• Nomination Statement
• Candidate Questionnaire

Alliance for a Democratic KPFA.

Radio remains the most important medium in reclaiming democracy for the people, says Amy Goodman, host of the nationally syndicated progressive news show "Democracy Now!"

My name is Maxine Doogan. I have served the KPFA Labor Collective as their liaison to KPFA. I have written and co-produced 8 special days of programming proposals on behalf of the labor community that has resulted in 13 actual hours of air time in 2005. In 2006, I wrote and co-produced 2 special days of programming proposals that resulted in 20 minutes of actual programming which featured the erotic service industry, an underrepresented community of which I am a member for over 17 years. I have been a community programmer through the KPFA Labor Collective since May of 2004. In June of 2006, I was able to complete the board operator training and I now volunteer 3 hours a week performing this task on Tuesdays from 1 pm to 4 pm. I have also written national special days of programming. As a member of the KPFA Labor Collective and an Unpaid Staff member, I supported the non-violence resolution.

I have attended several LSB meetings over the past years as well as 3 Pacifica Board Meetings and have watched members struggle with parliamentary procedures as a means to promote democracy at KPFA and Pacifica. I have also watched members of both boards use Roberts Rules of order to stonewall democratic change. Both boards ought to discover other means to interface with staff and listeners so everyone can better serve our communities.

As a community programmer and labor rights activist, I believe strongly that underrepresented populations must have access to free speech radio. If elected to the LSB, I want to participate in raising money for more training of community programmers as I was trained, and to bring more underrepresented voices with relevant messages to free speech radio. I believe in the KPFA and Pacifica Network mission statement.

As an LSB member, I would facilitate the hiring a General Manager and Program Director right away as to lessen the burden on volunteers at the stations who have to contend with issues like lack of parking, training, grievance process and other human resource challenges. The current LSB has been unable to perform either of these duties which only serve the entrenched staff to make decisions amongst themselves with no accountability.

As an LSB member, I would support KPFA and Pacificans in participating in local and national community building exercises to make sure that inclusion prevails instead of continuing systematic disenfranchisement of community programmers and listeners from participating in the Unpaid Staff Organization, Program Council, and the Local Station Board because we don't want to become part of the entrenched decision making process which only serves certain established programmers/staff who practice ownership of their time slots.

1. Why do you want to be on the Board?

I want to be on the LSB because I want to see listener sponsored radio become high functioning as an institution of progressive relevant programming.

2. How do you envision the Local Station Board working with the Pacifica Foundation, KPFA and the community?

I envision the LSB and Pacifica Foundation, KPFA and the community working together by coming together as staff, community programmers, listeners, and tech support for regular meetings to share skills and ideas to maintain self supporting and relevant local and national programming.

3. How could the station better serve its listeners?

How the station would better serve the listeners would be to host regular facilitated open community meetings between staff, program council members, LSB members, community programmers.

4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience?

Some of the actions I have taken in the past to influence the station to focus on underrepresented communities is to write program proposals and those are skills I can pass on to underrepresented communities.

5. What source of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel KPFA should solicit?

Some other sources of funding that KPFA and Pacifica ought to investigate are alliances with other media like film festivals as a means of outreach to underrepresented communities for community building and fundraising opportunities.

6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, education background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.

The areas of expertise I bring to listeners sponsored radio are that I am a community programmer; I can record, edit, and write proposals, and network with a larger vision about inclusiveness. I can sit in long meetings - not take it personally - and have aesthetic appeal.

7. Do you anticipate missing any Local station board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation?

I don't anticipate missing any board meetings. I have sat through several of the lengthy LSB meetings for the last 2 years.

8. On which Local station Board committees are you interested in actively serving?

The Station board committees I'm most interested in would be the Governance Committee, as I would like to see some bylaw changes that would make the Program Council, the Unpaid Staff Organization, the paid staff, and management more directly responsible to those they serve.