An Open Letter from a group of long-time Green Party members and other independent community activists who are running for KPFK's Local Station Board Election exposing anomalies about the candidacies of Donna Warren and John Wenger.
To Whom It May Concern:
We are a group of long-time Green Party members and other independent community activists, who wish to express their grave concerns about the candidacies of Donna Warren and John Wenger for KPFK Local Station Board.
Within the Green Party, Warren and Wenger have played a deeply destructive role over the last year and a half on the county level, including by violating numerous internal rules and bylaws, altering party records and minutes, changing the organization's PO Box without authorization and attempting to purge publicly elected members of the Green Party County Council with whom they disagree.
The result has been to stymie productive action by the County Party, and to drive away both long-time and newly interested Greens from getting involved. The fact that this occurs leading into the 2008 presidential cycle, in the county with more registered Greens than any other in the United States, can not be ignored.
At the same time, Warren and Wenger have also attempted to infect the state Green Party with more of the same. As part of this action, they've aligned themselves with a political action committee whose members have wreaked havoc with the state party by promoting internal splits and divisions, while hiding behind high-sounding Green rhetoric.
In their campaigns for Local Station Board, Warren and Wenger claim to have endorsements by the county Green Party. But in reality this is not so. Warren and Wenger freely manipulate the County Council membership/votes on endorsements and any matter that suits their own agenda.
Some feel Warren and Wenger are remiss in not mentioning their histories within the military war industrial complex in their campaigns. Given Pacifica's Mission, this is problematic. It is also noteworthy at a time when Cynthia McKinney, a consistent critic of the military war industrial complex is seeking the Green Party nomination for president. (View: You Tube - McKinney Grills Rumsfeld)
Wenger worked more than thirteen years in Artificial Intelligence and Systems Engineering for Northrup Grumman (who foisted the Black Widow and Stealth bomber on the US taxpayer). Warren was employed as an auditor with the Department of Defense in the Pentagon.
While everyone is entitled to make a living and should not be condemned simply upon the basis of their past employers, one would hope that in the interest of transparency on such a sensitive subject, that Warren and Wenger would not try and claim a Green Party endorsement that they did not receive, and would be up front to KPFK listeners about their employment past, especially when the mission of KPFK includes disseminating "information on the causes of conflict between …groups" and promoting "the full distribution of public information; to obtain access to sources of news not commonly brought together in the same medium; and to employ such varied sources in the public presentation of accurate, objective, comprehensive news on all matters vitally affecting the community."
Those of us who are co-signing this letter support diversity of viewpoints on the Local Station Board. In fact, we do not all share a common slate for all LSB seats. But what we do agree upon by consensus, is that we are very concerned that Warren and Wenger are attempting to do to KPFK, the same thing they've been doing within the Green Party -- that is, to undermine the progressive movement in our county and state. For independent candidate Leslie Radford's take, see her radiojustice.net article, (another, smaller) Stolen Election.
Therefore we ask you to please protect KPFK by voting for candidates other than Warren and Wenger. There are far better candidates for Local Station Board, that do not have these destructive histories.
Signed by Independent and Grassroots Greens Candidates for KPFK Local Station Board: (with everyone's consent)
Green Party of California Co-founder, Mike Feinstein mfeinstein@feinstein.org
Green Party of LA County Co-Chair, Genevieve Marcus drmarcus@pacbell.net
Los Angeles Greens member Linda Piera-Avila lindap_a@verizon.net
Los Angeles Greens member Sasha Karlik sasha@greens.org
Green Party of California, Coordinating Committee, Tracy Larkins lark2@mindspring.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Leslie Radford lradford@radiojustice.net
2007 Listener Candidate - Lawrence Reyes alianzapr@hotmail.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Rufina Juarez southcentralfarmers@hotmail.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Reza Pour cabriolet011@yahoo.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Schyna Pour cabriolet011@yahoo.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Chuck Anderson QUETZALCOATL38@aol.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Moe Mansour moemansouri3@yahoo.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Jack Lindblad jplindblad@gmail.com Green Party of Los Angeles County Member (Elected)
2007 Listener Candidate - Joaquin Cienfuegos morph3030@yahoo.com
2007 Listener Candidate - Alise Sochaczewski alise@theory.org
2007 Listener Candidate - Kahllid A. Al-Alim
2007 Listener Candidate - Jubilee Shin jubileeshine@hotmail.com
The 2007 KPFK Local Station Board Elections are now on!
NOTICE - The deadline for the election has been extended, the new deadline to turn in your ballots is December 11 and the count is scheduled to take place on December 12.
This Friday, November 29, 2007 is the last day LSB voters can change their votes by exchanging their old ballot for a new ballot via email!
(The election has been extended three times.) We independents still have a chance to insure the Green Party has a presence in, around and on KPFK by voting (and ranking in the top nine slots) our Independent and Grassroots Greens Candidates for KPFK Local Station Board.
Email jplindblad@gmail.com if you would like to add your name to this letter or if you want to get background information that contributed to this letter.
Original: Donna Warren and John Wenger are not recommended by Independents and Grassroots Greens