee. While we can't know its implications at every station,
we feel it would be very harmful to the financial health of KPFA.

MOTION: "We also recommend that the PNB suspend for 3 months any
procedures that might encumber station Managers from taking
quick and decisive action regarding programming changes in order
to increase revenues to address the current financial crisis."
(Passed 7 for, 1 against, 1 abstention)

KPFA HAS A
PUBLIC IMAGE PROBLEM

We welcome programming changes at KPFA. However, in the
current tense environment, if these changes are not made in
consultation with staff and listeners, the resulting outcry from
a station with a severe image problem, will cut into fund drive
goals. This motion comes from the false premise that
mission-driven programs with solid production values
and strong local information can be developed and expected to
produce new subscribers immediately.

If program change decisions are made on the basis of internal political
paybacks rather than what is best for listeners, the problem increases.

CURRENT KPFA MGR.
FANS THE FLAMES

At KPFA there was a recent petition of no-confidence in the
current manager. When she was an interim manager, seventy-five
paid and unpaid staff voiced serious doubts in her management
abilities. Her last-minute permanent appointment by Nicole
Sawaya further damaged her ability to manage the station.
Now, many of those who signed the petition are fearful they will
be taken off the air.

Already Women’s Magazine, one of the programs where
producers voiced their concerns, has been suspended for three
months. The LSB Report was also suspended and re-scheduled
for a less-publicized slot. Whether or not these decisions were
made as payback and/or in an attempt to control information,
they have tied up the resources of paid and unpaid staff in
yet another highly-charged issue.

KPFA HAS ORGANIZATIONAL (NOT
PROGRAMMING) PROBLEMS

Add this to the many ongoing organizational problems at KPFA:
**the board majority voted to reduce the number of LSB meetings
to alternate months and is attempting to removed an elected
member on dubious grounds.
**the GM refuses to communicate or report to the LSB,
**the Program Council was eliminated by the interim Program
Director,
**the Unpaid Staff Organization (UPSO) has still not been
re-recognized by KPFA management,
**no investigation of the Nadra Foster incident has been undertaken
to date.

It is clear that, however it might be implemented, this motion
would cause great controversy and infighting at KPFA—something
that is clearly not in the best financial interest of the foundation
during this fiscal crisis in our network.

BYLAWS ISSUE

This motion runs counter to the following bylaws provision:
“Each LSB shall… work with station management to ensure…
that station policies and procedures for making programming
decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair,
collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality
programming. (Section 3 Article G)

SIGNERS:
Adrienne Lauby, producer, Pushing Limits (disability-focused program)*
Akio Tanaka, LSB Member, listener rep
Anthony Fest, LSB Member, staff rep, news producer
April Hurley MD, listener, peace activist
Bonnie Faulkner, Producer, Guns and Butter
Chandra Hauptman, LSB Member
Clay Leander, producer, La Raza Chronicles
Dennis Bernstein, producer, Flashpoints
Emiliano Echeverria, 40+ years at KPFA, Co-founder, Third World Dept; Currently, Producer, Cuba
Canta, and member of La Raza Chronicles Collective. Not af
Henry Norr, listener rep, KPFA LSB
Jan Santos, producer, Pushing Limits
Janet Kobren, long-time listener subscriber
Joseph Wanzala, LSB & PNB member
Kate Raphael, producer, Women’s Magazine
Khalil Bendib, producer, Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
Leah Gardner, producer, Pushing Limits
Les Radke, long time listener-activist, former election supervisor
Lisa Dettmer, producer, Women’s Magazine
Malihe Razazab, co-host, co-producer, Voices of the Middle East & North Africa
Meri Simon, producer, Women’s Magazine
Mary Ratcliff, longtime listener
Max Blanchet, service on KPFA LSB, Local Advisory Board and Program Council
Miguel Gavilan Molina, producer, Flashpoints
Nick Alexander, KPFA producer, reporter
Nicole Milner, Coalition for a Democratic Pacifica, listener activist
Rivian Berlin, producer, Women’s Magazine
Ruthanne Shpiner, news producer
Sally Sommer, long time supporter of a democratic Pacifica and the integrity of the by-laws
Shahram Aghamir, LSB Member, staff rep, producer, Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
Susan da Silva, former KPFA LSB chair
Tracy Rosenberg, LSB Member, listener rep
Willie Ratcliff, former KPFA LSB member
Yvette Hochberg, producer, Women’s Magazine

*All titles for identification only.