In recent letters that I have submitted to Lake County news outlets I have encouraged people to come to the next Lake County Community Radio Board of Directors meeting, which takes place this next Sunday, July 18, at 3:30 p.m., in KPFZ's main office at 149 N. Main St. in Lakeport.

I am writing this letter to inform the people of Lake County that I have decided not to attend this meeting and I feel a responsibility to explain why.

It is my humble opinion that the Lake County community has an enormous amount of untapped, talented and resourceful people who need to be seriously organized and inspired to participate in local media outlets such as KPFZ.

I feel that the amount of community involvement currently at KPFZ does not do justice to the enormous potential that I see. For example, many of the shows you hear on KPFZ are not “live” and are in fact “repeats” of already established shows. This means that so much of the time you hear KPFZ there is not even a live programmer in the studio. I feel that this creates somewhat of a “dull” or “stagnant” listening environment that needs to be “livened' up by organizing and inspiring more community members to become active, volunteer, and submit program applications to the station.

In the last couple of weeks I have been inspired to propose radical structural changes in the programming policies at KPFZ which I think would help both organize and inspire more community involvement in the station.

Some of these proposed changes are summarized in the following article: http://lakeconews.com/content/view/14790/927/.

My main goal in doing this was to start a conversation that would hopefully cause a reexamination and growth of the stations programming policies. Not necessarily to force any specific structure, but to propose ideas that would provoke thought, involvement and help the station evolve.

In bringing forth my concerns and proposals to the consciousness of this community, some people have felt threatened and have accused me of everything from having mental problems to sponsoring a disinformation campaign to overthrow the station. Threats have been made to have my show removed from the airwaves of KPFZ if I continued to bring forth the issue on the air. If I allowed myself to attend the next LCCR board meeting I would feel strongly compelled to propose more fundamental structural changes in the way the station operates. This compelling force within me has only served to further alienate myself from the station. For this reason I have decided to drop the issue entirely.

Many people in the station do not share the same concerns that I feel and are comfortable with the way things are currently running at KPFZ. I have also sensed a fear and resistance to the notion of radical growth of the station. I respect these sentiments for they come from very kind and generous people who have dedicated their lives to bringing this station into existence. I am merely a newcomer who is grateful that I am allowed to broadcast on their airwaves.

My deepest respect, thanks and gratitude goes out to the people who stood up for me (and whose stance prevented me from being kicked off the airwaves), especially Station Manager of KPFZ Andy Weiss. People have personally expressed to me that if it weren’t for Andy risking his own job to defend me, my show could have been removed from the air. Andy and many others in the station deserve gratitude from the community for their courage and dedication to true community radio. I am also grateful for the people at the station who listened sincerely and with compassion to my concerns without being viciously defensive. If it weren’t for them I know I would no longer be broadcasting at KPFZ.

My experiences in the last couple of weeks have only confirmed my beliefs that there is too much private personal biases going into the programming policies at KPFZ which have threatened its viability to truly grow.

Other members of the community have expressed concerns to me personally that a certain possessive “paradigm” and exclusive “social atmosphere” at the station has turned them off from participating. I would like to say to the community at large to please not allow the inherent “protective” aspect of human nature, especially among some individuals, from preventing your ability to see the true beauty and potential of this station as a whole. KPFZ desperately needs your input, involvement and love in order to reach its highest potential.

Conrad is 19 years old and lives in Lucerne. He is also the producer of “Guerrilla Radio” on KPFZ. To find more information about his show, visit www.guerrillaradiokpfz.podomatic.com or www.radicaljusticeman.podomatic.com.