KPFT Notes

The Pacifica National Board has selected Arlene Engelhardt to be the new Executive Director of Pacifica. She has been involved with WMNF, a community radio station in Tampa, Florida for almost 20 years – as a programmer, a board member and as President of the Board.

Arlene has a background in both non-profit and for-profit management, as Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy and as Vice President of Product Development at a multimedia publishing company. She has been a lifelong peace activist and believes passionately that Pacifica is one of the most important institutions of our time, a time of exciting challenges.

She says, “In these turbulent economic times, whether you call it a recession or the beginning of a depression, I am concerned about the effect on people. People will be reaching out for personal connections, for human warmth and compassion, and no other medium can meet these needs like radio. Radio at its best is the most personal of all communicative mediums.”

Arlene will be starting on December 1st.

Congratulations! The new members of the LSB are as follows:

Listener

Bill Crosier
Robert L. Mark
Wesley Bethune
DeWayne Lark
Susie Moreno
Nancy Hentschel
Mike Jones
Herbert Steptoe
Nancy Saibaria-Naritomi

Staff

Ronald Reynolds
Rhonda R. Garner
Liana Lisa Lopez

The Pacifica Radio Archives and Brian DeShazor, its Director, will be honored by the National Federation of Community Broadcasters with the 2010 Bader Award.

The Pacifica Radio Archives assess, preserve and make available to the widest possible public, historic radio programs of the highest social, cultural and artistic value in its collection of approximately 40,500 original audio tapes. These programs, mostly dating from the 1950s through the 1980s, document the essential movements, experiments and musings of the latter half of the 20th century, as broadcast on one or more of the Pacifica Radio Stations: KPFA in Berkeley, California; KPFK in Los Angeles, California; KPFT in Houston, Texas; WBAI in New York City; and WPFW in Washington, DC. The Archives project began was commenced in 1973.

Mr. DeShazor began his work with Pacifica in 1998 when he came to the Archives as a temporary worker. In 1999 the Foundation was in turmoil with a takeover and lockout, and he was one of the few people in the Foundation who saw the intrinsic value in these Archives, materials worthy of being protected and preserved. He immediately began his work with his mentor, Adi Gevins, on preserving the tapes. In 2002 Pacifica Radio embarked on a long-term preservation & access project. They were granted small sums from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Grammy Foundation. With these grants, DeShazor and the staff were able to bring in consultants and shape the Archives into what they are today. The Archives can be accessed at www.Pacificaradioarchives.org.

Much of the success of these Archives is due to Mr. DeShazor’s sheer passion for the project. He described his connection this way: “These recorded histories have never been accessible to the general public. These recordings document civil rights and liberties which are not taught in schools. I am so privileged to have access to this education and I am humbled to be able to share it. Community radio possesses so much that is worthy of preservation and legacy.”

NFCB is honored to present this award to the Pacific Radio Archives and its Director, Brian DeShazor. Debbie Benedict, NFCB Board Chair and General Manager of WTIP in Grand Marais, Minnesota said, “The Pacifica Archives represent an extraordinary asset not only for Community Radio, but for the American people. The NFCB Board places high value on the preservation of our history. We are grateful to Brian and his staff for the loving care they have given to these precious resources.”

The Bader Award is given annually for a single stunning innovation or a lifetime of vital contributions to Community Radio. This award honors individuals or groups whose work has advanced the vision and values of Community Radio, whether in programming, management, infrastructure development, technology or development of the field. The winner is chosen by the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

Mr. DeShazor will be presented with the award at the 2010 Community Radio Conference, June 9-12 in St Paul, Minnesota. Previous Bader Award Recipients include: John Crigler (2009) of Garvey Schubert Barer, Hugo Morales (2008) of Radio Bilingüe, and Ellin O’Leary (2007) of Youth Radio.

The National Federation of Community Broadcasters is an alliance of stations, producers, and others committed to Community Radio. NFCB advocates for national public policy, funding, recognition, and resources on behalf of its membership, while providing services to empower and strengthen community broadcasters through the core values of localism, diversity and public service.

From KPFT Election Supervisor Ann Shaw:

We will be counting ballots for the 2009 Local Station Board Elections this week!

WITNESS AND HANDS-ON VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED AND GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Counting will take place at the upstairs meeting room at
CENTRAL MARKET at 3815 Westheimer, at the corner of Westheimer and Weslayan.

Noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, November 13th
5:30 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, November 14th
8:00 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 15th (as needed)

The ballot counting process is open to all.

If you would like to volunteer, it would be most helpful if you could let me know ahead of time by email at election@kpft.org or phone – 615-967-6990. However, you are more than welcome to come to Central Market during the designated times and volunteer without signing up in advance.

(Note: Since we can only estimate the time needed to complete the counting process, we cannot guarantee that we will at Central Market for all the time allotted, so please feel free to call me at the above number before you head over.)

Candidates are welcome to witness but may not process (touch) any ballots.

Once the ballots have been counted and the results certified, I will email all KPFT members with the official results and post the information on the KPFT website.

The protocol for the vote counting process is detailed below.

Questions? Please contact me at election@kpft.org, or at 615-967-6990.

Thank you for your support of KPFT.