Radio KDNA - La Voz del Campesino - Community Radio en Espanol

A Survey About Radio Cadena - La Voz del Campesino

Do you live in the Yakima Valley? Or elsewhere in Central/Eastern Washington, or Northern Oregon? Please take a couple of minutes to share your views regarding programming on KDNA (Granger, Washington), and whether KDNA and NCEC are fulfilling their Mission. It is as easy as filling out our survey. Thank you.

Read the survey responses

Why this Board must step down (PDF) (MS Word DOC)

November 19, 2010 - Fund Drive - Can KDNA be saved?

The staff of KDNA is desperately trying to save the station from two years of Board negligence and incompetence. When the staff returned this summer, they surely knew what they would find. They had seen the signs, before they were each fired by Maria Fernandez and Jorge Lobos. No doubt it is as bad or worse than they could have imagined.

The station has exhausted its funds. Since Maria Fernandez, Jorge Lobos, and Heritage College agents Leonard Black and Irma Prieto put no effort into fund raising, there are likely no new contracts or grants to replenish the funds. The Board took the money and spent it on “legal services” to fight the Union.

What’s to be done now? The staff that the community has steadfastly supported (in protests and letters) for these years must be compensated for the work they are doing to start over and repair the damage done by the Board. The station must be saved from the bankruptcy that Board Treasurer Leonard Black has been pushing it into.

But it must also be saved from the corruption of its mission that the Board and their advisors are inflicting upon it. Control of the station must be returned to the community!

If you are ready to contribute to the survival of KDNA, then do it with the following restrictions.

October 15, 2010 - Board member resigns

Board member Patricia Flores has resigned as "interim executive director", and from the Board of Directors. The rest of the Board (with hands over ears, eyes and mouths) is as silent as ever.

Turnover at Radio KDNA continues as Flores leaves

Yakima Herald-Republic

GRANGER -- Another administrator has departed from Radio KDNA.

Patricia Flores has resigned as the interim director of the Spanish-language station, said Gabriel Martinez, station manager.

Flores had been there since May, said Amelia Ramon, an administrative assistant for the station, operated by the non-profit Northwest Communities Education Center in Granger.

Ramon, herself, has applied for the permanent post but has not received a decision from the board of directors, she said. It was unclear Tuesday if Flores had applied for the permanent position.

Flores was one of two interim replacements for former director Maria Fernandez, Ramon said. The other was Laura Contreras.

Ramon directed further questions to Irma dePrieto, chairwoman of the board, who did not return several messages Tuesday.

Fernandez was fired in March and has sued the board of directors for wrongful termination in Yakima County Superior Court. She took the helm in June 2008 after longtime director and Radio KDNA founder Ricardo Garcia retired.

The station was founded in 1979 primarily as a service for farm workers and has about 17,000 Spanish-speaking listeners in the Yakima Valley.

October 12, 2010 (Dia de la Raza) - Why does La Llorona weep?

The popular version of the story, of course, has it that she cries for her children that she herself drowned in a fit of anger at being betrayed by a man (and that she is doomed to walk the earth until she finds them). We, however, prefer other interpretations. In one version she is La Malinche, a slave given to Cortez, who served as his mistress, interpreter, and, according to some, an informer and advisor assisting in his conquest of Mexico. Does her weeping indicate remorse, seeing what became of the children of Mexico at the hands of the Europeans, does she now regret her willingness to help Cortez and the Spanish?

Older versions associate La Llorona with Aztec legends. Supposedly there were omens preceding the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, some foretelling the return of Quetzalcoatl, others the destructive rampages of Huitzilpochtli, and yet others that describe the appearance of Cihuacoatl (alternatively Coatlicue, Mother of the Gods with her skirt of snakes), bemoaning the coming destruction of her Aztec children.

If there is one thing common to all the stories it is sacrifice, loss, and regret. In fact, Mesoamerican creation myth and legend is rife with sacrifice, and we mean much more than the ritualized re-enactments that the Aztecs were said to have performed. The deities of Aztlan were, one after another, born of each other’s sacrifice: Giving birth and being born were bloody processes likened to warfare, and to survive either, actually or in metaphor, was an accomplishment. The gods and goddesses of Mexico repeatedly contributed parts of themselves to the creation of la raza. But, like la raza, they were flawed, and like some of the more gruesome Shakespearian tragedies, would easily succumb to greed, lust, jealousy, madness, and then remorse.

The events in Granger over the last two years ought to have given La Llorona something to weep about. In 2008, the achievement of the new building and of a level of financial stability never before imagined was celebrated with promise and hope for the future. But that promise quickly turned to ashes when the Board of Directors selected a leader that possessed only the bloodletting, consuming, devouring qualities of Coatlicue, and none of the creative, life generating qualities of Cihuacoatl. The Board forgot that they serve the community, and instead elevated themselves as superiors. They abandoned the station’s mission and made it all about their personal egos. Two years later the organization is in ruins. Are there any Llorona’s on this Board of Directors that will weep in agony, regretting their choices and wishing they could start over and do it right this time?

October 6, 2010 – Most of staff return to KDNA

We are happy to report that most, but not all, of the staff unfairly fired in 2009 by Maria Fernandez and the NCEC Board of Directors have returned to work. We applaud their perseverance, commitment, and bravery in agreeing to resume work in what may be the eleventh hour for KDNA. The staff are now faced with the enormous challenge of restoring the financial stability that 27 months of Board irresponsibility and incompetence have destroyed, and at the same time repairing KDNA’s reputation and credibility that have been damaged by the Board’s disregard for the community and KDNA’s mission of public service.

When former Executive Director Ricardo Garcia retired in June 2008, he left the organization with a brand new building, over $300,000 in fund reserves, and funding to carry the organization for another three years. Since July 2008, when the Board turned over the reigns to Fernandez, she and the Board managed to squander it all. During these two years the Board has exerted absolutely no effort in fund raising, and even after Fernandez was terminated in February 2010, continued to spend without any consideration for the future. We continue to wonder if the true intent of the Board has been to run KDNA into the ground, bankrupting the station, and silencing the community and la voz del campesino.

Now, that the organization is back in the hands of experienced, knowledgeable, and caring people, it is an appropriate time for this Board to step down and allow the organization to move forward from the nightmare of the last two years. Stepping down would be the best single decision and contribution these board members could make to the organization and one that would be gladly received and supported by the community and supporters and friends of Radio KDNA.

It is a bittersweet achievement for the staff to return to their ravaged organization. We wish them success in bringing KDNA back from the grave into which former Board Chair Jorge Lobos, current Board Chair Irma Prieto, and Board Treasurer Leonard Black have been pushing it.

September 22, 2010 Roberto Maestas dies

Roberto Maestas passed away this morning. He was a community organizer, founder of El Centro de la Raza in Seattle, and former Board President and member of KDNA. Obituaries and eulogies are beginning to appear in the news as this is written. Roberto was a friend of KDNA and of many people throughout the Yakima valley. He supported the hope that KDNA would return to its mission of serving the farm worker and Spanish-speaking populations of Washington state, and that its management be returned to directors that are caring, compassionate and able to empathize with KDNA's community of service. In support of that cause, last December Roberto and three farm worker women were arrested while occupying the KDNA building and waiting to meet with the current KDNA Board of Directors. Read more at Seattle Times or NW Cable News. See also our December 13, 2009 posting.

September 10, 2010 - Why restoring quality to KDNA is important

Recent events in the news remind us why the Yakima farm worker and Spanish speaking community needs KDNA, and why it is more necessary than ever that it be restored to its former sense of mission and quality of programming.

In Los Angeles, an immigrant from Guatemala was killed by police when he “lunged at them with a knife”. In Seattle, a Native American wood carver was shot (four times) and killed by police when he failed to drop a piece of wood and a knife he was carrying. (The Seattle police have not indicated that he threatened them.) The Seattle incident is one of a series of police involved shootings and deaths, and has triggered concern amongst Native Americans and others, as well as protests. Earlier this year two Seattle police officers kicked, stomped upon, and used offensive language when detaining a young Latino that moments later was released when found to have no involvement in a crime they were investigating.

These events follow on Arizona’s adoption of what many perceive as anti-immigrant legislation, the failure of the US government to make any headway with immigration reform, and the persistence of an economic condition that fosters distrust and blame of immigrant populations.

These are complex issues. Commercial radio almost always focuses on the sensational, and ignores anything but the most superficial sound bites. It is in matters like these that noncommercial public radio can do the job. Unfortunately, since firing its accomplished staff, KDNA has lost both the will and ability to tackle any kind of news or public affairs programming. KDNA’s community of listeners could benefit from intelligent and thought provoking reporting that would help them to understand the context and the significance of these events. That is what KDNA’s former News Director used to try and provide.

Today, KDNA listeners must seek information and news elsewhere (on commercial radio), with the result that they are no better informed than communities that do not have “public radio”. KDNA’s mission and CPB’s Community Service Grant were to correct this, but the Board of Directors would rather spend CPB’s money on lawyers to fight the community and get the station ready for bankruptcy. They have betrayed the community’s trust.

September 8, 2010 - More about the NCEC/KDNA Board of Directors

Almost two weeks have passed since we wrote about open elections of a new Board of Directors for KDNA and NCEC. At the same time, we wrote, via email to the individual Board members asking if they were planning on running for a position on the Board. Not one of them has responded.

A few people have written to us asking if these elections are for real. We hoped they were, but it is beginning to seem like it is just another rumor without foundation. If it is true, one has to wonder why the current Board, that has been adamant that only they are competent to rule, would be willing to allow the community self determination with the community’s radio station. Could it be, as the station approaches bankruptcy, the Board wants to make it appear that others are responsible for their carelessness and negligence?

There’s another rumor that a couple more people are on the Board, but just like with Natalia Ybarra, there are no Board minutes that document how, when, or if, Tamara Spencer and Guillermo Castaneda were legitimately “elected” by the other Board members. Friends of KDNA have asked for copies of Board minutes, but the Board continues to stonewall.

It has been almost a year since Bill Richardson, the auditor from CPB’s Office of Inspector General, visited KDNA and witnessed for himself the absolute incompetence of KDNA’s management and Board. Since then CPB’s audit report was issued in March 2010, and much correspondence has passed between CPB and KDNA. In the audit report, and in the subsequent correspondence, CPB has reminded KDNA of their obligations as a Community Service Grant recipient. Nevertheless, KDNA continues to ignore those obligations. Does CPB plan on enforcing their rules? We hope they do.

The Board continues to meet in secret, without announcing time, place, agenda, or if the meeting will be open to the public. They did post a list of dates on their “website”, but it turns out to be a ruse to appease CPB, since they didn't say where the meetings would take place. Friends have asked to be notified of the real meetings, but the Board doesn't speak. CPB has asked for some evidence that meetings have been announced in advance. It will be interesting to see what the Board shows them.

Update: Evidently they had a meeting yesterday (09/07/2010), and, as usual, did not announce the date, time, place, if it was public or closed, or (if closed) why it would be closed.

Similarly, the Board continues to refuse to respond to requests for financial reports. It is unclear if the Board, its President Irma Jimenez de Prieto, their acting Executive Director Patricia Flores, or even the bookkeeper/accountant they have on contract, have a clue as to the financial condition. The most recent data any of them have seen is the audit report for the year ending December 31, 2009, and it is doubtful any of them understand what it says.

Radio KDNA - La Voz Del Campesino - Community Radio en Espanol