Berkeley – This is the second of two emails. The initial one focused on Pacifica Foundation news and this contains endorsements for the 2021 local station board elections. Your ballots have been sent on Monday and you have until October 15 to vote. Pacifica in Exile is an independent publication and our endorsements are not affiliated with any third party. 

KPFA-Berkeley: We cannot support any candidate who aligns with Donald Goldmacher, who filed suit in December of 2020 to transfer all of the Pacifica Foundation assets including the station licenses away from the control of the members and into the hands of a San Bernardino attorney named Matthew Taylor. Such an action is inimical to everything Pacifica stands for and represented such a profound threat to the safety of the network that it is fundamentally unforgiveable. That the lawsuit was incompetent and spectacularly unsuccessful does not redeem the action. DO NOT VOTE to return Goldmacher to the LSB. Those running with him on the KPFA Protectors slate are by definition approving of his actions. Goldmacher’s cadre is Cook, Dodsworth, Howard, Kohan, Crowell, Tactaquin, Kaldveer and Varghese. No to all of them. 

The remaining candidates include a slate of 9 candidates running under the name Rescue Pacifica and a few independent candidates. We recommend considering the following:

Incumbents James MacFadden, physicist,  Don Macleay, business owner and Daniel Borgstrom, veteran and VFP activist, have done a good job and deserve re-election. Among the newcomers to consider are Donna Carter, a long-time CNA member, Elizabeth Milos, a Chilean human rights activist, Adisa Armand, an educator, Pete Farrugio, bilingual education professor, Rich Stone, a long-term member of the KPFA Community Advisory Board and Code Pinker Amber Jayanti. We also recommend independent candidates Vicente Cruz, who has solid fundraising and event management skills, and Phoebe Sorgen,a Berkeley activist and former City Council candidate. 

These candidates are all committed to an independent and progressive KPFA that reaches out to and serves the Bay Area community, and works collaboratively within the 5-station national network and 220 program affiliates to lift up a national agenda for social justice. They pledge not to use the power of the state to try to break up the Pacifica network.

Staff Candidates: Frank Sterling, Anthony Fest and Ann Garrison are recommended. Note that Chris Cory will term out after 2022 and can only be on the LSB for one year of the three year term. Sherry Gendelman set up Goldmacher’s Safety Net nonprofit to acquire Pacifica assets after breakup and should be avoided. 

KPFK – Los Angeles. This station is in trouble with massive deficits in 2020 and 2021. That’s a really good argument for shaking up the current board as much as possible. There has been fervent advocating for bylaws changes by many of the current LSB members instead of investing the energy into improving the station offerings, raising its profile in the community, and expanding the audience. The good news is that there are a number of newcomers with good ideas who should be welcomed. We recommend considering the following:

Ziri Rideaux, journalist, Ralph Hawkins, college broadcaster and SEIU steward, Maria Skelton, educator and youth advocate, Karen Byrnes, economic analyst, Nikki Haun, editor, Richard Borges, real estate agent and activist.  

Also: We will support three recent incumbents who steered clear of the bylaws obsession, Grace Aaron, activist, Fred Blair, engineer, Rocio Rivas, educator. 

Staff Candidates: No recommendation

WBAI – New York. Pacifica’s WBAI benefited from the influx of new blood in 2019, primarily via DSA. We recommend considering the following candidates to continue WBAI’s recovery and return to sustainability, which helps the whole network. We recommend considering the following:

Scottye Battle, educator, Matthew Reiss, journalism professor, Priscilla Cancar, educational technology, Phil De Paolo, author and govermental affairs consultant, John Hoffman, finance, Michael D. White, attorney, urban planner, Bruce Greif, data manager, Stephanie Byers, arbitrator and mediator, Katherine O’Sullivan, finance, Jim Dingeman, radio producer, community advisory board , Hazel Pinder, educator, Dylan Saba, eviction defense atttorney, DSA, Victoria Stith, educator, M.Kay Williams, labor, public health, Nico Nicoludis, English professor, DSA

Staff Candidates: Shawn Rhodes, Max Schmid, R.Paul Martin

WPFW-Washington – WPFW has been making good progress in stabilizing the finances and the station as a whole. The bad news is that most of the current local station board is termed out. But lots of members have stepped up to fill the gap. We recommend considering the following: 

Anita Irene Adams, Dept of Labor, Sarah Brown, veteran, administrator,event planner, Adele Stan, journalist, Roslyn Mickens, music promoter, Maxx Myrick, broadcaster, Minerva Sanders, communications, Frank Stearns, professor, Bill Curtis, ad sales, Luke Reynolds, diplomat, Yaw Agyei, artist

Staff Candidates: No recommendation. (3 candidates for 3 seats). 

KPFT-Houston – KPFT has been shrinking for several years. Despite sitting on a huge signal area, the station has a smaller and smaller membership base every year. We really hope a new LSB can help contribute to revitalization. Here are our recommendations to consider: 

Cressandra Tibodeaux, filmmaker, Eryon McCrory, health care, Sean McPherson, attorney, Wendy Shroell, artist, Jane Scheidler, broadcaster, Karen Martinez, filmmaker, Henry Foust, engineer, Ron Stubbers, MBA, Martise Harper, community advisory board, Matthew Jenkins, peace activist

Staff Candidates: Lillian Care, Rodrigo Bravo, Jerry Fowler

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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica’s storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin’s incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio.