Tag Archives: Scott Olsen

Despite Declining KPFA Membership, UCR Stays Strong and Steady

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United for Community Radio and all the candidates say “THANK YOU” to all our supporters!  UCR candidates Scott Olsen and Sharon Adams were elected to the KPFA Local Station Board.

Sharon Adams

Sharon Adams

Scott Olsen

Scott Olsen

tmT.M. Scruggs was the first runner-up and will replace Andrea Pritchett at the first meeting of the new KPFA Local Station Board, scheduled for January 23, at 11 a.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center.  This means that UCR will have 4 new representatives on the LSB.

United for Community Radio candidates won 3 seats, and so-called “Save KPFA” candidates won 6.  Although SK candidates won more seats, we at UCR believe that the election results show that UCR is moving in the right direction.  And we believe that UCR can obtain a majority of the LSB seats in the next election, currently scheduled for later in 2016.

 

UCR’s message is resonating with the KPFA members. 

UCR maintained its support, despite a large decrease in voter turnout and a decrease in overall KPFA membership. This is good news for UCR, as it means we have a chance to WIN the next election.

The number of listener-members of KPFA has been decreasing over the last 10 years:
YEAR—–Listener-Members
2005  —–  24,000
2006  —–  22,000
2010  —–  20,000
2012  —–  18,000
2015  —–  16,0000

 

Likewise, the number of voters has been decreasing, although not as much as the decrease in members; reflecting the fact that the people who continue to contribute to KPFA are massively committed to the well-being of the station.

Despite the decline in members and in voters, UCR has maintained a steady base of approximately 1000 votes.  This means that support for UCR is growing within the KPFA community!  This is great news for UCR and means that we are on the right track.   In contrast, SK has been losing voters as the membership has declined.

Election Year Total Voters SK Votes UCR Votes
2010 3,457 ~ 2,400 ~ 1,000
2012 3,257 ~ 2,200 ~ 1,000
2015 2,300 ~ 1,300 ~ 1,000

For more details click here.

Notice:  Some may recall that Janet Kobren ran on the UCR slate.  By mutual consent, Janet Kobren is no longer affiliated with United for Community Radio.

Results: KPFA Election, 2015

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Three United for Community Radio candidates have been elected as listener representatives, Scott Olsen, Sharon Adams and Janet Kobren.  T.M. Scruggs and Don Macleay, who also ran with this slate, were first and second runner ups.  Anthony Fest, United for Community Radio candidate, was elected as a staff representative.

Radio tower simpleComplete results follow.

KPFA Listener Delegates
Margy Wilkinson
Scott Olsen
Leland Thompson
Sharon Adams
William Campisi
Sasha Futran
Janet Kobren
Barbara Whipperman
David Lynch

KPFA Staff Delegates
Tim Lynch
Anthony Fest
Sabrina Jacobs

For more details about the vote count, click here.

2016 KPFA LSB Listener members
Sharon Adams (United for Community Radio – UCR)
Craig Alderson (Save KPFA – SK)
William Campisi (SK)
Jose Luis Fuentes (SK)
Sasha Futran (SK)
Kate Gowen (SK)
Mark Hernandez (SK)
Janet Kobren
David Lynch (SK)
Samsarah Morgan (UCR)
Scott Olsen (UCR)
T.M Scruggs* (UCR)
Ramses Teon-Nichols (UCR)
Leland Thompson (SK)
Carole Travis (SK)
Barbara Whipperman (SK)
Burton White (SK)
Margy Wilkinson (SK)
Rych Withers** (SK)
* T.M Scruggs will replace Andrea Pritchett when her term ends this December
** LSB seat but not a Delegate (see bylaws, Article 7, Section 8 at http://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art7sec8.html)
2016 KPFA LSB Staff members
Brian Edwards-Tiekert (SK)
Anthony Fest (UCR)
Sabrina Jacobs (non-aligned)
Tim Lynch (SK)
Joy Moore (UCR)
Frank T. Sterling Jr. (UCR)
2016 KPFA LSB Totals:
Delegates
14 SK
9 UCR
1 Non-aligned
LSB members
15 SK
9 UCR
1 Non-aligned
2016 KPFA LSB Listener Election runners-up list
*1. T.M. Scruggs (UCR) who will immediately replace UCR’s termed-out Andrea Pritchett
2. Don Macleay (UCR)
3. Yuri Gottesman (SK)
4. Virginia Browning (UCR)
5. Marilla Argüelles (UCR)
6. Jeremy Miller (UCR)
7. Tom Voorhees (UCR)
8. Mario Fernandez (UCR)
9. Brian Oakchunas (SK)
10. Richard Hart (UCR)
2016 KPFA LSB Staff Election runners-up list
1. Lewis Sawyer (SK)
2. Ann Garrison (UCR)
3. Luis Medina (???)

PAST: United For Community Radio Postcard 2015

Posted on by Webworker1

pc_photos

 

 

 

United for Community Radio Candidates.

 

Make Your Voice Heard

Vote in the KPFA Local Station Board election!!!

 

Paper ballots have been mailed, so if you haven’t received one, please contact the KPFA election supervisor,  kpfa-les (at) pacifica.org

 

 

 

Some of the many endorsers of UCR Candidates:  postcard2

UCR Candidates In The News

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Podcasts

Jeremy Miller spoke against  Urban Shield at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, and is also one of the hosts of Heterotopia music program on Mutiny Radio, located at 87.9 FM in San Francisco.

 

Sharon Adams at Berkeley City Council

Sharon Adams at Berkeley City Council

 

Sharon Adams spoke against Urban Shield at the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center, and spoke at the Berkeley City Council in support of Berkeley’s status as a Sanctuary City, and in opposition to proposed federal legislation attacking Sanctuary Cities across the United States.

 

 

 

Tom Vohrees is active in a community radio start up coalition, Radio for People (R4P). Tom has been seen putting up radio transmitters for low-power radio stations all over the West, from Moscow Idaho, to helping get KFFR on air in Colorado.

Don Macleay

Don Macleay

 

Don Macleay is writing a memoir of his work in Nicauagua during the 80s, which is taking some time away from writing on his blog.   He continues his work with as a Green Party activist, and  his decades-long commitment to supporting and volunteering in the local community.  He recently volunteered at the East Bay Innovation Academy on the Thurgood Marshall campus in Oakland, giving a class in  bike maintenance.

 

Mario Fernandez is active in many campaigns, currently phone banking with the San Mateo Labor Council, and active in the Bernie Sanders campaign. He is also involved in Occupy Oakland and BlackLivesMatters movements.

 

Virginia Browning is currently serving on the KPFA Local Station Board and on several national committees of the Pacifica Foundation. To learn more about Virginia’s life-long love of radio, click here.

 

Janet Kobren, one of the founding members of the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance, plugged the importance of KPFA, her UCR LSB candidacy (and the UCR 9) when she introduced one of the videos during the 9-hour 9-11 Truth Film Festival held on September 10 at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland.  Janet Kobren is currently serving on the KPFA Local Station Board, and also on the Pacifica National Board, representing UCR interests as an officer on the Pacifica Foundation.

so2tweets

 

Scott Olsen continues his work with Iraq Veterans Against the War,  Iraq Veterans Against the War, and tweets about militarization of the police and in support of strong communities.

 

T.M Scruggs is an anthromusicologist and musician.  His primary research focus is on the use of music to construct social identity in the Americas, with a geographical specialty in Latin America and the Caribbean.   He collaborated with Project Censored to share some of the best-known labor and revolutionary ballads on May Day 2015.

 

Marilla Arguelles recently attended a Single-Payer Health Care conference.

 

UCR Supporter Diana Bohn Explains Why “Save KPFA” Can’t Be Trusted

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By: Diana Bohn

Diana Bohn at UCR Garden Party/Fundraiser August 9, 2015

Diana Bohn at UCR Garden Party/Fundraiser
August 9, 2015

 

KPFA Local Station Board (LSB) elections are coming up soon.  I’m a proud supporter of the candidates running on the United for Community Radio (UCR) slate. UCR has a great platform, and a strong candidate lineup. In fact, I support UCR so much that I have been working to help UCR candidates win in the upcoming election. As shown in the photo to the left, I volunteered at the recent UCR Garden Party/Fundraiser.

Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that my name is listed as an “Endorser” of the opposition, Save KPFA (SK).

As shown in this screen shot from the opposition’s list of endorsers, taken on August 13, 2015, my name is listed as a “Listener Endorser” of SK:

DB_endorser4

This caused me to look at other so-called “endorsers” of SK, where I learned that at least one of these so-called endorsers, singer Jon Fromer had actually passed away back in 2013. I’m not sure how many other “endorsers” of SK are incorrectly listed, as I was.

Lesson learned: take everything you read on the SK website with a grain of salt.

I’m trusting UCR candidates in this election, and voting for all of the UCR candidates: Scott Olsen, Sharon Adams, Don Macleay, Virginia Browning, Jeremy Miller, Janet Kobren, Mario Fernandez, T.M. Scruggs, and Marilla Arguelles.

You can learn more about the UCR candidates on the UCR website: http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/.

Scott Olsen Joins Campaign to Rescue KPFA

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Scott Olsen

Scott Olsen

 

Berkeley- Iraq war vet and Occupy Oakland survivor Scott Olsen is running for an open seat on the KPFA Local Station Board with 8 other candidates affiliated with United for Community Radio (UCR).

Olsen, who survived a police shotgun-fired head injury at the Occupy Oakland encampment said: “I urge KPFA listeners to vote for the full slate of United for Community Radio candidates committed to rescuing KPFA from all attempts by the current board majority to break up or privatize the network”.

Olsen added: “It appears there is a group within KPFA who have acted improperly to break KPFA away from the Pacifica Radio Network without notifying the network’s 55,000 listener-member owners”.

Specifically, an improper filing of a 501c3 non profit incorporation using KPFA’s call letters has been uncovered threatening to break up the network without notifying the governance bodies of WBAI (NY), WPFW (DC), KPFT (Houston), KPFK (LA) and the nations first listener-owned and operated station KPFA (Berkeley).

United for Community Radio Candidates running for open seats on the KPFA Local Station Board in 2015

Scott Olsen

Janet Kobren

Jeremy Miller

G. Mario Fernandez

Marilla Arguelles

T.M. Scruggs

Don Macleay

Sharon Adams

Virginia Browning

Scott Olsen’s Candidate Statement

My name is Scott Olsen. You might remember me as the Iraq War veteran who was shot by the Oakland Police during Occupy. KPFA was a vital news source for me then and my radio dial was stuck at 94.1FM. KPFA supported me, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and our comrades. allowing us to tell our story – uncut. And now as I no longer live in California, I listen to KPFA over the internet. Nowhere else do I find its diversity of voices, music, and perspectives and I enter this candidacy in my desire to help protect KPFA as a crucial independent media source.

I currently serve on the board of directors for Iraq Veterans Against the War and I’m familiar with non-profit governance processes. I’ve worked in communications for over ten years– addressing both organizational and technical challenges, In the military I worked with radio.  I’m a licensed amateur radio operator – finding creative solutions for connection.  I believe these skills can help me to contribute to the KPFA Local Station Board.

Campaign workers for United for Community Radio at an Occupy Oakland General Assembly. Daniel Borgstrom (leaning forward) and Greg Jan (behind him).

Campaign workers for United for Community Radio at an Occupy Oakland General Assembly. Daniel Borgstrom (leaning forward) and Greg Jan (behind him).

Through my experiences with individuals, organizations, the armed services, and communities, I deeply value the wide range of ways that people contribute to community media.  I support:

· the right of KPFA unpaid staff to unionize
· creation of new internships
· development of a network for sharing of community audio and video recordings and interviews about local events.
· developing a more easeful system for people to communicate with KPFA staff and programmers
· station wide/community advanced planning for events of political, economic, environmental or social significance with possible pre-and-post event interviews, real time audio video live streaming and posting of videos on kpfa.org

I also want to help the station to establish powerful links with listeners and organizations through an active Program Council to give input about new and existing programs based on community needs and interests.

Another goal is to see KPFA embrace and expand its internet listenership beyond the signal range. This might include a transition including electronic communication at meetings to allow for wider geographical representation. Also I would like to help build more connection with KPFA’s sister stations and affiliates where we work together to build a strong national Pacifica network to create new possibilities for programming.

Now more than ever, it’s time for media truth telling: about what’s happening with the economy and environment, about what happens when the United States goes to war, about what is happening when people protest, and about how people of color are profiled and killed and African American churches burned. I appreciate those who are addressing these issues, the KPFA programmers who cover them and my United for Community Radio colleagues– working to insure that these stories are heard. I ask for your vote for me and the UCR team.

Endorsed by:

Bruce A. Dixon, Black Agenda Report

Barbara Lubin, Middle East Childrens Alliance

Michael Parenti, Author

Laura Wells

Veterans for Peace, East Bay Chapter 162

Ed Holmes, San Francisco Mime Troupe

Cynthia Johnson, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists

The KPFA Local Station Board (LSB) is a 24 member body democratically elected by listeners and staff operating under by laws approved in 2003 following a protracted struggle to rescue KPFA and its five sister stations from attempts to sell individual stations and to begin accepting corporate underwriting and advertising.

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Photo from Occupy Oakland by Daniel Arauz.