Cloud Surfing

Pacifica budget cutters threaten to choke KPFA

BERKELEY, Oct.21—Rejecting a budget proposal that would protect the jobs of most of the paid staff at KPFA, the parent company Pacifica Foundation’s finance committee is demanding extensive cuts that will remove some of the station’s most widely listened-to broadcasters, and its most effective fundraisers.

In a hard-fought battle on Saturday by members of the SaveKPFA slate, which will assume majority status on the Local Station Board (LSB) in December, a budget was hammered out that would meet the current financial crises with minimum disruption to the staff and station programming.

But rather than accept any of the proposals put forth by the LSB, which also had the support of KPFA management, Pacifica’s finance committee is demanding adoption of an alternative budget that eliminates the equivalent of 4.5 paid on-air positions—which will actually terminate many more part-time employees. Furthermore, the committee made these demands without engaging in meaningful negotiations with the union representing the paid station staff, a violation of the collective bargaining agreement that requires good-faith bargaining on such workplace issues.

The demand for cuts comes along with demands that will effectively stymie KPFA’s efforts to survive its financial crisis. Despite owing KPFA over $1.5 million for 10 years, the Foundation finance committee demanded that the station repay a recent loan to the station of $150,000 in one lump sum, rather than in manageable payments over several years.

“I am appalled that the national finance committee did not even consider our cost-saving measures,” said Pamela Drake, a member of the LSB who supported its alternative budget. “The plan we offered would have saved jobs and preserved important station resources, not least of which being the listenership. If we cut our best fundraisers and best-liked personalities, we’re going to lose listeners, and that’s a vicious circle that ends up killing the station. The Pacifica folks have thrown us to the wolves while asking us to pay for it.”

KPFA is the flagship station of the Pacifica radio network, an independent, not-for-profit broadcasting company with stations in major metropolitan areas around the U.S. Based in Berkeley, KPFA’s programming is heard throughout northern and central California.

Playing in the Band->
The Same Thing->
Jam – Grateful Dead 12/28/91 Oakland Coliseum Arena

Interview with Bob Weir 12/30/91

7 Walkers
Chingo! – 7 Walkers

GREAT new CD from a band that features Bill Kreutzmann on drums!

Family Picture – Donna the Buffalo, Live from the American Ballroom
Rushing Over My Bones – Galen Kipar Project, The Scenic Route
King Cotton Blues – 7 Walkers

Jim Page live in the KPFA Performance studio:
I Want a New America
Tent City
Mr. Ondo
Lightnin’ Hopkins
I’d Rather Be Dancing (for Rachel Corrie)
Chris Ramey Gave Me This Guitar
The Singer and the AWOL Kid
(instrumental)
Clear Blue Sky
Ghost Bikes

Truckin’
Sugaree
Mr. Charlie
Beat It on Down the Line
Tennessee Jed
Jack Straw
Run Rudolph Run
You Win Again
Me and Bobby McGee
Comes a Time
El Paso
Smokestack Lightnin’
Cumberland Blues
One More Saturday Night – Grateful Dead 12/4/71 Felt Forum, New York NY

Bill Graham’s intro at the start of the show – “The food that feed us all: the Grateful Dead”

The Other One->
Dark Star->
The Other One – Bonerama 9/18/10 Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco

Thanks to Marty Lefkowitz for recording this, sending it over, and getting permission for me to play it on the radio.

Riddle of the Universe – Donna the Buffalo, Positive Friction
Winnona – Jim Lauderdale, Patchwork River
Aurora – Claudia Russell, Ready to Receive
On the Road – Mike and Ruthy, One in a Million

It’s FUND DRIVE TIME, friends. Please visit KPFA’s web site and make a donation. Any amount is greatly appreciated! Or call us on the studio line 510-848-4425 to make a pledge and score one of these fabulous thank-you gifts.

Help on the Way->
Slipknot!->
Franklin’s Tower – Grateful Dead, Formerly the Warlocks

China Cat Sunflower->
I Know You Rider – Grateful Dead, Road Trips vol 3 no 4

The Mountain Song – Furthur 9/25/10 Red Rocks, Morrison CO

Playing in the Band->
Uncle John’s Band->
Playing in the Band – Grateful Dead, Formerly the Warlocks

Oh, California – Claudia Russell, Ready to Receive
The Family Demon – Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Legacy
It Feeds All the Land – Galen Kipar Project, The Scenic Route
Mardi Gras – Evie Ladin, Float Downstream
Young Charles Ives – The Mother Hips, Pacific Dust