Pacifica's interim Exe Director is blamed some more...

this is a reposting from a comment on

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2009/10/230802.php [the full article to which this comment is addressed is " How Grace Aaron Came to Run Pacifica by Wachale Sunday, Oct. 04, 2009 An untold chapter on the tactics used by Aaron and her CTSK to win the 2007 election at KPFK that propelled her climb to controlling Pacifica Radio"] comment title = "this IS 2009, but some enjoying rehashing past history for ....their own benefits & glory ? "

When KFPK elections come around, accusations and past grudges explode into any available space, include or especially this one.

It seems that the hope here in this article is to malign, execute and remove those of a different political alignment and to then be able to coalesce and get-in their allies to win the elections - a way to get the friends of those of the writer to be elected, and give back favors to those who loves to malign others. What a stupid but very very common political ploy.

Maybe someone will hint that Grace Aaron, or Ken Aaron, or whomever is unwanted is having a sexual affair or a monetary problem too ? = that would be ideal to make a ruckus on extraneous innuendos to then be able to squeeze in the other "preferred" and selected people to the LSB, or PNB or staff position.

It is all about bad mouthing and accusing and finding fault and blasting it everywhere possible for the effect.

Make the black hole big so someone the malicious writer then can fill with their own [equally tainted but not yet revealed ] choice.

Why are there continuous accusations and hate articles on a person who was democratically elected by those who were her peers on the PNB to be a temporary positioned iEd ?

Why are there no articles providing any information about her qualifications, past relevant experiences, actual work performance currently at PNB or Pacifica, that could then provide actual info about her capacities... and surely there must be some positive comments to say of her. Does everyone else at PNB or KPFK agree that she is the main powerful destroyer and usurper of all the problems in these stations ?

Or is there a taint found in her gender, her racial coloring, her calm and mostly unprovokable demeanor that causes more meanness and bad words to be blown around about her ?

Surely, she is not perfect, nor even close to it. The question may be who else is actually of equal or similar qualifications available for that low price and that also has had the loyalty and willingness to work hard and responsibly with all the turmoils of Pacifica ....and stay stable in all it's multi-conflictual competitor-runnings for that temporary position.. and also what qualifies the detractors and personal attackers to judge her or anyone else they happen to chose ?

There is no sense of any justice, fairness, or equality ever present in most articles on this website - as extreme views and malicious accusations and threatening implications predominant. And when an article refers to a particular person, not a whole organization or movement, it seems to be to intentionally intend to destroy that person. For another purpose of course. Maybe even a competitive reason.

No, the iED does not need anyone in particular to defend her honor, as if anyone who has actually seen her ability to decipher what is going on in meetings that are or not according to Pacifica's bylaws or Roberts' Rules... or her abilities and behavior to note and comment on what is occurring in the argumentative board processes. So one may even be glad to have someone with her clarity and presence there to help move the process along and get some work done, aside from all the objections, divergings, and self-glorifiying gestures that prevail in those meetings.

The people who have currently produced chaos and left the LSB meetings in utter decimation and disruption are again running... to be able to do more ....of their outrage, their self-righteous provocations, and their disturbing the work that needs to be accomplished.

And no one outside these meetings who has NOT seen these actions would know what happens 'inside'...so they then might even vote for those that make the meetings highly dramatic but unproductive events.. Everyone wanting to be re-elected tries to sound so sweet and politically correct on the radio air blurbs. But they are not all helpful to Pacifica, to KPFK, or to the LSB. Not to improving what has turned into a negative falling-apart structure that may crumble our favorite station .For sure.

And no one running is stating WHO THEY ACTUALLY REPRESENT on the LSB besides themselves, personally, or not w/o big generalizations t of groups that cannot be verified. Why is this so prevalent ?
Why are Board members just speaking for themselves and an amorphous group that is not localized or meeting to form informed opinions and agreements ?

So with the freedom of anonymity, the ariters here, those who want to bring up 2007, 2003, 2000 or 1960 history and find only the bad & bad & bad things that maybe happened as They describe....and reades believe that the same surely MUST happen again, then all those connections made are of questionable validity. It is not his-story that must tell us all we need to know. It is our learning from current real life and participation and observation that would help us see and understand what is wrong, right, and where changes should be going to help the station.

Where is the proof of truth to the blaming of all the others who also were actually involved and actively participated in making whatever has been described that was not successful in the past ?

Why is only one main person blamed for it all, as if she or he were so over-all powerful, all by themselves.
This is unlikely and and an easy cheap shot.

Who do we believe and why bother voting at all if this is what happens at KFPK and Pacifica ? If it is all rigged up to the few "elites" of either 'side', and no one else has a chance, why is there so much conflict, turmoil, disturbances, changes in staff and positions, and so poor funding?

Is this a solicitatiion for a "coup"?
Or just a bad mouthing of whoever is the current person in authority, whomever gets there for another minute, then shift and it becomes someone else. Of course.

can it be that the fuller story that is hidden or not being told, here or elsewhere ?

why did Sean Heitkemper leave KPFK as GM after only 1 year ? What are the facts ?

Who was the GM when all the bad thing happened at KPFK in 2007 ? Who was the ED at Pacifica ? Who ELSE is responsible besides the one being accused above ?

narrow mindedness is also called......stu.......y.
How can anyone believe a one-sided limited blame-game story ?

(c) 2009 akpfker

Hello, this is KPFK....oh, there is NO ANSWER ever !

[This Open Letter was written to the general manager of KPFK at the only identifiable email address allowed - "comments@kfpk.org" - the 1 place to send any questions / suggestions / information / inquiries / or make any attempt to contact someone who is not specifically an overburdened staff person [remember recent layoffs and reductions ?] or a programmer.

Staff when written to also do NOT respond at all. Anyone wanting to Offer anything - information, speakers, resources, and there is only silence to the desire to be heard or be of help to Our Station's functiong better.

Programmers also do not respond to emails either. Never have any even said "thanks for writing" or referred to another place for our concerns. We've written. We've called. We've tried. We've almost given up.]
- - - - - - - - -

The issue is NO INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE on the website, or where else ?
[easily or even searchable] and there is no one apparently 'response-able' at the station to respond to any questions or concerns from those who pay to keep KPFK going.

Only information is what is heard 'on-air'. From inside KPFK out here to the rest of us. 1 way only "= no response needed ?"

The volunteer receptionists do not know answers and while they try to be helpful, they are also basically uninformed and so only 'take messages' that do not ever get replied.

COMMITTEE MEETINGS are suppose to be open to the listener-sponsors to attend. But...

Please advise any one who may be responsible that the listings are NOT PUT ON the KPFK WEBSITE in a timely fashion to inform any of us out here in radioland just when the next committee and board meetings are being held... oh, they may be listed lalter, much later, but if made visible only late in the month it is a deterrent to having listeners attend... and how many times must an interested person return to 'check again',and again, to see "is it on their website yet ? when is it ? where is it ? why was it not announced visibly sooner ?"

Go ! look it up right now [2/23/09] to see that there is NOTHING listed for the month of March. No meetings are listed, and it is 5 days from end of Feb. Why is anyone waiting to give the audiences the ACCESS to attend meetings ?

Tho the February calendar was checked at beginning of Feb month, again, nothing was announced there and only after mid-month or later and the meetings were already past were they on the Events calendar and thus were un-attendable by any non-members. That means no KPFK sponsor could listen in to find out what is being discussed or decided by those "in charge".

In addition, the KPFK website lists a link to make PROGRAM COMMENTS, but those who use library comuters cannot access the link nor even find it's address when clicked because the library does not have it's own email programs set up.

Are you all deliberately excluding all those - who are concerned and interested listener-funders -who really want to communicate or attend the governance, finance, program coucil,LSB and any other committees and board meetings ?

It sure seems so...in so many ways

It was stated that someone from the LSB would see the comments made ...if one wrote to "program comments" and it was cuddly called 'a comments corner' to reach the ears of the LSB ....however, it does NOT go to the LSB member [and receptionist at KPFK] or whoever is suppose to receive a copy of these comments... again, how does one reach the LSB ?

or is it deliberate to protect any & all LSB members from those they are suppose to be representing... as there is no place on KPFK's website to be found where they can be actually accessed ?

No LSB email address is visible, findable. It is not clearly or easily locatable - even by searching, scrolling, returning, seeing the word "LSB" link on left of webpage and not having an email available from those contents either ....
So searching logically no LSB access address or phone was found - showing inaccessibility again. Are the LSB and other committees hiding behind their obvious lack of access from us it's station sponsors for some power-playing reasons ?

Please inform all of those KPFK people concerned about both these matters- as these difficulties have been written and asked about before - If there is no way to know our mail to "comments@kpfk.org, gm@kpfk.org" is received, or answered in any way, for so long now, why are there NO IMPROVEMENTS OR CHANGES to allow us the shareholders into the conversation that affects our lives and wallets ?

is this called transparency ?
honesty ? real communications [ or different than the 'other' corporations ?]
honest representation ?
or is any one else's free-speech locked out except those already inside the powerbox that radios out to the rest of this world, to only listen and be glad we have that much ?

the result is ill-will- not good will - engendered to KPFK as a closed corporation that has no feedback process, no accountability to it's sponsor-payees, no alliances formed that would create the desire to fund in greater $$$$ amounts.

This policy of hiding behind the 1-way website and 1-way programming on air is one that thus breeds lisitener resentment instead of loyalty, and it breeds distrust instead of cooperation, which all results in more lack of desire to send in money at fund drive-bys. And since the on-air image is one of some dedication to its KPFK listeners, the inability to get any response or find a place where to insure a concern is heard instead becomes an image of KPFK's management's hypocrisy.

Is this what is wanted and is this what the "visions" paper read by our GM [represnting the rest of Pacifica's GMs] at PNB meetings said they would do ?

Who is not doing oversight to produce all these LACK OF COMMUNICATIONS problems ?

Or maybe does the staff/station want to admit openly and State It On The Air too that KPFK is only a 1-way out station with no direct accountability or responsibility to it's sponsors/shareholders ?

Only when a provocative or excitable topic is put on by a programmer is there on occasion some listener calls coming in - is this the only kind of response possible at this community station ?

Note: There are NO RESPONSES TO EMAILS, or TO VOICE MAILS, or TO LEFT MSGS with receptionists.

Is that a KPFK bunker to hide within from 'the public' you treasure and ultimately need to pay your salaries?? We only "know you" 4x year when begging for money is repeated endlessly and programs inducing fear and anxiety are played [no matter how old or irrelevant - the emotionally aroused anxiety makes people pay attention and then maybe out of fear they will send their meager paychecks. [Replaying old protests & uprisings just to get a rise out of listeners probably works to trick them back into fear and anger and loathing...scare them into sending in money ? ]

But when a direct question is asked, silence. No sounds emerge from KPFK. Why is that ?

Also: when changes are made that make communications even more confusing and difficult, how do the concerned KPFK sponsors find out ? ....for example.

an email sent to the General Manager,[ who up to now was listed as "gm@kpfk.org"] was returned as undeliverable. Searching further and longer for why? on the KPFK website under "staff" heading was a new e-address now listed. But when did this change ? How much searching must anyone do to get thru ?

Was there too much mail to the GM before, the same new manager that had the "GM@kpfk.org" address just a short while ago ?....does this change make it easier to discourage and divert incoming mailers and thus ignore them ?
How much work searching is needed to write to the non-accessible management of the station to which all sponsors & volunteers contribute so much to?
So yes, a new address was finally found, called "sean@kpfk.org" later. How cute. But who knew? Why is the management so ineffective as to make it so much more difficult to write to him ? Or maybe it is purposeful ? maybe......

how confusing....when the theme of the attempted email was exactly about that - the difficulty in COMMUNICATING with anyone at KPFK and knowing it had arrived, was seen, or maybe read, or ignored, or deleted, or whatever .... nothing comes out except "on air" asking for monies and programs, but no actual responsiveness to the listeners ...what is wrong there ???

expect an answer ?

dont be stupid. KPFK does not intend to give any of us anything but it's own version of THE "Truth" and does NOT want to hear anything else back. Or any other versions of truth either.

nothing !

KPFK non-responsive to any questions, queries, calls

Our concern about KPFK is always repeated =that there is almost NO information about what is happpenning there forthcoming anywhere locally unless it is gossip, rumor, conjecture or complaint,

and then only at the fund drives do the KPFK volunteers meet each other while on site .... a strange lack of community or continuity otherwise or other times...as far as we can find out...tho it would seem it should be otherwise, there is only a silent thud here.

And when KPFK was googled searched there is nothing more to find out, but that was how the Pacificana web site showed up way down on p 2 or 3 of google search - and it took a long & dedicated search to discover that one!... Actually, Pacificana informs more there than can be found in Los Angeles or newsgroups, or else these are so submerged that they are not popping into regular view.

Also the Pacifica's ED's momentary visit described there and the description of people she met briefly, ever so briefly at OUR radio station is contrary to what we experience here...so her postings were of more interest because of course her position would give her a total different response and effect and view...like from the top,...and we are at the bottom...'just a volunteers'.

The July 11 KPFK website post of the new GM was only up AFTER we had searched google repeatedly only to find it noted 7 days earlier elsewhere...but it was NOT on KPFK's website until the 7 day+ delay, and there is no notation of who or when it was put up anyhow...as if it didnt matter

...so it was up way late .and while www.la.indymedia.org = a local info source [the only other place, where we here write or ask or comment or complain just a little - about KPFK to each other] because no one from the station ever seems to read it or care or respond or change anything at all....

So the GM appointment was Not announced promptly, the days earlier when he took 'office'or even before that, like when he was finally selected for sure ...and the info on website is also very minimal, w/no pix, no comment from him, nothing else that we can know... so what is the secret being held close there ? why?

again....as someone else said, we cannot be listening 24/7 to hear [maybe] an announcement, maybe even a short blurb or hear him talk.[as of July 15 anyhow] ..he may have by now...but we also cant' take in that much and listen and then maybe 'miss it' and are told, well," 'we did it already...it is your fault for not knowing..." the usual passing on responsibility...

and the initial announcement being on Sonali's site instead of KPFK's site FIRST [even Pacificana copied it from there ! before KPFK put it up at all.] makes one wonder what connections she has that the other paid staff dont have... and the GM made a comment somewhere overheard that he thought her program somehow special or whatever words he used to elevate her program above others ???? huh???? has he listened to others too ?? was he just being polite because she interviewed him before anyone else had made a public announcement? Did she scoop this ? or was Sonali the only one willing to expose him ?

or What happened there? No info makes it all more suspicious than it probably needs to be. But that's what KPFK engenders and promotes - secrecy, thus more suspicion. Why is this happening ?

so it was all a bit strange, the order of how, when, who makes the prime announcement and who will see it ? or know? and who cares anyhow !!!!! right ? does this sound grumpy ?? well it comes with the futile search and not finding much.

We are still lured to trying to help improve/change/do something ! to keep KPFK from being the secret compartment closed enclave hidden agenda'd and totally non-transparent entity claiming "free speech" and openness and not displaying any.

Like all rebels, the KPFK programmers like to expose the "others" while in their own paranoia hiding themselves, excessively, fearfully. What strength can that be ?

Some of us recently attended the 2nd or 3rd meeting of a group called the "community advisory Board" required by Corp Pub Broadcasting =to give KPFK funds yearly....and already a few of us are already dismayed and discouraged by how this too goes.....dysfunctional is a positive description compared to the realities seen and experienced...so far

It is said that this group should have been in effect already for a few years now [how many ?] but had not been meeting, and had been 'advising'some years before ....and yet because it is required to exist and advise for the financesto flow into the station, so it is being started up again. With no good guidelines of who they advise ...what was ever advised before ? what is possible to do as an external group to help ? to help the station's community's to really have a bit of input in programming or elsewhre, though all internal-workings are so closely held for that staff/programmer sense of personal-political-individual power...or so it seems, so often and clearly so.

So we dont expect to know or do anything... BUT at least we believe in exposing problems and refuse go into addictive-people's denials....like alcoholics...the whole station's staff and even many long time programmers collude to keep silent, never answer emails, never answer phone call msgs. and are impossible to connect to directly. it just dont happen !

There are a few volunteers who work on site who confirm this also, to their own frustration, trying to be responsible to the KPFK listerner public, yet they dont understand and cant get anything or anyone to be more responsive - even while at the premises working there for gratis !!!

... nothing is confidential here... and it's noted that the KPFK website has requests 2 volunteers for 2 days of reception afternoon work...huh?so while the hope or assumption may be that the new GM will be somehow different or better, I already dont think they could do much even if they wanted to make the great effort to change the elephant's stripes...they will change him,the GM, not him change the whole teetering mega station. or rather the tightly held corporation...

and if a person has been on "a program for '25 years" as a programmer claimed and insists this gives them permission to keep on having their own special program, what does this also tell us ? entrenchment is what the programmers are all about...even within the great variety that does also exist, I admit and why I still remain loyal to the station.

if anyone at all is interested in what is happening at KPFK from the Outside, as there is no central channel of truth or sharing information, then again la.indymedia has some articles that can be searched and briefly reviewed...but who has time to do this ? who cares ?

yes, we can write and carry on, apologies to those irritated by these complaints, but these complaints repeat because we want them to heard, healed, changed and the station's secretive ways to be opened up to it's owners and sponsors and dedicated loyal volunteers, not just paid staff that are in divisive factionalized conflicts already...

that so many in LA listeners must know...or who cares ? whatever......
peace, maybe....
mary janie written on July 15,2008 8:04 pm PST