Pacifica’s commitment to peace, justice and social change is threatened by fascist trends in society, and by internal efforts to centralize governance, management and programming. At this critical moment, restoring listeners’ and programmers’ rights to participate in the governance of the station is vital to our survival and ability to meet the moment, and I’m running with the Pacifica Mission Coalition to achieve that.
I’m a lifelong anti-fascist, internationalist, labor activist, and advocate of grassroots community media. I served unpaid as General Manager from September 2022-November 2024, and previously was elected four times to the LSB, where I served as chair, treasurer and PNB director. I had also been elected in the first balloting in Pacifica to the KPFK Program Council, which I chaired, and helped write program evaluation criteria that were adopted by the Program Director. Years ago I was an unpaid producer at KPFA; more recently I helped create “Capitalism, Race & Democracy”.
During my tenure as iGM, we stopped the decline in membership, balanced the budget through reductions in expenses, and built new studios after the foundation sold the building that housed KPFK. I recruited unpaid talent — a program director, operations manager, custodian, news director, social media kit designer, and IT and engineering volunteers who made the move possible. Despite a Pacifica job freeze, we overcame the departure of the webmaster and traffic coordinator, the death of Roy of Hollywood, and retirement of Margaret Prescod. We paid a prior massive overdue electric bill and developed new non-profit funding sources. I created a technology task force with staff, volunteers and Pacifica personnel, that replaced a malfunctioning phone system, and carried out repairs to the transmitter and other operations.
I added fresh voices about the environment, single-payer healthcare, Indigenous struggles, Chicano activism, hiphop, Black liberation, immigration, and police abolition; revived Think Outside the Cage, Access Unlimited on disability rights and resources, local news, literary programming, orchestral music, LGBTQ and labor shows; added youthful voices in English and Spanish, like Revolucion Arcoiris. Amid genocide in Gaza, we ran the Radio Free Palestine marathon. I recruited interns for the station from Columbia College and an audio engineering school, and worked to bring Dorsey High seniors to the station to share their podcasting skills and learn about radio. I co-produced 2024 election coverage with all 5 stations, incorporating reports from affiliates.
Unfortunately, most of those innovations were wiped away, replaced by national syndication, repeats, and programs from KPFA, as the effort to centralize governance, management and programming took hold.
I’m a member of the House of Reps of United Teachers Los Angeles, work on the Change-Links community calendar, served on the board of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, and was a co-founder of the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, Anti-Racist Action, and White People for Black Lives. I’ve edited and published Turning The Tide: Journal of Inter-communal Solidarity since 1988. As a proven problem-solver and collaborative leader, I ask you to vote for me for director, and the PacificaMissionCoalition.com slate.