RadioPoetics.org

On Tuesday Nov 6, 2007 Mr. Casey Peters Pacifica National Election Supervisor (NES) notified KPFA Local Station Board candidates that illegal use of station resources to promote staff and staff favored slates called the CL Slate, was uncovered.

Mr. Peters states:
Violation of Points 2 and 4 of the Pacifica 2007 Fair Campaign Provisions for Programmers, Staff and Management. Such unequal access to station resources, under the rules of our elections, is a virtual invitation to all station members to have access to the same email list.
Furthermore, Point 5 of the Fair Campaign Provisions for Candidates reads: No candidate may use Foundation or radio station resources to publicly attack another candidate, station staff or management, or the Foundation.

Mr. Bensky supposedly retired has not been a friend of the democratic process that saved his job back in 1999 and created the Pacifica bylaws that now govern the Pacifica network. The Pacifica bylaws were designed to prevent the ability of groups to take over the network by creating an elected process which allows for shared listener representatives and management oversight responsibilities and calls for democratic elections every two years.
The harm created by this violation is serious and calls into question the ability of the process to guarantee fairness of the entire election process. For example this list is like the "whose-who" list of the station containing supposedly the crème of the crop of high profile donors, writers, actors, union leaders and organizations throughout the bay area. There's already mounting evidence of a planned effort to disenfranchise listener candidates by using the advantages and authority of the station to control and limit listener candidates on air promotions in the form of carts which were supposed to start running in every time slot several weeks ago however as of this writing there have not been any allowed to reach the public airwaves.
Live on-air forums of which there have only been three and are only available to listener during broadcast or are difficult to find for download after twenty-four hours of broadcast. Live community forums which in past elections have been held throughout the bay area and held in diverse communities including Bayview have had only one single forum with limited or no on air promotion and that one held last Sunday Nov 4, 2007 in North Berkeley and sparsely but vigorously attended by the Berkeley community.

WHATS AT STAKE: What's emerging is serious allegations of use of station resources by staff, access to mailing list and now as revealed use of the station resources to prime e-mail list, possible calling list and raising huge funds to do CL mailings through the stations membership mailing list in favor of their slate candidates the CL Slate while limiting and controlling information on what listeners hear and see about other candidates in an effort it appears to elect their candidates and achieve an overwhelming majority on the Local Station Board and control all KPFA selections to the Pacifica National Board. While Mr. Casey Peters, NES is implementing some remedies he promises to continue to investigate other serious staff violation allegations however given that the elections process are due to end next week it is unlikely that these remedies short of re-doing the elections will be effective and voters who have already received there ballots will not have any information about these violations, will be limited to confusing election materials and one single promotional card from the CL group. In the short term they may sustain their goals however in the long term this may force listeners to find ways to redefine and reinforce their original vision of a fair and equal democratic process and empower the community to demand that KPFA reflects the overwhelming needs, issues and concerns of our diverse communities rather then the views of a small group of power brokers intent on holding on regardless of fairness standard rules and regulations.

Written by
Steve Conley - I-Team - www.radiopoetics.org