Defending Free Speech Our Anti-Authoritarian Indy Candidates (Including Library Defenders) Are Running To Join The WBAI Local Station Board- Please Vote For Them

Our 2024 Indy Listener Candidates!: Reading left to right from the top- Katherine O'Sullivan, James Sagurton, Dr. Charles Ihejirika, M. Kay Williams, Anita Stewart, Scottye Battle, James Dingeman, Nissan Pitcher, Chuck Fall, Jack DePalma, Matthew Reiss, Christine Shahin, Martha Rowen, Tom Murata, Alex Steinberg

Once again it’s election time.  Yes!: It's time to vote to elect listener representatives to the WBAI Local Station Board.  Once again, we have free speech defenders running for the board to keep WBAI 99.5 fm, Radio for the 99.5%, independent, accountable to the Listeners, and a free speech bulwark against censorship.

Citizens Defending Libraries co-founder Michael D. D. White, who is endorsing the slate of Indy candidates, is finishing his sixth year on the Local Station Board (LSB); library defender Katherine O'Sullivan is running for a second term on the LSB, and Martha Rowen, another Citizens Defending Libraries co-founder, is running to join the LSB as part of the slate of the recommended 15 Indy listener candidates.

Of the 23 candidates running as listener representative candidates, 15 of them, essentially two-thirds, are Indy candidates who are cross-endorsing each other and running in a united effort to ensure we elect an effective, free-speech supporting, anti-authoritarian Local Station Board.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ALL OUR INDY CANDIDATES!  Listener members of WBAI, please vote for them in the WBAI Local Station Board Election- Voting is between now and 11:59 PM September 30th.

The excellent, amazingly superb candidates we recommend are as follows . . .  Also, while we will skip over a full explanation, the voting is "Instant Runoff Voting" ("IRV"), which means that if you vote for these candidates in the order below recommended it will help them get elected.

The Listener Candidates We Recommend Are:


1.        James Sagurton- A calm, steady, clear thinker with deep knowledge of Pacifica and insight into viable solutions after many years of experience on the local WBAI and Pacific national board who was extremely valuable as Pacifica’s Treasurer from the Indys’ doing so much to put Pacifica’s financial house in order.  Sagurton, ever active at Pacifica, needs to be elected to return to the LSB.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    2.    Katherine O'Sullivan- Performance artist devoted to public advocacy. She helped form Moving Forward Unidos to fight privatization of the commons in NY, fought the radical upzoning of Inwood that will displace a lower income population while destroying the Inwood Library. She is also a bookkeeper whose skills the board will welcome.  She needs to be reelected to the LSB. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)  

 
    3.    M. Kay Williams- Has already proven her industrious dedication to WBAI: although not yet elected to the LSB (she ran in the last two elections), serving as LSB secretary for multiple years and secretary to the WBAI Finance Committee and Management Evaluation Committee.   She is an experienced Physician's Assistant with a Masters of Public Health from Columbia. She aided refugees in Thailand and health workers in Nicaragua. Former chair of the Free Speech Radio Alliance. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

 

 

   

    

 

 

4.    Alex Steinberg- Up for reelection to return to the LSB, this tough board member (and chess expert) helped free WBAI from its crushing Empire State building lease, avoid $2 million in rent, and keep Pacifica out of bankruptcy.  Created the Strategic Planing Committee, authored several initiatives to bring in new revenue to the network, wrote Pacifica's statement defending Julian Assange.  His foresight has aided in fending off attacks on WBAI.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    5.    Scottye Battle- Has served three years on the LSB.  Veteran learning specialist and professor of English, she spent many years living in Japan and is an empowerment advocate for students with special needs. Her effervescent personality and steadiness brings needed positive energy to the board. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Nissan Pitcher- IT consultant, and politically engaged organizer, expert in the system management, design, and security that will assist WBAI with technical understanding and decision making. Believes in building and managing public access to all forms of media, especially radio, as our best defense against censorship from government and the corporations that capture it. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    7.    James Dingeman- Needs to be re-elected! WBAI and Pacifica historian, experienced print, radio and TV journalist and military analyst. Doing vital work to recover WBAI’s lost CPB grants worth more than $4 million. Also spearheading move to get WBAI its own HQ building. Focused and goal oriented, a dynamic organizer. Helped speed long delayed premiums to thousands of frustrated donors.  Helped speed long delayed premiums to thousands of frustrated donors. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

 

 

 

 

 

 

   8.    Martha Rowen- A co-founder alongside Carolyn McIntyre and Michael D. D. White of Citizens Defending Libraries working against the sale of the NYC libraries, censorship and the elimination of books.  Recently a teacher (High School teacher, NYU, Brooklyn, Hunter, and City College), she campaigned for New Yorkers as a  proponent of uncensored information, free flow of information, discussion and diversity of ideas and alternative narratives, running for New York State Senate (in 2022) and New York City Council (in 2023) collecting sufficient signatures to run as a third part candidate.  Like libraries, listener-supported WBAI stands out with the special power, in the face of looming totalitarian control, of allowing listeners to be free from being tracked and traced cogs in the internet as they seek out the thinking and information essential to freedom, public discourse a democracy.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    9.    Jack DePalma- Has served multiple terms on the LSB.  Is a hands on Physics teacher who literally got on his hands and knees to help clean up WBAI after Superstorm Sandy hit.  He intends to reboot the WBAI news Department back into it’s glory days.  With years of experience on the Local Station Board plus tenaciously unceasing volunteer work at the station, he’d probably like to take a break, but was convinced of the importance of our being able to ask you to vote for him. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)
  

   10.    Christine Shahin- An Arab American with fmaily roots in Lebanon.  A folk herbalist, and decades long eco-activist addressing human rights, and a natural birth doula who free birthed her six children at home, she is a licensed cosmetologist who authored a book on chemical-free natural hair coloring (how to use henna and pure herbal pigments) and established a cutting edge all natural salon and spa that attracted clients from across the United States.  Served as Co-Chair of the Board for Citizens Environmental Coalition (CEC), an anti-toxics coalition of 112 local groups in New York state as well as a Board member of the New York State Labor and Environmental Network (NYSLEN). Directed a multinational youth organization, Kids Against Pollution (KAP) and was an Official Delegate to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Johannesburg South Africa 2002.  A cofounder of The Emerald Party US living on our Catskill Mountain intergenerational family homestead.   (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    11.    Charles Ihejirika- Charles Ihejirika, with a doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University in Boston, living in The Bronx, is the Lead Director of Daccade Law and Policy Inc., New York.  Born in Nigeria and paying close attention to the deleterious affects of the United States and Britain on his country of birth, Dr. Charles envisions WBAI as the "must-go-to" radio station for standout reporting where a majority of New York Metropolitan Area residents in its vast broadcast area, a very potentially large listening public, will obtain authentic information on critical local and national issues that the mainstream media bury. (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)
 

    12.    Matthew Reiss- PNB eligible- Long time investigative journalist (Village Voice, NY Times, The Nation, Mother Jones, Counterpunch). Has interviewed everyone from Noam Chomsky, Mort Sahl and Dick Gregory to Seymour Hersh, Woodward/Bernstein and Bernie Sanders. Also dodged bullets and bad guys as a war correspondent in Guatemala, North Korea, Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Currently professor of Journalism at Rutgers.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    13.    Anita Stewart- Anita is a Social Media and Virtual Outreach expert, an environmentalist, retired health care worker, artist, crafter, writer, blogger, photographer and musician who grew up in her father’s radio station. . . She is the Managing Editor and contributor, reporter, rock photographer and podcast interviewer for the online magazine, ROCK AT NIGHT and promotes musicians and has broadcast and has produced several radio shows. She is a USAF veteran and worked as an Intelligence Ops Specialist in the US and Europe. Was on staff local, state and federal political and environmental campaigns including Kucinich for President 2008 and Kennedy 24.     When she has any spare time she is writing, studying sustainability, doing yoga, swimming, singing, playing her ukulele, drumming, listening to live music everywhere and exploring nature with her camera.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)
 

    14.    Chuck Fall- A media and a Green Party activist, teacher teaching languages arts and social studies in middle school, workers’ compensation insurance claims worker and volunteer mediator helping resolve disputes in small claims and landlord / tenant court.  Volunteered at Portland Oregon’s KBOO Community Radio.   Seeks to bring to account the power elite that have undermined grass roots democracy in this country.  On the board of Truth Action Project that educates about the false narratives and crimes of the September 11th attacks, and the recent Covid Pandemic taking us towards a techno-totalitarian state.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

    15.    Thomas Murata- is also a member of the WBAI Community Advisory Board, another long time listener, and is running for the LSB to prevent Pacifica from becoming overtaken by "New Day people," who seized WBAI for one month in October of 2019 turning it into a repeater station.  He sees WBAI as addressing the ever growing threat of the Military Industrial Media Medical complex.  He suggests appeals to rich activist donors such Jane Fonda, Yoko Ono, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Robert Redford, Michael Moore, and Oliver Stone before it’s too late.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site- Recorded statement)

Our Recommended Staff Candidates (WBAI staff votes separately for the candidates to represent staff on the Local Station Board-  Listener members can't vote for the candidates below, but these candidates will work well and coordinate with the listener representative candidates recommended above.):

       •     Jeremy Kuzmarov- (Co-host with Craig “Pasta” Jardula of WBAI’s new “LOL- Left on Left”)  Historian, professor, book author and the managing editor of CovertAction Magazine Jeremy has contributed prolifically to that magazine writing critically about U.S. foreign policy and covert operations and the corruption of US intelligence agencies. He warns that the US Left today, like the public at large, often falls into traps adopting false narratives advanced by intelligence agencies that are also psychologically designed to stoke partisan divisions quashing truly worthwhile public discourse.  He advocates the abolition of the CIA.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site, recorded statement)

     •     Max Schmid-  (“Golden Age of Radio,” 40 years at WBAI) will focus on increasing station revenue through effective offer fundraising.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site)

    •     Randy Credico- (Hosts WBAI‘s “Live on the Fly.”) Activist and political satirist. Helped overturn brutal Rockefeller drug laws and and `stop and frisk.’ Key witness against Roger Stone and Donald Trump for the Miller commission.  (Written statement up at Pacifica site)

Endorsements!!

The above collection of Candidates Is Endorsed by:
    •     Judy Gorman- singer song-writer activist, mentored by Pete Seeger. Judy wrote the Citizens Defending Libraries Song.
    •     Mark Crispin Miller- Globally renowned media scholar/activist, NYU professor, and expert on the subject of propaganda, and the way it manipulates an unwitting public who has helped us recruit LSB members and recently served himself on the LSB. A frequent guest on such Pacifica programs as the “Project Censored Show.”  He’s urged the need for a more democratic media system, not in thrall to corporate ownership or major advertisers and spoken out against the dangers of unbridled media concentration.  He is responsible for the 27-book Forbidden Bookshelf series republishing works that might have been unfairly consigned to oblivion.
    •    Maxine Harrison-Gallmon- An Indy on the LSB intimately familiar with how the station works through her dedicated volunteer work there.
    •    Tracy Rosenberg- One of Pacifica’s best historians and analysts keeping facts straight.
    •    Michael D. D. White, Carolyn McIntyre, twofo the three three principal co-founders of Citizens Defending Libraries along with Martha Rowen. Carolyn McIntyre, was Chair of the LSB for three years in a row.  Michael D. D. White is current and former Vice-Chair of the LSB. Martha Rowen has moved on to run for New York State Assembly and New York City Council.
    •    Gary Null - Mr Null is the host and producer of the Gary Null Show heard on WBAI (and PRN, the Progressive Radio Network of which he is the founder). Mr. Null, Ph.D, is renowned for his expertise in the field of health and nutrition, and the author of over 70 best-selling books on healthy living and the director of over 100 critically acclaimed full-feature documentary films on natural health, self-empowerment and the environment.
    •    Grace Aaron- Former Chair of the Pacifica National Board who had much to do with obtaining the loans that allowed WBAI and Pacifica to extricate from the financial drain of the exorbitant Empire State Building antenna lease.
    •    Lucy Koteen- Prominent member of Human-Scale New York, fought Atlantic Yards, fighting destruction of Fort Green Park, and fighting various other city environmental and community protection battles.
    •    Alicia Boyd- Activist who founded MTOPP- Movement To Protect The People- to fight the aggressive real estate interests in Brooklyn, intent among other things, on over-shadowing the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with towers.
    •    Lynn Ellsworth- Founding board member on the steering committee of Human-Scale NYC a leading member of New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City Coalition.
Craig “Pasta” Jardula, Professor Jeremy Kuzmarov,
    •    Craig “Pasta” Jardula- Cohost, with Jeremy Kuzmarov, who brings a sense of humor and perspective to WBAI’s “ Left-on-Left”  (LOL—which also stands for Laugh Out Loud), which provides critical commentary on the left from a left-wing perspective. Has also been a fill-in host for WBAI’s Jimmy Dore Show.
    •    Reverend Billy and  the Church of Stop Shopping- Famed not only for being on WBAI brings listeners “new of the Natural World” with his wife Savitri, but also for performances and activist actions taken against consumerism and to protect the natural environment around the world.
    •    DeeDee Halleck- Current Chair of the WBAI’s LSB and famed independent film and documentary maker and another Indy previously elected to serve on the LSB.
    •   Cindy Sheehan-  Anti-war activist.


SO MANY GREAT CANDIDATES!   It's really a challenge providing you with a suggested voting order, but for various reasons, about which candidates have also conferred with us on, the order we suggest should work best.  We also suggest you vote only for these suggested candidates to help them all have the best chance of getting elected.

Our highly qualified, amazingly superb candidates are all free speech supporters and they oppose authoritarianism.  

WHO can vote in this election? -- and HOW to vote in this election.

You are qualified as a listener member and able to vote in this WBAI election if you contributed $25 or more to the WBAI during the year that ended June 30, 2024.*

     (* And remember that if you donated the qualifying amount-- $25 or more for each member voter-- your WBAI donating household is entitled to cast more than one vote and should.  If you're having any problems, see below about who to contact including us.)

How to vote?

You can vote online and that is the very best way to vote, because voting electronically online saves a huge amount of money for the network and station as opposed to voting by mail (which is also possible).

Ideally, as a contributor to WBAI you should have already received two emails, one telling you that you are an eligible voter in this election (Subject line should be:  Balloting Period Opens Aug 15 / Candidate Forums Schedule, probably on August 21 and 22, 2024-- It would come from nes@pacifica.org) and another sending you your ballot (Subject line: Vote now: Pacifica Foundation Inc - 2024 Local Station Elections, which probably arrived August 15, 2024-- It would come from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com)

If you donated to WBAI and did not yet receive such emails, or all the members of your household didn't, it is time to follow up and let the station know that you need to be sent the ballot email (maybe you didn't submit your email or used an old out of date one?)-- Contact WBAI's Membership Department:  +1-212-209-2950 and/or https://wbai.org/contact.php

Once again here is a handy list of all the spectacular listener candidates we recommend. And we recommend that you vote for all of them and only them as follows:

    1.    James Sagurton                            
    2.    Katherine O'Sullivan
    3.    M. Kay Williams
    4.    Alex Steinberg
    5.    Scottye Battle
    6.    Nissan Pitcher
    7.    James Dingeman
    8.    Martha Rowen
    9.    Jack DePalma
    10.    Christine Shahin
    11.    Charles Ihejirika
    12.    Matthew Reiss
    13.    Anita Stewart
    14.    Chuck Fall
    15.    Thomas Murata

The purpose of this post is to promote the election of the candidates we are recommending and the content here may be freely and fairly used and reproduced by those similarly seeking to promote the election of these candidates.

Disclaimer: This is not an official communication of WBAI or Pacifica.

Disclaimer (further elaborated):  Because there are specified requirements issued with respect to WBAI Pacifica Elections, we further provide this specified language:

    DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation mailing nor an official mailing of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.

Free Speech Defenders Are Running To Join Library Defenders On The WBAI Local Station Board To Keep WBAI Independent, Accountable To The Listeners, A Free Speech Bulwark Against Censorship

 

Our Recommended Listener Candidates (eighteen in all): Elliot Crown, M. Kay Williams, Gloria Guillo, Dr. Charles Ihejirika, Jeremy Kuzmarov, Adrienne Meisels, Mark Crispin Miller, Guy Vantresca, Tessa Lena, Dion Powell, Amy Smiley, Jack DePalma, Janet Harmon, David Saltman, Camilla Rees, Neale Vos, Thomas Murata,Carolyn Birden

 

Free Speech Defenders Are Running To Join Library Defenders On The WBAI Local Station Board To Keep WBAI Independent, Accountable To The Listeners, A Free Speech Bulwark Against Censorship

Great news!: Our Library Defenders already on the WBAI (99.5 fm) Radio Local Station Board (i.e. Michael D. D. White, Katherine O'Sullivan and Priscilla Cancar) are looking out at an assembled troop of really excellent Free Speech candidates who we recommend to join them on that board

PLEASE VOTE FOR THEM!  Listener members of WBAI, please vote for them!  Please vote for them in the WBAI Local Station Board Election- Voting is between now and 11:59 PM September 30th.

The excellent, amazingly superb candidates we recommend are as follows . . .  Also, while we will skip over a full explanation, the voting is "Instant Runoff Voting" ("IRV"), which means that if you vote for these candidates in the order below recommended it will help them get elected.

 
The Listener Candidates We Recommend Are:

 

 

 

 

 

 1.    Elliot Crown- You likely know him already- as “the man behind the mask.”  A brilliant artist who has attended political demonstrations you’ve probably attended where you maybe had your picture taken with him in one of his satirical, attention-grabbing costumes.  Crown has a long history as a political artist/activist street theater protester,  whose visual storytelling successfully defies censorship to command the attention of millions of people around the world, slinging messages through the media noise and interference machine to address issues of racial and economic justice, the environment, militarism, housing et al.  His exceptional communication skills will be an incomparable contribution towards WBAI's voice gaining a new notoriety.

2.    M. Kay Williams- Has already proven her industrious dedication to WBAI: Although not yet elected to the LSB (she ran in the last election), serving as LSB Secretary and Secretary to the WBAI Finance Committee and Management Evaluation Committee.   She is an experienced Physicians Assistant with a Masters of Public Health from Columbia. She aided refugees in Thailand and health workers in Nicaragua. Former chair of the Free Speech Radio Alliance.

3.    Gloria Guillo- Is a dynamic activist leader, organizer, skilled researcher and compelling writer turning out investigative journalism pieces for Covert Action Magazine focused on the negative impact of U.S. foreign policy on developing countries.  She is a retired NYC Urban Planner and Public Administrator, with an MPA from NYU, and a founding member of Green Renaissance-Sovereign Rights Movement.  A high-energy performer, she is a former lead singer/guitarist/songwriter with the political rock band Ringmaster.

4.    Dr. Charles Ihejirika- Charles Ihejirika, with a doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University in Boston, living in The Bronx, is the Lead Director of Daccade Law and Policy Inc., New York.  Born in Nigeria, he pays close attention to the deleterious effects of the United States and Britain on his country of birth, Dr. Charles envisions WBAI as the "must-go-to" radio station for standout reporting where a majority of New York Metropolitan Area residents in its vast broadcast area, a potentially very large listening public, will obtain authentic information on critical local, national, and international issues that the mainstream media bury.

5.    Jeremy Kuzmarov- Historian, professor, book author and the managing editor of CovertAction Magazine Jeremy has contributed prolifically to that magazine writing critically about U.S. foreign policy and covert operations and the corruption of US intelligence agencies. He warns that the US Left today, like the public at large, often falls into traps adopting false narratives advanced by intelligence agencies that are also psychologically designed to stoke partisan divisions, quashing truly worthwhile public discourse.  He advocates the abolition of the CIA.

6.    Adrienne Meisels- A WBAI listener since childhood who benefited from the health advice it made available, Adrienne values WBAI’s being uniquely positioned to offer true, uncensored discourse, news and content that is not beholden to corporate sponsors’ agendas: in other words, saying: “The only way to fight misinformation is not with censorship but with more information.” Adrienne backs her beliefs by being politically active.  Retired from the practice of law, Adrienne, a Wharton school graduate, is an award-winning senior digital innovation and operations executive and entrepreneur with a proven ability to create groundbreaking, human-centric digital solutions.  She is a dynamic leader known for building inspired teams and creating a more conscious world through personalized, predictive computing and connected data.

7.    Mark Crispin Miller- With a global reputation, Miller is a renowned media scholar/activist and expert on the subject of propaganda and the way it manipulates an unwitting public. Miller until recently was a professor at NYU.  He’s been a frequent guest on such Pacifica programs as the “Project Censored Show.”  He’s written scores of articles, often lectured, and spoken out in interviews on the urgent need for a more democratic media system—a system not in thrall to corporate ownership or major advertisers. He spoke out against the dangers of unbridled media concentration as it accelerated in the Nineties and is a long-term champion of public radio and did a weekly public radio show in the 80s.  Countering censorship, he is also responsible for the 27-book Forbidden Bookshelf series republishing works that might have been unfairly consigned to oblivion.

8.    Guy Vantresca- A native New Yorker, and Natural Health Consultant Guy is a student of history, from ancient times through to today.  He was a US Army Officer living in Europe during the Cold War. He lived in Europe for 12 years.  He believes that independent investigative journalism, or, and Pacifica, can serve to make power structures accountable in ways that corporate owned mass-media chose not to do.  He thinks that as a voice for truth WBAI should not be an echo chamber for “cancel culture” and emotionally based outrage.  To restore democracy and address growing wealth inequality, corporate personhood needs to be banished and corporatism defanged.  Putting a high degree of energy behind his commitments, he advocates free market competition co-existing with community based systems that support the "commons"; education, housing, health, ecology of nature, etc.

9.    Tessa Lena- A musician, classically trained pianist and singer, writer and journalist, born and raised in Moscow, a Soviet expat, who knows where things can lead, she is concerned about the totalitarian tendencies in the media. And she is rubbing her eyes thinking that every day that America is very quickly becoming very much like the USSR. She is standing up to the attack on freedom, advocating Joy as better than suffering, Love as better than fear. In 2016, Tessa started Coalition for Artistic Dignity and organized a conference in Brooklyn dedicated to artistic dignity, social power and corporate responsibility.

10.    Dion Powell-   His Bachelor’s Degree is in Media from CCNY.  Sitting on many boards and a member of many civic organizations, voter education with engagement is a way of life for Mr. Powell. He loves developing "good citizens" that are active participants in their local neighborhood politics. Born and raised in the Bronx, Dion Powel is a community leader and was a 2020 candidate for the NYS Assembly Bronx 79th District following his work as Community Liaison.  He helped start the Bronx Young Democrats and became the Chair of the Caucus of Color for the New York State Young Democrats.

11.    Amy Smiley- A practicing NYC psychotherapist and author of fiction and essays about the radio as a political medium during the Occupation in Europe (WWII), contemporary art, and literature, Amy is also an avid reader of fiction and history and a lover of art. She is engaged in the world from a political perspective and very interested in social issues. She lived in Europe for many years and understands the importance of diverse political representation. She feels her therapy work gives her a deep understanding of challenges people are facing in these difficult times.

12.    Jack DePalma- Is a hands on Physics teacher who literally got on his hands and knees to help clean up WBAI after Superstorm Sandy hit.  He intends to reboot the WBAI news Department back into its glory days.  With years of experience on the Local Station Board plus unceasing volunteer work at the station, he’d probably like to take a break, but was convinced of the importance of our being able to ask you to vote for him.

13.    Janet Harmon- Someone else you have seen prominently participating at many activist demonstrations for things you believe in, Janet is a “Raging Grannie,” a member of the group of performers that show up to sing creatively crafted, laughter-encouraging song lyrics to support efforts like Women in Black, Say their Names group (reading names of folks who've been killed by police), and opposition to library sales and our perpetual wars.

14.       Camilla Rees- A former financial industry executive who has more recently been a researcher, author, and producer on technology risks, environmental pollution, clean energy and regenerative agriculture, studying widely in medical, scientific, complementary and alternative medicine, health enhancement and self-empowerment fields.  Camilla founded Manhattan Neighbors for Safer Telecommunications, ElectromagneticHealth.org, Campaign for Radiation Free Schools and co-founded the International EMF Alliance. She is Senior Policy Advisor to the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy in Washington, D.C., where she oversees policy papers on electromagnetic fields, the smart grid and telecommunications.  Camilla serves on the Advisory Board of the Building Biology™ Institute. She was an Executive Producer of the award-winning film on smart meter risks, Take Back Your Power, and has co-produced several television programs for PBS. Camilla is a Voting Member of the U.S. Health Freedom Congress; Member, American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN); and a Board Member of Media in the Public Interest.  Along with many other award winning activities, Camilla also briefly had a radio program, Growing Green, on KGNU in Boulder.

15.  David Saltman- A prizewinning (Emmy, Ace and Peabody awards) broadcaster, author and film-maker with fifty years experience, he's also an innovator in meditative and martial arts. In 1972, he created the first radio program, on Pacifica, to cover spiritual ideas. He "discovered" Gilda Radner and was first to put her on the air.  He’s written, produced and directed some two hundred documentaries for CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC and public television and radio networks and has written or collaborated on three feature film scripts. He has his film work inducted into the Smithsonian Institution.  He is a novelist: “Houdini Unbound,” also co-authored three other critically-acclaimed books: The Sports Book, The Great Escape, and The Marrakech Express. He has done humor pieces in TV Guide, science writing in Omni, and travel writings in Rolling Stone and The New York Times.  He has taught writing and filmmaking.

16.    Neale Vos- Neale, very involved with WBAI and currently on its Community Advisory Board has been listening to WBAI for over 40 years. He has been regularly supplying the CAB’s report at the LSB’s monthly meetings.  The CAB has focused on efforts to expand WBAI’s listener base, Neale says that since the station has no money to advertise, listeners are the only way to promote the station to people who do not listen to WBAI.  Neale and intends help to organize listener advertisers.

17.    Thomas Murata- is also a member of the WBAI Community Advisory Board, another long time listener, and is running for the LSB to prevent Pacifica from being overtaken by "New Day people," who seized WBAI for one month in October of 2019 turning it into a repeater station.  He sees WBAI as addressing the ever growing threat of the Military Industrial Media Medical complex.  He suggest appeals to rich activist donors such Jane Fonda, Yoko Ono, Susan Sarandon, Barbara Streisand, Robert Redford, Michael Moore, and Oliver Stone before it’s too late.

18.    Carolyn Birden-  A long-time member of WBAI and a veteran who has served on the LSB before (between 2004 and 2014) during some intense and difficult times, Ms. Birden is currently a member of WBAI’s Community Advisory Board   Ms. Birden was the organizer and first chair of the National Election Committee.  She has taught research and technical writing She feels factional internal politics are unproductive for WBAI.

 

Our Recommended Staff Candidates: Jim Freund, Keziah Glow, Dr. Simon Fitzgerald, Doug Wood

Our Recommended Staff Candidates (WBAI staff votes separately for the candidates to represent staff on the Local Station Board-  Listener members can't vote for the candidates below, but these candidates will work well and coordinate with the listener representative candidates recommended above.):

1.     Jim Freund- Host of “Hour of the Wolf,” a long-time weekly WBAI program (since 1971)concentrating on the literature of science fiction, fantasy, and related fields.  He’s a lifelong unpaid staff member at WBAI since 1967.

2.    Keziah Glow- A producer for Leonard Lopate on the Leonard Lopate Show.  She believes being on the LSB is monumental opportunity to protect increasingly rare free speech radio. Many outlets are being silenced and outlawed.  Her number one goal is to find ways to create funding projects for the station.

3.    Simon Fitzgerald- The host of WBAI’s “Trauma Code,” Dr. Fitzgerald is a Kings County trauma surgeon and an Ambassador for the Baltimore Peace Movement.  He has experience including positions on the community advisory board of the Baltimore Mayor's Office on Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and the medical advisory board of the Jordan McNair Foundation.

4.    Doug Wood- Doug and his wife Patti are the hosts and producers of "Green Street News," a WBAI environmental health program.  He has more than 30 years of experience in both commercial business and non-profit organizations. He creates and engineers music for film and television, and for many years he and his wife and I ran a very successful music company, recently sold to Sony. He founded and is National Director of the non-profit AmericansForResponsibleTech.org, a national coalition of more than 140 organizations in 43 states. His wife is the founder and Executive Director of the award-winning non-profit Grassroots Environmental Education where he serves as Associate Director and Chief Strategy Officer. He was a founding director of the advocacy group MusicAnswers, which seeks to protect the rights of music creators around the world, and has been elected twelve times to the Board of ASCAP, where he chairs the Legal Strategy Committee.

Endorsements!!

The above collection of Candidates Is Endorsed by:

    •     Judy Gorman- singer song-writer activist, mentored by Pete Seeger. Judy wrote the Citizens Defending Libraries Song.
    •    Maxine Harrison-Gallmon- An Indy on the LSB intimately familiar with how the station works through her dedicated volunteer work there.
    •    Tracy Rosenberg- One of Pacifica’s best historians and analysts keeping facts straight.
    •    James Sagurton- Pacifica’s current Treasurer from the Indys’ who has done so much to put Pacifica’s financial house in order.
    •   Michael D. D. White, Carolyn McIntyre, and Martha Rowen- Three principal co-founders of Citizens Defending Libraries. Carolyn McIntyre, was Chair of the LSB for three years in a row.  Michael D. D. White is current and former Vice-Chair of the LSB. Martha Rowen has moved on to run for New York State Assembly and New York City Council.
    •    Gary Null - On August 24, 2023 Gary Null endorsed all of the above candidates (plus one other).  Mr Null is the host and producer of the Gary Null Show on WBAI (and PRN, the Progressive Radio Network of which he is the founder). Mr. Null, Ph.D, is renowned for his expertise in the field of health and nutrition, and the author of over 70 best-selling books on healthy living and the director of over 100 critically acclaimed full-feature documentary films on natural health, self-empowerment and the environment.
    •    Alex Steinberg- Recent Pacifica National Board Chair, expert at tactically navigating Pacifica through crises.
    •    Grace Aaron- Former Chair of the Pacifica National Board who had much to do with obtaining the loans that allowed WBAI and Pacifica to extricate from the financial drain of the exorbitant Empire State Building antenna lease.
    •    Lucy Koteen- Prominent member of Human-Scale New York, fought Atlantic Yards, fighting destruction of Fort Green Park, and fighting various other city environmental and community protection battles.
    •    Alicia Boyd- Activist who founded MTOPP to fight the aggressive real estate interests in Brooklyn, intent among other things, on over-shadowing the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with towers.
    •    Lynn Ellsworth- Founding board member on the steering committee of Human-Scale NYC a leading member of New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City Coalition.
    •    DeeDee Halleck- Current Chair of the WBAI’s LSB and famed independent film and documentary maker and another Indy on the LSB elected last election.
    •   Cindy Sheehan-  Anti-war activist.

SO MANY GREAT CANDIDATES!   It's really a challenge providing you with a suggested voting order, but for various reasons, about which candidates have also conferred with us on, the order we suggest should work best.  We also suggest you vote only for these suggested candidates to help them all have the best chance of getting elected. 

Our highly qualified, amazingly superb candidates are all free speech supporters and they oppose authoritarianism.  

WHO can vote in this election? -- and HOW to vote in this election.

You are qualified as a listener member and able to vote in this WBAI election if you contributed $25 or more to the WBAI during the year that ended June 30, 2023.*

 (* And remember that if you donated the qualifying amount-- $25 or more for each member voter-- your WBAI donating household is entitled to cast more than one vote and should.  If you're having any problems, see below about who to contact including us.)

How to vote?

You can vote online and that is the very best way to vote, because voting electronically online saves a huge amount of money for the network and station as opposed to voting by mail (which is also possible).

Ideally, as a contributor to WBAI you should have already received two emails, one telling you that you are an eligible voter in this election (Subject line should be:  Balloting Period Opens Aug 15 / Candidate Forums Schedule, probably on August 10, 2023-- It would come from nes@pacifica.org) and another sending you your ballot (Subject line: Vote now: Pacifica Foundation Inc - 2023 Local Station Elections, which probably arrived August 15, 2023-- It would come from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com)

If you donated to WBAI and did not yet receive such emails, or all the members of your household didn't, it is time to follow up and let the station know that you need to be sent the ballot email (maybe you didn't submit your email or used an old out of date one?)-- Contact WBAI's Membership Department:  +1-212-209-2950 and/or https://wbai.org/contact.php

Once again here is a handy list of all the spectacular listener candidates we recommend. And we recommend that you vote for all of them and only them as follows:

1.    Elliot Crown
2.    M. Kay Williams
3.    Gloria Guillo
4.    Dr. Charles Ihejirika
5.    Jeremy Kuzmarov
6.    Adrienne Meisels
7.    Mark Crispin Miller
8.    Guy Vantresca
9.    Tessa Lena
10.    Dion Powell
11.    Amy Smiley
12.    Jack DePalma
13.    Janet Harmon
14.    Camilla Rees
15.    David Saltman
16.    Neale Vos
17.    Thomas Murata
18.    Carolyn Birden

The purpose of this post is to promote the election of the candidates we are recommending and the content here may be freely and fairly used and reproduced by those similarly seeking to promote the election of these candidates.

Disclaimer: This is not an official communication of WBAI or Pacifica.

Disclaimer (further elaborated):  Because there are specified requirements issued with respect to WBAI Pacifica Elections, we further provide this specified language:

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation mailing nor an official mailing of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.

“New Day Pacifica” Bylaw Proposals: A Group On The West Coast Is Declaring War on Pacifica And WBAI- Democracy and Free Speech Are In Peril

 Free Speech Peril!- A Group On The West Coast Is Declaring War on Pacifica And WBAI  . .  And On Democracy

To All Library Defenders-

Here is something that’s still in draft because we are still working on it, but it will inform you about urgent matters nonetheless.  One reason it's in draft is because the WBAI Local Station Board still needs to pass the included resolution.

If you believe in free speech and want to be able to continue to access narratives that are alternative to the propaganda the corporately owned mainstream press pumps out, we hope this will encourage you to take action, including that you and others become WBAI members (a mere $25) by April 7th.

We think you'll find the scenario reported on below familiar.  Powerful interests are working to shrink our libraries, where we get our information, and to eliminate the books; Let's not let them succeed in this parallel effort to take away free speech radio and the information and insight it provides.

Please let Carolyn and me know if you refresh or start your WBAI membership or get any of your friends to become WBAI members.

Should the Pacifica Free Speech Radio network be at war with itself? It’s a self-destructive course when it is.  But that’s exactly what seems to have happened.  The union of five free speech stations through the Pacifica network was meant to be a strengthening measure providing cross support between the stations . .

. . . But now it seems that there is a faction at the Pacifica stations on the West Coast that wants to declare war on the Pacifica stations on the East Coast and particularly New York City’s WBAI.  (WBAI is New York’s only true listener supported public radios station.) Especially considering the history of some of the actors involved in this attack, the so-called “New Day Pacifica,” proposals to strip democracy and listener accountability out of Pacifica’s bylaws, it does not seem as if that faction has the best interest of Pacifica at heart.

Do the attackers want to dismantle the Pacifica network and WBAI because they want to see free speech radio, radio for the 99.5% (WBAI is 99.5 FM on the dial in NYC) dismantled entirely?. . . .

. . . Or, do the attackers want to dismantle the Pacifica network and WBAI because they want to refashion it, do a make over so that all the stations broadcast content that falls in line with dominant, power-serving narratives pumped out by the corporate mainstream press, be it the divisive corporate “Red Broadcasting” by Fox, or the divisive corporate “Blue Broadcasting” by the likes of MSNBC.

In either case, such dismantling and destruction of Pacifica and WBAI would neutralize the threat that free speech and listener accountability pose to establishment power structures.

WBAI just aired a two-hour program to inform its listeners of the nefarious “New Day Pacifica" plans afoot.  You can find it to listen to here: “The Democracy Project,” March 6, 2021. . . (Because of the rules applicable when proposed Pacifica bylaw changes are to be voted on, WBAI is now in a period where WBAI has to be silent, neutral and unable to inform its listeners about the bylaws, but this program, predating the election period, can still be listened to on WBAI’s archive.)

Very worth listening to for understanding the overall context of obvious concerns is the stage-setting introduction for the program Johanna Fernandez, host of WBAI’s morning program, “A New Day.”  (Did “New Day Pacifica” intend to be stealing the name of Johanna’s morning show for “good will” confusion purposes?: Some people think so.)  Her introduction starts at 5:10 in the recording.

In her opening Johanna Fernandez makes a very good case that the “New Day Pacifica” proposals should be seen in an overall context of neoliberal privatizing takeover and shutdown of the free press.

Perhaps most important to listen to in that broadcast is former Pacifica board Chair Grace Aaron’s exceptionally clear technical description of the proposals that the New Day Pacifica proponents are trying to foist on the listener members of WBAI and Pacifica.  Grace Aaron names names in saying who the New Day Pacifica are and why all their actions, past and present, ensure these people and their motives are to be suspected.  (Her statement starts at 16:05 in the recording.)
 
As Grace makes clear, the proposals are designed to be an undemocratic and racially skewing dictatorial power grab by an elite minority with conflicts of interest that would shut out from representation the blacker, browner, more progressive East Coast Stations (WBAI and WPFW).  If these bylaw changes are approved they would establish locked-in leadership over Pacifica for three years by four self-appointed officers, including a Chair, Sharon Kyle, who may have a direct conflict of interest as she is the owner of the LA Progressive, an online, for-profit newspaper.  Although there would be one representative on the new board from WBAI and one from WPFW (our Washington, D.C. station). stations would be locked out of the 4 officer positions and would have fewer board members overall than the West Coast stations for 3 years.  WBAI and WPFW are Pacifica’s blacker, browner and more progressive stations.  Also, none of the 4 board officers would be from the staff or Pacifica’s affiliate stations.  The locked in structure would ensure minority opinion would have very little representation or voice.

The changes would also eliminate local control and influence over local station broadcasting by taking away the LSB oversight over station general managers.  Thus programing in New York City and Washington D.C. would be effectively determined top-down by those seizing power on the West Coast.  What could/would result?: During the October 2019 shutdown of WBAI these same people pumped into NYC programming from California that was innocuously bland, dull.  It was unthreatening to power and devoid of any sense of locality.

There is other insidious stuff tucked into the proposals like rejiggering staff representation rules to further lock in this West Coast Pacifica faction dominance.

The proposals would do absolutely nothing to improve Pacifica’s financial condition.  Instead, having to deal with proposals like these worsen it.  These now recurring launches by the same people to make different kinds of overhauling changes to the bylaws are probably intended as attempt to drain Pacifica’s preciously spare resources (including possible forcing a bankruptcy of Pacifica) and foment perpetual debilitating distraction, as much as they are actually in hope of successfully making any such changes.

How do we fend off this attack?: By April 7th,  WBAI needs to make sure that it has as many listener members ready and qualified to vote on on the upcoming bylaw referendum as possible.  That means that listeners should have contributed at least $25 or more within the year to the station.  One way to do that immediately (if someone is not currently up-to-date as a listener member) is to immediately become a member of WBAI as a BAI Buddy supporting the station or a show for $10 a month or more and then make up the extra with a one time donation (of $15 more more extra dollars?).

Another way to help win this fight is for WBAI supporters to make sure that two of their friends become WBAI members eligible to vote by April 7th.  If ever WBAI member got two friends to do that by April 7th WBAI member would more than double.  (plus it means a lot for people to be listening to WBAI and telling others about the cool and fascinating stuff they heard the there.)

And another quick stop for anyone, is to also sign (and pass along) the petition opposing the proposed bylaw changes up at The Democracy Project.

Here is the resolution that WBAI’s Local Station Board passed unanimously at its last meeting condemning the New Day Pacifica proposals:

Resolution of WBAI’s Local Station Board Finding That Proposed “New Day Pacifica” Bylaw Changes Will Be Extremely Destructive and Adverse To The Interests of Pacifica

Whereas, whenever proposals are made to fundamentally alter the structure of the Pacifica Foundation (“Pacifica”) it is essential to examine those proposals with care to determine whether such proposed changes would truly be helpful to Pacifica or would, instead, be detrimental and destructive;        

Whereas, while it would be nice to assume that proposals to make fundamental changes to Pacifica are always made with good faith intentions to improve Pacifica, that is something that should never be assumed;

Whereas, Pacifica, as currently structured, stands ready to be a provider of truth, facts, factual corrections, and alternative narratives that pose a significant threat to the dominating narratives of the monopolistic, corporate, mainstream press that serve power structures that seek to quash and censor opposition, and, as such, we must be on guard against those entering the Pacifica environment that, whatever their pretenses, choose to be destructive and disruptive to Pacifica;

Whereas, we have to be aware that Pacifica and its terrestrial radio stations are an even more obvious target for attack by these powerful interests, because unlike the internet sources of news, information and communication, terrestrial radio cannot be as easily shut down, censored, silenced, manipulated, monitored and surveiled as is becoming increasingly evident as a problem with respect to the internet;    

Whereas, we, as WBAI’s Local Station Board (“LSB”) do not want to see Pacifica destroyed by being driven into bankruptcy or by being dismantled and reconstructed as another arm of the corporate owned and corporately captured press and media conglomerates (for instance becoming a corporate Democrat “blue broadcaster” such as some of the corporately-owned cable channels);

Whereas, our LSB believes that WBAI is one of Pacifica’s most progressive stations, successful in steering away from the traps of corporately captured and promulgated narratives and that its independence, voice, and ability to continue to be this way should be protected and preserved;

Whereas, the best way to ensure that Pacifica fends off destruction and/or neutering of its ability to be a strong, free-speech source of alternative narratives that serve the public interest and intellectual freedoms is for Pacifica and its stations to remain democratically accountable to its listeners;

Whereas, the LSB has reviewed, and is alarmed in the extreme by, the “New Day Pacifica” proposals to change the bylaws seeing that they will be detrimental and disruptive to the essential purposes of Pacifica for all of the above reasons; and

Whereas, the LSB therefore wishes to set forth its condemnation of the “New Day Pacifica” proposals for reasons that include all of what we set forth below; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, by LSB as follows:

Section 1. The LSB condemns  the “New Day Pacifica” proposals because:

    A.   The LSB emphatically notes that many of the people behind the push for the “New Day Pacifica” proposals are the very same people who were behind and involved in: i) the surreptitious, unauthorized, illegal, and costly shutdown of WBAI of October 2019, ii) the simultaneous secretly launched and roundly defeated (by a 2/3rds margin) last set of disruptively proposed, antidemocratic bylaw changes of that time that destructively drained Pacifica of $150,000 of its resources, and iii) advocating for shutting down WBAI.

    B. The proposals are designed to be an undemocratic and racially skewing power grab by an elite minority with conflicts of interest that would shut out from representation the blacker, browner, more progressive East Coast Stations (WBAI and WPFW).  To wit, the virtually complete erosions of democracy include:
    
            •    The bylaw changes would establish locked-in rule over Pacifica for three years by four unelected, self-appointed officers, including with conflict of interest connections to for-profit media.  These individuals would have no professional radio experience.  The lock-in would include officers hostile to and connected with the shutdown of WBAI.  The individuals being picked for this lock-in of power do not include proper representation for WBAI or WPFW, the other East Coast station. None are from the staff or affiliate stations.
            •    Pacifica’s proportional voting representation ensuring a voice for minority opinion would be eliminated be reducing to one the number of representatives sent to Pacifica’s National Board from each station, thus ensuring that only the majority would have any representation or voice.
            •    To extend this elimination of elected voices the majority-representing national board members would get to appoint additional board members suitable to their more limited, undemocratic mind-set.
            •    The changes would eliminate local control and influence over local station broadcasting by taking away the LSB oversight over station general managers.  Thus programing in New York City and Washington D.C. would be effectively determined top-down by those seizing power on the West Coast.  As the example of the October 2019 shutdown of WBAI demonstrated, what these kinds of people chose to do the last time they had the opportunity to do this was to run programming that was innocuously bland, dull and unthreatening to power and devoid of any sense of locality.
            •    The changes would rejigger the staff representation rules in order to assure that the results of staff elections would always give the West Coast Pacifica stations assured dominance.

    C. The proposals are additionally very suspect because they would do absolutely nothing to improve Pacifica’s financial condition, but presenting and having to deal with proposals like these absolutely worsen it.  The recurring launches by the same people to make different kinds of overhauling changes to the bylaws are probably intended as attempt to drain Pacifica’s preciously spare resources (including possible forcing a bankruptcy of Pacifica) and foment perpetual debilitating distraction, as much as they are actually in hope of successfully making any such changes.

    D. The proposals would make the Pacific bylaws far longer than they are now and far more complicated, a highly undesirable outcome.

Section 2.  To defend against and repel this onslaught against listener interest, the LSB encourages WBAI listeners to increase their contributions to WBAI and Pacifica, and if they are not currently, to become current members of WBAI and Pacifica, particularly on or before April 7, 2021 (with a contribution of $25 or more), and to encourage everyone they know to do the same.
           
Section 3.  This resolution shall take effect immediately and the LSB directs the LSB chair to forward this resolution to the Pacific National Board and make every effort to promulgate it widely for public view and to ensure it becomes widely known that the LSB denounces the “New Day Pacifica” proposals by reason of all the harm the proposal of those bylaw changes are apparently designed to inflict on Pacifica in its pursuit of its mission and particularly on WBAI.

If you want to know more history about when a lot of the same ““New Day Pacifica” people were involved in the surreptitious, unauthorized, illegal and costly October 2019 sut down of WBAI, you can find it here along with the resolution that the WBAI LSB unanimously adopted to condemn it then:

Resolution of WBAI’s Local Station Board Responding To Shutdown of WBAI New York

Once again- Fend off this attack as follows:

            •    By April 7th,  help make sure WBAI has as many listener members ready and qualified to vote on on the upcoming bylaw referendum as possible.  That means that listeners should have contributed at least $25 or more within the year to the station.


            •    Make sure your friends (at least two?) become WBAI members eligible to vote by April 7th.

            •    Sign (and pass along) the petition opposing the proposed bylaw changes up at The Democracy Project.