Vajra Kilgour Candidate Statement

I’m asking my fellow workers at WBAI to re-elect me to the Local Station Board. During the past three years, I’ve done my utmost to make sure that the LSB respects staff contracts. Along with the rest of the board majority, I’ve worked to minimize cuts in paid staff advocated by some board members, which would only weaken the station. I’ve also worked with the Unpaid Staff Organizing Committee (USOC) to prevent the Pacifica National Board from curtailing staff voting rights, and personally lobbied fellow board members to keep the long-standing arrangement of a staff majority on management search committees.

In addition, I donate as much as I can to the station while soliciting donations elsewhere and volunteering in the tally room during fund drives, where one volunteer more or less can make a difference of thousands of dollars per day. I’ve joined with other members of the board in calling for a permanent full-time development director as soon as financially feasible, and will work toward better coordination between the board and management in fundraising events.

I’ve served as board chair for the past three years. As chair, I quickly ended the practice of hiring private security guards and made arrangements to purchase inexpensive sound equipment we could operate, rather than having to pay an engineer for travel and recording – thus greatly reducing expenditures by the board. Chairing this board has been an enormous challenge: so many board members are ideologically locked into their perspectives to such a degree that practical considerations are often overridden, making it extremely difficult to facilitate the legitimate business of the board. In addition, there are serious differences on the part of listener and staff members with regard to what is most beneficial for the station. I will continue to represent the best interests of the staff.

I’ve served on the Pacifica Affiliates, Technology, and Governance committees, and am now chairing the local Management Evaluation Committee, which is ready to begin a new round of evaluations, pending a go-ahead from the Local Station Board.

A series of personal tragedies in the past year has made it difficult for me to stay in touch with other staff members as much as I would like, but I pledge to be more communicative in the future. I also plan to be involved in finding a way to fund equipment purchases with more input from staff, and to help find a permanent, affordable home for WBAI.

You may be asking why anyone would want to continue to serve on the Local Station Board given what very hard and thankless work it is. The answer is, because it matters. The future of WBAI is hanging in the balance, and I want to help assure that the station continues to survive and to move forward in the fulfillment of its mission in a time when it’s needed more than ever. Please vote for me and for Louis Reyes Rivera and Cerene Roberts.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry