Save KPFA

KPFA’s new program director: Laura Prives

by
Laura Prives
Laura Prives

After a year-long search for a program director initiated by KPFA’s elected Local Station Board, KPFA general manager Quincy McCoy has announced he’s promoting long-time KPFA producer Laura Prives to the position

Prives began volunteering in KPFA’s News Department in 2003, on the day the US began bombing Iraq. Later, she moved to the Morning Show, where she worked her way up to executive producer. She helped launch two of KPFA’s most successful new programs: Letters and Politics with Mitch Jeserich, and UpFront with Brian Edwards-Tiekert. Currently, she’s working as a producer on both of those programs and Hard Knock Radio. Previously, she had worked as a DJ at KALX, and a researcher at the Federal Reserve.

“Laura has been one of KPFA’s unsung heroes for years,” said local board treasurer, Barbara Whipperman, a member of SaveKPFA. “Everyone she has worked with knows her incredible work ethic, sharp ear for good radio, and cool head under pressure — which is exactly what KPFA needs right now.”

According to an all-staff memo, Prives will assume her new duties on November 2. KPFA has been without a permanent program director for nearly 15 years.

“When we won elections for KPFA’s Local Station Board, we hoped to help bring competent, stable leadership to the station,” said Whipperman.  KPFA completed the long-delayed hire of a general manager in June, when it hired Quincy McCoy.

Meanwhile, KPFA’s FALL FUND DRIVE is underway, raising desperately needed funds. This drive has an additional goal of “refreshing” KPFA by raising money to overhaul KPFA’s website and make it a better tool for distributing programs and raising money off-air.  Please show your support now by pledging at www.kpfa.org.

Mark your calendars: LSB meeting & KPFA Crafts Fair

by

kpfa crafts fairAll are welcome at the next KPFA Local Station Board meeting, which is scheduled for Saturday, October 18 from 11am to 4 pm at 100 Oak Street in Oakland (that’s the SEIU Local 1021 office). You can find details, including an agenda here.

And don’t miss KPFA’s legendary Crafts Fair scheduled for the weekend of December 20-21. The fair is returning to the East Bay after 20 years in San Francisco, to the stunning Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront. Be there!

Reese and her supporters lose in court, again

by

On September 17, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou made two more rulings in favor of the new leadership at Pacifica, the nonprofit that owns KPFA, following a series that began in May.

Petrou granted a demurrer against the lawsuit brought by Pacifica Directors for Good Governance (PDGG), a group of Pacifica National Board members who supported terminated executive Summer Reese‘s attempt to seize Pacifica’s national office by force. The ruling gave PDGG 10 days to fix the legal deficiencies in their lawsuit, or have it thrown out. The 10 days are now up, so their lawsuit is basically dead.

The board members behind the PDGG’s lawsuit were Janet Coleman (WBAI), Carolyn Birden (WBAI), Manijeh Saba (WBAI), Luzette King (WPFW), Richard Uzzell (KPFT), Kim Kaufman (KPFK), Janet Kobren (KPFA), Heather Gray (affiliate station) and Janis Lane-Ewert (affiliate station).

Along the way, court filings regarding a falling out that the PDGG had with their attorney, Amy Sommer-Anderson, indicated that they ran their lawsuit much the way they had run the Pacifica network when they were in charge of it — by running up large bills they had no plans to pay. Sommer-Anderson filed to have herself removed as counsel because PDGG owed her more than $20,000 in overdue costs and attorneys’ fees.

Judge Petrou also rejected a demurrer from Summer Reese in the action that Pacifica brought to get a court order forcing her to abandon the offices inside which she had barricaded herself.  The court also rejected a motion from Reese, representing herself, to disqualify Judge Petrou from hearing the case — on unspecified charges of prejudice.