DEADLINE: Your vote must be cast before 9pm Pacific Time, Saturday, September 30 to be counted.

NO BALLOT ?

Ballots were sent out from Pacifica Foundation <invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com>, on Aug. 15, by email if KPFK has your email address; otherwise by USPS postal mail. You may get reminder emails each Tuesday if you have not voted, from that same email address or from nes@pacifica.org.
If you can’t find your ballot, check your spam folder and if it’s not there, then TODAY fill out the official Pacifica ballot request form here, and also let us know by emailing info@newdaypacifica.org (also tell us your station). Don’t wait until the last minute!
If you don’t have a gmail address, you may skip the part where the ballot request form asks which gmail account to use.

Please vote for ALL these Listener Candidates, ranking them #1-13 on your ballot, in the order below or as you choose. We recommend filling out these 13 spots then stopping. 

Of course, if you  want to vote for any additional specific people, vote for them also (ranking them #14, 15, etc.), and then stop. 

• Evelia Jones — Arts programs coordinator • K-12 public school educator • experienced radio broadcaster • culturist
• Jan Goodman — Lawyer • Co-Founder Paul Robeson Community Center • a New Day leader
• Harvey “Sluggo” “No Nukes” Wasserman — California Solartopia • no nukes • election protection
• Robert Payne — Writer • video director • university instructor
• Ace Estwick — Youth listener engagement • social media experience (50,000 followers on Black history and culture at one point) • financial expertise
• Antonio Garcia — Professor • journalist • UFW organizer
• Katherine “Kat” Kramer — Actorvist • impact producer • singer • performer • journalist • host • moderator • festival founder • animal rights
• Adam Wolman — Career as TV creative/programming exec & Disney-ABC diversity mentor • Human Rights Watch L.A. exec committee • social justice activist
• Steven Meeks — Composer • cultural and environmental advocate/protector • organizer
• Tatanka Bricca — Life long non-violent community organizer • draft resistor • UFW Bay Area coordinator – grape, lettuce, wine boycotts • Danny Sheehan Romero Institute • Dolores Huerta Foundation
• Nancy Pearlman — Environmentalist • radio broadcaster • producer of documentaries • community college trustee emeritus • anthropologist
• Vinnie De Stefano — National Organizing Director Assange Defense, ACLU Board
• Nancy Niparko — Pediatric neurologist • single payer healthcare • environment • feeding unhoused people

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Give Us Your Thoughts and Suggestions on Improving Pacifica and Your Station

To do so, then AFTER you vote, please go to this brief survey on how to improve KPFK and Pacifica. Thanks!

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Listener Candidates – Details:

Evelia Jones

Hello! I became acquainted with KPFK 90.7, 5 years ago through the zealous work of some longtime members of the local station board. They wanted to get new memberships for the station. I was a sure bet! But, to have come aboard the same year Covid and it’s restrictions became the norm, made it easier to see and understand the turbulent circumstances our station and the Pacifica network were facing.

We were drowning due to decreasing financial donations and memberships. We lost outstanding programs and sadly, we lost some of our most esteemed members to illness and stress. The comeback is a long and winding road.

We are on that road and one goal is to get more members—an outreach to younger and differing peoples would be a good start. We must encourage our youth to get involved with us and help us navigate a newer presence on the air. We want to play their music as well as the classics; we want to tell their stories and needs. We also must have a high end sound. This could incorporate the outreach to and continued support of our educational institutions. They have potential graduate candidates in broadcasting. Exchange programs between them and KPFK are already designed and ready to be launched.

The structuring of 2023 volunteerism needs attention as well. IN SUMMARY, WE ALL MUST GET ALONG! We also must work together in a better fashion. Let’s focus on the future and carefully eliminate the worst of our enemies: excessive debt, ineffective by-laws and generally speaking, poor programming.

These are just a few of the ideas I would most dedicate my support to for KPFK. I can be a contributing part to our survival.

Jan Goodman

I am a committed advocate and activist.

Imagining the influence Pacifica could have with 5 stations and almost 200 affiliates if we had top notch, well produced programming, with hospitable, multi-ethnic and multi-generational voices, providing a left analysis of news and politics is the reason that I am committed to revitalizing Pacifica.

My lifelong work for peace, justice, and equality aligns and has depended on KPFK as a powerful tool for progress.

Here’s a summary of some of my service history and skills:

• I’m among the leaders of New Day Pacifica, advocating for updating our bylaws, with – 55% (6818–Pacificans) voting for changes to make Pacifica the vibrant 21st-century media organization with a left perspective that it should be.

• 5 years as a Director on the Pacifica National Board and 12 years on the KPFK-Local Station Board

Outside of Pacifica, I have held leadership roles such as

• President of the National Lawyers Guild-L.A.,
• President of Americans for Democratic Action-L.A.
• Co-founder and Executive Director of the Paul Robeson Community Center and the Robeson Youth Radio Training Project in South Central L.A.
• My qualifications encompass a diverse range of skills, including legal expertise, fundraising experience and grant-writing

Theresa Bonpane from the Office of the Americas kindly summarized my qualifications: “Jan Goodman’s distinguished career in law and life expresses the quest for justice and peace which is the essence of the Pacifica Mission”.

My deep roots in South Central Los Angeles have given me a firsthand understanding of the struggles faced by marginalized communities. Growing up iworking class, in a bi-racial family in Watts and witnessing my step-father’s battle to become the first Black printer admitted to the Printers’ Union, and STILL not getting union jobs after that, fueled my unwavering determination to combat racism and injustice.

Through my leadership at the Paul Robeson Community Center, we established a transformative Filmmaking and Radio Training Project in South L.A., empowering youth with media skills–fueling my determination that KPFK must have youth training programs!

I’m grateful for the endorsements I’ve received from notable individuals, including Cynthia Anderson-Barker, Cristina Vazquez (Retired VP Unite-HERE), Harvey No-Nukes Wasserman, and Earl Ofari Hutchinson.

We must intensify our efforts to create high-quality programs that include local, national and international news and analysis with diverse generational, cultural and ethnic voices heard rarely on the airwaves.

Our listenership and donations are declining due to cronyism that replaces science and fact-based programming with poorly produced and sometimes anti-science content. Management and programming decisions lack coherence, as seen, for example, in the arbitrary decision to move Amy Goodman’s time slot from 8 to 6 am.
For more information about me, my endorsements, and the fellow LSB candidates I endorse, please visit NewDayPacifica.org. You can also find additional details about me at https://alawyerhelp.com/portrait-of-l-a-s-perpetual-progressive-jan-goodman-peoples-world/
Together, let us bring about positive change and ensure that KPFK remains a powerful force in the pursuit of justice.

In solidarity,

Harvey “Sluggo” “No Nukes” Wasserman

Pacifica belongs to the people.

We are here to take it back for peace, social justice and ecological principles KPFK and Pacifica were meant to serve.

That includes shutting the nuke reactors at Diablo Canyon that threaten us all.

And it means providing programs our listeners WANT to hear and support.

As current Chair of the KPFK local station board, I work with a great group of New Day democracy activists.

We demand a functional, pro-green powerhouse for peace and social democracy.

We have the commitment, skills and activist resources to save KPFK & Pacfica—IF you will vote for us in this election.

Two years ago we won a 56% majority of the listener-supporters demanding a set of by-laws that would actually work.

Strong majority support also came from the staffs at KPFK, KPFA and KPFT.

Our majority was denied—leading to two horrendous years of anti-democratic dysfunction and financial catastrophe.

With infuriating dirty tricks, illegal purges and a wrongfully perpetrated lawsuit, Pacifica told its listener-supporters to drop dead.

More than half of KPFK’s members have left, with parallel departures at KPFA, KPFT, WPFW & WBAI.

The network has suffered a degradation of programming, massive losses and dysfunctional chaos.

It’s now widely seen as being pro-nuke, pro-Putin and defined by internal anti-democracy chaos.

We will change this.

The KPFK board has at last become functional, proving it CAN be done.

As its Chair, I have 56 years of radio experience (dating to 1967) much of it with WBAI, KPFA & KPFK (with Bob Fass, Larry Bensky, Kris Welch, Dennis Bernstein, Myla Reson, Ralph Nader, etc.)

My weekly SOLARTOPIA GREEN POWER & WELLNESS SHOW has been running at PRN for 10+ years.

My CALIFORNIA SOLARTOPIA show with Myla Reson has been a mainstay of LA Green activism…& needs to be restored NOW.

I have been working with the civil rights (I met MLK in Mississippi, 1966), peace, green, pro-pot and pro-democracy movements since 1962.

I did media for the 1979 NO NUKES concerts, spoke for Greenpeace at Woodstock ’94, & still conduct a weekly election protection zoom since 2020.

As a lifelong democracy activist, I’ve been infuriated by what has been done to KPFK/Pacifica…and intend to help change it.

Let’s turn it around. NOW!!!!

We CAN save KPFK/Pacifica….but we need your support to do it!!!

WE SHALL OVERCOME!!

Robert Payne

The survival of KPFK requires funding, membership, and programming.

KPFK presents an alternative to the radio / TV / print circuses of the corporations.

KPFK offers 24-hour, 7-day-a-week intelligent and challenging voices.

Activists, writers, academics, practitioners, musicians, witnesses, survivors —KPFK presents their experience and ideas to the world via radio and the internet.

And KPFK rejects commercial sponsorship. Advertising? Foundations? Political candidates? KPFK will not accept their money.

With commercial and political sponsors, come demands. KPFK will not accept those demands.

KPFK remains listener sponsored. Only.

I work international websites, video, and digital print-on-demand. In this way, I work with Non Government Organizations, develop projects, and publish information. I offer my experience to KPFK.

As a channel of information, KPFK presents many opportunities. Websites. Expansion to cellphones. Other social medias.

World membership. World programming.

KPFK must continue with progressive, values-based programming to fulfill the mission statement of Pacifica and our own humanist demands.

Cultural, ideological, spiritual, health programs will never win the numbers advertisers demand.

Yet the Pacifica mission statement demands progressive, intelligent, and compassionate programming. KPFK must deliver that programming.

My issues: The survival of KPFK through funding, members, and programming.

Candidate Questionnaire

1. What experience, connections, skills or traits would you bring to the local station board to advance the station’s mission?

Writer, documentary maker, cameraman, developer of multiple projects in multiple languages and multiple cultures. Work in Central America, Middle East, Africa, Asia.

2. What do you appreciate and value in the station’s current operations?

National and international programming exceeding the shallow coverage of the corporate medias.

3. What would you like to see improved or changed in the station’s current operations?

Improved radio signal throughout Los Angeles and Southern California.

Websites for all programs. Radio Insurrection with Hamid Khan needs a website in parallel with KPFK for all the names and organizations interviewed.. Rising Up with www.sonalikolhatkar.com is an example.

YouTube uploading of interviews. Letters and Politics of Mitch Jezzerich on KPFA, San Francisco provides an example.

Better audio equipment for programs recorded off-site. Utilize free media such as FaceBook, YouTube, etc to promote programs and events.

And as Los Angeles is an international city of 100-plus languages and cultures, I want our local voices to add to the international coverage with interviews of people with intimate knowledge of foreign events. ( This will require audio and video equipment. )

4. Describe what you anticipate would be your top three priorities or areas of focus if you were elected to the local station board.

Money. Membership. Programming.

5. What are your thoughts on how the board can help to improve the station’s financial footing?

Exploit free internet media to offer live and scheduled programming anywhere at anytime to anyone. This will draw membership and contributions from everywhere in the world.

6. Is there anything else you would like prospective voters to know?

Go to my website ( programmed for cellphones ) for information, experience, and documentaries: VideoAdventures.info

Ace Estwick

Having been born and raised in Santa Monica, CA, to first-generation American parents from the Caribbean, I have always had a connection with independent media. My journey began in 7th grade, and from 2007 to 2012, I curated an independent blog with a substantial following of 50,000, focusing on Black history and current events.

Through personal experiences, I have witnessed the urgent need for independent, non-corporate-funded press. Facebook’s censorship of myself and fellow contributors to my blog for reporting the truth reinforced this conviction.

Over the past five years, I have dedicated myself to landscape architecture, designing diverse outdoor spaces for private, commercial, and public use. Utilizing tools such as drones and computer simulations, I appreciate the multidimensional nature of this craft. Designing for four dimensions requires considering how designs evolve over time—how plants grow, mature, and transform, and how they interact individually and collectively across different seasons.

Applying a similar perspective, I envision the future of KPFK as a blossoming and maturing station with a progressive perspective. To achieve this, we must engage younger programmers and listeners while elevating production values across all programs.

A hospitable listening environment should be created for both young and old, eliminating the excuse of incoherent rambling on the airwaves, regardless of age. As a person in my twenties I am acutely aware that there are numerous articulate, well-informed young individuals from various backgrounds and fields who can enrich our airwaves.

Our programming should emphasize factual and science-based reporting. In the event someone feels compelled to broadcast views against vaccination, for example, it should be accompanied by conversations with scientists or medical professionals, or by adjacent programming that provides a counterbalance.

Beyond landscape architecture, I have acquired over eight years of experience as an operator or product owner in diverse industries, including cannabis and technology. My understanding of finance and expertise in book balancing can be valuable contributions to Pacifica, and I am eager to share this knowledge.

Living in a world where most media outlets are corporate-owned, it is vital to maintain KPFK and Pacifica as listener-sponsored and self-sustaining entities by improving programming. We must attract top-quality journalists who captivate audiences, taking us one step closer to establishing a station that more people will tune into and support.
Together, we can shape a future where independent media thrives, providing accurate information and fostering meaningful dialogue that empowers our communities.

Antonio Garcia

I was a privileged young kid, as I grew up in Jalisco, Mexico. But political considerations uprooted my family. Our journey led us to California, where I found myself toiling in the fields at the young age of 16, wearing my cherished Ringo Starr boots. Overcoming initial language barriers, I fought my way into high school and, driven by my dream of becoming a doctor, I eventually graduated from UC Santa Cruz.

However, my life took a transformative turn when my father called upon me to secure his release from jail, where he shared a cell with the legendary Cesar Chavez. This encounter redirected the course of my life, and I dedicated myself to organizing for the grape boycott, becoming an
activist and organizer committed to forging a better, more just, peaceful, and healthy world.

My activism extended far and wide, encompassing the struggles of farm workers, the fight against apartheid and war, advocating for Leonard Peltier, supporting the Longshore workers, standing in solidarity with and writing about Nicaragua and El Salvador, and actively participating in the Chicano movement. Influential figures like Bert Corona and Angela Davis shaped my perspective, while Cesar Chavez taught me the importance of internationalism over nationalism.

Throughout my journey, I pursued academia, from Santa Cruz to UC San Diego, studying under esteemed scholars like Herbert Marcuse. I shared my knowledge as a college professor at Cal State Northridge, Channel Island, and Oxnard Colleges. I’ve also served as a high school educator. As a Co-Founder and Director of Pajaro Community Corporation, I worked tirelessly to uplift communities, and I also held the position of Senior District Executive at the Boy Scouts.

As a journalist, I focused on shedding light on the struggles faced by Latin America and workers in the United States. Additionally, I expressed my creative spirit through writing poetry and composing and playing music.
During the vibrant era of the 1970s, I had the privilege of being a part of KPFK, where I kept listeners informed about labor struggles, shared news from Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and created and hosted a weekly music program called “Nueva Cancion,” when KPFK had no other Música Latina on its airwaves.

Now, I witness KPFK and Pacifica grappling with challenges, and I am filled with the desire to give back. As a member of the Local Station Board, I aspire to restore KPFK to its former glory, reigniting its power and influence as a platform for truth, justice, and community empowerment.

Together, let us strive to fulfill the noble mission of Pacifica.

Katharine “Kat” Kramer

As an actorvist, journalist, impact producer, animal-rights and wildlife advocate, environmental justice, female empowerment and anti-bullying activist, I’m running for the board as a listener candidate.

I’m a long time supporter of KPFK Pacifica, having been a guest several times to raise awareness about my cinema series “Kat Kramer’s Films That Change The World” which showcases documentaries and films that explore socially-conscious issues. The series was founded in 2009, and in my on small way I’m following in the footsteps of my late father, maverick filmmaker Stanley Kramer, who made 35 social justice films.

I produce and present premiere screening events with leading actorvists, filmmakers, media, students and creatives Lily Tomlin is the Ambassador and has been the series Host. I have been a guest along with Lily and my keynote speaker Dr Helen Caldicott on Pacifica Performance Showcase Arts & Culture with host Donna Walker, when I presented the North American premiere of FALLOUT. I always moderate “think-tank” panels and Q and A sessions.

I have co-presented the first Atomic Age Cinemafest in LA, and co-moderated the”power panel” with Harvey No Nukes Wasserman. My late Godmother and Namesake was feminist screen icon Katharine Hepburn. I can currently be seen in the documentary” Call Me Kate,” streaming on Netflix USA. This year, I’m launching #SHEroesForChange Festival and podcast, to celebrate female equality, empowerment, and DEI through the power of film and music.

To recognize #SHEroes who are Changemakers, both famous and overlooked.We honor women In focus, female driven stories,female filmmakers, and women making a difference. #SHEroesForChange strives to give artists a platform to explore such subjects as gender parity, workplace discrimination, and bulling, Eco- Feminism, disability -rights, mental health and women’s reproductive rights, climate change, environmental justice, intersectionality, intergenerational female representation on screen, music and the arts, female politicians, scientists and inventors.

I am a co-star and co-producer of the award winning film TURNOVER , about diversity and inclusion. I currently serve on the Advisory Board f the Los Angeles Press Club, Advisory Board and Board of The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, and the Board of Advisors of The Lavender Effect. I was previously on the Board of Directors for the Hollywood Media Professionals.

As an advocate for independent film and media, I believe in the power of media to create change. I believe in KPFK Pacifica to engage listeners, educate, enlighten, and transform our culture. Especially in regards to the climate crisis, and sustainability. I can make contribute with advocating for underrepresented voices i our society.

For more info check out KatharineKramer.com and katkramersfilmsthatchangetheworld.com. To reach me directly please email knkproductioninc@cs.com, or kat@katharinekramer.com. You can also leave a message at my production company office (747) 265-6685.

Adam Wolman

Those of us desperate to rescue the country and the world from oligarchy, fascism, and systemic racism need to wake up. We can’t win hearts and minds if we’re outmaneuvered. Right-wingers have bought up the majority of American media outlets. What does the left have as a counterweight?

KPFK. KPFA. KPFT, WPFW, WBAI. Add a few other scattered stations and that’s pretty much it for major broadcast media.

We need Pacifica to survive and thrive. That’s why, even though I hate the idea of taking sides among factions—the left is strongest united—I supported New Day Pacifica’s bylaws referendum to revitalize Pacifica.

Having assisted on that campaign, and being committed to the progressive movement, I’d like to take my volunteering to the next level. I’m running for the LSB and seek your support.

For the past 13 years I’ve been VP, Communications for the Palisades Dem Club, co-chairing the PaliDems Political Courage/Human Rights Awards and twice co-managing the Westside Democratic Headquarters. DPSFV Truman Award recipient and former e-board member. Campaigner for Sanders and Warren in the 2020 primaries, then for Biden/Harris and (D)/progressive candidates and props in the general.

Have called, texted, trained volunteers, captained a bus, and had doors slammed in my face for campaigns in California, Nevada, and Florida. Co-chair of Human Rights Watch L.A. Film Club Committee, serving on HRWLA Executive and DEI Committees. Was alt rep to the PP Community Council. Have volunteered with CA Clean Money, Health Care for All–CA, the Center for the Advancement of Nonviolence, and Palisadians for Peace.

Jobwise I’m a creative consultant (find me on LinkedIn), having been a television exec at HBO Digital, Disney/ABC, and MTV—all of which has informed the perspective I have on the critical importance of professional-level programming that people love. Our media, including KPFK and Pacifica, shapes society. That’s why the right doesn’t mind spending billions and even losing $$ if it helps them cling to power. The left needs to up our game.

First job post-college was speechwriter/lobbyist for Mass Citizen Action, a Cambridge, MA public interest org. Married to a comedy writer; our twin boys graduated from college in NYC after attending LAUSD public schools. Thankfully our cat is filling the otherwise empty nest.

I listen to and love KPFK and revere Pacifica’s history and its potential. I’m running in hopes of playing a small, supportive role helping Pacifica stay independent while nurturing and growing its diverse listener base, coffers, and influence.

Steven Meeks

I guess I can say that my entire life has been dedicated to service. Most recently with West Adams Neighborhood Council and Good Earth Community Garden. Most of my service as volunteer has been relative to art and culture-sitting on various boards or commissions. I tend to think outside the box-always having vision – creating and building what something has the potential to be. I am a person who does take initiative – I do not tend to wait for things to happen, I will take lead however I will not be able to take on more responsibility than I can handle – especially in an unbalanced fashion if others are not doing their part. I’m just being very transparent in how I feel with taking care of “bizness.” I will only remain on this Board IF I’m able to contribute something that KPFK needs.

On a personal level, I’m a composer, also a lover of; the arts-especially film and visual art. Many friends seem to look at me as the historian of this, that or the other. I especially love the many historical revelations I’ve been made aware of while listening to KPFK/PACIFICA. The science of almost everything truly fascinates me. I am not only saddened but outraged in how humans continue to treat other people, animals AND this beautiful planet – our Mother Earth that we have been blessed with. I love working with children and dedicated to strengthening the resolve of girls and women everywhere. I love that PACIFICA is a dedicated voice for some of these topics/issues.

Tatanka Bricca

Cannot imagine life without Pacifica Radio. In blood since Free Speech Movement. Essential Voice of People’s History must thrive. Envision Pacifica eternal voice for humans overcoming threats to all Life. Si Se Puede!

Lifelong Nonviolent Community organizer— Pacifica with me every step of the way: Occidental College grad, 3rd grade teacher EastLA. Vietnam draft resister, UFW SF Bay Area Coordinator Grape/Lettuce/Wine Boycotts w/ Dolores Huerta / Cesar Chavez. Staff member Institute Study of Nonviolence. CoFounder, Amnesty International USA WestCoast w/ Joan Baez / Ginetta Sagan, organized LA’s Founding Amnesty Int’l group.

Campaign CoDirector, David Harris for Congress. Founder, SiliconValley Solar Coalition.. CoFounder w/ Ben & Jerry’s, Business Partnership for Peace. Consultant, Gorbachev Foundation’s State of the World Forum. Organizer, democratic clubs WestLA. CoFounder, Circle of 100, w/ Danny Sheehan (Romero Institute)— 2021–present, LetsGreenCA + Progressive-Government-In-Waiting Project…Married Carol Loewenstein, 5 kids, 6 grandkids.

Nancy Pearlman

As an activist and radio and television professional, I advocate for the environment, human rights, women, and aid to the suffering peoples of the world. I have used radio to educate the public throughout my career.

I believe in the power of the media. From 1959 to now, KPFK, as one station in the Pacifica network, provided radio access for the most progressive activists of Los Angeles and the world and it should continue to do so.

Now, as we enter another election cycle, we need a non-corporate, people-directed voice for issues determining the future of our city, our state, our nation, and our world.

It is important that individuals such as myself with mixed ethnicity and a diverse personal and professional background be represented on the local station board. I will contribute experience and imagination to the success of Pacifica and KPFK.

The current local station board has mismanaged the station with poor programming and fiscal instability. I have been an elected official who has overseen over six billion dollars in bond money and a billion dollars a year in operating costs. I know how to look at financial statements and have ways to increase revenue, enlarge membership, and keep competent staff and volunteers engaged.

As a former local station board member who was denied a second term even though I was elected, I wish to bring back civility to the organization. Meetings need to be productive without nitpicking and infighting.

Programs should represent more than ideological rants and extremism and anti-science quackery. More and better local, national, and international news should be presented. As host and producer of the longest running broadcast environmental radio series in the country, since 1977, through a nonprofit organization, I will encourage KPFK to cover more about our ecological crises and solutions.

Management needs to be held accountable and be engaged with the board.

The United States is threatened by the far right and we must do all we can to counter their propaganda. Let’s support social and environmental justice, democracy, and peace.

A few of my 2400 radio programs and 600 television documentaries can be heard on YouTube: Environmental Directions with Nancy Pearlman and ECONEWS with Nancy Pearlman.

More information about me is at nancypearlman.net or ecoprojects.org.

Thank you for your vote and support:

Nancy Pearlman,
Executive Director, Educational Communications (a non-profit organization with environmental, humanitarian, and cultural projects)

Cultural Anthropologist and Ethnic World Dance Trustee Emeritus, Los Angeles

Community College District (Former Elected Official and candidate for 2024)

United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Laureate

To reach me directly, call me at my Los Angeles business/home land line: (310) 559-9160 or leave messages on cell at (213) 705-4992

Postal mail address is P. O. Box 351419, Los Angeles, CA 90035

Please write to me at ECNP@aol.com or call me at 213 705-4992.

Vinnie De Stefano

I have been a listener sponsor of KPFK since 1969 right after I first discovered the station. KPFK was completely different from everything else on the airwaves. This station was incredibly important to my education as I am certain is was to countless other listeners.

Unfortunately, the station has fallen from its once lofty position as the primer progressive news outlet and alternative entertainment hub. As a board member I will work to rebuild the listener-ship and put an end to the non-stop fund raising that has plagued the station for more than a decade.

We need governance that works for the station and its listeners. We need to ensure that our audits are done completely, professionally and on time. That alone will allow us to take advantage of the public funding that the station had access to before our current turmoil and failure of its previous governance. My sincerest desire is to save this station I have loved and the Pacifica network as a whole. The necessity for alternatives to the corporate media has never been more urgent.

Therefore, we need to ensure that the station and network are properly funded and run professionally. Let me be clear about one thing. We do not need to create another KCRWor NPR! What we need is a strong and robust KPFK in all its unique and uncompromising programing. That will require 21st century thinking and methods but ones that never compromise Lewis Hill’ original vision for Pacifica

Nancy Niparko

I’m a professional medical doctor, long time listener and sustainer of KPFK. I moved to L.A. from Michigan 35 years ago, with no time for television, so radio is my regular source of news and entertainment. I know I’m not alone in my belief in the potential of KPFK and Pacifica.

I am a progressive political thinker ever since, as a little girl, I cut out donkeys for the back yard tables at political events. As a child of a teacher-family, my belief in equal education and equal rights for all, was certified by Supreme Court dictum, “Separate is Not Equal”. For that, radio remains the most accessible and universal media for awareness and education about human differences and challenges.

I love organizing purposeful special events, including past successful fundraisers for Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and Earth Day Education Seminars. Currently, I am an active member and treasurer of SoCal ADA, organizer of L.A. area Physicians for a National Health Program, board member of Momentum/UCP-LA, supporter of HODG/lunches for homeless and PDA.

Living in SoCal, my friendship circles widened to include a world of active, progressive, amazingly good people, from whom I learned KPFK was a major source of the national news in the 1960’s & 1970’s. Also, I learned KPFK has inherent enormous value, for its license which allows broadcasting that reaches further than any other station “this side of the Mississippi.” Why is it struggling?

Up until now I have been on the sidelines, watching the frustration of my friends and husband, as I began missing favorite radio shows being dropped from the KPFK schedule. Most seriously, turning on the radio to hear preachers of snake oil & magic crystals, profane language, and adolescent chatter is offensive to my decades of education. KPFK was once filled with intellectual challenges and creative entertainment. Now, like other listeners, I mourn the loss of sharp wits and great voices which have departed the station. Why should we listeners dig deeper into our pockets for such self-aggrandizing programing? Democracy doesn’t mean we owe airtime to unprofessional speech, untrained voices & programs that are neither educational nor entertaining. Someone(s) is/are digging a grave for KPFK.

More constructively, in Los Angeles, KPFK has access to garner shows with top-quality guests from local world-famous universities, medical centers, research centers, and the undisputable entertainment center of the world. Certainly there are willing students majoring in communication or theater in local high schools and colleges who would relish the opportunity to put together quality informative, entertaining programs which would attract their friends and classmates, building future audiences for KPFK. Radio-theater night, stand-up-comedian night, invited-professor night (astronomy, space, climate, nuclear, medicine, not to mention politics!) Local college/high school nights could be competitive, and would build the younger audience.

I’m running for this local KPFK listener board position to understand why, how or who is compromising the enormous potential of KPFK, and to help build a viable station.