• Audio Statement: Download or Stream to Media Player (mp3 format)
• Nomination Statement
• Candidate Questionnaire
• Email the Candidate

True democracy requires the involvement of the whole of the community, and not just a select or elitist few. It requires consideration and consultation between all sides, majority and minority alike, to make sure that all of the community has a stake in itself.

But true democracy also allows for dissent by the minority against the majority, even, as Abraham Lincoln said, to the point of revolution, of dismantling their governance.

My stand is support of true democracy at KPFA and Pacifica, in accordance with the Concerned Listeners for KPFA.

Without good governance, KPFA devolves into fighting over who can control it, pushing one political faction to dominate all others, when KPFA needs to be the voice for the voiceless, the one place where even the politically marginalized have a chance or hope to be heard.

Our mission in Pacifica is to bring together all sides and all views, in the effort to bring about peace and justice for all, and not those who twist the definition of democracy to suit their own agenda.

I serve out of the Fresno and Central Valley communities, where KPFA is carried to the heart of California through KFCF. I also serve on the Board of Directors for KFCF, and want to ensure that those voices are heard and considered along with all others.

Between KPFA and KFCF, our voices are heard in almost two-thirds of the entire state of California... why in the world would we want to limit ourselves to just a few loud voices when there are so many to be heard from?

Please consider and vote for myself and my fellow candidates of the Concerned Listeners for KPFA and help bring back institutional democracy that reaches out to all parties and excludes none, that engages the community instead of blockading it, and that respects the rights of all instead of those who it favors.

Please vote for good governance, an eye to fundraising, and making sure that KPFA stays on the air for all of us. Support the Concerned Listeners for KPFA: http//www.kpfalisteners.org.

Endorsed by: Zhenya Spake, Darryl Moore, Antonio Medrano, Matthew Lasar, Pat Jamison

1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board?

To ensure that KPFA and Pacifica remain on the air and relevant to the whole of the community that it serves.

2. How do you envision that Local Station Board working with the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA and the community?

By including the community at the basic levels of action within KPFA through governance and programming, through volunteerism, and engagement at local broadcast events.

3. How could the station better serve its listeners?

By remaining open to all points of view, and to avoid those who believe that they are somehow "better" or "more relevant" than any other belief or group.

Pacifica is founded on the principles of bringing groups and views together to form a common cause for peace and social justice. It is not to "ban" or "fire" or "refuse" anybody unless they choose to do so themselves.

If there is one thing that we agree on, we all need to work for it, and not refuse to do so because of the one thing we may disagree on.

4) Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience.

To increase these groups, we need to engage them and involve them into that same effort of common gals that we already should be doing amongst ourselves.

I have proposed in the past that the Program Council of KPFA be more open to listener participation in the development and programming of materials on the air.

I was also the main proponent of that the KPFA Town Hall meetings are to listen to the public, rather than to brag or preen, or to highlight certain groups of people.

Prior to the establishment of the LSB, I was on the LAB and hosted an open question session for the public ... and I was the only LAB member who appeared for the public.

I believe that by going into the whole of the community, we can find those underrepresented groups, engage them in discussions, and help to bring them to the airwaves for all to hear.

This type of outreach is what is needed at KPFA, rather than the same old faces showing up under different banners each month, offering the same old solutions and outrages to the same old problems that never get resolved.

5) What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel KPFA should solicit?

Licensing of archived KPFA and Pacifica materials, to be made for download or CD, and sold to the general public in record stores and webs sites.

A more dynamic offering of KPFA programming in syndication to other stations or to satellite radio.

A shift from Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding to more progressive and friendly organizations.

6) Please state briefly the skills, experiences, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.

I have been in broadcasting (private since 1973, public since 1980, pirate from time to time) for many years, from voice talent to station manager and news director.

My education is in political science and mass communications, and I have run for public office (school board, college district).

I am currently a computer consultant for the past six years, turning my hobby into my vocation, and still loving it.

I have also been a member of the Fresno Free College Foundation Board of Directors For about five years, overseeing operations at KPFA's associate station and Pacifica's "first" affiliate, KFCF-FM.

I was the first voice on the air at KFCF when the KPFA lockout occurred, and assisted in getting Flashpoints free on over the Internet during that crisis.

My interests are in free speech and press, and the freedom to express oneself in art and word, which are the founding principles of both the Fresno Free College Foundation and Pacifica.

7) Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation?

I have yet to miss a regular LAB nor LSB meeting since first serving in 1999. I have, on two occasions, missed a special meeting due to the timeliness of the call for the meeting.

I may miss my first LSB meeting, as the LSB has chosen to call a meeting on the same day as a candidate event, but barring such deliberate mis-scheduling, I do not anticipate any other absences.

8) On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?

Technology committee, Outreach committee, Programming committee. Otherwise, I would like to serve on the News committee and the Governance committee.