Louis Reyes Rivera Candidate Statement

No! I am not in anyone’s pocket. If anything, I prefer to build bridges on the basis of principles embraced and adhered to. I endorse the Pacifica Mission wholeheartedly and see the LSB as a necessary brick within that construct. I liken the LSB to every other Board of Directors that must further assert itself as such – a local and autonomous body that guarantees the interests of the component it is supposed to serve, setting policy and ever evaluating management’s adherence to what is in the interests of WBAI and its staff.

No! I have no hidden agenda. What you hire me to do, I accept fully. When you hire me to teach, I teach – to counsel, I counsel. And I do it fully. When you supply me with a job description, I embrace it in the same manner as I do every breath. My enemies include mediocrity and ignorance. My friends, possibility and potential. That’s what I bring to the table.

In addition to being a renown poet, freelance editor and chair of the New York Chapter of the National Writers Union, I bring years of experience as a social critic and activist organizer with a high sensibility to both the arts and the Principle of Inclusion. I stand opposed to diatribe and unwarranted conflagration. I bring an independent voice committed to equity and fair play.

Now in my seventh year as the producer of Perspective (Thursdays, at 2pm), I’ve served as USOC Steward, willingly and openly taking issue, even with colleagues, whenever a principle is threatened. As well, I’ve served on the Program Council, and, most recently, on the PNB’s Licensing & Distribution Task Force, which body was charged with formulating a network-wide policy that now more fully acknowledges the intellectual property rights of all producers. These experiences have allowed me fuller insight into management – its faults and its strengths.

“The fault, dear Brutus,…” is this – despite the fact that producers and staff continue to provide our listeners with a solid and eclectic range of basically good programming, WBAI continues to be strapped with a managerial component that thrives on being at odds with itself instead of working cohesively on behalf of long range and continual development.

There is much that the LSB can do to further our capacity to fulfill our mission, as well, to guide the station into correcting its flaws. I believe I can help, and in that belief urge you to vote for me. [ This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ] As well, because of their consistency and commitment, I would also ask you to vote for Vajra Kilgour and Cerene Roberts.