Barbs continue to fly in the KOOP radio wars, in unexpected places: The January/February issue of the newsletter of La Pe�a, a local Latino arts organization, gave KOOP programmer Eduardo Vera, a supporter of the unpopular KOOP board of trustees, a platform to throw inflammatory charges at his opponents, specifically KOOP volunteer Pat Powell, station engineer Jerry Chamkis, station founder Jim Ellinger, and newly appointed board member Michael Zakes. Among other things, Vera charged that, “A few white males have tried to usurp the authority of the board and to sabotage proposals, and have led a campaign of harrassment and intimidation, including an attempt to carry out a coup-d’etat against the board of trustees. Jim Ellinger, who calls himself the founder, has bothered Latino and Gay people at their workplaces at the Teatro Humanidad and the Paramount.” He also wrote, “One of the two white males who joined the board has been criticized by the gay community for placing homophobic ads in the Chronicle to support his bike shop.”
That would be Zakes, the owner of Waterloo Cycles, previously an opponent of the board until he was appointed to it as part of the settlement to a lawsuit he filed against the station and the board in December (see “Naked City,” Jan. 8, 1999). In the Feb. 25, 1994 issue of The Austin Chronicle, Waterloo ran an ad for Kona mountain bikes which contained the text, “Humuhumu-Nukunuku-a-Pua’a” preceded by “Might Mean ‘Gears Are for Queers’ in Hawaiian. Might Not.” Contacted last week, Zakes explained, “We were trying to be tongue-in-cheek in the ad. Back in the days of the cruiser [a type of bicycle], people would ask, ‘Why ride a cruiser rather than a mountain bike?’, saying ‘Gears are for queers.’ I will admit it was in poor taste, but it was not meant to be derogatory,” Zakes said, adding, “The fact that he put in no background or context and criticized an ad that ran five years ago just shows that he is grasping at straws.”
One may wonder why La Pe�a, a credible nonprofit organization, even allowed the article to appear at all. Apparently, some at La Pe�a are also wondering. Lydia Hernandez, the president of La Pe�a’s board of directors, sent Ellinger a letter of apology and offered him space to reply in the next newsletter.
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This article appears in February 5 • 1999 and February 5 • 1999 (Cover).