Dear PNB Board members: 

I am eternally grateful to the Pacifica Foundation for its long and important role in providing a voice for independent news and community voices from its five stations and for offering programs for the 180+ affiliates and the shared relationship between the affiliates and the Pacifica Foundation. All of this strengthens community voices throughout the country.

As a board member of the PNB, I am also thankful for the experience of learning more about the role and responsibilities of a board member whether with Pacifica or any other board. This is thanks to the instruction I received from Holman HR. But first, some background.

When I came to the Pacifica board I was alarmed at the significant number of lawsuits against the Foundation. As Executive Director at the time, Arlene Engelhardt, was needing to spend much of her time dealing with these lawsuits in court and at virtually every PNB meeting there was a discussion with attorneys with updates on various lawsuits. This was astounding to me and I wondered why so many lawsuits and began making inquiries of all sorts.

I began to realize that two of the critical factors here were (1) contracts that had not been properly created and also (2) there has not been enough human resource training for staff and board on employee relations and employment law. Continue reading Statement from Heather Gray →

Continue reading Frank Sterling’s Passionate Email Plea That Saved The Block The Boat Broadcast →

Friends and Media Contacts,

Copied below and attached is the last of ten columns that I have written
on the anti-crime policies of Oakland mayoral candidates. I hope that you
find it of value. Please forward it to anyone that you think might be
interested.

Can a mayor stop crime?

Dan Siegel

Campaigns are viewed, unfortunately, as “horse races.” The candidates are the horses and at various points in the election their racing capacity is compared, almost always in snap-shot slices. Financial resources are compared, as is the hiring of “successful” trainers and managers; compared next is the candidate’s volunteer resources. Often the “surprise” is some communications technology better used by one-side to reach a VOTING audience. The race is “called” prior to balloting by the exposure of a snap-shot popularity poll. Last and most importantly the candidate’s ability to “turnout” his/her vote is measured. Much too infrequently are candidates’ leadership skills, knowledge of the workings of the City, depth of commitment to the betterment of Oakland, or even a measurement of the thoroughness of their policy formulations adequately tested and compared. Continue reading Wilson Riles Jr On Calling The Police To KPFA →

REMOVAL OF MORNING MIX FROM DRIVE TIME PROGRAMMING

The recent removal of the Morning Mix radio program from the 8:00 AM time slot on KPFA has raised some concern at the San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (“Guild”). We write this letter because KPFA and its free speech mission, are important to the Guild and to many activists that either work with, or are represented by, Guild members. Continue reading National Lawyers Guild Letter to KPFA On The Morning Mix →

by Ann Garrison

There have been claims in various online forums, that departing iGM Richard Pirodsky’s farewell lecture to the KPFA Local Station Board was directed only at United for Community Radio (UCR), not at our station board’s other faction, Save KPFA. Continue reading KPFA News Reporter Ann Garrison: “iGM Richard Pirodsky’s parting lecture addressed to the entire LSB, UCR and Save KPFA” →