On the KPFA Board Elections - By Carol Spooner (who really did Save KPFA)

Elections are happening for the Local Station Boards (LSBs) at KPFA, KPFK, KPFT, WBAI & WPFW. I've been sending you my recommendations since the first election in the fall of 2003. This is long, so skip to the bottom if you'd just like to see my recommendations this year.

You should receive your ballot by the end of August if you've donated at least $25 in the 12 months that ended June 30th. Your ballot needs to be returned (received, not postmarked) no later than September 30th to be counted.

Pacifica elections happen 2 out of every 3 years, when half the LSB members are elected for 3-year terms. In this election listener-members will elect 9 listener-representatives, and staff-members will elect 3 staff-representatives to each of the five LSBs -- using the "Single Transferrable Vote" proportional representation system. This means you have ONE VOTE and you rank your choices in order of preference. If your first choice is elected with excess votes a fraction of your vote is transferred to your next ranked choice, and if your first choice is eliminated for too few votes your whole vote is transferred to your next ranked choice -- and so on down the line. This is different from a "winner take all" type election where one slate with 50% + 1 of the votes could take all the seats, leaving 50% - 1 of the voters unrepresented.

Each LSB will then go on to elect 4 of their members to serve on the Pacifica National Board (PNB) for a 1-year term beginning in January.

For the past several years I've been writing about the urgency of getting Pacifica's finances under control. Sadly, this year is no different, it's just more urgent … Pacifica stations continue to lose listeners and lose money.

This past year Pacifica's new Executive Director -- Arlene Engelhardt, who came on board last December -- has done everything she can do to stop the hemorrhaging. She has replaced the station managers at KPFA, WBAI & WPFW. But getting the ship righted and bailed out is a race against time, and turning the ship around while its taking on water is a dicey and uncertain operation. Pacifica's unrestricted cash reserves are exhausted … there are very few assets left but the buildings owned by KPFA, KPFK & KPFT & the 5 broadcast licenses, so unless the stations can raise enough cash to pay their month-to-month bills and meet their payrolls, Pacifica radio cannot go on much longer.

For some historical perspective, in 2001 -- the last year of the old self-selecting rogue board -- Pacifica as a whole lost $4.4 million. In the first 5 years of the "take back" (from 2002-2006) Pacifica recovered by $4.5 million as listener donations poured in due in part to the euphoria over the "take back" and also in response to the war in Iraq, and a $1 million unrestricted 1-time bequest in 2006. But over the past three fiscal years (from Oct 1, 2006 through September 30, 2009) the five Pacifica stations lost $3.5 million -- WBAI lost $1,509,605, KPFA lost $915,345, WPFW lost $675,042, KPFK lost $356,029, and KPFT lost $41,409. WBAI has operated at a loss every year this decade except 2003. (Source: Pacifica Auditor's Reports - change in unrestricted net assets shown in Statement of Activities by Division http://pacificana.org/filebrowser/National/Financials/Audits)

From 2004 through 2008 a coalition of PNB members from the "Justice & Unity" slate at WBAI & KPFK, and the "Concerned Listeners" (now called "SaveKPFA") slate at KPFA, with some supporters from KPFT & WPFW controlled the Pacifica National Board (PNB) and blocked moves to take corrective action -- their basic philosophy was: "If you'll leave our station alone, we'll leave your station alone." This had disastrous consequences as WBAI sank into insolvency, and KPFK, WPFW and KPFA began to slide as well, threatening the whole network with bankruptcy. Election slogans about "local control" are misleading in this situation -- they intend to block the financial controls that are urgently needed to save our stations.

Beginning in 2009 the balance on the PNB shifted in a positive direction -- and long overdue management changes started happening around the network. Those changes have been continued by the new ED, Arlene Engelhardt, and she needs the strong support of the LSBs and PNB to hold management accountable both for the programming and financial solvency of the stations.

So, what's going on here? Clearly, in radio, "It's the programming, stupid!" While necessary measures are being taken, - obviously, listener donations must increase and that won't happen without programming that inspires more listeners to donate to support their stations.

While there are some excellent programs on Pacifica stations, overall the programming grids have become stale and stagnant over time. We may argue over our favorites and which programs need to go … but very little that is new & compelling has gotten on Pacifica air over the past decade. Every new station manager or program director who comes in quickly finds that she or he is undermined and sabotaged by the long-term staff if s/he tries to make programming changes beyond shuffling the deck chairs … and the LSB majorities have, for the most part, backed the staff up until recently. This is not surprising when prominent staff members have used their popularity -- and their allies in the community who depend on them for air time -- to endorse LSB candidates who will maintain the status quo. It is only in the last year or two that this has begun to change, and slim majorities have been elected to the LSBs and the PNB with the vision & backbone to support both real programming change and fiscal responsibility. This must continue with this election, or there is little doubt in my mind that Pacifica will not survive without selling either broadcast licenses or buildings in the next year or two.

To that end, I recommend the following candidates:

KPFA: I recommend Tracy Rosenberg #1 ranked choice, as she has been an outstanding board member -- both on the LSB and the PNB --over the last few years, and Pacifica needs her kind of sense and sanity. Please vote for the entire "Independents for Community Radio" slate (http://www.voteindyradio.org/) -- ranking all 10 of these candidates (shown here in alphabetical order, but use the ranking order of your choice) so that if one is eliminated by insufficient votes your vote will roll over to the next in order of your preference.: Stephen Astourian, Naeem Deskins, Georgia Frazier, Monadel Herzallah, Cynthia Johnson, Hyun-Mi Kim, Janet Kobren, Tracy Rosenberg, Gina Szeto, Kate Tanaka.

Also, please do NOT rank any of the "SaveKPFA" slate (formerly known as "Concerned Listeners") who -- despite their fine-sounding statements and endorsements -- have been the slate blocking effective governance and management for much of the past 10 years.

Also -- take a look at a thoughtful letter from my old friend Robbie Osman (host of KPFA's "Across the Great Divide") where he gives his "insider's perspective" on the importance of democracy at KPFA & Pacifica, some of the causes of programming stagnation, and some recommended solutions, including the reinstitution of Program Councils with community representation.

Robbie makes this trenchant statement:

"This is not to say that KPFA does not produce excellent programming. The station has always attracted talented and committed staff and programmers. But we are human, and paid programmers will want to defend their positions, unpaid programmers defend their programs, and those with jobs defend their jobs. This is not wrong and this is not the problem. The problem is that there needs to be an empowered, disinterested counterbalance that puts the station’s mission first. And there isn’t." URL: http://www.robbie.org

Finally, I notice there is a survey in the election booklet that is being mailed to you separately from the ballots. I hope you'll complete the survey and return it with your ballot. It's important to maintain elected boards at Pacifica or there will be no way the community can remove the board when it goes astray. The argument against bad governance is to elect better board members! The cost of elections can and should be reduced by moving to secure online voting. And "Program Councils" are a good way to break the strangle-hold on programming changes at the stations. The KPFA LSB just passed a resolution reinstating such a Program Council at KPFA, I believe the WBAI LSB may take up the issue soon.

Please VOTE! Independent Media with Pacifica's Peace & Justice Mission is worth fighting for!

Thanks,

Carol Spooner

Pacifica National Board Member - Jan 2002-Jan 2005, KPFA Local Board Member - March 2000-March 2005, Founder & Lead Plaintiff - Committee to Remove the Pacifica Board & Listeners' Lawsuit - 1999-2001

Note: The auditor's reports show a small increase in listener support for the fiscal year ended 9/30/08 and a sharp decrease in listener support for the fiscal year ended 9/30/09. This is mainly due to the Fall 2008 fund drive having been moved from October to September because the network had run out of cash -- so the 2008 fiscal year had FIVE major fund drives. In addition, Pacifica wrote off over $1 million in uncollected pledges in FY 2009, so that made the audit figures worse for that year as well. The biggest crash was actually in 2008, and there was some small improvement in 2009 that needs to continue.