BOARD CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

submitted by

Sue Kern

Candidate Statement

            I’ve been a member of the FFCF Board since 2000, representing the Eastern Madera foothill communities.  I am employed as an attorney, but have a background in labor organizing, mostly workers not covered by national labor laws.  I’ve been a Pacifica listener since 1967, and see this network as a vital part of the struggle to regain control of our country (and our local communities) from the corporate media and corporately funded political establishment.

            I work with several local community based organizations who could benefit from the platform KFCF has the potential to be through its local programming, if that programming was better advertised and better able to report local events.  I’d also like to strengthen the foundation’s infrastructure so that it has a more stable source of income, a more complete and accessible database, and can better incorporate the skills, resources and interests of its listeners.

 Responses to questions:

 1.  I have served on the Board of KFCF for the past several years.  Though I have no direct radio experience, I have been a listener of Pacifica stations since 1967 and I have about 14 years of experience as a full-time community organizer, primarily in support of “unrecognized” workers (i.e. farm workers, domestic workers, workers under “workfare” programs, etc).  In that capacity, I recruited and trained volunteers, conducted fundraising activities, did public speaking on behalf of the organizations I worked for, and wrote and published newsletters and various flyers and other printed materials.  I have also served on several boards of directors for local non-profits, including Madera Coalition for Community Justice (which I helped found) and Centro La Familia Advocacy Services (of which I have been Board member for about fifteen years).

2.  I believe that KFCF and KPFA serve as both a voice for the low-income, minority and social justice communities in the Central Valley that are not currently well-represented by either government or the media, and a source of information for those who would otherwise not be informed world, national, state and local events that are not reported by the mainstream media because they do not further the interests of their corporate sponsors.   These radio stations offer a platform and venue for organizations, artists and political perspectives that would not otherwise be heard.

3.  The proper role of a member of the FFCF Board would be both to represent the interests and concerns of the member’s geographical, social and political communities in relation to decisions made by the Board, and to assist FFCF and KFCF in expanding its listening audience, advertising foundation activities, and pulling in resources from those communities to help advance the purpose of the Foundation.

4.  I would propose to increase the size and diversity of the KFCF listening audience by increased publicity (including KFCF presence at various events and activities in the listening area), by targeting unrepresented communities when making decisions on expanding local programming, and by holding large events that can attract additional listeners.  I also think increased publicity about local programming we already have to communities affected by that programming is needed.

5.  The FFCF Board currently has one non-voting member representing it on the KPFA LSB, and one member who was elected at large to the KPFA Board.  In addition, our executive director has a good working relationship with many of the staff and administrators of KPFA.  Those relationships should be encouraged and supported, and I’d also like to see a closer relationship between KFCF and the KPFA news department for the purpose of covering local issues and events, and closer coordination with KPFA’s events coordinator so we can try to get speakers and artists who appear in the Bay Area to support KPFA to also come to the Central Valley to support KFCF.

 | Mark Hernandez | Janet Slagter | Gerry Bill | Sue Kern | Ali Rezapour |