Some KPFA Election Violations 2010
Below: some election violations September 29th and 30th, 2010 from the final election report (also at this site) by Renée Asteria Peñaloza (Renee Astoria Penaloza), Pacifica National Election Supervisor 2010
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At KPFA, on-air violations were committed on September 29th and September 30th by three staff members, the last 2 days of the election. Both the staff and listener election process was affected. While the impact cannot be measured exactly, a large amount of ballots, both staff and listener, were cast in those last few days. Three KPFA staff members went on air and promoted a website - kpfaworker.org. This website stated that certain board members running for re-election were a threat to KPFA. Management [Free Speech Zone note: "management" in this report refers to previous "KPFAworker"-allied station management in place at that time, not current 2012 management] failed to control the behavior of staff.
The Fair Campaign Violations specifically prohibit pointing to webpages which make reference to candidates running in the election. While the latter is specific for listener election, the intent is to have a fair election for both staff and listeners. The Fair Campaign Provisions state the remedy for on-air violations by a staff member is to remove the offending programmer or programmers from the air for the duration of the election period. Penalizing the 3 staff members by disqualifying their vote is a way to compensate for their behavior which had an impact on both staff and listener elections.
In my opinion, the latter is the least which could have been done. Both management and a significant portion of the paid staff at KPFA were pretty much given "cart blanche" to disregard the election process throughout the election. I would not have certified the election if there was the possibility to redo the election and the eminent threat of lawsuits.
I felt forced to certify the results at KPFA as the Pacifica Foundation simply cannot afford to redo the election at this point in time. I believe the entire election process was compromised due to the lack of cooperation from KPFA management and the relationship between a significant portion of paid staff and 1 candidate slate (Concerned Listeners/Save KPFA).
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At KPFA, on-air violations were committed on September 29th and September 30th by three staff members, the last 2 days of the election. Both the staff and listener election process was affected. While the impact cannot be measured exactly, a large amount of ballots, both staff and listener, were cast in those last few days. Three KPFA staff members went on air and promoted a website - kpfaworker.org. This website stated that certain board members running for re-election were a threat to KPFA. Management [Free Speech Zone note: "management" in this report refers to previous "KPFAworker"-allied station management in place at that time, not current 2012 management] failed to control the behavior of staff.
The Fair Campaign Violations specifically prohibit pointing to webpages which make reference to candidates running in the election. While the latter is specific for listener election, the intent is to have a fair election for both staff and listeners. The Fair Campaign Provisions state the remedy for on-air violations by a staff member is to remove the offending programmer or programmers from the air for the duration of the election period. Penalizing the 3 staff members by disqualifying their vote is a way to compensate for their behavior which had an impact on both staff and listener elections.
In my opinion, the latter is the least which could have been done. Both management and a significant portion of the paid staff at KPFA were pretty much given "cart blanche" to disregard the election process throughout the election. I would not have certified the election if there was the possibility to redo the election and the eminent threat of lawsuits.
I felt forced to certify the results at KPFA as the Pacifica Foundation simply cannot afford to redo the election at this point in time. I believe the entire election process was compromised due to the lack of cooperation from KPFA management and the relationship between a significant portion of paid staff and 1 candidate slate (Concerned Listeners/Save KPFA).
