NEWS FLASH!    NEWS FLASH!   NEWS FLASH!   NEWS FLASH!  NEWS FLASH!    NEWS FLASH!   NEWS FLASH!   NEWS FLASH!    NEWS FLASH!   NEWS FLASH!

The 2006 Pacifica elections have been corrupted beyond belief!  While complaints of violations of fair campaign provisions on the part of national elections supervisor Les
Radke continue to  percolate in Berkeley (perhaps Les Radke's slogan should be :  "who's watching the watchdog? hee hee") , they have been nowhere more evident than right here in Houston.  Mr. Radke has outdone himself by banning one of the LSB candidates, Ken Freeland, on the basis of an  improbable and entirely unsubstantiated claim that the local peace activist "assaulted" local elections supervisor Jane Tucker Bradley.  Unfortunately for Mr. Radke, there were two other candidates present when the alleged incident took place, and their tesitimony significantly contradicts Mr. Radke's improbable (and doubtless actionable) claim.  But don't take our word for it!  UnionPacifica brings you the first comprehensive report of this latest, outlandish corruption of the 2006 KPFT :LSB elections.  You can judge for yourself:

Here is candidate Freeland's initiating complaint regarding violation of the fair campaign provision by the local elections supervisor on Sunday 14 October. 

Here is national election supervisor Radke's  response, banning the complainant from participation in all electoral events run by the local elections supervisor.

Here is a statement by candidate Wesley Bethune, who was present during the exchange between candidate Freeland and local elections supervisor Bradley.

Here is a statement by candidate Don Cook who was present during the exchange between candidate Freeland and local elections supervisor Bradley.

Since candidate Freeland is not permitted  access to the airwaves or public campaign venues to defend himself, he has been given an opportunity to do so here.  Please read Ken Freeland's point-by-point reponse to Les Radke's  allegation  of  "assault" (as  well as to his lack of response to canidate Freeland's [and others']  pending complaints against the local elections supervisor).

If you have any lingering doubts that the KPFT LSB elections  have had their integrity violated by the very supervisors whose job it is to insure that integrity, those doubts will be completely dispelled by the time you finish reading the above-linked documentation!

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Since the legal settlement at the turn of the millenium, and the ratification of the Foundation's bylaws shortly thereafter, Pacifica has undergone two election cycles of its governing boards, with a surprising degree of confidence in the  integrity of the results, given the  contentious history of the Network.  But its third attempt at elections this year has been marred by scandals throughout the network:  Because of managment inaction at  WPFW in Washington, DC,  so few candidates were recruited that the LSB reportedly voted not to hold elections at all (which would mean , ahem, that the current Board members would retain their seats....)  AT KPFA in Berkeley it is reported that an individual who is clearly acting in  a programming capacity is being allowed to compete for votes with listener candidates.  And at KPFT... holy Toledo! -- we're going to need  a whole section of this website just to fill you in on the scandals brewing here.... so here we go!

  Chronicle of Suspicious Events and Activity Swirling around KPFT's 2006 LSB Elections:
 
 

  On September 19, KPFT Local Elections Supervisor (LES) Tucker Bradley sent the following directive to all  candidates:
 

 

The language of this directive is clear and unequivocal, and it is of no small interest that LSB listener candidates Emmett Abati Doe and Wesley Bethune have formally reported that KPFT General Manager Duane Bradley initiated an intervention that extended the candidate Packet return deadline by one hour to the benefit the former LSB Chair Mike Martin , a management-friendly candidate.  GM Bradley reminded listeners of this deadline over KPFT's airwaves the very afternoon of September 25!  But sometime  between then and the 5:00 pm deadline, Duane Bradley had an epiphany:  the deadline must be extenended one hour!  And Local Elections Supervisor Bradley accepted General Manager Bradley's revelation. What could have occurred between noon and 5:00 to spark this sudden inspiration for KPFT's General Manager: Could it have been the fact that candidate Mike Martin (the former Board member who threw fellow Board member Ken Freeland out of his office when the latter proposed terrminating Duane Bradley's contract for his autocratic and uncollaborative decision to strip of KPFT of its alternative national and international drivetime news programming in March of 2005)-- that this very same Mr. Martin was not going to be able to meet the 5:00 pm deadline as all the other candidates? According to the Eyewitness Statement of Wesley Bethune Duane Bradley not only pressured his namesake, the Local Elections Supervisor, to extend the deadline, but got on the airwaves and issued an urgent appeal to those near the Station to hustle over to provide nomination signatures, never mentioning, of course, that only one candidate stood to benefit.

GM Bradley reportedly enlisted the full resources of the Station in direct violation of the Fair Election Campaign Provision.  As the Statement of Wesley Bethune attests, the GM had his staff and LSB Board Members Susan Young (also an LSB candidate in this election), Deb Shafto and Melinda Iley Dohn assist him using the Station's phones to recruit people to fax signatures on unofficial plain paper to the KPFT's fax number, the machine being put at the disposal of those who wished to help this cause. You are urged to read LSB listener-candidate Emmett Abati Doe's comprehensive initial complaint and listener-candidate Wesley Bethune's eyewitness account of  these events (taking note of the involvement  of some usual suspects: LSB members Susan Young, Deb Shafto, Melinda Iley Dohn-- the deadline be damned! -- Mike Martin was not going to be allowed to fail!).  Candidate Doe issued a follow-up complaint on 11 October that was supported by several other candidates and LSB members.

In a related vein, candidate Ken Freeland issued a formal complaint by way of an open letter to national elections supervisor Les Radkey calling for similar remedies.  It seems that despite candidate Freeland's  protests, his candidate statement was not posted to the KPFT website candidate's page until at least a week after the other candidate's positions were posted!

LATE-BREAKING NEWS!  CANDIDATE KEN FREELAND DENIED OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN ON-AIR CANDIDATE FORUMS BY LOCAL ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR:  In direct violation of rule 2 of the Fair Campaign Provisions, Local Elections Supervisor Tucker Bradley has denied candidate Ken Freeland the opportunity to participate in the on-air candidate forum .    Is it remotely possible that an election mired in this level of corruption and favoritism can be legitmate?   You be the judge!   You may read candidate Freeland's complaint here!

[there is so much more to relate! .... this webpage is a work in progress, and willl be updated as the volunteer webmeisters find the time... stay tuned, and check back every couple of days for updates... there is no end of knavery to report, there is only a practical limit on volunteer time to publish it all!]