KBOO annual election September 14
Sept 4, 2019 9:43:40 GMT -8
Post by MOU on Sept 4, 2019 9:43:40 GMT -8
Info from PDF at website.
Being held at the Clinton St theater, 12pm -3pm.
The Candidates:
Candidate 1 Joni Whitworth - withdrawn
Still listed in PDF but website says she bowed out. Too bad. If KBOO is going to remake itself into a relevant org, a vibrant queer artist would be perfect.
OTOH, its probably for the best if Joni is not a high conflict personality. Good luck to her.
Candidate 2 Sue Bartlett- KBOT
Out of the running because she was killed in a motor accident. While this is sad, never forget she was a KBOT and either turned a blind eye or encouraged Theresa Mitchell and Ani Haines unethical, illegal and outrageous behavior targeting Lynn Fitch for harassment.
KBOO employees contacted by WW declined to discuss the current dispute. One new board member, Sue Bartlett, joined after supporting the Save KBOO movement. Bartlett says she discovered Fitch was largely carrying out directions from the KBOO board.
"We all blamed it on the new executive director," Bartlett says. "I discovered it's a lot more complex than it seemed at first."
Sources on the KBOO board say there may be enough votes to fire Fitch, but they fear being sued.
"We all blamed it on the new executive director," Bartlett says. "I discovered it's a lot more complex than it seemed at first."
Sources on the KBOO board say there may be enough votes to fire Fitch, but they fear being sued.
Candidate 3 Ruba Leech
She's a multilingual Immigrant to the US from Palestine. Part of her statement reads:
I would like to serve on the KBOO Board because I wholeheartedly support KBOO’s values and mission, and want to ensure that the station remains steadfast in upholding those values. I have read the strategic plan for KBOO 2017-2020, and am impressed with the commitment to intersectionality, decolonization and diversity. As a person who embodies diversity in my life and my work, I am excited to be part of the leadership of an organization that is so committed to this important work as well.
Candidate 4 Dan Raphael possible KBOT
By his own account he's been listening to KBOO for 40 years and we can't hold that against him. He's been a volunteer for only 3 years after retiring from the DMV:
In groups, I’m good at balancing, speaking more when others aren’t and holding back when others are energized (though I always express my ideas and opinions.) During my time at DMV, especially the 10 years I was in management, I was the outside-the-box one—someone who’d come up with a different perspective or two, still within the parameters of the organization. For 2 years towards the end of my DMV time, I was an OPEU shop steward, and kept 2 people from being fired. My experiences in management had taught me DMV’s rules well, and gave me insight into how the ‘other side’ was thinking.
This sounds good, but also sounds like Dan has bought into a kind of "both sidesism". There is no both sides in the fight for what lets for KBOO's soul. Either you want to get rid of the resistance grifters squatting on a public resource or you don't. What Dan is actually implying is he would be TERRIBLE in a situation where he's locking horns with someone acting in bad faith. And since Mitchell and her gang are still there, that would be 90% of the job.
Probably an okay guy, but not going to be very effective by himself.
Candidate 5 Emma Lugo
Looking at her Twitter account, seems like a reasonable person.
( No link because could attract KBOT mob, but is easily found)
And from her statement she's been paying attention:
My name is Emma Lugo and I am reapplying for the Board of Directors. I served on the Board in 2017 for one year and then stepped down due to constant fighting and a lack of willingness to address systemic issues at KBOO including taking appropriate legal action concerning a lawsuit brought by an employee. Since then I have seen things go from bad to worse at the board, seeing staff of color resign, or get fired by the board. I have seen three women of color leave employment at KBOO in the last year. I have seen a station manager who prioritized dismantling white supremacy and upholding beloved community get fired and leave the country. I am so tired of this that I am willing to come back to the board, with the very real possibility I will be rejected by the current board, because someone needs to serve and help make sense of what is going on.
Sounds great, good luck. You've got our vote for what that's worth.
Candidate 6 Theresa Mitchell Queen of the KBOT Ani Haines Micro Cult
Be honest reader, you scrolled right to this one, didn't you?
It's been noted in another thread Mitchell is running for the board:
Whether Mitchell really things she can win and really plans to scheme to get Haines rehired is all speculation. But it her favor is a block of over 500 people she's scammed into signing her petition and who presumably made the bulk of the crowd of screaming loons at the last board meeting.
She pulled the plug on her Savekboo.org website, presumably as a condition of not getting kicked out. But people might not be aware that the last blog, calling for the board's resignation, is still published on Portland Indymedia.
Theresa Mitchell is a cynical, exploitative, lying creep, but that's the subject of a future thread. Just remember that blog still published on Indymedia is not an accident. She could ask her old 911 conspiracy buddy who runs the site, Mike Tabor/Joe Anybody to delete it. She hasn't and she isn't going to. Because that's how creeps roll.
But let's look at her statement just for lulz:
I am Theresa Mitchell, a transgender woman, 61 years of age. I am a KBOO member in good standing.
Is that before or after Mitchell deleted her savekboo website?
I wish to serve as a KBOO Board member. I served on the KBOO Board from 1995-1998 and am well familiar with KBOO policies, and also with IRS, CPB, FCC, ORS 65, KBOO Bylaws, and Robert’s Rules of Order. I am on good terms with KBOO Staff, and served as an Interim PM News Director (with Sam Bouman) last year.
That's a flag. Bets are on Mitchell using staff for her own agenda.
My emphasis on the Board will be to address excessive and inappropriate legal expenses, and to move the Station forward as a multimedia hub in the 21st century digital context. We have the potential to become a much larger piece of the news and public affairs audience in this region. With more publicity, our excellent music broadcasting could also become better appreciated.
Our culture of equality and participation, hand in hand with the Staff Union, is what distinguishes KBOO and keeps it vital. That is what I will support.
Our culture of equality and participation, hand in hand with the Staff Union, is what distinguishes KBOO and keeps it vital. That is what I will support.
And a conspircious lack of hysteria and fear mongering. For those unfamiliar with how Mitchell really feels, he's a sample:
Last night, the KBOO Board room was, for the fourth month running, full of concerned KBOO members seeking explanations and remedies from the Board for the crisis at the Station. The Board, however, was not present. The explanation was that it was not possible to get a legal quorum, as so many Board members were out of town. Instead, there was a general discussion touching on the current crisis, and a consensus was reached to demand that the President and Vice President step down, or failing that, follow bylaws legal requirements in the wake of the successful petition to set up a Special Membership Meeting to force their resignation.
So Mitchell regularly uses KBOO space to whip up mobs against people she doesn't like when they're not around to speak for themselves? She seems nice...
Candidate 7 KatMeow García
Another reasonable person. How did she get involved with this clusterfuck?
I want to ask to be reappointed to the board because I want to help KBOO continue its 50+ year legacy and succeed at its 2017-2020 strategic goals. For the past three years I have had a track record of advocating for equity and humanitarianism on the KBOO board, within its policies and communications. I will continue to do this important work because it resonates with me, living a life with multiple intersections of marginalization. I am a Latinx, nongender conforming, queer person. I am trilingual and come from a working class migrant farming family. I have a degree in film and social justice from the Evergreen State College and studied successful nonprofits while living and working in rural Nicaragua and China. I can offer my strong background in social justice, and independent media production to KBOO.
Psst... girlfriend? You are WAYYYYY to competent for these people! Don't ever let them push you around. Ya got our vote.
Candidate 8 Laurie Mercier probable KBOT
Nice enough but troubling history implied in statement:
I moved to Portland-Vancouver in 1995 and immediately became a fan and supporter of KBOO. For the past two decades I have been a member of KBOO’s Old Mole Variety Hour collective and a contributor to/producer of its Monday morning public affairs show, which features interviews, reviews, and commentary from a socialist-feminist point of view.
Which implies Mercier was one of many people at KBOO who knew Maire Cullen was a fraud and did nothing about it, to the detriment of KBOOs relationship with the Irish American community while people were being killed during the Troubles:
Is Mercier willing to let slide any grifters or opportunists who pander to KBOO values while exploiting people for their own agenda? Looks like. The Cullen thing was sad, but no one should be able to lie about who they are, get a show, and keep it even after being exposed. And that's what happened and it happened all during the time Mercier was involved. Not a good look.
Like many KBOO volunteers who have long supported the station but have not yet been able to step up to serve on the board, I believe that this is an important time—with so many empty board seats, the need to insure a quorum on critical decisions, and staff positions to fill—to volunteer for this work. If elected to the board, I will work to strengthen board transparency and process, and increase staff and volunteer input, to help improve station climate, financial health, outreach, and programming.
KBOO is a public treasure that needs to be preserved, its progressive values respected, and its reach expanded.
You know who else wanted to expand KBOO? Lynn Fitch. But thanks Mercier for confirming KBOO is a PUBLIC resource. Treasure remains to be seen....
Download the whole ballot here:
Recommends IMHO:
Ruba Leech
Emma Lugo
KatMeow García
Joni Whitworth (if she got back in the race)
And may the odds always be in your favor!