Can Democracy Trickle Up?

The Elections for the KPFA Station Board

By Tracy Rosenberg

(1010 words)

 

In the spring of 1999 when a demoralized KPFA LAB witnessed the removal of their power to seat members on the National Board in a cynical power grab, and the station was locked down and knocked off the air, it seemed as if no listener, LAB member or not, could have the faintest impact on the Pacifica attack on KPFA. Yet, the LAB, the programmers, and the listeners took to the streets and, as is often the case, transformed an overt attack on freedom into a covert war of attrition. This war continues to this day.

Wars of attrition are horribly enervating. Groups huddle, desperately debating strategies, as the status quo rumbles along. No one is sure what, of a million possible routes, might serve as a jump-start for change. At such a time, it pays to remember what exactly we are fighting for - a radical, listener-supported space on the airwaves, free of corporate propaganda, with a signal strong enough to be heard from Santa Rosa to Sacramento to Monterey.

Pacifica has never had a listener-elected board at any station. The listeners exercised the power of the purse strings over the network, choosing to tune in and donate (or not) based on their relative level of satisfaction with the programming provided. But, last summer, KPFA was forced to depend on its loyal subscribers, not only for funding, but also for its very survival -- a most precarious state of affairs.

A station under sustained attack by it's own administrative arm, a station that is relying on engaged listeners for protection from a national board gone amuck, must have a dynamic and meaningful relationship with that listener community. The sponsorship base has to not only be maintained, but the numbers expanded and the level of commitment to preserving the station intensified.

Let’s find and recruit capable and dedicated candidates to serve on this board, let’s vote conscientiously, and reach out not just to neighbors and friends, but also to those who feel voiceless and powerless, to bring them into the KPFA community as listeners, supporters, and voters.

The progressive community, while valuing the resource, sometimes feels KPFA has become fossilized. Communities of color and low-income folks often feel it hasn't got much to do with them anyway. And all this pushing and pulling about what's not good, from the outside and the inside, is not always energizing.

Let’s get leaders of the progressive community on this board to articulate what KPFA can and must do for them. Lets put communities of color and low-income people in the driver's seat, so instead of wondering how to increase diversity in the listener audience, we do.

A KPFA with an engaged listener audience is a KPFA that has a good chance of outlasting this horrendous National Board. A KPFA that hunkers down behind the fort probably won't.

So here's some information about this very important and historic process that is underway at KPFA.

 

In order to qualify to vote, you must fulfill one of the three conditions below:

A) Subscribe to KPFA with a $25 or greater donation 1-13 months prior to the start of the campaign period.

B) Perform 3 hours of volunteer work at the station 1-13 months prior to the start of the campaign period.

C) Anyone 20 years or younger who wishes to vote in the election (for the 2000 election only) may do so on presentation of an ID card.

There are twenty two thousand current subscribers to KPFA, and ten percent of them need to complete ballots in this election in order for the results to be legitimate. So yes, vote, and make sure other people do too.

Any qualified voter may run for the Station Board upon presentation of a nomination petition with the signatures of ten additional qualified voters. Each candidate will also be required to write a ballot statement, sign a pledge, and (if at all possible), appear on a candidate forum to be broadcast repeatedly on KPFA during the campaign period. The nomination deadline is currently August 9th.

Ballots will be sent to qualified voters in the KPFA database, will most likely be available on-line, and will be available for pickup at the station office. The voting period is scheduled for August 25th to September 25th, 2000.

The voting system that will be used is choice voting, a proportional method of voting. The board will have a minimum and maximum threshold of representation for men and women, people of color and Caucasians, so as to be representative of the community the station is in, and serves.

The LAB Election committee is sponsoring nomination events where potential candidates can meet qualified voters for signature-gathering and discussion and several of the listener groups are planning discussion forums during the election period where candidates will be invited to speak and answer questions from the audience. These will be announced on-air and also posted on the web site www.cfdp.org.

 

Here are some sources for further information:

*To verify your status as a voter, to arrange a shift of volunteer work at the station in Berkeley, or to make a pledge, please contact KPFA directly at (510) 848-6767 or kpfastaff@yahoo.com.

*To review the candidate materials on-line: www.cfdp.org and follow the link labeled "democratization". There is also a link from the KPFA web page at www.kpfa.org. There is no link from the www.pacifica.org web site.

*To get these materials through the mail, or to make an inquiry related to the election process, the LAB Election committee can be contacted at kpflabelections@hotmail.com or by telephone at (510) 848-6767x463.

Tracy Rosenberg is the Administrative Director at Media Alliance, a SF media watchdog organization, a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Pacifica and the LAB Election Committee and a former resident of Camp KPFA. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not represent the official position of Media Alliance.

The 2000 KPFA LAB Election is endorsed by the current LAB, The Coalition for a Democratic Pacifica, North Bay for KPFA, Media Alliance and Friends of Free Speech Radio.