BERKELEY -- The Pacifica Foundation has cleared out of its headquarters next door to radio station KPFA in preparation for a permanent move to Washington, D.C.
Pacifica, the parent of KPFA, announced in a press release Thursday that it would reopen its headquarters in Washington on Jan. 18. Such a move has been rumored since last summer, when Pacifica came under a firestorm of criticism from KPFA staff and supporters.
Pacifica, which owns five radio stations and supplies programming to dozens more, is moving to be closer to the hub of national decision-making, the release says.
The move followed plans Pacifica announced when it decided to reopen KPFA after a three-week station lockout that galvanized leftists throughout Northern California.
At the time, though, Pacifica officials had said they would move the headquarters within a few weeks.
"The move allows the national staff easier access to agencies and public interest organizations headquartered in the nation's capital," Thursday's press release said.
But a KPFA staff member said the move was designed to distance the embattled umbrella group from its hostile environment in Berkeley.
"It's really clear they decided to turn tail and run because of the heat they got from the Northern California community," said Aileen Alfandary, news co-director for KPFA.
Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick said the move has nothing to do with the recent troubles.
"It's been a strategy considered inside the organization for some time, even before the summer," said Chadwick.
Chadwick, who was rebuked by station staffers, is the only one of Pacifica's six national staff members who will move to Washington. The others have been let go after choosing not to move, Chadwick said.
Tomas Moran, a KPFA sympathizer appointed from the Bay Area to the Pacifica board in October, said he was disappointed the foundation went ahead with its plans to move away.
"I was hoping that it was a decision that had been made in the heat of the crisis," Moran said. "Moving the headquarters when KPFA is in crisis ... this is not a good time, in the middle of the uncertainty."
Alfandary and Moran agreed that the move sheds little light on the future of the nation's oldest listener-supported station, at 94.1 FM. Many KPFA supporters worry it might be sold, though Pacifica officials have said there are no plans to sell its flagship station.
The contents of Pacifica's office on Martin Luther King Jr. Way were emptied into a moving van after 6 p.m. Wednesday night.
Alfandary said Pacifica was "slinking away in the dark of night."
But Chadwick said the move was made after hours to help the movers avoid traffic. "It's pretty normal with lots of businesses to move at night," she said.
The move concludes a 50-year run by Pacifica in Berkeley, as well as a year of strife between the station and the foundation. The conflict began in March when Pacifica fired station manager Nicole Sawaya. In June, a show host was fired for mentioning her termination on the air.
Tensions mounted until Pacifica locked the station down July 13, prompting mass protests by hundreds of KPFA loyalists. Pacifica officials ceded programming to KPFA staff Aug. 5, but insisted the foundation would take corrective action if ratings do not improve.
Staffers have accused Pacifica of endangering the station's mission with efforts to seek commercial sponsors for the first time. Pacifica said programming changes may be necessary to broaden listenership at a station with a strong signal but weak ratings.
David Ferris covers Berkeley. Reach him at 510-262-2713 or e-mail .
From the Contra Costa Times, January 7, 2000.