gailb
KPKF LAB had input into new iGM selection
Mon Jan 28 06:50:25 2002

Repost:

Dear Free Pacifica Activists,

New KPFK Interim General Manager Steven Starr dropped in Sunday afternoon to address the Free Pacifica Neighborhood Network Coordinating Committee eregarding his role during the 60 to 90 day transition period over which he will beiGM. With his permission, I recorded the first 34 minutes of his presentation and subsequent Q&A period on my tiny digital recorder (which I carry mainly in order to take personal notes and which only handles 34 minutes). This presentation is now posted inMP3 format on the FPNN Web site at: http://www.fpnn.org.

Many people on these lists, myself included, were concerned when Starr's selection was announced; not primarily because of reservations about the candidate, but mainly because the listener community was not informed about the process involved in making this selection, either on Friday when it occurred, or indeed upto the current time.

Members of the LAB who were present at the meeting, when informed that listeners were still largely in the dark about this process, acknowledged this as a problem and have promised to correct it by issuing a statement in the very near future describing what had occurred. Although this statement from people who were actually involved in the hiring process is on its way, I would like to share some of what I learned with you at this time, so that some of the anxiety of not knowing can hopefully be relieved.

First, I want everyone to know that the KPFK LAB was directly involved in and responsible for the selection of this candidate. This decision was not made autonomously by the Executive Director of Pacifica.

The LAB is the closest thing that we now have to a body that represents the listeners of the area, and so, *now* that I *know* that they were involved, I feel that it was entirely appropriate for the LAB to have made this decision.

Second, without getting into details, the process of making this selection was carried out under severe time constraints. The first priority of the LAB was in carrying out the strongly expressed demands of listeners at the last LAB meeting and throughout the listeners' movement that the old GM be replaced. You can't replace someone without...a replacement! So, rather than open a plebiscite and asking everyone for a candidate, which could have taken weeks, they made the decision themselves, with limited input.

Third, this is an *interim* GM whose tenure at the station will last from 60 to 90 days. I hope and trust that there will be *plenty* of community input regarding the person who will ultimately fill this position on a permanent basis.

Fourth, I like this candidate. In fact, I think that he will be perfect for the extremely difficult task of dealing with a station, and staff, that will be undergoing a very dramatic transition in the next few months. And I do have faith that he will be able to create such a transition, and that it will be done with strong community input. But on that score, you can hear and decide for yourselves by listening to the actual audio of his presentation and subsequent Q and A, as mentioned at the top of this message.

Starr made a pitch for funds at the end of his presentation, and practically everyone at the meeting, myself included, gave money to the station. For many of us, this was our first donation to the station itself in years. I myself had not given a penny since 1996. Almost everyone had a sense that the station and the movement had reached yet another important point of transition, and that we were one step closer to having a station that will truly belong to the listeners. By the way - Amy Goodman will be back on the air in her *usual* time slot *today*, folks!

It's a great time in the history of Pacifica. And we are all making that history.

Carl