In a strange turn of events, the Berkeley Daily Planet reported last week that parent Pacifica Foundation was "raiding the bank account" of Berkeley's community radio station, KPFA. Sensational headline, but the allegations are false.

The Planet said they were tipped off by someone demanding anonymity to an online petition posted by KPFA's board treasurer, a news reporter named Brian Edwards-Tiekert. The petition, posted at petitiononline.com and since taken down, featured claims by Edwards-Tierkert that parent foundation Pacifica, in some financial stress due to membership loss at NYC station WBAI, had authorized a transfer of $200,000 out of KPFA's bank accounts.

Instead, as paperwork submitted by Pacifica's CFO Lavarn Williams clearly shows, Pacifica in fact transferred over $300,000 into KPFA's accounts, freeing 75% of funds held in a CD securing a foundation line of credit and reducing the amount of restricted funds from $400,000 to $100,000, a net gain of $300,000 in operating revenue to KPFA.

Williams submitted the following statement on the matter:

"Brian Edwards-Tiekert, the author of the "let the enemy own the problems
to come" memo in 2005 and member of the National Finance Committee in
2008, along with Sherry Gendelman, then-PNB Chair, raided the KPFA Wells Fargo account in 2008 and placed $400,000 of KPFA's cash in a restricted account as collateral for a $300,000 dollar line of credit. The line of credit was used to support the “borrow and spend” failure model at WBAI in New York.

The current PNB with the Chair, Grace Aaron, acting with the CFO, LaVarn
Williams, returned $300,000 in cash to KPFA, thereby strengthening the cash
position of the Foundation.

As a Foundation, we are well on our way to re-establishing financial
stability and promoting management with skills to deliver 60 more years of
strong Pacifica programming as a voice for free speech, peace, and social
justice".

The Daily Planet story is here. Media News is told a follow-up story will be printed on Thursday.