The following contains the Pete Bramson Press statement ommitted in the last update:
BULLETIN: DR. BERRY OFFERS KPFA STAFF ALL JOBS BACK EXCEPT
SAWAYA AND BENSKY, NO GAG RULE, RE-EVALUATION IN
SIX MONTHS
Pacifica Board Chair Dr. Mary Frances Berry, finally yielding to weeks of community and political pressure, Wednesday afternoon offered the KPFA staff free access to the building and airwaves as of 9 a.m. Friday 7/30. There will be no security guards, and no "gag rule" type restrictions.
Citing notice of possible legal actions against Pacifica (no legal actions have in fact yet been filed) by Nicole Sawaya and Larry Bensky, Berry said they would be excluded from this arrangement.
A three hour staff meeting attended by more than sixty KPFA paid and unpaid staff members ended with a decision to wait to see if Pacifica board chair Mary Frances Berry's offer is presented in writing at a mediation session set for today (Thursday) before fully evaluating it.
There was great skepticism expressed by many present, who believed that Berry's offer was probably a desperate public relations ploy to offset the bad publicity ensuing from confirmation that discussion DOES take place in the board about selling KPFA (See board member Pete Bramson's press statement below)
Many also stated that Pacifica is offering a very damaged and probably close to bankrupt KPFA back to the staff and community. And that Berry's six (or nine, in some versions) month period for KPFA to program itself was too short and probably much too underfunded to make an impact.
There was consensus that it is VERY IMPORTANT that thousands and thousands of people turn out for the rally Saturday, to demonstrate once again that KPFA is broadly supported in its mission and in its practice.
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Pacifica national board member Pete Bramson’s statement at 7/28/99 Berkeley press conference:
My name is Pete Bramson. That's spelled B-R-A-M-S-O-N. I have been a member of the Pacifica National Board since March of last year. My day job is as a systems support manager for a computerized ticketing agency, and I live in Oakland.
I take no pleasure in being here today but I cannot remain silent while Pacifica's National Board holds serious discussions in secret about selling KPFA.
KPFA is a national treasure. My commitment is to the KPFA staff and listening community. I hope that by making the public we can help convince the rest of the Board not to go through with this tragic plan.
Pacifica Board Chair Mary Frances Berry has repeatedly said during these past several weeks that she has no intention of selling KPFA. That's not true.
During a telephone conference call yesterday, Pacifica Board Vice Chair David Acosta put forward the following proposal. I want to emphasize there was no vote. But the executive committee of the board was to continue discussing this issue today. I do not serve on that committee.
There are several parts to this plan, which is somewhat complicated and was floated in an incomplete fashion yesterday. So I'll give you the highlights.
Acosta proposed taking out a five million dollar loan against the value of the KPFA license. That could happen quickly. He proposed selling the KPFA frequency, which has an estimated value of 65 to 75 million dollars. That would take longer to accomplish. With a small portion of the proceed of the sale of KPFA, Acosta proposed that Pacifica set up another Northern California station - perhaps in Palo Alto - which Mary Berry said might be a friendlier city than Berkeley. A possible Palo Alto s
As part of the discussions of selling KPFA, questions were raised about the financial costs of the current dispute--the armed guards and the new public relations firm. While Mary Frances Berry did not provide specific figures on the cost, she did say there may only be enough money left to continue paying the staff for two or three weeks. Mary Frances Berry also said that the new P.R. Firm, Fineman Associates, may quit.
There was no hint that Mary Frances Berry has any intention of trying to reopen KPFA, put the staff back to work and resume broadcasting the wonderful local programs, which have been produced here for 50 years.
We do need our radio station back. I call publicly on my fellow board members to do the right thing and give KPFA back to its community.
Finally, yesterday, Mary Frances Berry called me a fascist thug for disagreeing with her. And she called on me and two other dissenting board members to resign. I have no intention of resigning from the board. I will continue to fight as a member of the Pacifica National Board to save KPFA.