Send a Strong Message to Pacifica: Vote YES on Recall

Written by FCJ Editor. Posted in Labor, Media, Opinion

Tagged: , , , , ,

Published on July 12, 2012 with 19 Comments

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.

19 Comments

Comments for Send a Strong Message to Pacifica: Vote YES on Recall are now closed.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.”

  3. 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***

  4. 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/.

  5. 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?

  6. 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

  7. 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

    • 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.

      • 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.

        • 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

        • 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.

          • 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.

            • 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

  8. 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

    • 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? 

      •  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.

  9. 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

  10.  I’m conflicted..will a “yes” vote mean I’ll no longer hear UFO coverup conspiracy stories on KPFA?

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