Jim Weber Candidate Statement

After KPFA and Pacifica recovered from the 1999 attack, I assumed that KPFA was a restored and secure source of the progressive information I needed. But in mid 2003, I discovered a problem. I attended a “Local Advisory Board” meeting, hoping to meet some friendly fellow-progressive listeners. But found myself in the Humanist Hall, surrounded by angry people, engaged in a Hate-KPFA orgy.

I couldn’t understand why anyone would Hate KPFA. So for the next few years I searched for answers, attending all the listener events. I met many listeners, attended meetings of external organizations that promoted themselves at KPFA events and at LAB meetings. I attended two conventions at UC Berkeley, sponsored by organizations that promoted themselves at all KPFA events.

As my understandings grew, the powerless LAB was suddenly replaced, by the new Court-Ordered LSB, with real powers to either protect or harm KPFA. I then attended every LSB meeting, seeking evidence that KPFA-haters from the old LAB meetings didn’t lie to get elected to the new LSB. My prayers were unanswered.

The original LSB election put a few democracy-haters on the Board. I knew who they were and what they were doing, only because I am old enough to have experienced the history of these democracy-haters, from the McCarthy witch hunt terror, where they supported McCarthy, to the Civil Rights movement, where they opposed Martin Luther King’s non-violence, to the violent Weather Underground, to the violent Simbionese Liberation Army. But these few examples represent only the extremely violent, faction of today’s democracy-haters who invaded KPFA’s LSB, and Pacifica. But they all do believe in violence, theoretically. So the LSB meetings from 2004 to 2006 were damaged by those angry few who prevented the Board from functioning democratically, using mostly violent hatespeech which eventually degenerated into physical violence in 2006.

However, this 3-year reign of terror in KPFA’s LSB ended when the 2006 election provided a new, strongly democratic LSB for 2007. Many of the old democracy-haters have left the Board, which now functions with the higher level of friendly collaboration that KPFA listeners and staff needed. But danger exists, in the approaching 2007 LSB election, of restored hate and violence from the past. Nevertheless, active participation of informed listenervoters can make this election work. We need more voters to make an honest election. In past elections barely 10% of the listenervoters actually voted. Any less than 10% would have voided those elections. Your help can increase voting to 20% by inspiring some of our 27,000 listener-voters who can vote but don’t vote. More ballots will assure a continuing democratic LSB.

(Also, please vote for me, a pro-democracy Board candidate, recommended by LSB’s Annie Hallatt, Sarv Randhawa, and Sherry Gendelman.)