RadioPoetics.org

Dear NES Casey Peters,

As KPFA LSB candidates, current and former LSB listener representatives, KPFA community members and listeners, we urge you to consider and immediately implement significant, effective action to address the numerous, blatant and critical election campaign violations and irregularities that have prejudiced, tainted and subverted the KPFA LSB election to the point of invalidating the vote count results.

Many of these violations are documented in candidate complaints filed with you and local election supervisors, most of which are apparently not yet fully investigated, reviewed or resolved. For a collection and typical examples, you may refer below to a summary of complaint materials previously and to be submitted by candidate Bob English. The complaint materials, along with observations and documentation by the LES and member volunteers involved in the election, reveal a myriad array of unfair campaign practices, manipulations, interventions and "dirty tricks," as well as suppression (rather than promotion) of election/candidate information and activity and voter participation (possibly including ballot issuance). All of the above has been coordinated and conducted by elements of Pacifica and KPFA management, key staff and allies ­ all to the benefit of the single candidate slate they recruited, aided in fundraising and supported during the election - and amounts to a fundamental corruption of the democratic election process and results, which must be regulated and remedied immediately and long term by the election supervisors with Pacifica enforcement support, policy and by-laws amendment solutions from the PNB and membership.
Please also refer below to the letter to the PNB from a KPFA member who demands a new and fair election. We believe a careful reading and understanding of this letter and it's extended application and significance does more than anything we can say to highlight and emphasize the critical need for an election resolution that is seen by the KPFA members as fair and just, rather than expedient and corrupted.

Casey, in this light and for the sake of ensuring the absolute and hard fought right of Pacifica members to clean, fair elections of representatives now and in future elections, we suggest at this point you have *limited but effective, productive and fair options in terms of resolving complaints and certifying or not certifying the elections results* per the Pacifica by-laws:

1. Declare that the results cannot, will not be certified according to the by-law deadline due to massive and critical election violations and irregularities, both known/established and alleged, and due to currently unresolved campaign practices complaints and non-compliance with violation penalties. The election can¹t be certified until at least the primary complaints are investigated and resolved by the imposition of appropriate penalties and remedies, including remedies that could significantly affect the vote count and results. In this respect, we note that continued stonewalling non-compliance by KPFA management and staff with your ruling and remedy for a primary violation, allowing Larry Bensky on-air recently and continuing to deny access by three slates to the abused KPFA e-mail list, is now subject to non-certification of election results.

2. If the results are to be certified, an effective vote-modifying remedy or penalty - appropriate to the nature and impact of the violations and designed to reasonably offset or balance an unfair vote advantage resulting from the primary established violations, including the Dan Siegel letter and Bensky e-mail violation - must be applied to the final vote processing and count. I believe you have received a proposal for such a vote tally penalty. A first step in determining and applying such a remedy for the Bensky violation, for instance, would be obtaining the e-mail list to count the number of members who received the message recommending one slate, Concerned Listeners (CL), then count or estimate the number of such members who actually voted for that slate, then remove an appropriate number of that slate only ballots to approximate the damage done by the Bensky violation, and finally run the remaining ballots through the computer for a new count. Although some CL supporters or candidates will complain, they - rather than the victims of the illegal election conduct - would have the option and burden of going to court.

*We would of course prefer not to be compelled by certification of clearly tainted or fraudulent election results - and by our long term commitment to the integrity and continuity of fair democratic elections in Pacifica ­ into alternative, less palatable remedies, notably a lawsuit for a court restraining order, which may be necessary but detrimental to all concerned*: to KPFA and the Pacifica foundation and membership, to the credibility of our democratic election process and institutions, the credibility and reputation of responsible election supervisors, adversely effected candidates who would unjustly have to bear the burden and expense of legal action (rather than the candidates who clearly benefited from the violations), as well as to the credibility of the questionably elected candidates and the legitimacy of the newly constituted LSB.
Therefore we urge you to carefully consider and weigh these options. Please reply to inform us of your pending decision and action. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Atilla Nagy,* Richard Phelps* (re-elected), Joe Wanzala,* Stan Woods*, Steve Conley,** Gerald Sanders,** , Carl Bryant, CC Campbell Rock, Bob English, Dave Heller, Mara Rivera, Steve Zeltzer
(2007 KPFA LSB Candidates; *incumbents, **former LSB)

LaVarn Williams,* Aki Tanaka* Riva Enteen,** (*incumbents, **former LSB)

Daniel Borgstrom, Molly Beyea, Virginia Browning, Bill Carpenter, Jim Curtis, Maxine Doogan, Linda Hewitt, Hep Ingram, Steve Gilmartin.

Appendix 1:
Complaint Summary: Previously submitted, reorganized and new complaints filed and to be filed by Bob English, as well as other KPFA LSB candidates, include:

*I. Campaign Interventions by Pacifica Officers, Managers and Staff (amended complaint). *Official, public, on ­air and media letters, statements and commentaries by Pacifica Foundation national and local station KPFA officers, managers and staff that have intervened in, influenced, manipulated, prejudiced, adversely impacted and possibly invalidated the 2007 KPFA/Pacifica LSB election. These are violations of Pacifica Foundation By Laws SECTION 6. FAIR CAMPAIGN PROVISIONS and campaign practice rules which apply to foundation managers and staff.
A. *Interim Executive Director Dan Siegel's "Open Letter to the Pacifica Community"* 10/24/07
B. *National Election Supervisor Casey Peter¹s "Ruling on KPFA Candidate Statements"* 10/26/07. (*Item withdrawn)
* C. *Former Pacifica National Affairs Correspondent and (retired but still active) KPFA Staff Larry Bensky¹s mass e-mail to KPFA e-mail list.
* D. *Public Commentaries by Interim Program Director Sasha Lilley and KPFA News Department staff and LSB staff representative Brian Edwards-Tiekert.* *
* E. *Interim GM Lemlem Rijio and iPD Lilley Management Report to the Listeners Nov 12 2007*.
*II. Public, False Anti-Semitism Labeling of Candidate Bob English by KPFA Management/staff Ally and Frequent Program Contributor Doug Henwood (amended as a separate complaint).
*

III. Pacifica/KPFA Management and Staff Election Information
/Campaign Suppression Practices (amended complaint).

A. *Management directed blackout and whiteout of election information, promotion and activity, candidate statements, questionnaires, carts and one forum on KPFA air and/or website.* B. *Delay, manipulation and inequitable editing, production and airing of candidate carts.*
C. *Suppression and limitation of public candidate forums (that had been conducted in various locations through out the KPFA signal area in previous elections) to a single forum late in the election period.*
D. *KPFA staff producer and programmer arranged and conducted interview of a candidate on the prime time Morning Show.
*
IV. Evidence and Indicators of KPFA Management/Staff Manipulation of KPFA Member Data Base and Ballot Issuance Suppression Practices (new complaint being developed, to be filed shortly).
*A.* * Numerous known members' complaints and unknown quantities of non-receipt of mailed ballots, non-issuance or voting prohibitive delays in availability of replacement ballots.
B. KPFA staff election extended due ballot suppression, non-issue of ballots to selected eligible staff members and issuance of ballots to ineligible managers.
C. Management announcement Nov 7 late in election period of sharp decline of nearly 20% from the previous election in the subscriber/member, eligible voter base to below 23,000.
D. 2006 Election Campaign Practice Violation by KPFA Subscriptions staff (distribution of CL slate literature in phone volunteer packets); undercover behavior, harassment, on-air promotion of alternate, biased staff website; and other "dirty tricks" by some key staff in the campaign to discredit and remove a former GM, demonstrating inclination and potential capability to manipulate and reduce 2007 eligible voter list.
*E. *Member disenfranchisement complaint letter to Pacifica PNB, demanding the KPFA election be redone in order to ensure a fair, fraud free election, copied below:
*

Appendix 2
KPFA Member Letter to PNB

-----Original Message-----
*From:* *......
Sent:* Tuesday, November 20, 2007 5:30 PM
*To:* PNB@pacifica.org
*Subject:* Election Insanity in Pacifica
Good Day to all,

Sadly, my note today is not a happy one.
It is about an election fraught with misery and possible deception, if not, downright fraud.

I am Stephania T Widger, a long time loyal KPFA listener. I am also a part of the Code Pink Community in the Bay Area and a scientist at a local Biotech company.

My tale starts close to a month ago, when I was first hearing on the radio that my ballot was "in the mail". I waited patiently, till I began hearing that various friends of mine, already had their ballots.

I called the station, as well as emailed the station many times over, in the space of three weeks.
I got no response at first. And then after a couple weeks, I finally got a response from someone. They told me there was no evidence of my membership. Now this was absurd. Not only did I pledge, but I also came in and volunteered answering calls during the Winter Fund drive.

I got hold of my premium and read it off to the gal on the line. I gave the name of a friend of mine who was at the station at the same time as I was answering phones. This all should have given them a clue as to how to "find" me in their system.

Finally on the day before the election was closed, late in the evening, I got an email delivered to me telling me they finally "found" me. Now as an early morning worker, I did not see that email till the following afternoon, when I came home from the lab. By now, it was way too late for me to drive back to Berkeley and put in a ballot.

A friend of mine said they'd go down and get my ballot and get someone to fill it out for me. Unfortunately this turned out to be just too confusing and too late to really work.

My ire over this blunder is so strong, it is pulsing. I see visions of Republican scams of the elections in the last two presidential elections.

I am hearing now, that many people did not receive their ballots. Based on this, the election should be called and a new election run. It doesn't matter that it costs more money. A fair election is the very root and bone of the problem.
If we can't trust Pacifica and KPFA to run a fair election, who CAN we trust.

I vote now...a new election free of fraud and mistakes like losing paid members!!!!

Stephania Widger
Code Pink Hayward

"No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices."
Edward R. Murrow MArch 9, 1954