My name is Conrad Justice Kiczenski and I am first and foremost one of the people of the Lake County community. I am also a dedicated programmer, member and loyal listener of the full power radio station KPFZ 88.1 FM, which is owned by the honorable and private nonprofit corporation known as “Lake County Community Radio” (LCCR).

I have a show called “Guerrilla Radio” which is aired live every Thursday morning from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and which is rebroadcast every Thursday night from 11 p.m. to midnight on 88.1 FM.

I am writing this letter to present my concerns to the Lake County Community in regards to the programming policies of LCCR, and to also present what I feel is a solution to those concerns.

From my experience, the programming decisions of LCCR are made in the capacity of a private corporate structure. I feel that this creates four main issues which need to be addressed if LCCR is to live up to its name and mission statement as a true “community radio station”.

The programming policy issues that I am concerned with are as follows:

1. Transparency.

2. Community involvement and open collaboration.

3. Accountability.

4. Efficiency.

I feel that a private corporate structure, when it comes to the programming policy decisions of a “Community” radio station, does not effectively meet or address the aforementioned issues.

I feel that the solution to these issues is in the structural implementation of a “Community Programming Committee.”

Station manager of KPFZ, Andy Weiss, who is also the radio producer of the famous and well-loved show called “Karma Cola,” has authored a beautifully democratic proposal which lays out the basic guidelines necessary to create a “community programming committee.” The basic structure of this committee is set up in the following manner:

This committee would be accessible to anybody in the community who is:

1. A financial contributor to LCCR as a regular member.

2. A person who participates in at least 75 percent of regularly scheduled programming meetings.

This committee would have the responsibility of:

1. Electing the program director.

2. Actively collaborating with the program director in programming decisions.

3. Acting as an appeal or grievance counsel for “disgruntled programmers.”

4. Providing a three-fourths vote to determine what programs go on or off the air.

This proposal is in two short and simple pages which can be viewed at the following links:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g86/RadicalJusticeMan/COMMUNITYPROGRAMMINGCOMMITTEE1.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g86/RadicalJusticeMan/COMMUNITYPROGRAMMINGCOMMITTEE2.jpg

I think this proposal would not only benefit the people of the Lake County community through empowering them with direct responsibility and interaction with the sacred rights of freedom of the press and speech to facilitate true connection among the community, but would also boost support, listenership and the membership base of KPFZ to bring the potential of this radio station to its fullest bloom.

On Sunday, July 18, at 3:30 p.m. the Board of Directors of LCCR will hold their annual board meeting upstairs at 149 N. Main St. in Lakeport. The topic of “Creating a Community Programming Committee” is on the board meetings agenda and I am proposing that the board vote whether or not to implement this community programming committee into the structure of the station. I hope that the board will vote yes if they see it is something that the community truly desires.

So please, I ask that you show up so that the board can see that the Lake County community is capable of handling such a sacred responsibility and to please show your support for this proposal.

Conrad Justice Kiczenski hosts “Guerilla Radio.” Visit the show online at www.guerrillaradiokpfz.podomatic.com, www.radicaljusticeman.podomatic.com or http://kpfz.org/home/. He lives in Lucerne.