Saturday, July 31, 1999 KPFA Staff Begins Station Site Inspection and Cleanup KPFA's production and engineering staff re-entered the building today, after armed security guards were withdrawn. They were accompanied by Berkeley city officials (including the mayor, vice-mayor, and city manager) and inspectors from fire and building departments. It was immediately determined that there had been damage to the property while it was occupied by Pacifica and the staff was locked out. The alarm system and door entry system were non-functional, there was glass and debris in several rooms, and the front doors were broken and could not be opened. The fire marshall set a cap of 10 people in the building maximum until the doors can be repaired and opened. In addition, it appears there has been damage, perhaps due to lack of maintenance, to KPFA's transmitter, which is now emitting a weaker and distorted signal of material being transmitted via the lines Pacifica once said were not being installed. The transmissions seem to be coming from Pacifica's juke-box popular music station, KPFT in Houston, to which scab station manager Garland Ganter and scab engineer Bob Cham have apparently returned. Pending further evaluation of equipment damage, and repair of the building and and transmitter, there are no immediate plans to resume local broadcasting. Fineman Quits Pacifica PR Account KPFA's two-week old relationship with public relations company Michael Fineman and associates has ended. A recorded announcement began late today at Fineman's phone, saying their work for Pacifica has been completed. As at least one reporter was told he would be called back late today, and then got the recorded announcement, Fineman's work seems to have ended abruptly. Fineman's phone has been flooded with irate calls from KPFA supporters, there has been daily picketing outside his office building, and a number of visits to his office itself. ....... Pacifica Fails To Come Up With Announced Offer At Mediation The Pacifica Foundation has made an end run around the mediation process and has gone straight to the press with an ultimatum to the KPFA community, the eleven-member KPFA steering committee said. The committee, comprised of union and non-union staff, community members and local management, emphasized that KPFA staff will not be rushed back into the station, especially when the sale of the station is still on the table. The steering committee remain committed to resolving this crisis and returning to the station. However, one and a half hours into mediation today, Pacifica had yet to offer its proposal to the mediator or to the KPFA steering committee. In fact, Pacificašs negotiating team seemed surprised by the offer that Dr. Mary Frances Berry put out to the media. They are disrespecting the mediation process, disrespecting the mediator, and even disrespecting their own mediating team, said KPFA Local Advisory Board member and steering committee representative Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi. The Steering Committees initial reaction to the Pacifica ultimatum is that there are three major concerns: Sale of station. The sale of the station is still on the table; we cannot allow Pacifica to sell 50 years of free speech radio to the highest bidder. We demand that Dr. Berry and the Pacifica board members sign a binding legal document stating that KPFA and KPFB have not and will not be sold. Accountability. The same people who led us into this crisis are still in power and are still unaccountable to the local community. Prevention. Unless we take this time to responsibly address the underlying issues, we have no assurance that the same thing won't happen again. When Pacifica makes its proposal to the KPFA steering committee in mediation--which it has yet to do -- the steering committee will discuss it with our constituencies. The committee represents thousands of people in the KPFA community, and, unlike Pacifica, is accountable to its constituents. The committee would like to thank the incredible community of listeners in the Bay Area and the supporters of free speech radio throughout the country who have tirelessly organized to defend this priceless public resource. It is only because of their support and vigilance that Pacifica was stopped yesterday from selling KPFA immediately and that the negotiating process might finally become a serious one. The Steering Committee will hold a press conference on Friday at 9 a.m. in front of KPFA, 1929 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley. Bay Area station supporters continue to mobilize for the Saturday July 31, 11 a.m. mass march and rally at U.C. Berkeley's Sproul Plaza. Excerpted from <www.savePacifica.net/index.htm>