Pacifica Archives are...Premiums are...Website has... WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON ?

  More ? SPANISH PROGRAMMING, and others kicked out.

More info has been gleaned and here edited, from: 
 
http://pacificainexile.org/archives/1973  July 2 2016 =
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --
 
LA Observed printed a leaked memo to KPFK staff from General Manager Leslie Radford. She "explained" that she was  clearing off the station’s  public affairs and arts section,  which aired between  8pm - 9pm.  These programs include  Indymedia On The Air, 
Deadline LA, 
Poets Cafe 
LA Theaterworks,
made effective July 11.    

These programs will be replaced with 5 hours of not yet defined programs, but these will be all in Spanish language only. This is a distinct move from the English listener audiences -  to one that has proven to be valued by some,  but also unable to provide sufficient funds to sustain even their own time on-air on KPFK radio waves - with all the expenses entailed of Spanish language programming.   

The breakdowns of what funds are received for each programs must be available for public view somewhere, or at least for KPFK donor-members, but it is not on the website and the LSB do not share the information they obtain.  It is presumably available from the Gen'l Mgr. or Business Director of KPFK, somewhere, somehow,   .... maybe... 

Ms. Radford did not specify the names or the subject matter of the  new programs yet,  nor who would be hosting and producing these new Spanish-only programs. So KPFK will now be broadcasting  exclusively in Spanish from 8 pm to 12
midnight every Mondays through Thursdays = 4 days/ week.  Then on Fridays there is a program in English that is slanted towards Latino/Hispanic/Chicanos also.

The LA Observed article was illustrated with a paper “on-air” sign - described as “makeshift” indicator - created by  the author/photographer Kevin Roderick. This looks like criticism indicating that the station is falling apart and poorly. 

Meanwhile, other stations are not doing the same.  Pacifica’s [Berkeley ] KPFA, [ New York] WBAI, and [Houston] KPFT  are ignoring the national board's prior [ June 2015 proclamation]
that each station must add 5 hours of weekday Spanish-
language programming.

Ms Radford insisted that  she is "being forced" to implement  what other radio stations nationwide are not.  Meanwhile, a
[KPFA unpaid staffer], who claimed to be  a management
confidante, posted on a Facebook page that “his under- standing  is that the Spanish language mandate is not going to be enforced”  or maybe at least at Berkeley’s KPFA.

Furthermore, Ms. Radford has apparently also received instructions from the LSB local board to restore the previously cut d own "Sonali Kolhatkar’s program Rising Up" to air for the prior schedule's 5-days a week and to also restore the "Something’s Happening" night program back to its full length - airing from 12 midnight to 6am.    

However, the Gen'l Mgr has instead insisted that the local LSB boards do not have any authority over programming.

A dispute appears to be in progress over who has authority or say-so over what and what else is causing KPFK to collapse or regress. 


Website is weird at times, and premiums orders unfilled too ?           huh ?  what is going on at KPFK ?  

 

(c) photosbyalexandria.com

see...holes in the land...in the air. KPFK is also eroding and yet beauty is not what results ...land is natural, KPFK is run by people who either cannot or do not do 'good business' and do not reveal their difficulties for others to assist or do more than 'give more money!" ... is this called a valuable media radio site or a hole, being blown away by .....

There continue to be ongoing problems with "our"KPFK’s website. Remembering always that KPFK is "Our Radio Station" paid for by all the donors, sustainers, subscribers monies paid year after year.  

Apparently, after the paid staff webmaster was laid off last September, the website became at times disabled and/or far from up-dated and without the needed information that most websites include, especially when paid-for by their members. 

So, it seems that during the beginning of KPFK’s June through July on-air fund drive, many website problems emerged. The station’s online “web store”, which is where paying-donors can also select premium gifts online, turned 'funny'.

It began when the fund drive started with describing KPFK as "a family run furniture store"  and then the categories of products were made available, they were unusual:  such as listing ... beer, wine, soda, mixers,  and spirits ??? Screenshots can be seen on the Pacificainexile.org website.[see link above]

 Even after these ridiculous mistakes were finally fixed on June 23rd, more problems still  remained. Then the established regular membership department indicated that the online inventory of gifts included many things that KPFK was not  prepared to fulfill ! what ? 

Promises of trade-premium-gifts that were not even available from KPFK, when offered on-air in trade for monies / 
donations  ?  

So Ms Radford indicated 2weeks ago, to her LSB local board that KPFK still had not acquired about the $77,000 in premium
gifts still then owed to the station’s donors. What ? How could any business practice, even not 'good' but 'fair' operate this way ? And KPFK is a non-profit business, by any 'other' name...

So, at maybe an average cost of $15 per premium, the backlog may then be as high as 4,000 unfilled orders.


           More about The  PACIFICA ARCHIVES

Currently, the industry magazine for public broadcasting, covered  the unfolding disaster happening - at the Pacifica Archives. This is  where at least 3/5th  of the entire collection has not yet been digitized and these then face physical
disintegration...maybe within a decade or so.

....." Both the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library
 of Congress and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting
(AAPB) have withdrawn any staffing and funds procurement assistance to Pacifica after Brian De Shazor resigned as the Archives Director.
[SNIP]

Pacifica’s 5 radio stations, in addition to being delinquent on paying their shared service fees to the  Pacifica archives, [ fees which range from $1,500  to $4,900 a month] have to then decline to use the archive’s products - as their fund-drive premium gifts. These 5 stations have also pulled  needed CD/DVD duplication services away from the Archives as well."

More secrecy and lack of transparency has caused many loyal donors and members to worry and seek solutions that can best be determined by those who are leaving the Archives. There has been no mention of why DeShazor is resigning, nor his plans for the treasures he has helped preserve and accumulate under his directorship. 

There has been no public mention nor open discussion of who else can assist or replace the manager leaving and what all the prior employees of the Pacifica Archives did/ or plan to do/ to assist the demolition or sale of their hard work and results.

some outside Pacifica sites that speak to this are listed here:

http://current.org/2016/06/pacifica-radio-archives-director-resigns-after-pay-cut/  

Mention is made in above link about Brian DeShazor's time being reduced and salary also, as was all the Archives staff. 

A quote from above link says:

"The archives is one of the best centralized collections of media advocacy history by sound in North America, according to Shepperd. Last year, DeShazor discovered among the archives a recording from 1964 that is thought to be the only full recording of a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr....

"The Pacifica Radio Archives has restored thousands of historical recordings since it began in 1999. In 2013, it had only digitized one-fifth of its materials. Shepperd said that some of the tapes are endangered with a shelf life of only 15 years....“If they lose these archives, Pacifica has erased its own history,” Shepperd said."

another source addresses the issues too:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/19664526892/?_fb_noscript=1      =  Friends of Pacifica Archives 

This site has posts from DeShazor and other interesting tidbits that may add to the story being unraveled now.....

and then there is more to be read/ found here too:

http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/2016/06/little-by-little-pacificas-last-gasps.html

and writes: "GM Radford has not indicated any intention to make payments and says she is pursuing an $80,000 loan to fulfill unsent premium gifts. "  

and the archives own webpage is here to read or write or pass on to those who want to be more than voyeurs and pacifists :

http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/ 

comments or more information on any of these topics are available on this blog or pointing to where More and Updated information is exposed would help everyone else too. Please participate if you want to help create TRANSPARENCY and thus honesty, stability, sustainability and reliability too...plus  
keep KPFK on-air, more as it 'was' than it is be-coming'...undone.... duh..... 

(c) 2016 mj ....please excuse Google's blogspot formatting Glitches,  that refuse repeated  corrections.. "They"are in control, not authors here.

 

KPFK, money matters, audits and none works as it is suppose to... hmmmmm

This is an edited reposting from     
             http://pacificainexile.org/archives/1951

Those are notes - taken from the KPFK LSB meeting of June 19,2016  - and parts herein revealed to the 'rest of us'.

           THOSE ALWAYS NEEDED =$ $ $ MONIES

General manager of KPFK, Leslie Radford announced a plan to balance a very hefty amount of the 2017 budget -  by not making any partial payments on KPFK’s 2015 $249,000 debt to its parent foundation. Pacifica,

This radio station, KPFK, has the biggest shared-services-fee of  all the 5 stations in the Pacifica network.  

If there is a refusal to pay enough or anything of the $249,000 debt owed the umbrella network, from June to October of 2015, then the radio network may also be unable to pay for this year’s board elections, for or the 2014 or 2015 financial audits.

More importantly, the failure to file audits will prevent the restoration  of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding- which has been  worth $750,000 each year.

              AUDITS AND NOT DONE AUDITS

Also, the Pacifica chief financial officer also reported that  Pacifica’s insurance carriers are demanding the audit report for way-back 2014. Thus the network may also be endangered if they lose insurance coverage - if all management concerned cannot provide, to all recipients, the required audit reports.

Ms. Radford reported that she has been unable to hire a bookkeeper since January 2016. = 6 months ago,  because the latest candidate  she selected has disconnected their phone and disappeared.

[The  concerns of those who hear about this problem is why is there only 1 candidate, and how many have applied or if not, why not more applicants are interested in a paying job at KPFK ? 

The details of these decisions and how they are made are not known or revealed. As the management can work in the 'dark' and silences -- with all KPFK members having to merely trust that the managers are being fair, open, and making known the opening to as many competent bookkeepers / accounts as possible. 

And with the 'job market' being one always complained about on this station,an opportunity like this should be used and appreciated, or so most would assume.]
 
In response to LSB local board members' questions, Ms. Radford reported that  KPFK owes $25,000 to the "Material World Foundation" for someone having mishandling a grant  before -   the grant provided earlier, for the renovation of the  KPFK station’s “Studio A”.

Music director, Maggie Le Pique, indicated that the funds were
 then taken to be used elsewhere - by Margy Wilkinson [ as PNB or temporary  interim Executive Director of Pacifica ]  - and this being done during her time when she was acted as the "volunteer executive director" - then.

It was also notable that Ms. Wilkinson is from KPFA, not from KPFK.

         THOSE WANTED 'SUSTAINING' MEMBERS

Ms. Radford indicated a hoped-for-goal of finding 35,000
donation-"sustaining" members for KPFK.  Sustaining members
are those who agree to pay $10 or $20 every month - vs. a larger dollar amount per fund drive - to be paying the station on an ongoing basis.

[The unstated assumption is that payments continue on past a 1 year deadline, go unnoticed, and remains a funding source indefinitely... or until that member realizes their commitment and/or discontinues voluntarily, and informs the station of that decision.]

When asked how many sustaining members KPFK actually had currently,  Ms. Radford claimed that there are 5,000 to 7,000. But a Local board treasurer Fred Blair supplied that the real number is only 250. That is a big discrepancy. Who knows the real income levels ?

 [Apparently no one has asked nor had access to verify the figures  provided, so 'facts' are elusive and statistics are made variable.  Confusing numbers concerns all KPFK members and those who  have been donating voluntarily, as "sustaining" or not, because the goals are 'set' according to KPFK's actual net income, presumably.

Plus, audits to confirm what are actual incoming dollars and what are their required expenses, and what must be paid in a timely way - to all to whom monies that KPFK owes. 
  
Apparently audits are not being conducted, and certainly not in any up-to-date way, as is required of all non-profit organizations, as is KPFK too. ]

                      VOTING ON THE 'BY-LAWS'

The KPFK LSB- local station board - has passed a resolution declining to vote on any proposed [PNB ?] bylaws amendments. This is  because they say they do not recognize the current board majority as being legitimate and thus lacking the authority to approve any changes to the bylaws.

    FINANCIAL CATASTROPHES EMERGING ?

Chief financial officer of Pacifica has stated directly that management of the umbrella organization does not have a plan for the financial catastrophes that will shortly ensue.

When he was asked about just who the responsible parties are,  the Pacifica CFO clarified and said that the responsible parties are the station managers and the executive director.
 
  PNB MEMBER WANTS AUDITS DONE, BUT IS DENIED

 see more details at : http://pacificainexile.org/archives/1956

then a commenter responded to the described PNB person wanting to Shriek, who apparently said:  " she then launched into a lengthy monologue, which ended with a loud shriek to   

“pay the audit NOWWWWW" "

with this:

“ A shriek sounds like the appropriate sound when so much is occurring without account-abilities, responsible managements,and the majority of "unknowing-what's-happening"- membership at each radio station.      

All those who do not read what is 'really going on' at these blog sites are assuming that all must be in order... and are listening to radio programs plus paying up some...
and that is all that is necessary.    

Obviously, they are 'ignored-ant' and do not know nor want to become more involved,  probably.  

Thanks to those reporters [as those websites] & willing exposers, andto those  who work hard to Share Actual Information, to the 'rest of us' too.   

Knowing more may also be producing anxieties, fears, and concerns, but some may also become active and assist, however, even in spurts.      

We would like to echo all shrieks that can be heard by any of those  the power and decision-making authority at any Pacifica station. 
 
n...o...w...... 1, 2, 3.....whaaaaaaaa!!!!!”


(c) portions not quoted from original websites   2016  bt 

Alan Watts, transcribed....re opposites reconciled

This is typed up from being broadcast on KPFK Sunday June 19, 2016, for further elucidation of those who like to be Reminded of older teachings and realizations. Enjoy and
share, as when this is on-air broadcast for all us, public, the intention is to Share and Teach.
                              mj 

 

(c) photosbyalexandria.com

 

             “Reconciliation of opposites” 

"always interesting to see how often psychologists talk about problem of reconciling opposites….anyone who knows anything at all of elementary principles knows that ideas of both Freud & Jung, patriarchs of depth psych, according to their ideas there is COMPENSATORY relationships to what is conscious and unconscious in our mental life, light above and dark above and vice versa.

many people who wrote most scurrilous books had exemplary lives but those who wrote pious books lived scandalous lives…  what is expressed in dreams is opposite side of life to what is lived consciously

to make person whole – whole related to holy word – problem is to get together 2 apparently-opposed sides…and is recognition that seem at 1 level opposed are at another level mutually necessary.

this is difficult to admit.  we don’t like to uncover the basic harmony that mostly looks like they are in Opposition to each other…like life and death….how we conceal the fact that they keep alive by death daily…we are constantly transforming dead animals & plants into shape of our bodies….and they hide slaughterhouses and conceal death in some-many ways, like the mortician conceals death.... it’s his job.

death is constantly denied and hidden, we don’t see how life & death go together. we fail to recognize the INSEPARABILITY of opposites, so we run into problems and so we don’t understand….    how our enemies are needed to us, and what we avoid are what we also need and use ….      

if we succeed in getting rid of our opposites, we too will collapse…so Jesus  said, “love your enemies”, not  "be nice to them or be friends"…   this shows the truth lies in the MIDDLE,  as in Confucianism – doctrine of the mean – where moderation is best…

so Buddhism is called the ‘middle way’…which means this is a doctrine of moderation.

in Buddha’s own time, 600 yrs before Jesus, the main forms of Indian spirituality was a search for liberation by extreme modification…… 

Buddha was the son of a tribal king and his father had at his birth insulted the soothsayers and was told he would be great monarch or else a Buddha…      and the father didn’t want his son to be mixed up in religion -- so he wanted son to follow in father’s way:  of kings, in the palace, and to not think of the problems in life…

but story goes, that the Buddha caught glimpses of death, poverty, diseases, etc. and  he asked why such things come into being  ???…so he escaped palace, cut his  hair, put on rags and became mendicant-beggar for 7 yrs - 

and then he followed the teachings that wisdom & peace come only from extreme mortification of flesh…but 7 yrs did not bring any peace at all.

after some time he felt he discovered secret – the MIDDLE WAY – 

simply that at 1 extreme was mortification and desire, and other was hedonism, trying to get all pleasures possible....

so he took Middle Way between those 2.   But this is part of point.  The Middle way comes to not just compromise of 2 extremes but a Profound Understanding of Universe that underlies all :   

the  logically thought life is all oppositions & conflicts…life as an encounter…of spiritual and matter.... of mind and body... of 2 different …[aspects]

as if these came from distances apart and were logically opposed - which creates conflict.

but there cant be a battle w/o a battlefield…. 

so underlying all [wars, battles, life events and thoughts ] 
there is something also in COMMON….

fighting over what they want to get is also in common – the same kinds of creatures fight each other – a compliment of agreement …agreeing to have a battle.

the real meaning of middle way – is to go below down the ‘conflict’ and see further, deeper…the mystery in Buddhist philosophy…also called ‘dialectic’ – has a dble sense ..related to dialogue, conversation, what is between teacher & pupils...

 teacher eliciting understanding of students by asking right Q …but other side is that they are Opposed Positions – thesis & synthesis – the middle way is a dialectic – in between.
 
Eastern teachers don’t seek students, as they ‘don’t have anything to teach’ based on insight that at deepest level,- that prior to conflict, life is Not a Problem.  [is connected, a whole, together. ]   

When the Inquirer seeks a teacher because they think there is a problem, “I suffer, how do I stop suffering ?”     but  the steps of dialectic student is brought to the middle way where conflict expressed -and  suffering is reduced to moderation -  to diminish that suffering… ‘I want to not suffer’ 

and teacher counters with ‘you suffer because you DESIRE’….. 

so people think that’s all Buddha said, but it was more.

just stop desiring is not the main point but only 1st step in dialogue. 

Next step is ‘how am I to stop desiring ?’     so teacher says “do you really want to ?”  and the student realizes if it is true, as Buddha seems to say, to cease desiring, that too is a Desire too…to escape, the student must say ‘yes & no” both !!!   "I don’t want to end desiring to stop desiring"….   

so next step:   “suffering is desiring MORE THAN YOU ARE GOING TO GET ! OR CAN GET” == that is what is anguish.

student ponders that and asks ‘what if I fail in not desiring more ? wont that lead to anguish too?"   so teacher says ‘don’t desire to succeed More than you can/will succeed”…
this dialogue shows student has been trying to control his desire ! 

in each step of Q & A, the Buddha is master of dialogue and taking student to higher level… while the lower level is desire of hard facts and of desire -- and at higher level, student sees that his own feelings/desires are part of the facts and not outside themselves.

to ACCEPT THINGS AS THEY ARE includes accepting our desires and our own feelings, even those unpleasant feelings [of failure, jealousy, wanting and yearning and imaginings, competitive urges ]
until student accepts and regards all of their feelings… not be limited to what they THINK or identify themselves with just those desires..... but finding what else there is inside and outside.

desires are both the same and so where is the ‘desirer’ ??? there is no difference between in and out     [as they ALL GO TOGETHER, are connected, related, whole, being the one-who-is-being-observed-is-same-as-observer…]

it is ‘a knowing’ [more fully and of more wholeness].   In Indian logic there are 4 propositions: 
yes,
no, 
yes & no, 
neither yes nor no…. 

= classifications of fundamental statements of what can be happening …. i.e.  so world exists, doesn’t exit or both or neither exists…. as philosophy separates these to explore the  Q….. ‘there is no such thing as ‘being’ as it is only an abstraction…’   nor is one neither being agnostic, skeptic, believer, but more too. 

every human being thinks in these categories even in lowest levels of thinking…some are premises a person clings to hard…what is  our own premise we cling to so desperately ?   

and then we too refuse, oppose. or object -  and see that any affirmation has no meaning without the same in denial, as the ‘no’ to the ‘yes’  always exists …
[in language, thought, and life itself ]
 
so then we have NOTHING LEFT TO HANG ON TO… this realization  brings a person into liberation, 

because it is CLINGING TO LIFE that is root of anxiety that distorts their view & causes suffering

when not clinging to life, the person is released and talked out of their own self-strangulation. "   ###




NOTE: different font parts in "[ ]" are inclusions to Watts' words for clarification only.

Pacifica Archives director resigning...Brian DeShazor going going .....away

"Pacifica Archives Director Brian De Shazor has announced his resignation from Pacifica Radio, effective June 30th. 

"De Shazor’s resignation provoked a strongly worded rebuke to Pacifica from Dr. Josh Sheppard, director of the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library of Congress in
Washington DC.      

[snip]...    

 Pacifica had recently threatened significant cuts to archival
preservation staffing. "
                              - - - - - - - - - -
[ info snipped from http://pacificainexile.org/archives/1934 ] 
for more or same info  -  and also here:

http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/2016/06/little-by-little-pacificas-last-gasps.html

AND  

 http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/2016_06_01_archive.html



then comments at 1st site seemed prematurely in panic and fear == of loss of the Pacifica Archives. These long and valuable archival treasures from all Pacifica stations are housed in a separate section of the same building as is KPFK, in Los Angeles.

What more KPFK staff  - or LSB and others involved directly with the management and workings there -  KNOW and are or not openly telling us....   and the rest of "us" are  all those who have been loyal, donating,  volunteering, dedicating personal time and efforts and continually promoting and recommending  KPFK, et al. ...and ...and... and..... much more remain ignorantly baffled.

What plans did the director of these valuable saved archives have upon his resignation ?


Brian, being a very responsible, creative and involved person, - as noted in passing by a few who entered into KPFK's bldg hallowed halls -  he is not about to just drop out without a word or assist in guarding his collected treasures, surely, not !

But who has this information to share ? 
                                 
 
                    Brian DeShazor                             [google images]

MORE QUESTIONS THAT NOW NEED CONSIDERATION :

Did Brian gives his reasons for his leaving, or what he suggests happen to the archives he has fathered for so long? 

He is way too responsible to just exit without a plan for his work and treasures. What does he say about what happens there without his supervision?

Has he revealed how much [%] of old reels have been digitized and how much more needs doing ?

Or how much more actually needs preserving ?

He must have a list of those who have helped this transferring before, even for minimal pay, and if he wants to share those contacts who may want, maybe, to work & to continue some that work…now …   

or would Brian make specific suggestions of what CAN happen to all Archive materials, not what ‘should’ happen, but the various possible alternative ways of preservation ?

Or has Brian suggested another person maybe, to kinda take his place, tho he may be invaluable, others too have been working with him for years – 

and surely they too are also knowledgeable and have not all disappeared…yet, have they ?

The assumption that all is going into a dumpster is probably fear-exaggerated and not what happens when 1 person leaves their post, integral and important tho they may be to the dept.
What are the Director Brian and his co-workers: wanting, hoping, saying, suggesting, offering ?

….vs. the image of there being just a ‘dump’of archives complied by all radio stations and producers, just because of his exit ?      [that is the instant fear-reaction some have expressed elsewhere]

Can someone do an interview with those still In Charge of Archives and that dept, – Brian and also the others there, and it can then be typed, into text, to be read and/or heard — w/o it being on KPFK or a radio station?

Sometimes a piece of information elicits the worst images and biggest fears without the rest of related information that must be attached – to know the context – and actual consequences – to make sense.

Brian’s dedication and talents have made the resources wealthy and a treasure. But it took more than 1 person to create and continue that function too. Credit is fully given to him, but the assumption is that it is not just 1 hero involved or dept dissolves. 

So who else can speak about what is happening…next ?

and those who are still staff and at KPFK have access to those working in Archives, as do others. Roy is one, there are other staff even not on-air that are still employed.

Other long-term programmers must also be able to assist or inquire and share what is happening to Archives or other such changes at KPFK.

The end has not yet come. Panic is not yet necessary.



There is many more chapters to this, as every other story, if the immediate scare reactions so far expressed can be allayed and all those interested in any helping way join in,

But first, who was to know this is occuring when there is soooo much continued and forever-kept secrecy about what occurs in KPFK and Pacifica and the machinations occurring therein ? 

Anyone can write, call, go to the KPFK Archives dept or KPFK radio station and inquire, ask, demand some actual facts and answers and share them with 'the rest of all donors' who 'own' the organization they have long invested into...and now want to reclaim some VOICES and responsibility to what happens at both the Pacifica Archives and other governance matters that is non-transparently and authoritatively taken-away and taken-over by just a few - secretly, silently, usurping Our Radio Station[s].

(c) 2016  bt  

KPFK has LSB elections coming - so nominate by June 30.

The KPFK story remains the same, though parts are falling away or failing without public notice. The few who dare expose what most donors to radio station Do Not Know and yet want to know and help are:

Roy Tuckman in his subscription - weekly listing his upcoming programs for the next week   HTTP://WWW.SOMETHINGSHAPPENING.COM

[[ anyone can go to http://www.somethingshappening.com and click on 'what shall happen' or 'what happened' for easy directions]]

 and

Pacificainexile.org,

and some re-postings are provided also here, hoping to 'get the real words' OUT, vs. their reverberating inside closed caves of the KPFK station, the LSB meetings [tho public the information is not always explained, intelligible, nor comment-able either- as much is discussed, written by LSB members secretly amongst each other than any public-member has NO access to learn ! ].

information culled from above sources continue here:

re: near-future fund drives - donations continually asked for and regular programming is interrupted constantly...

   June 20 - July 15 (or so - often extended longer) for a hoped for gain of  $560,000.

                                        and

   Aug 16-31 for a goal of    $275,000.

                                  - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - -

"The LSB election has been put on hold nationally due to budget shortfall "   - [whether it is local KPFK budget or national Pacifica's budget is not clear here ]
 
KPFK is having another local station board election ( a smaller one this year). Elections by the bylaws  should be done 2 out of every 3 years.

We need  any and all listeners, donors, members  with their willingness to work as volunteer [no reimbursement has been ever indicated] with  ideas - especially  if they "have talents, abilities, experiences" to add to the skills of the already elected  LSB  members (Local Station Board).

... nominations close June 30 (you  can nominate yourself). The biggest difficulty is to get the required 15 signatures, to be nominated - but there are and hopefully will still be available - gatherings at the station just for that purpose. That is where a bunch of people will sign your petition. 

[The exact process sounds vague and suspicious, as if knowing 'others' who attend is helpful to get those signatures, or who exactly is qualified to sign your nominating petition.

Further inquiries about the process can possibly be gained from phoning directly to the station and asking receptionist or a staff there :

                       1-818- 985-2711

Should you get elected - it is a crucially important position - but also a difficult one, frustrating, and sometimes gratifying, this puts you into position to make important decisions that are necessary.  New members and fresh alternative views are needed though the old-guard keeps revolving back in.

Now, lately a better local board has emerged and it is crucial to help keep them free from other power-grabbing or manipulative ideologues- as it appears there are those taking power positions who want to destroy or usurp the radio station by letting/ or leading it into bankruptcy. 

There are various people who claim the LSB, with their own agendas, some acting as proxies or agents of other Pacifica groups, and a bunch of  time-wasters too.

For more, please  info go to http://elections.pacifica.org/

Remember, the end time for nominations is June 30. so TAKE ACTION now ! and let others you know about this rare opportunity to be actually Involved [vs. just listening and wondering outside] in the improvement and functioning of KPFK ! ”





(c) 2016  mj

    

LSB LOCAL STATION BOARD MEETING. "An experience.”

This is an alienating experience, having attended the latest version of newly elected LSB monthly meeting, April 17, 2016. Attended for full 4 hours and all I got was being ignored, never smiled at,  barely any eye contact and as if I did not even exist or noticeably sit in the back “public seating” – in back of horseshoe circle around which Members sit.

Any new "public" member attending has no one to guide, welcome, or inform them on process, behaviors expected, when they can speak or what is going on in the LSB ongoing thereafter discussions. Confusing and distancing results. Not even an agenda is shared, nor when or if a "public comment" time is allowed or when it may be given. 




Glad to report: a new Chairwoman was poised, effective, tried diligently to control and have meeting process in some order. Actually better than previous visits to LSB over the many years.

And new larger and clearer printed name placards in front of LSB members, to know who was there and their names, since none ever bother to mention who they are or which committee they chair or represent.

As I arrived early and on time, to the KPFK webpage announced starting time of 10:30 am, there were 3 males setting up chairs and mics, 1 prior LSB member reading newspaper and 1 public man also reading newspaper, but no greeting nor welcome to any PUBLIC person attending. 

Slowly and gradually other LSB members arrived, sat at table, talked to few allies and did not smile at each other nor act in any friendly collegiate manner either. Strange atmosphere, as if prepared for conflicts that soon arose. 

Meeting was not called to order until 10:46 am, as if time was flexible and notices for meeting beginning were irrelevant. =only 16 minutes of extra time [wasted] to join this meeting.  At least a full quorum had finally arrived by then while other people drifted in whenever.

Wondering why those many on LSB board whom I have had conversations, acknowledgements for many long ago years now saw only their selected others, I then assumed I was less than a ‘visitor’ and irrelevant to even being recognized now apparently, which is not a common experience elsewhere.

Many new LSB elected members were unknown to me and me to them, of course.  

Gradually only 2 people, with whom I have had  long and many conversations as volunteers at KPFK, did briefly make eye contact and even said a quick “hello”,  while most others =with whom  I had also been in speaking relationships with before -  continued to act as if they existed in ‘special’ but invisible cubicles, = being totally separated and alienated.  

Even the 2 ‘staff representatives’ from KPFK there were exclusive or just silent, unfriendly, & guarded.

I wondered: if this is how the LSB act in unison and in meeting together, if it might be a similar atmosphere also inside Our Radio Station too maybe ? With people being angry or not-speaking or resentful or suspicious or just feeling bad enough to stay away from anyone who was not already “on their side” for sure?

Members arrived in their own schedule and convenience. I noticed how few “public” members were there now, [ 6 ], while there had been 12-20 at other LSB meetings I had attended before. One 'public' man arrived on time 10:30am of announced starting time and he left within 30 minutes, without a word to or from anyone. 

2 Others arrived later to give-away their rebel-agitator type newspapers with an intimidating air if one was not taken. And counting, 2 prior LSB members no longer elected came late, but did attend. Plus the GM came to speak to LSB and answer questions in her time slot.

Announcement of 2 recent deaths of KPFK dedicated long-termers was made: Israel Feuer  at age 86   – one of the most dedicated volunteers who attended every single LSB and many committee meetings and answered phones during fund drives. And Bob Congers who was the on-staff transmitter engineer man for many years, until very recently.

An cautionary announcement is made by LSB woman who claims all videos, photos et al CAN be made without regard to privacy or personal choice because “this is a public meeting”, even if tho it takes a pre-pushed button security box to enter into building and not all of these KPFK type people consider privacy a give-away anywhere. 

Another LSB woman uses phones to video and record during the entire meeting pointing wherever she wants, regardless of non-LSB agreed members, us only as "public", allowing this set-up.

It will be necessary to actually review LA City rules: about what is “public” for any recordings/ fotos,  when inside a private building and when a non-profit Board meeting is held - and where personal privacy suddenly evaporates.

And why those allied with LSB are acting invasively, without describing how these recordings are used, where secured and saved, and for how long, or who has access to display, distribute them, i.e. to U-tube and other media. 

Being in control of this exposure is a power-position taken by those who hold their camera/phones notably or subtly and TAKE what they want, to use as they chose, without accountability to those displayed in their screens.

More than 2 hrs into meeting, another young man enters with a professional large camera w/sound to “public” area, sets up, rolls and takes video, un-introduced nor announced to those present. Before he leaves in ½ hr, I ask what use he has for this and he smirks and says “I am doing a documentary…with all the fighting in it too” and  he exits without a nod to anyone on Board. Perhaps he had permission, perhaps not. Such are the doings that are unaccounted or unregulated at LSB meetings, apparently.

A 2+ page of rules of “demeanor” for LSB and ‘public” members is read for all LSB to vote agreement with, and install, starting now.  It had been elsewhere written about some insulting obscenities shouted by a KPFK staff to the LSB at their prior meeting, thus provoking this serious etiquette set of new rules. Voted on. Agreed. Now.

It is a good idea to have to make into Strict Rules [ but with no one assigned to enforce them or be entitled to call the rules - on whom they chose- so this can be used for personal choice or for individual controlling maneuvers too ] for such a conflict-filled and contentious process –  and as exhibited repeatedly at all LSB and other such KPFK meetings.

No agenda for the day nor these new rules for all present must-follow-demeanor-rules is given to any “public” member, that I can see. No one handed them out and I watched carefully, waiting. No agenda and no eye contact with us 'outsiders' not elected LSB either. As if we were at a zoo or aquarium and anyone not LSB is thus 'not seen, not here'...until 3-1/2 hrs later when finally "Public Comments" time is announced.

The public is basically excluded fully until the proper time for “public comments” arrives, when each person must line up to a mic - with a max of 90 seconds each = 1+1/2 minutes to speak. No discussion, no acknowledgement, no nutin comes forth to indicate anything is heard, much less wanted or valued.  

It is like speaking to a wall of faces, non- acknowledging the quick speaker. Next person takes mike. Done. But to what effect or result ? Never to be known or admitted.

The 5 -6 “public” members take a turn, one in conflict because of his previous insulting behaviors to LSB last meeting, but he too is allowed his 90 seconds. As a special  allowance [gift], this time, so he is told.  What was said and done previously is not reviewed for those not there then, so we watch and wonder and cannot ask.

There is No LSB member or affiliate or volunteer to welcome, to inform new  “public members” of the procedures or what is expected of them or the meeting either. If there were no ‘public’ people there would be no difference, from what can be observed in 4 hours sitting in the same room there.

Microphones are available for every 3-4 LSB seated close to each other and yet, after years of experience at these meetings, repeated calls for “mic !” is needed as people ‘forget’ and speak as if in their kitchen to friends. Two LSB men mumble and speak rapidly so only ½ of whatever they are saying can be understood, especially by “public” relegated away from lip-reading circle where LSB are more visible to each other. 

Whether there will be an audio-recording of the entire meeting available for later or not was not mentioned. Previously a loyal technician, volunteer and loyal member arranged with his own equipment for such recordings to have verifications, vs. the secretary correctly keeping notes – with all the voice-overs and interruptions included. Probably no one has bothered nor wants these recordings kept.

What is interesting is how there is always at least 1 LSB person who must resist, rebel or question loudly any motion, announcement or suggestion made. It comes with KPFK and LSB territory.   It also reflects the KPFK prevailing programming and station’s stance against ‘the world’ that is not theirs.  Technicalities vs. actualities are disputed.

The General Manager, is called to give her report to LSB and is asked questions about financial statuses and premiums.   GM had the courtesy to pass out her 4pp report to us, ‘public” sitting in same section in back as she was before her presentation to LSB.   

Some obvious hostility is felt throughout that presentation and confrontation. The Chair announces she and GM will meet 1x/every week to review things together. A good move for LSB to better coordinate work for KPFK.  

The GM says that she has been “paraphrased” in LSB notes in a way that “is not accurate” and requests this not continue. She sounded offended and displeased about some rewording not specifically stated now.

Discussion between GM & LSB about whether a full-time or part-time business manager is being sought and/or hired. Also about the plan to have 70 out of 150 days planned for fund raising. And about hiring non-union board operators to save expenses.  GM said premiums were no longer stored at station and only a few were available for their recent on-site sale to listeners.

GM also said the Pacifica board must approve before an $80,000 loan could be solicited [without saying from where or interest rates, etc] that was money needed for KPFK expenses.

Two lawsuits were mentioned by LSB members, involving the NY station, one with a restraining order and regarding expired PNB terms that were ‘extended’ or ‘termed out’.  Those in-the-know may have understood the suits, those in 'public' irrelevant realms could only wonder and guess.

Then a vote was taken by LSB with 4 nay sayers and 13 affirmative, about something undecipherable by those not in circle of the discussion [public members in back of room have no questions allowed] ... something is said about violating ‘bylaws’….and it was notable that those 4 "no"-saying men sat closely together at end of horseshoe table.  

These 4 men also notably gave various dubious excuses and explanations for what was of concern to the LSB majority in their vote, and they also attempted to blame others not present in room. Apparently a separate 'clique' ?

An LSB woman claimed that there were delayed / no-audits made because there was insufficient financial information provided. This was not questioned nor corroborated. Amy Goodman’s being owed a large sum was questioned but no resolution nor confirmation made about the long-held debt to her.  

Someone complained that Pacifica had no HR = Human Resources/Personnel director nor resources either.  Another complained that the Program Director is “interim” and has been in place for “8 yrs”, asking why a search or selection for a permanent one has not been made.

Then the “programming oversight” committee chair read the purposes of that group - and was given orders to include more topics that should be the focus, defining more diverse groups to be included specific by name. Generalities are not to be trusted was the emphasis.

Notable that only 2 [of the now-'pubic' group of 6] were prior LSB members - but not the chair nor the 15  previous LSB  were there as visitors or acting now as still interested parties. 

The meeting continued on longer, after 4 long hours, but this reporter could not continue to sit on 1 chair in the back of the large room and attend to more of what was repeated attitudes  and distrustful encounters there. 

Each LSB person must be dedicated in time and experience and with a desire to affect some benefit to KPFK, or keep it from toppling into bankruptcy and dis-functionality. 

Each must be commended for their ongoing interest and desire to improve a radio station that is admitted ‘losing listeners’ by numbers and thus also having less money to operate.  

The monthly meeting is long and arduous, and if the LSB person assumes some ‘importance’ or sense of being powerful from being in those factitious meetings, that may be their reward, imagined or actual. 

Some come in and  are re-elected again and again over a long period of years, and some seem ‘new’ to those of us who have attended these LSB meetings regularly, if not consistently.

© 2016  mj

to send an email to the entire Local Station Board use this address -      LSBoard@kpfk.org

or to LSB Chair Contact:     lsbchair@kpfk.org 
[info is also on KPFK.org]

Anyone wishing to contact the Pacifica [umbrella] Nat’l Board can write to :      pnb@pacifica.org.


                             




The next local station board LSB meeting is on May 15,2016, Sunday, at 10:30 a.m., at the Peace Center,  located at   3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230-4640. 

Parking is in the rear of building. Dial 22 for access.

This is a private building on Sepulveda, one block south of Venice Blvd. 

                   
   
This was the regular 1x/mo. meeting of the KPFK Local Station Board, -

note:  The info can be found on KPFK website - Events page, as are the committee meetings are there also.