8 September 2006
Dear Les,
I alerted you earlier this week to the fact that my candidate statement has not been published on the KPFT website along with those of other candidates. I called for you to replace the local elections supervisor (who has been the subject of legitimate complaints by another candidate as well) with someone who will conduct this election in a neutral manner. I told you that if I did not hear a satisfactory response from you by midweek, that I would publish this problem to the wider Pacifica community. I am now keeping that promise.
Let's review the facts: my candidate statement was initially submitted for publication two weeks ago; in addition to submitting this digitally, I included a hard copy with my campaign packet on September 25, for which I have a receipt. To my knowledge, I am the only candidate whose statement was challenged by the Local Elections Supervisor. She refused to post it without modification. In the interest of expediting the publication of my statement, I agreed to some minor changes in the wording, and over a week ago, on Thursday 28 September, I submitted a revised statement. That evening I received a phone call from you, in which you affirmed my right to assert the various historical facts of KPFT management/board behavior. You also said that you were going to send me some substitute wording that you would recommend, however, I received no further communication from you. Instead, the statements of the other candidates were published on KPFT's website, which potential voters could access bey clicking on a link on KPFT's homepage entitled “Candidates,” and yet not only my statement but my name was entirely missing from the list on the linked page of candidates.
My subsequent complaint to local election supervisor”Tucker Bradley brought the following response:
“I got word from Pacifica Legal this weekend that your modified statement could be posted. As soon as I got that info, I sent it to Christiane for uploading. Regretably, Christiane was downsized last week to part time only. I'm sure she will consider anything for Elections a priority - as much as she can, but her hours are now severely limited. Its an unfortunate delay but maybe she will be there tomorrow and can get your statement up....”
This communication was sent to me last Monday... today is Sunday, and my statement remains the only one not posted. In other words, as opposed to rectifying the situation and assuring my equal access to this crucial KPFT resource (in accordance with the Fair Campaign Provisions which she is responsible for assuring), she is leaving the question of when the situation will be corrected up to General Manager Duane Bradley's decision to allow the webmaster sufficient time to post this information -- the same Duane Bradley who according to a previous grievance you have received from another candidate, “informed” the local elections supervisor that her own stated deadline for candidacy could not be honored, but must be extended one hour (when it had become clear that candidate Mike Martin [whose candidate statement, unlike mine, is now posted, of course, even though it could not have been officially received before mine] would be otherwise unable to qualify as a candidate), and initiated the use of the station's resources, both airwaves and fax machine, to work overtime to solicit signatures still needed for his petition by the only known candidate applicant who failed to meet the deadline set by the Local Elections Supervisor: Mike Martin.
But it gets worse: Not only has my statement remained unpublished as of this date, fully a week after the others were published online, nearly two weeks after its original submission, and a week and a half since the submission of the revised version , but KPFT's webmaster Christiane, who according to Local Elections Supervisor Bradley does not have enough time to list my candidate statement together with the others', has apparently found enough time to have since posted the following statement next to my name which is now listed (being the only name with no candidate statement linked to it – see attached): “ [statement] NOT YET AVAILABLE.” Tucker Bradley, as Local Elections Supervisor, bears responsibility for the content of this Candidate page, and as you have read, she acknowledges the availability of my statement. For her to publish the false statement that it is NOT available is misleading in the extreme and doubly damaging to my campaign. I hope that you can finally recognize see the severity of the problem here, Les. This local elections supervisor has shown extreme prejudice in the way she allows the rules to be bent for a pro-management candidate, while nitpicking and effectively denying station resources to those whose campaigns challenge the status quo. It is simply not possible for the LSB elections at KPFT to move forward with any integrity so long as Tucker Bradley is allowed to supervise them, and so long as Duane Bradley is allowed to influence their outcome as general manager -- both of these individuals have assured that access to station resources will be unequal in violation of the Fair Campaign Provisions with which, ironically, it is their duty to assure compliance. But the buck stops in your office, Les.
We at KPFT are well used to this kind of pervasive corruption by now. The real question is, whether Les Radke as national elections supervisor will act to assure clean elections in spite of it, or whether he will allow this scandalous malfeasance to fester. This problem can only be resolved at this point by the immediate termination of Tucker Bradley's contract, and by the effective sanctioning of KFPT General Manager Duane Bradley. I believe that the latter requires his replacement for the duration of the elections period by a PNB-appointed neutral administrator (someone acceptable to the candidates already injured by his actions), and that his suspension as GM should be without pay, as proposed by previous complainant, candidate Abati Doe. Anything less will only open the way for more of the same corruption of the process we have already witnessed.
I had really hoped that you would resolve this question quietly in the
first place in response to my email message of Monday 2 October. As I promised
you then, I am now publishing this complaint to the larger Pacifica community
owing to the absence of any response from you to my first effort to obtain
resolution. I sincerely hope that you will intervene promptly, as I doubt
whether the court of public opinion will allow you a third opportunity
to do your duty in this matter. I remind you that your place in the history
of this peace and justice network will depend on whether you demonstrate
the courage to face the patent corruption of the election process at KPFT
for which you are responsible, or whether you acquiesce to it. Confronting
corruption is not always the easiest task in the world – and don't I know
it -- I did my share of this during my terms on the KPFT LSB and the Pacifica
National Board. But keep in mind that should you fail in your duty in this
regard, the assumption will be widespread that you are colluding with this
corruption in some way. As we say in the peace movement, “silence is the
voice of complicity.”
Godspeed and peace,
Ken Freeland
Listener-candidate for the KPFT LSB.