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

Rather than offering my e-mail address as a sacrifice on the spammer silver platter, I invite KPFA listeners who want to contact me easily to find my e-mail address by googling me. Look for the "Transcend" database. I manage a Rise-up list and agree with their tag: "Get off the Net. See you in the streets!" To subscribe to that, send an e-mail to bfuusjev-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

Thank you for supporting KPFA. You may know that KPFA can reach a third of Californians and Pacifica can reach a quarter of the U.S. population. You are unlikely to learn this elsewhere, but because you are a KPFA listener you may know that the overthrow of Ecuador's corrupt president Lucio (April '05) was orchestrated by listener call-ins to the independent station, Radio Luna. Now you know why I want to serve KPFA.

Dedicated to ending corporate rule of governments, media, and culture, I wrote resolutions-- edited with help from fellow Peace and Justice Commissioners--denouncing corporate "personhood" and constitutional "rights," one addressing the stolen '04 national election including a plan for secure elections, one opposing CAFTA and promoting fair trade, and one in solidarity with Aristide and the people of Haiti. I was honored as an advocate for peace and justice with the 2005 "Outstanding Woman of Berkeley" award. Berkeley's City Council passed all four of "my" resolutions unanimously, as well as others I worked hard on such as the U.S. Department of Peace, for bringing home the California National Guard from Iraq, for democracy and human rights in Burma, and for Bush and Cheney's impeachment.

Organizing around those and other projects with inspiring activists and organizations has been frustrating at times AND the greatest pleasure. Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists' Social Justice Committee members protest and get arrested with me, or otherwise support our peace-empowering civil disobedience, lobbying, and wonderful events at the BFUU Hall. We collaborate with Global Exchange, Code Pink, the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, the Western States Legal Foundation, Corpwatch, the Haiti Action Committee, Pastors for Peace, the War and Law League, voting rights and environmental orgs, and many others including KPFA. I am a founding member of ReclaimDemocracy.org's Bay Area chapter and of the U.S. Steering Committee of the international peace organization, TRANSCEND, founded by Johan Galtung. It is thanks to hearing him on KPFA that there is a U.S. chapter and he has appeared here in person several times.

All that has helped me develop skills I will use on the Local Station Board in outreach to broaden the listener base, in advocacy for listeners and staff alike, in fund-raising and in maintaining civility and consensus building on the Board. I will help ensure that all of KPFA's listeners have a voice on the Board and that the station remains true to its mission to embrace diversity and present accurate, objective, comprehensive news including sources not found elsewhere.

Joanna Macy was the first person I approached to nominate me to the Local Station Board because she embodies what I envision would do this work justice--facing the dire reality of our times AND enjoying the lively personal and community empowerment of being a part of the Great Turning towards creating a peaceful, sustainable world of health and plenty for all. As a loving, intelligent, and creative species, that is our destiny. KPFA will help us fulfill it.

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

I want to make a positive difference in this world, I know KPFA is important, and know I will be an asset to KPFA. That is why I wish to be on the Local Station Board.

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

An effective board supports their parent organizations by serving as ambassadors with the community at large to increase goodwill, by fund raising, and by being a liaison.

How can the station better serve its listeners?

The music on KPFA is great and is important. KPFA also needs more news and news analysis, especially in these times of crisis when disinformation is increasingly insidious in the mainstream media. Pacifica is charged "to promote the full distribution of public information; to obtain access to sources of news not commonly brought together in the same medium; and to employ such varied sources in the public presentation of accurate, objective, comprehensive news on all matters vitally affecting the community."

Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in under-represented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience?

Honestly, I plan to grow into this role over the three years of my term and to learn what actions will be most helpful. I already advocate for KPFA one on one and when matronizing businesses that tune in to another station. BFUU Social Justice Committee friends and I hold banners over the pedestrian bridge during rush hour sometimes, an easy way to reach thousands. We have a 94.1 FM banner. I fantasize about listening to Democracy Now and other favorites through headphones on the bridge while a boom box blares music. We can dance while holding the banner. Advertise, exercise and get informed simultaneously!

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

Maintaining an independent funding base is part of KPFA's mission. If KPFA were to solicit funding from non-listener sources, not only must there be no "strings attached" and no influence on programming but there must be no appearance of that either. Listener support will be sufficient with increasing numbers of listeners, fund-raising events such as the Craft and Music Fairs, and product sales that publicize KPFA.

Please state briefly the skills, experience, 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?

My history proves my commitment to peace and social justice. My communication and parliamentary skills continue to be honed through years as co-chair of the Berkeley Fellowship of UU's Social Justice Committee and as Dona Spring's appointee to the city of Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission. I am currently on the BFUU Board of Trustees. Formerly I was on the board of Bay Area Youth Opera. I am trilingual, have lived in other countries, and traveled widely, often with Global Exchange. Family members are from several continents. Being multicultural helped me develop empathy and the desire and ability to see many sides of issues. Though I may join a slate, I also see sense in another platform and will remain objective. Being uninvolved in the details thus far and willfully unknowledgeable regarding KPFA's internal politics, I will bring an independent, clear and fresh vision to KPFA.

Do you anticipate missing any local station board meetings due to family or job-related problems or inadequate transportation?

I anticipate attending all Local Station Board meetings during my term.

On which local station board committees are you interested in serving?

I am interested in serving on the Outreach Committee and/or the Programming and News Committee.