Chandra Hauptman Answers LSB Candidate Questionnaire

1. Why do you wish to serve on the Local Station Board?

To ensure that listener sponsors have a recognized role in governance, acknowledged by management and all KPFA staff.
To advocate for equal access to KPFA for people with disabilities.
To ensure programming serves the mission and the listeners’ needs.

1. What skills, qualifications and experience would you bring to the board?

Ability to work in an open and collaborative manner.
My past experience as a board member, outreach, organizing and writing skills, some financial analysis skills.

3. What can be done to improve the dynamics and effectiveness of the Local Station Board?

Get board members to put aside political differences and work together to get our bylaws-mandated work completed in a timely manner.
Board training in Robert’s Rules of Order (ROR).
Familiarity with Pacifica Bylaws.
Get board member agreements not to abuse ROR.
Respect for each other when talking and not interrupting.

4. What LSB committees would you like to join? What Pacifica National Board committees?

Personnel (Local/National)
Disability Access (Local/National)
Outreach (Local)
Affiliates Task Force (National)

5. Would you be interested in serving on the Pacifica National Board, and why?

Yes, to continue on PNB and work with new ED
To continue work with National Personnel Com. to ensure that universal personnel policies and guidelines are in place and fully implemented.
To help ensure that disability access plans are implemented at all Pacifica Stations.
To ensure that PNB and ED implement plans to make WBAI financially solvent.

6. How do you view the dynamics between the Pacifica network and local station autonomy?

Stations have never had to operate as one network. It is hard to undue past practice.
I hope a strong ED can bring the network together. I hope Nicole Sawaya will fulfill that role.

7. How should the Pacifica Foundation find a wider audience?

By providing more stimulating programming.
Mission driven programming.
Create more Amy Goodman-like programs/programmers.
New, young, ethnically diverse, voices.
Hiring a marketing director for the Foundation to work in collaboration with all the stations.
Working more collaboratively with Affiliate Stations to promote Pacifica.

8. What can be done to preserve and share the treasures of the Pacifica Archives?

Ensure that all stations air new archives program “From the Vault”
Provide a second day of Archives fundraising at all stations.

9. Do you have any ideas for new approaches to fundraising for Pacifica?

Online shopping for Pacifica paraphernalia
Targeted mailings to large donors

Dinners for donors, with featured speakers and gift boxes

10. How do you view Pacifica’s potential in providing internet content?

Very great.
We need to fund the technology and the person power to do this.

11. What technologies should the Pacifica Foundation consider for the future?

I don’t know. Not my area of expertise.

12. What can be done to improve our signal strength?

I don’t know. Not my area of expertise.

13. Should the station consider relocating the studio to other facilities? Where and Why?

Only if the building is not structurally sound.
Now is not the time, financially, to initiate a capital moving campaign.

14. How can our station better serve under-represented communities?

Creating air time for local programs produced by people from these communities.
KPFA-sponsored events held throughout the signal area, not just in Berkeley and San Francisco.
Diverse ethnic, gender, sexual-oriented and age-related programs that appeal to different types of people.
How about a one hour show, rotating each week, to feature people from different parts of the signal area? Community organizations from these neighborhoods could produce the show. KPFA would have to provide technical support.

15. How can our station better serve the many linguistic communities of the signal area?

I think we should start with Spanish language programming: broadcasting the news show out of KPFK, “Informativo”, for example. But we need to do publicity to the Spanish speaking audience so they will know to listen to the show.
We could test out providing written translations of some programming online, using volunteer translators.

16. What do you see as our station’s strong and weak points?

Strengths:
59,000 Watt Signal
Strong listener base; committed to KPFA
Staff who are knowledgeable about radio production.
Training programs (News, Apprentice)
Good financial management.
Good technical operations skills.

Weaknesses:
Some staff who are insulated and closed to working with listeners and greater KPFA community.
Some staff who do not recognize the value the listeners have to offer.
Some programming that is stale and uninspiring.
Need for new voices.

17. Have you ever been party to, or provided support for, a lawsuit involving Pacifica or its employees? When and Why?

I fundraised for the Spooner lawsuit against the prior dissident board and demonstrated against dissident board members.

18. How do you think the election process for Local Station Board can be improved?

By ensuring that the management follows Pacifica bylaws, allows the candidates to get air time, and on air publicity.
By ensuring that the election process does not occur during fund drive time.

19. What are your hobbies, interests, and other organizational affiliations?

20. What question(s) would you pose to your fellow candidates?

Do they have the time available to fully participate as a member of the LSB?
Will they commit to attending meetings and become familiar with the all sides of the issues prior to voting?
Will they do the committee work this is needed? (i.e. the real work of the Board)
Ask all candidates to give examples of types of committee(s)/committee work they would perform.