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Jim Stotts (Listener Candidate)

Candidate Questionnaire
Radio Spot
Video
Candidate Forum

Candidate Statement

I’m Jim Stotts, and I believe in KPFT. This broadcast outlet needs our support. It also needs more of Us, “Us” being a greater membership base. Our little 100,000-watt radio station must be the most under-utilized broadcast resource in Harris County, and in Montgomery County, and in Fort Bend County, and...you get the picture.

I have one reason for seeking this board position. That is to keep KPFT and Pacifica on the air. Pacifica will go silent if its financial status is not stabilized, and soon. Our debates about what time of day a given program should be aired are meaningful, but they take energy, time, & resources away from keeping us On The Air. Job #1 has to be fixing Pacifica’s finances.

There is Strength in Unity, and we have It. We should be able put our collective efforts into crafting a perfect, all viewpoints-encompassing, all voices-accommodating, activist, more enlightened Foundation. That said, we can keep doing that now…and soon find ourselves as several hundred thousand individual voices after Pacifica’s assets are liquidated at Bankruptcy Auction. There will be plenty of time to forward Pacifica’s worthy efforts after we assure that it will be here a year from now.

KPFT’s programming must stay on the air. It’s unusual. It’s diverse. It’s subversive. It’s offensive, sometimes. (Some folks out there need offending. It gets them out of their seats.) The primary reason KPFT & Pacifica deserve our support & protection is, simply, that they help listeners think for themselves.

I’m Jim Stotts. I’m here to help keep Free Speech and Free Thought Radio on the air.

Jim Stotts
jlstotts@cox-internet.com

Candidate Questionnaire

1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board ?
   I want to make more of a difference at KPFT than I do with my checkbook. Answering phones during pledge drives is fun, but I know I can do more. I will do more.
   
2. How do you envision the Local Station Board working with the Pacifica Foundation,KPFT and the community?

   This is a multi-part question.

   1. KPFT representatives to the Pacifica Foundation MUST stand for fiscal stability. That's a fancy term for “Making sure the bills get paid so Pacifica stays on the air.”
   2. Local Station Board members must trust & know that KPFT employees (all 12 of them, which is not a lot of employees for a 100,000 watt radio station) are giving their best professional efforts to respond to inquiries from listeners, members, and the current LSB.
   3. Additionally, LSB members should take part in the volunteer efforts we seek to encourage: Stuff envelopes. Work at KPFT events. Do data entry. Clean the kitchen. Seek out new members…whatever needs doing.

   KPFT's elected board must represent the station & Pacifica to the multitude of communities in and around Houston. Housing, Business, Cultures, Ethnicities, Faiths, Governments….pick `em. KPFT has airtime, a bunch of them don't. Let's change that.
   
3. How could the station better serve its' listeners?
   

   1. Beef up the Membership Relations staff. I've worked three consecutive pledge drives. The “new members” totals for those efforts has been about 1,000 per drive, and yet our total active membership has declined in that time. Something's wrong with this picture.
   2. Find, or create, more resources to grow the news department. Coming from a news background, I can say with authority that a news source gains credibility with a regular presence and with even-handed reporting.
   3. Invite more listeners (and non-listeners!) in to see how Radio is actually created. Though some experienced guidance is needed, it isn't Rocket Science. In my few excursions in front of the microphone, I've always found the KPFT staff to be willing & enthusiastic teachers.

   
   
4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience?
   Union organizing events? Holiday gatherings? Concerts? Registration day at schools? KPFT needs to put resources into growing its listener base. I'll be happy to sit at a table with a KPFT banner and talk up Pacifica. Maybe I'll stand there. I could stand on a roof, if that's what it takes.
   
5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel KPFT should solicit?
   Ooh, another loaded question. Okay, here we go: We must cultivate any source that doesn't violate the Pacifica Foundation Bylaws. Do we need bake sales? Fine, I'll bake cookies. Do we need to cultivate more local businesses as donors? Great. I'm a local business. (I've been cultivated.) I feel the term “Corporate funding” has been excessively demonized. Corporations are tools; they can be used for good or bad.
   
6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board?
   I'm a former photojournalist and educator. Currently, I manage personnel, materials, technology, and 6-figure budgets. While working in the classroom, I served as secretary of site-based management committee. Education: BA, MA, Texas Teacher Certification (Secondary, 6 subjects), Home Health Agency Administrator Certification.
   
7. Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation?
   Of course. Anyone who doesn't allow for such absences is not being honest. That said, by running for this office I intend to participate in every LSB function I am able to.
   
8. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?
   Technology.
   Budget.
   Facilities.
   I will try to help any other committee that asks for my help.

   Beyond committee work, I have NO ambition toward programming. We already have many more qualified listeners involved in that. My purpose in performing volunteer work for KPFT is to keep it on the air. I defend the right of ALL viewpoints to have airtime. To paraphrase Voltaire, “I may not agree with you, but I must defend your right to expression.”

9. If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?
   N/A