Overview

In the two years since Pacifica in Exile began publication after a coup, the Pacifica Foundation has toppled into critical condition.

Many, if not most, observers conclude the Pacifica stations don’t have much time left without a big change in direction.

The perpetrator are not unknown: it’s the Siegel/Brazon faction which grabbed control of the network in March of 2014. What has ensued since then has been exhaustively documented on this website.

There is only one source of correction. It’s you and your vote. 

So if we can say just one thing, it is this. Pay attention. It matters who you rank on your ballot. Don’t guess. If we want Pacifica to change direction, the direction needs to change.

Criteria

Pacifica in Exile used the following standards to evaluate candidates:

• Needed skills on radio station boards
• Track record
• Rejection of the Siegel/Brazon faction’s theory of “organizational darwinism” (the premise that only some of the  5 stations can survive and the “winners” will live off the cannibalization of the “losers”).  Pacifica in Exile believes the national board is responsible for the competent operation of five radio stations.
• Commitment to enhanced mission delivery and impact in an era of shrinking resources.

As a cautionary note, even if Pacifica subscribers do turn over the half of the board up for election, there are indicators the lame duck national board now in power after their elected terms expired, may attempt to file for voluntary bankruptcy or take other actions to hamstring their successors, up to and including refusing to seat new board members (as happened to WBAI directors and delegates in 2016).

We encourage Pacifica members to indicate to all the candidates and their current sitting representatives  that such actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

(*Recommended candidates either have a good governance track record or meet Pacifica in Exile’s criteria. Non-endorsed candidates either have a governance track record of supporting Siegel/Brazon destructiveness or have indicated they intend to, if elected. Some candidates have neither been endorsed or not-endorsed. Due to the gravity of Pacifica’s situation, we encourage prudence in selecting candidates whose future actions as board members may be unpredictable). Incumbents are marked with a *.  

Thank you for reading and please feel free to skip to the endorsements for your home station,

WBAI-FM, New York City

WBAI is the proverbial canary in the coal mine with its valuable commercially convertible broadcast license. The station is often seen as being worth more dead than alive, but that is a short-sighted view of things. New York is the biggest media marketplace in the world and WBAI is one of the the largest independent progressive media assets in the United States. Its imminent collapse is, simply, a disgrace. The role of the group  which calls itself the “Justice and Unity” slate in the deterioration of WBAI should preclude any further involvement in foundation leadership.

Listener election:  

Vote for:  *Frank LeFever, Michael Ochoa, James Sagurton, Rebecca Naegele, *Ken Laufer, Carl Makower 

Don’t vote for:  *Cerene Roberts, *Sharonne Salaam, *William Heerwagon, Dacio Quintana,  Eugene Hammond. 

Staff election:

Select from: Max Schmid, *Reggie Johnson, Randy Credico, *Kathryn Davis

Don’t vote for: Vajra Kilgour, *John Riley, John Kane, 

For more , see the WBAI Indy Caucus website.

KPFT-FM, Houston

KPFT had long been a “good” Pacifica station which maintained fiscal solvency and a relatively sane local station board. But two years of Siegel/Brazon dominance has turned the formerly placid board into a stew of investigations, suspensions, censures and schemes by board members to replace the station’s long time general manager. The chaotic destabilization is damaging the station, whose membership numbers are dropping and hurting the board, which had so many people quit in the last few years that it ran out of runners-up to replace people who got disgusted and quit. A return to reason is needed. Badly.

Listener election:

Select from: Robert Mark,  Rick Pothoff,            Di Conkling, Muhammed Rizwan Raja, Jim Krafka, Adrienne LaViolette, Matthew Moore, Elayne Duncan, Vaneicia Williams, Nicholas Economidis, Todd Buehlman, Richard Hyde, Katherine Sinclair, Jaime Rodriguez (write-in). 

Don’t vote for:  *Adriana Casenave, *Wesley Bethune, *Dewayne Lark,  *Don Cook,  *Nancy Saibara-Naitomi

Staff election:

Select from: Wally James, Rhonda Garner, Lars Headington, Marietta Roebuck

Don’t vote for: *Vinisha Patel-Adams, *Joseph Davis

For more, see the Move KPFT Forward  website.

KPFK-FM, Los Angeles

At Los Angeles’ KPFK,  listener and staff objections to management decisions by Siegel/Brazon appointee Leslie Radford have been so strong that last year’s election handed the Committee To Strengthen KPFK’s candidate slate the most lopsided victory in the history of Pacifica’s board elections. But the station, whose direction is dictated by the national board, remains in critical condition with $70,000 worth of backed up premium gifts undelivered to members, a big loss in arbitration proceedings with SAG-AFTRA after Radford ignored warnings she was brazenly violating the union contract, and faction-based program changes that are depressing revenues by six figures and increasing fundraising days (now approaching 1/3 of the year). KPFK is the next WBAI in the rapidity of its downward trajectory.  Turning it around will require a strong board majority in 2017 along with support from other local boards across the country. 

Listener election:

Select from: Alan Coie, Jaime Gomez, Lisa Wong, Paul Song, Lance Simmens, *Leslie Fox, Allan Beek, Barbara Marbach, Mike Mora, *Sandy Childs, Doug Kriegel, Rob Macon, Will Ryan, Ismael Parra, Ralph Hawkins

Don’t vote for:  Brenda Medina, Bella De Soto, *Reza Pour, *Doug Barnett, Lawrence Reyes

Staff election:

Select from: Ali Lexa, Steve Pride, Steve Weatherwax, 

Don’t vote for: Adam Rice, Chrisanne Eastwood, Polina Vasiliev, Ricardo Hernandez

For more, see the Committee to Strengthen KPFK website.

KPFA-FM-Berkeley

At KPFA-FM, the secret nonprofit KPFA Foundation set up by volunteer ED Margy Wilkinson to acquire KPFA’s license lies at the heart of the shenanigans of the last two years. Recently, members of the Save KPFA group, after spending most of the last year claiming their startup was  collapsed and dissolved, proposing using the KPFA Foundation as a conduit for fundraising outside Pacifica. The United for Community Radio candidates provide an alternative to institutional cannibalism focusing on opening up the station, ramping up participation, redefining progressive news and demystifying the station’s infamously obscure finances. They deserve your support.

Listener election: 

Vote for: Akio Tanaka, *Ramses Teon-Nichols, *T.M. Scruggs, Marilla Arguilles, Tom Vorhees, Kris Stewart, LaTasha Warmsley, Carol Wolfley

Don’t vote for: Carole Travis, Christina Huggins, Yuri Gottesman, Andrea Turner, Craig Williams

Staff election: 

Select from: Kate Raphael, Steve Zeltzer, Lisa Dettmer, Josiah Alderete

Don’t vote for: Richard Wolinsky

For more, see the United for Community Radio (KPFA) website.

WPFW-FM-Washington DC

With less candidates running than available seats, there is not much Pacifica members can do with their votes to help the station out, which is facing a catastrophic financial decline.

Pacifica in Exile has two suggestions: we encourage WPFW members to look at possible write-in candidates who might be able to help reverse the financial slide and

We do encourage not voting for former director Benito Diaz as a listener representative. Diaz was a disruptive and obstructive Siegel/Brazonite during his recent 3-year tenure on the national board (2013-2015) and has done nothing to merit re-election.

 

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.”