Brokering peace at KPFK

Radio by collective -- with listeners and volunteers joining staff in programming and management decisions -- may seem a ludicrous notion in this era of corporate, consultant-driven radio, with playlists tighter than ‘N Sync’s choreography. But it’s seen as a birthright at KPFK-FM (90.7), the Los Angeles outlet of the left-leaning Pacifica radio network.

So staff unrest nearly percolated into mutiny only four months into Eva Georgia’s tenure as general manager when a large contingent of employees and volunteers at the community-supported station were calling for her removal, or at least criticizing her for running a non-democratic workplace. Georgia, on the other hand, said that after years of upheaval at the station, any organization might be interpreted as authoritarianism.

“Trying to put structure where you have chaos comes across as, my management style is, yeah, dictator or whatever,” said Georgia, who got her start in community broadcasting in apartheid-era South Africa. “This is a group of hard-working and committed people, but they worked in a structure where they pretty much managed themselves.”

One general manager was fired early this year, and the station had two interim GMs before Georgia was hired in June. Since then, she said, she’s been trying to bring some stability to the workplace, but some employees saw it differently. At the end of September, workers signed a petition criticizing the “corporate structure” and lack of transparency in decision-making.

“It is a travesty that this progressive institution, which covers the labor struggles of countless workers all over the nation and the world, is functioning as a workplace where there is no job security, and frequently inadequate or nonexistent benefits,” the staff wrote. Sonali Kolhatkar, host of the station’s weekday “Morning Show,” wrote an open letter accusing Georgia of intimidation and of firing staffers who oppose her.

Which is all part of why the staff and management are embarking on a retreat this weekend, to polish their communication and conflict-resolution skills. And why officials from the Pacifica Foundation, which operates KPFK and four other stations in its network, is working with the station to establish a program council, a committee with a set of guidelines to democratically change programming at the station.

Lydia Brazon, chairman of KPFK’s Local Advisory Board, said the staff unrest stems from basic sources -- they’ve been working without a union contract for a year, they lack benefits, many workers have no job descriptions, and others who were temporary hires wanted permanent jobs.

“Because it’s KPFK, because it’s Pacifica, because the expectations are so enormous, that for a time raised it to this fever pitch,” Brazon said.

Founded by pacifists in Berkeley after World War II, the Pacifica Foundation was the first to develop listener-supported radio, at KPFA-FM, and grew to a five-station network that also owns stations in Houston, New York and Washington, D.C. But the network had been beset by years of vicious infighting, with a group of disgruntled listeners and Pacifica board members charging that those running the network were softening radical programming, quashing dissent and even trying to sell off stations. Last year, as part of a lawsuit settlement, the dissidents took control of Pacifica, saying they rescued the network from those more aligned with corporate interests than the social-justice ideals of its founders.

But after a half-dozen years of pickets, protests, campaigns and intrigue, suspicions can be hard to shake. “People will always assume that decisions are being made behind closed doors, and we need to change that,” said David Fertig, an Altadena-based attorney and the Los Angeles representative to the Pacifica national board of directors. “We need to develop a dynamic where we’re not running things by political power play and petition. If everyone is willing to come to the table, we can make it happen.”

Georgia’s critics say that she’s unfit to run KPFK, pointing to reports from South Africa that she mismanaged the staff and budget of the community radio station she founded there, Radio Atlantis. But Georgia said the tales are home-grown fabrications by her enemies, and said threats against her from gangsters and vigilantes because of her muckraking forced her to seek asylum in the U.S. in 1999. Critics also question her firing a year ago from the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Greater Long Beach. But Georgia, alleging racial discrimination at the center, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit that’s still pending.

Georgia said she’s already cleared up allegations about her past for her bosses but won’t do the same for her accusers. “I’m no better than them if I get into this muddy fight.”

Once the questions arose, Pacifica executive director Dan Coughlin said, the network hired an independent investigator to verify what Georgia had said and what had already been examined in the background check before she was hired.

“We were concerned, obviously,” he said. “The questions that community radio activists raised about the hire were of tremendous concern.” But he said a thorough and independent inquiry “determined that the hiring of Eva should not be reversed and was sound.”

Nevertheless, suspicions and conflicts continue. Esther Manilla, the station’s interim program director until she resigned a week ago, initially refused to give Georgia a set of keys to KPFK, after hearing allegations about Georgia’s background. Later, Manilla refused to co-sign a $50,000 check, a loan from Pacifica headquarters, without an assurance it would be repaid. Georgia fired her for insubordination, then reinstated her.

“They say I’m an obstructionist, but I think I did the right thing,” said Manilla, who was one of three staff members on the search committee that picked Georgia. “I don’t think we made a good decision. It was a rushed decision,” Manilla said. “She doesn’t have the station’s best interests in mind. It’s all personal. Morale is just so low -- everybody there is looking to get out or waiting for a miracle.”

Georgia countered, “Am I a strong-willed person? Oh, absolutely. I push really hard. I have high expectations; I have high expectations for myself. Is that challenging for people? Absolutely.”

Meanwhile, the station is soldiering on. After a tight budget and delayed repairs had the station’s signal at 8,000 watts for several months, KPFK’s transmitter is back to full power, broadcasting at 112,000 watts. And an August fund drive raised $300,000 for the station.