Minutes for 2004 KPFA LSB meetings, grabbed from kpfa.org in July 2007.
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes February 18th, 2004: Delegates Meeting
Minutes
KPFA Delegates Meeting
Wednesday, February 18th, 2004
West Berkeley Family Practice Clinic Auditorium
7:00-11:10pm
Delegates present constituting a quorum: Howard Beeman, Mary Berg, Max Blanchet,
Steve Conley, Riva Enteen, Ted Friedman, Ann Hallatt, Mark Hernandez, Jane Jackson,
Sepideh Khosrowjah, Michael Lubin, Max Pringle, Sarv Randhawa, Willie Ratcliff,
Lisa Rothman, Fadi Saba, Gerald Sanders, Bonnie Simmons, Carol Spooner,
Marnie Tattersall, William Walker and LaVarn Williams
Delegates absent: Miguel Molina, Willie Thompson
Meeting convened and called to order by Susan Da Silva, former KPFA LAB Chair
I. Introductions
Mary Bishop named as Secretary pro-tem (by unanimous hand count)
Reading by Annie Hallett, poem by Gary Snider
Delegate self-introductions
Riva Enteen named as Chair pro-tem (by unanimous hand count)
II. Announcements
* Any delegate can nominate any other delegate to be considered for the Pacifica National Board of Directors.
* The first official meeting of the Local Station Board will take place on Saturday, February 28th at 11 am at the South Berkeley Senior Center.
* The first meeting of the new Pacifica National Board is scheduled for March 12-14 in Berkeley.
* Motion to vote for Staff Director first: 22 in favor, 1 abstention
* Les Radke, Elections Supervisor, was introduced.
III. General Public Comment Period
IV. LSB Retreat Report Back
At the beginning of this segment, ballots were passed out to all LSB members to amend the mistakes made in the assignment of pro-tem positions. The results came back several minutes later as follows: Secretary: Mary with 23 votes, Chair: Riva with 22 votes (Max received one write-in vote.)
The LSB Delegates met on Sunday, February 15th for a meet-and-greet session and to establish ground rules. Jackie Cabasso was retained as the facilitator.
Also, the liability for elected Board Directors was discussed as well as the differences in the duties of the LSB and the PNB.
V. Delegate Announcements
On February 26th at 6 pm, there will be a party at KPFA for the LSB election participants.
The CDP is having a potluck on March 1st at 6pm at Cedar and Bonita.
Thanks to the Noodle Factory for providing tonight’s sound system.
KPFA needs to reinstate a prisoner-sponsorship program during its fund drives.
On February 20th at 7:30 pm, there will be a benefit for California’s 70,000+ striking grocery workers at the Humanist Hall in Oakland, 390 27th St.
An opportunity was given for all delegates to express their interest in becoming nominated to serve on the PNB.
VI. Open Nomination Period
The following delegates were nominated by their fellow delegates: (initials in parentheses will henceforth be used to identify candidates) Jane Jackson (JJ); Carol Spooner (CS); Miguel Molina (MM); William Walker (WW); Lavarn Williams (LW); Willie Ratcliff (WR); Mark Hernandez (MH); Steve Conley (SC); Gerald Sanders (GS); Sarv Randhawa (SR); Mary Berg (MB); Marnie Tattersall (MT); Ted Friedman (TF)
VII. Candidate Statements (Summarized)
CS: It is a Crouching Tiger year. We need to get our financial house in order and perform a management review. We need to provide good governance to address the issues facing us in these times.
WW: I am 24 years old and a former apprentice. I would like us to stop using the word ‘minority.’ Annual reports and planning are essential. Let’s move back to our mission and construct a national promotion strategy.
LW: How does the progressive left support its institutions? We need to maintain and improve quality, to provide monthly operational reviews and to improve our finances and restore our credit. I have an MBA in finance.
WR: We need to make sure we have a working organization. Let’s use and share our collective knowledge by bringing everything to the table and analyzing it. I want everyone in this country to be able to listen to Pacifica.
TF: I am a bridge-builder. I met and frequently worked with many people on the other LSBs. I am on friendly terms with those I know and don't have feuds with any. I have a 100% attendance record on the LAB. I traveled to most iPNB meetings at my own expense. Let's keep on following the Pacifica Mission.
MT: I am a team player and not a Prima Donna. (She then passed out copied of her resume.) Pacifica is worth half a billion dollars which is not chickenfeed. I can provide financial guidance.
MB: I saw the beginnings of the take-over in the 80’s. I have been involved in the crafting of the bylaws. I also have experience in running and growing businesses.
SR: Being on the PNB is a serious undertaking. No matter how many processes are established, the intent needs to be sincere. I will put effort into working out skirmishes within the network and I am not afraid.
MM: My business experience is surviving. I’ve learned to talk back. I escaped the fields and Vietnam by getting into radio. We are transforming KPFA from the inside, bringing access to the people.
GS: I take exception to the idea of consolidation. We need to be going out and getting new listeners. We are in a hostile environment, our society is anti-social and the Pacifica audience is an informed one. I have the fortitude to deal with our problems.
SC: I represent the work that all of us have done to get here. We need to realize that we may be dealing with hostility on the PNB, especially from New York. We have a need to reach out to our communities.
MH: Which comes first, Pacifica or our personal agendas? Pacifica should be a pulpit for all points of view. We need people on the PNB who will keep us true to our mission. Outreach and finances are issues. We should also look for alternatives, such as starting a credit union. We need to expand our vision.
JJ: I am surprised to be here. I am not a one-issue person, as my record will show. I’ve been to many of the national meetings and have visited all of the stations. I know who is being discriminated against and why.
VIII. Public Comments Period – Nomination Specific
IX. Delegate Statements and Q&A
Q: (TF of MT) Do you support Pacifica ahead of commercial media?
A: (MT) Of course I do. I do not know how to prove that to you but I can say that I bring a specific set of skills that will bring it to the next level.
Q: (Fadi Saba to all) How will you balance local and national control?
A: (CS) The national board should stay out of KPFA. I am in favor of local control.
(MT) All stations in the Bay Area have local control. I support it.
(SC) We need to work on both levels.
(MH) There needs to be cooperation between the two.
(JJ) We need to do prisoner sponsorship.
(TF) I like the way KPFA is run. I am not sure about the other stations and I don't
want them telling us how to run KPFA.
(LW) I like integration and have worked toward it in the past.
(GS) We need to have a national outlook and mutual trust.
(SR) The powers of the Pacifica Foundation are distributed and we need not fear that any one party will be able to take control of the Foundation
. (MM) Miguel attempted to speak but was interrupted.
(WR) I have fought for local control but there is a need for mutual support.
(MB) We are all connected.
(WW) Local control is important but we need national agreements, work toward trust.
Statement by Ann Hallatt: We are no longer individuals competing with each other, it is time for coalition building. The group we send to the Pacifica Board must be seen as a team embodying the various skills we are looking for. The specific skills of the team members are crucial. This election is for a one-year period and should be seen as a particular step forward as we create the infrastructure of the Pacifica organization, this year we need to focus on financial accountability, putting out the racial fires and creating infrastructure. My personal dream team is CS for continuity, SR for putting out racial fires, MT for finances, and WW for youth representation.
Motion to end the Q&A: 22 in favor, 1 abstention
X. Vote for Staff Director
The ballots were passed out and explained by Les Radke. Bonnie Simmons collected them and handed them in to the tabulation committee. All ballots will be stored in the National office. The group took a short break for the result to be calculated.
When order was resumed, the results were announced:
The threshold was 12 votes.
William Walker won with 13 votes.
Miguel Molina received 7 votes.
Mary Berg received 3 votes.
XI. Vote for Three Community Directors
The ballots were distributed and collected by Les Radke. The group took a second break.
When order was resumed, the results were announced:
The threshold was 6 votes.
Sarv Randhawa won in the 1st round.
Carol Spooner won in the 5th round.
Gerald Sanders won in the 8th round.
Before adjourning the meeting at 11:10 pm, Les Radke announced that the next round of elections is slated to begin on July 25th and volunteers are needed.
The following is an in-depth breakdown of the election results provided by Les Radke:
Staff Detailed Report
ELECTION RULES:
System: Instant Runoff Voting
Threshold Type: Droop
Simultaneous Drop: When mathematically inevitable
Ties: 1) Previous Round method
2) By election official
3) Random (by computer)
--------------------------------------------------
23 valid ballots.
Electing 1 candidate.
Winning threshold is 12 votes.
There were no invalid ballots.
(23 total ballots processed.)
--------------------------------------------------
************************************************************************
ROUND 1 -- Tally of 1st place votes.
CANDIDATE THIS ROUND TOTAL STATUS
----------------------- ------------- ------------- ----
William Walker +13.00000 13.00000 ELECTED -- 1st round
Miguel Molina +7.00000 7.00000 DEFEATED -- 1st round
Mary Berg +3.00000 3.00000 DEFEATED -- 1st round
Write-in 0.00000 0.00000 DEFEATED -- 1st round
Max Pringle 0.00000 0.00000 EXCLUDED
Lisa Rothman 0.00000 0.00000 EXCLUDED
Bonnie Simmons 0.00000 0.00000 EXCLUDED
EXHAUSTED PILE: 0.00000 0.00000
TOTALS: +23.00000 23.00000
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes February 28th, 2004:
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting
Saturday, February 28th, 2004
South Berkeley Senior Center
10:00am-4:00pm
Minutes were recorded by Mary Bishop, KPFA Administrative Assistant.
Members present constituting a quorum: Howard Beeman, Mary Berg, Max Blanchet, Steve Conley, Riva Enteen, Ted Friedman, Ann Hallatt, Mark Hernandez, Jane Jackson, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Michael Lubin, Debbie Speer, Sarv Randhawa, Lisa Rothman, Fadi Saba, Gerald Sanders, Bonnie Simmons, Carol Spooner, Marnie Tattersall, William Walker and LaVarn Williams
Late arrivals: Max Pringle, Fadi Saba, Willie Ratcliff
Members absent: Miguel Molina, Willie Thompson
Before convening, a poem was read by Adam David Miller entitled “Forever Afternoon.”
Meeting convened by Susan Da Silva, former KPFA LAB Chair at 10:20am.
I. Introductions
Each member was asked to state what he or she heard on KPFA that they liked recently.
Jackson: Mitch Jeserich morning report on Haiti
Williams: same as above
Beeman: same as above
Rothman: Sasha Lilley’s interview with a Frida Kahlo scholar this past week.
Friedman: Amy Goodman’s Haiti coverage pre-empt.
Hernandez: Joe Frank and Mitch’s Haiti report
Berg: Sasha Lilley with Kahlo scholar.
Lubin: Democracy Now Haiti coverage
Speer: Haiti report by Mitch Jeserich
Simmons: Joe Frank live during the drive on Sunday
Randhawa: Democracy Now! Haiti coverage
Da Silva: same as above
Walker: last night’s community group open house on Full Circle
Enteen: Overall Haiti coverage
Khosrowjah: Pacifica Archival CD of Gore Vidal (not on the air)
Blanchet: Amy Goodman’s whole week of Haiti coverage
Tattersall: Flashpoints with Barbara Lee and Haiti yesterday
Spooner: Dennis Bernstein with Kevin Pina yesterday
Sanders: Amy Goodman Haiti coverage
Hallatt: same as above (noticed nothing on Carnival)
Saba: The History of Black Music on Youth Radio
Pringle: Last night’s KPFA Evening News cast
Chair pro-tem selection – Nominated were Enteen, Da Silva, Tattersall (declined) and Walker (declined.) Secret, written ballots were distributed and collected by Signe Mattson.
Hallatt made a brief statement: The week of Carnival is a week of reawakening. With everything going on in Haiti right now, we should remember that Haiti and the US were discovered at the same time. The next step of celebration this week is Rara which consists of parading to honor the spirits preceding Lent. Carnival is the great leveler, everything repressed is now up. It is a time to let go of your ideas of who you are.
Williams added: I agree with Annie that we can see this as an awakening of our community. I would like to respectfully point out that the US and Haiti were not “discovered” by the Europeans, there was just an increase in documentation.
The Chair pro-tem results were announced. Da Silva won with 12 votes, Walker received 9 and Saba was a write-in candidate with 1 vote.
II. Agenda Approval
Spooner proposed adding an absentee review. Molina is not present due to live coverage of the Immigrant Right’s March and Rally in Los Angeles. There were two other members missing with no prior excuse, Ratcliff and Thompson.
Motion to add agenda item to handle attendance. 12 in favor, majority rules.
Walker proposed that Robert’s Rules be reviewed at a later date and that the time be spent concentrating on priorities and vision instead. There were several objections during the debate before a vote was taken. Also, as a clarifying point, the time set aside for Robert’s Rules was scheduled as a guided tutorial.
Motion to drop the Robert’s Rules agenda item. 4 in favor, 17 opposed with 2 abstentions. Motion over-ruled.
Motion to substitute the committee caucus period with a priority discussion. 13 in favor, 6 opposed with 4 abstentions. Motion passes.
Unanimous hand count to approve the agenda with amendments.
III. Attendance Review
Three members at the time were not in attendance. Molina was unanimously excused for reasons previously stated. There was some concern expressed about no-show, no-notice. Jackson shared with the group that Thompson has been out of the state since the election results came in and is scheduled to return on March 7th.
Motion to handle remaining two absences separately. 15 in favor, 5 opposed with 1 abstention. Motion passes.
Motion to excuse Thompson. 10 in favor, 7 opposed with 4 abstentions. Motion passes.
Motion to excuse Ratcliff. 10 in favor, 10 opposed with 2 abstentions. Motion over-ruled.
IV. Announcements
· The planning meeting is having its next meeting on Wednesday, March 3rd at 7pm in the Conference Room of KPFA. All LSB members are invited to attend.
· There will be a rally at an upcoming appearance of George W. Bush on March 4th at 10pm at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
· A demonstration in support of Mumia Abu Jamal is being planned for April 24th. Leaflets can be obtained from Sanders.
· Amy Goodman will be hosting an event in Berkeley on April 15th. Local Station Board members will be honored and can be seated in the front row. Please, give names to Bob Baldock for those seats.
· An informal station/radio overview is in the works for incoming LSB members to get an idea of how KPFA and radio stations in general operate. The date will be announced at the next meeting.
Willie Ratcliff arrived at 11:30am. The previous vote was voided and his tardiness was excused by unanimous hand count. He introduced himself and indicated that he enjoyed the Johnny Otis show today.
Motion for Friedman to be the time keeper. Motion passed by unanimous hand count.
· Les Radke left a digital camera at the Delegates meeting last week. If anyone has it, please check in with him.
· There will be 30 hours of International Women’s Day Programming from the evening of March 7th through the 8th. All other programming is pre-empted.
Motion to read useful rules in the hand-out packet. 13 in favor, 2 opposed. Motion carries and rules read.
V. Public Comment
· I object to being kept on hold and in the end not getting a chance to speak on Living Room this week. I also object to KPFA sending me a federalized bill.
· I chaired a non-profit for 12 years before throwing in the towel. I’ll be here to remind you how to make your medicine stronger. As a reminder, don’t take things personally. The Morning Show is a Holy Grail for Philip and needs to be split up.
· Let’s get the agendas up on a web site. You have to have the self-discipline to separate the letter from the spirit of the law. The Chair is going to have to be able to move things along and to cut off the bickering about little things.
· The Program Council has the authority to make programming changes. We want reaffirmation from the LSB that we are empowered.
· There is gender inequity in this KPFA community. Vote yes on ‘A’.
· I hope we plan something special for the 55th anniversary. There are two things that we have worked on which have failed: the GM hire and the Program Council. We helped to rescue the station, not for people’s jobs but for cooperation, which has not been forthcoming from staff.
· The agenda has been posted on www.kpfalsb.org.
Note: All materials prepared for Jackson must be in 16 point font or greater.
VI. Election of Local Station Board Officers
Nominations for Chair: Enteen, Tattersall & Hernandez
Candidate statements –
Enteen: Electing a woman as Chair will begin to address the gender issue on this body. I have served as Chair for the National Lawyer’s Guild, I believe in Robert’s Rules and the spirit of the law. I did go to Law School and realize that we need to be efficient with our time.
Tattersall: I am fair, just and a good leader. I’ll need to learn about Robert’s Rules but I am a quick study. I can be non-emotional and tough enough to draw lines in the sand.
Hernandez: I hold no favorites. As Chair, I can be the person who does not speak but moderates.
Ballots cast and collected. Threshold to win is 12 votes. In the first round, Enteen was elected with 13 votes, Tattersall received 5, Hernandez received 4.
Da Silva stepped aside and Enteen took over as Chair.
Nominations for Vice Chair: Friedman, Conley, Hernandez, Simmons. Tattersall and Khosrowjah declined.
Candidate statements –
Friedman: I was the Vice Chair of the LAB and would be conscientious.
Conley: I have experience and understand the need for follow-through and the timely distribution of information.
Hernandez: I have served as the ED of the Fresno Free College Foundation and would be capable of providing the necessary services.
Simmons: I am a Robert’s Rules novice but would be happy to serve if chosen.
Ballots cast and collected. Simmons was elected in the third round with 11 votes, Friedman received 10 and there was one discard ( about which there was some discussion.)
Nominations for Treasurer: Williams, Tattersall
Candidate statements –
Williams: I started out at KPFA as a phone room volunteer in 1996 and have shown dedication to the station. Around the time of the lock-out, I went from fund-raising to hell-raising. I have 15 years of solid experience in finance and consulting.
Tattersall: I have 25 years experience as a Senior Financial Manager and an MBA. I know that the finances are fragile right now and would welcome the opportunity to serve as Treasurer.
Ballots cast and collected. Williams elected in the first round with 14 votes, Tattersall received 8.
Nominations for Secretary: Hernandez, Speer, Friedman. Bishop declined.
Candidate Statements –
Hernandez: I have already stated my experience and I maintain the Board web site.
Speer: I have served with the FFCF as Secretary of four years and will accept the responsibility of elected.
Friedman: I am good at taking care of details and making sure things get done. I helped to set the agenda for this meeting and made certain it was posted on the web. If elected, I will check the minutes and make sure announcements are carried out.
Ballots cast and collected. Friedman elected with 13 votes, Speer received 9.
VII. Finance Reports
KPFA Business Manager Eileen Hazel presented the KPFA Unaudited Income Statement for Four Months ending January 31st 2004 (Budget vs. Actuals) and the Pacifica Foundation Statement of Financial Position for three months ending December 31st 2003.
Highlights: We are under-budget for permanent staff positions but over-budget on salaries. Why? There is currently no one on staff for odd jobs so there are numerous hourly workers who fill out time sheets. Health benefits were budgeted to increase by 16% but actually went up by 22%. The state unemployment rate doubled this year as well. We have an actual budget surplus of $147,605, which is $63,000 less than what was budgeted for but we are expecting a toxics grant and income from the Amy Goodman event, which will increase the surplus. We had to purchase an unbudgeted translator in Auburn for the Sacramento area. Also, the property at 1921 Martin Luther King Jr. Way needs to be repaired in the near future.
Pacifica Chief Financial officer Lonnie Hicks presented a Power Point presentation of the finances of the network and the station. Copies will be provided upon request.
Highlights: For FY03, the network shows ~14.8 million in income, ~11.5 of which is in the form of listener support (77%.) About 52% is spent on salaries and 23% on administrative costs. The remaining 25% is spent on programming, development and community events. Most non-profits spend 70-75% of their income on salaries but we keep our expenditure lower because of the immense number of volunteers that contribute their time and skills to the network stations. Expected surpluses for Sept. ’04 are as follows: KPFK - $240,000; KPFT - $110,130; WBAI - $253,290; WPFW - $104,590; KPFA - $284,390; PRA - $4,999; Network-wide surplus - $997,000. Congratulations!
· Revenues were reduced by $1 million compared to last year, which was a record year.
· As Board members, you will want to monitor the cash (as opposed to budget predictions.)
· We have the required minimum of one month’s operating expenses in the bank.
· We carry $845,000 in outstanding debt as a network (the figure started out at $2.5 million.)
· Many critical items are as yet unbudgeted.
· New revenue initiatives are possible.
· Between FY01 and FY03 we had a $6.2 million turn around.
· We received a lot of debt retirement through write-offs, mostly of legal fees from attorneys who got sick of trying to get their money. There is no outstanding litigation against Pacifica or KPFA at this time. We are actively re-negotiating our current outstanding legal fees
· Board members expressed their desire to know who the listeners are, how much they have given and to look for ways to expand our listener-subscriber base.
VIII. Delegates Meeting and LAB Reports-back
The first Delegate meeting was held on February 18th. The Delegates are separate from the LSB. The Delegates met to elect National Board Directors. William Walker was elected as the staff representative. The elected listener representatives are: Sarv Randhawa, Carol Spooner and Gerald Sanders.
The outgoing LAB often did not have a quorum because of low attendance. The LAB was an advisory body. The LSB will be able to accomplish more because we have governance status. Friedman presented a report outlining the unfinished business of the LAB.
Motion to table the agenda items for committee structure and new business and to go directly to the Robert’s Rules tutorial. 20 opposed, 1 in favor. Motion overturned.
IX. Committee Formation
The following 8 committees were proposed to be formed by the meeting planners: Inclusion, Financial, HR/Personnel, Election, Governance, Technology/Development, Outreach & Programming
Motion to accept these committees.
Motion amended to form the committees and schedule a time for reevaluation in 2 months time. Amendment accepted. 16 in favor, 4 opposed, 2 abstentions Motion carries.
Nominations for the Committee of Inclusion: Walker, Randhawa, Khosrowjah, Jackson, Conley, Molina. Williams and Tattersall declined.
Ballots were cast and collected. Jackson and Randhawa were elected in the first round. Conley was elected in the second round. Walker was elected in the third round.
Each board member was given one minute to speak about their priorities for the committees.
Khosrowjah: leadership, programming, finance
Blanchet: governance, finance, programming, diversity
Tattersall: agrees with Blanchet
Spooner: finances are critical, as well as cooperative national programming
Sanders: We need more time to devote to this process than what has been allotted.
Ratcliff: finance, relationship with staff, self-organization
Walker: leadership, GM hire
Hallatt: keep things woven
Randhawa: put aside bruised egos and clear the past
Pringle: leadership, GM and PD search
Simmons: pass
Speer: let’s prioritize
Lubin: programming committee
Berg: governance, finance, programming
Hernandez: establishment of processes and authority
Friedman: Program Council issue, leadership and GM hire
Rothman: all needs equal, GM hire
Conley: GM and PD hires, Development Director hire, outreach, programming
Beeman: finance, personnel, outreach
Williams: finance, programming, personnel
Jackson: in agreement with the previous three speakers
Enteen: all hires, healing between staff and LSB, woven together, finance, technology,
Members arose to sign up on the various committee sign-up sheets. The Chair will assign point-people for each committee by telephone in three days time. The committees will then meet and decide on individual Chairs.
X. Adjournment
The Program Council Board seats will remain in the current configuration until the next meeting. At that time, the programming committee will be asked to make recommendations.
The next meeting will take place on March 27th from 10am to 4pm. The Chair and the Secretary will handle the arrangements and notify the membership.
Meeting adjourned at 4:20pm.
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes March 27th, 2004:
Minutes
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting
March 27th, 2004
Freight and Salvage Coffee House, Berkeley
Minutes were recorded by Mary Bishop, KPFA Administrative Assistant.
Members present constituting a quorum: Riva Enteen (Chair), Ted Friedman, Sarv Randhawa, Bonnie Simmons, Miguel Molina, Steve Conley, Ann Hallett, Gerald Sanders, LaVarn Williams, Lisa Rothman, Marnie Tattersall, Mark Hernandez, Debbie Speer, Willie Ratcliff, Max Blanchet, Carol Spooner, Howard Beeman, Mary Berg, William Walker, Sepidah Khosrowjah, Michael Lubin, Max Pringle, Willie Thompson
Absent: Jane Jackson, Fadi Saba
Meeting commenced at 10:35am.
Agenda reviewed and passed by unanimous consent.
There will be copies of the agenda and minutes provided in hard copy at each subsequent meeting of the LSB for the membership as well as for the public.
Motion to approve the minutes: Seconded and passed by unanimous hand count.
Announcements:
· Berkeley Forum “Peace and Empire” free to the public.
· Haiti Forum March 31st, at Hastings School of Law, 7:30pm.
· Voices of Haiti, Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship on Tuesday at 7:30.
· CDP meeting on Monday, March 29th at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship at 7:30pm
Public Comments:
Ø Democracy at KPFA was not just some random person’s idea at the station. It was mandated by a court of law. Our problems from the past came about because of a lack of democracy within the station. You have more power than the LAB did. They were always angry because there was a barrier between the station and the LAB. You are trying to block us, the community out and there is a danger here that I want to express. Allotting only two minutes for each public comment is rude and is a means for you to control us who elected you in. There is no dialogue here.
Ø Please, develop a practice of recording how each Board member votes. On key issues, we need a role call vote.
Ø FSRN is planning election coverage. The station as a whole does not seem to have a plan yet. We are going to be looking at the key swing states, voter issues and the Senate races. We’ll be in attendance at both conventions. We would like some seed money for this project and feedback from your constituents about what they would like to hear.
Ø To have a strong house we need a healthy house. The environment we work in is hostile at times and we have lost a great deal of young talent in the few years. Program Council works best with consistency. Our staff is diverse. We are overworked and underpaid. We are sick of being vilified by people because we are paid. I want to stop the fighting. We are about peace but we don’t sound like it sometimes. I believe we can do good work if we trust each other.
Ø I am proud to be here. I also think we need to build a harmonious relationship. We are excited about the opportunity of FSRN to have election coverage to defeat Bush. Please, get in touch with us about your ideas.
Ø I would like the Program Council to conduct its meetings in public. This will help eliminate the mistrust factor. I don’t know what the Programming Committee is for and would like to know the difference. Please, consider a 911 subcommittee.
Ø I agree that the Board needs to take the initiative to have a good working relationship with the staff of KPFA. In deciding how to handle the PC, you should listen to the community and your colleagues instead of feeling like it is a struggle.
Ø I have done research on the 911 deception dollars and they are misogynist, homophobic, and anti-immigrant. KPFA is sponsoring an event with Alex Jones who is a hateful bigot and I am disappointed. I’d like to see more equality.
Ø The unpaid staff organization had its election this week. Most of us are working, high-functioning people. We want you to know who we are and look forward to a fruitful association with you.
Ø My vision is intelligent radio. Education is not a problem. We are an educational institution. The absences need to be excused by vote and publicly according to the by-laws. Can community members serve on committees and how many? Also, to FSRN - be careful to not support a candidate.
Ø I was the first person fired for violating the gag rule by speaking in favor of affirmative action. The listeners were not told why I was gone. Please, deal with the matter of restoring me [Bill Mandel] to the air.
Ø I’m on the outreach committee and we seem to be in charge of town hall meetings but we haven’t gotten anything concretely scheduled yet.
Ø The underlying issue at KPFA is that once you have a program, you have it until you give it up. It is the commodity, the real estate. The ability to change programming has to be done in a fair, open, democratic way that is respectful of the volunteer labor. We need to increase training.
What are the reasons for the absences? Jane Jackson had a prior commitment and her absence had been excused previously by the board. Fadi Saba had a prior commitment.
Motion to excuse the two absences: Seconded and passed by unanimous hand count.
Motion to post minutes on the KPFA.org website.
Amended to allow other websites to post as well with a standard disclaimer.
Amendment vote: 16 in favor, 3 opposed
Vote on the motion as amended: unanimously in favor, passed by acclimation.
Financial Report by LaVarn Williams:
The finance committee met with the business manager yesterday. The spreadsheet can be found on the website. There are a couple of items where there may be questions. YTD we have a favorable income. Our expenses were running over. We have a forecast for the rest of the year. We are trying to get more information about the salaries because there is an unfavorable variance. We need a monthly headcount and to meet with the GM and the National Office to address what is going on. We need to get to an understanding of how to use our surplus. varnwill@aol.com for additional questions
Q&A
Q: Should we be looking at the money (~20%) we are sending to the National office?
A: Yes, the National Finance committee will look that and may end up imposing a spending cap.
Q: What are the numbers for our listener-ship and our membership?
A: We hope to get that information from the subscriptions department during the next fund drive.
Comment: This is not an approved budget. It is very different from what was presented in September.
Report from Jim Bennett, interim General Manager:
The National Board Meeting gave me a lot of hope. Compared to previous meetings, I can see that this is a new day but we need to remain vigilant. The governance needs to be in the hands of the LSB, the listeners and the staff.
KPFA has rented our SCA’s, netting about $60K a year. We need to use that for capital improvements on our building. We have given and given and given to bail out the network and Pacifica but we need to start seeing it come back to us. We are and have been the strongest of the stations financially.
We really have to put behind us the idea of tearing each other down because we don’t agree with one another. We need to find a way to do our job together and to make it work. If it doesn’t work the first time, we need to find out why and fix it. We need to learn what the conservatives know about working together. You may want to invite George Lakoff to a future LSB meeting to speak to you and the listeners about this. We need to be more creative about getting the listeners to our meetings. If we can combine the LSB with the PC to talk about stuff, that would also be good. It could go a long way to rebuilding trust.
KPFA has a history of change. We have to be understanding of the fact that our listener-ship has gone way down. People now are more interested in hearing what they want when they want (by using the Internet, etc…) We have to figure out ways to minimize the racism of technology and get computers into communities that can’t afford them. We only have 24 hours of programming. If we increase the programming on our website, we can give more people the opportunity to develop programs. That does not mean that they will be limited to the Internet for all of time but it is a starting place.
Q&A:
Comment: The GM should submit a written report ahead of time.
Q: What is up with the flooding and dry rot in the building?
A: Nakapan needs serious work, we need to tear out and replace a lot of stuff. A contractor has been looking at it. We need to raise funds for capital improvements (~$250K-300K.)
Comment: We are the only station who has not had a programming department in 5 years. The GM cannot and should not do everything. We need to hire a permanent GM and PD as soon as possible.
Q: Could we get quarterly reports from all KPFA departments in addition to regular reports from the programming coordinator?
A: Yes, that is a good idea.
Comment: Our sound is improving but our signal area is going to shrink to about a third of its current range in the next 10 years. This is why we need to focus our attention on Internet broadcasting. We have a new repeater system in Auburn to serve the Sacramento area. We are looking into one in Santa Cruz as well.
Report from the Pacifica Affiliates with Ursula Ruedenberg:
We have 47 stations on contract with Pacifica. There are 60-100 stations taking some sort of programming in total. We distribute 22 programs on the KU satellite, under the direction of Jim Bennett. In about a month, we will have an Audioport distributing programming via the Internet. We are also making alliances globally. We will be reviewing the KU schedule soon with the various station Program Directors.
Q&A
Q: Can you provide us with a job description so we can understand what you do and evaluate you? What are you hearing from the affiliates?
A: We are building an affiliate network again. In the mid-1990’s we had about 100. After the various network-wide struggles, we were down to 13. We will gradually increase our influence. We need to reestablish consistency.
Q: Can you talk about the website development and the new Audioport?
A: Pacifica.org will have an archive of programming with a searchable database. Pacifica.org is google-friendly and comes up frequently in searches, because of the Democracy Now!, FSRN and Flashpoints texts. The Audioport will be self-uploadable.
Break (12:35-12:50)
Motion to table the report from PNB delegates until next meeting.
Motion passes unanimously.
Motion to ask for written reports from standing committees and table the agenda item. Motion passes unanimously.
Next committee meetings:
Committees of inclusion, April 7th 7pm at KPFA
Outreach, April 1st 7:30pm at KPFA
Finance, Saturdays at noon at KPFA
Governance, 1st Sat. of the month at 2pm at KPFA
Programming, April 4th 3:30pm at KPFA
Tech/Dev, March 31st 3:30pm online
Elections, March 27th 3:30pm at KPFA
Report from the Personnel Committee:
Next meeting March 31st, 6pm at KPFA.
Two handouts: Action Resolution (Majority Report) and Minority Report read orally by Committee Chair Marnie Tattersall.
The Majority Report and Action Resolution is as follows:
The KPFA LSB Personnel Committee met on Wednesday 3/24 and voted to present the following Action Resolution to the LSB for approval and authorization at its meeting on 3/27/04:
· That the Personnel Committee form a "Spring 2004 General Manager Hiring Ad Hoc Subcommittee".
· The immediate objective of this Subcommittee is to find an appropriate and timely replacement for former GM Gus Newport, who resigned in February 2004.
· This Subcommittee will review the Applicants' resumes, cover letters and references, conduct the interviews, and recommend a pool of candidates for the LSB to approve (or screen further), and then forward to Pacifica Executive Director to make the hire. The Bylaws state the ED must make the hire from a "pool of candidates approved by the LSB."
· That this "Spring 2004 General Manager Hiring Ad Hoc Subcommittee" be composed of 11 members: 9 Voting members and 1 Non-voting member.
That the detailed membership composition of this Ad Hoc Subcommittee should be:
NON -VOTING members:
1 non-voting EEO officer chosen/provided by KPFA Mgmt.
(e.g. Vinnie Beacham, Program Coordinator -- recommended by Phil Osegueda)
VOTING members:
3 Staff members:
1 LSB Staff Rep (elected by Staff in Feb 04)
1 Unpaid Staff (may be an LSB Unpaid Staff Rep, but not required)
(selected by UPSO (Unpaid Staff Organization) Council per its Bylaws
1 Paid Staff (may be an LSB Paid Staff Rep, but not required)
(elected by the Paid Staff)
6 Community members:
4 LSB Community Reps (elected by Listeners in Feb '04)
1 Youth representative age 25 or under
(to be selected by a process that is yet to be determined)
1 Community person who does not currently serve on the LSB
(to be selected by a process that is yet to be determined)
Furthermore, it was voted and agreed that the members of the Hiring Subcommittee:
§ Are not permitted to be relatives of each other.
§ Are not permitted to be relatives of any Applicant.
§ Are not permitted to have close relationships or vested interests with any of the Applicants.
§ Must sign and adhere to a Confidentiality Agreement regarding all Applicants and the review process.
§ Must be fully able and committed to doing the work of this critical Subcommittee, including scheduling the necessary time to review and interview applicants, attending all meetings on time, and reading and responding to e-mails and phone calls in a timely fashion.
It is voted and recommended that the UPSO (Unpaid Staff Organization) council and paid staff participate in the development of the qualifications and duties to be incorporated into the detailed "General Manager Job Description", during the upcoming Subcommittee meeting times that will be scheduled for this function.
· We recommend the approval of the attached "GM Job Posting Announcement".
· We recommend that the application deadline be May 15, (aprox. 45 days from posting).
· We recommend that that the Announcement is posted during the week of 2/29/04 to the Posting Sources itemized on the Posting Sources List.
· Those with additional Posting Source ideas are encouraged to submit them to the Personnel Committee Chair, Marnie Tattersall, ASAP so that they can be included in this search.
Motion to approve and adopt the Majority Report recommendations
Motion to amend the proposal and adopt the recommendation of Minority Report concerning the Community Members as follows:.
Strike the Section beginning with “6 Community members” and insert the following:
6 LSB Community members will serve on this "Spring 2004 GM Hire Ad Hoc Subcommittee"
Riva Enteen
Willie Ratcliff
Marnie Tattersall
Sepideh Khosrowjah
Willie Thompson
Michael Lubin
The two motions on the table warrant a discussion period.
Discussion:
Miguel Molina: I have voiced interest in being on this committee. I am concerned about the lack of Latino/ Native representation.
Max Blanchet: We need information from the last hiring committee.
Marnie Tattersall: Phil Osegueda, Rainjita Geesler and others have weighed in.
Mark Hernandez: We do not want any reports railroaded through.
William Walker: I left the committee because of in-fighting. The job description is the same as past ones and I’d like to give it more thought. I feel there were issues which came up in the committee meeting last week that I’d like to discuss.
Max Pringle: In both reports, there is too little consideration of people who have radio experience on the hiring committee. We are running a business and we need someone who knows how to help us with that.
Sarv Randhawa: We deserve more time than 5 seconds to decide the composition of the hiring committee. If you want us to pass on resolutions, please give us the materials ahead of time. I feel uncomfortable voting on something I just received.
Steve Conley: We need to run this through an EO process. Also, we need to think about incorporating an extension option. I’d like the committee to look more for a listener rep that is not on the LSB. I agree that there should be a balance of radio professionals.
Lisa Rothman: If we can get a good method in place for handling reports, it will maximize our efficiency. We all voted unanimously on the majority report. We need to trust in the committee members.
Bonnie Simmons: A Management rep should be on the hiring committee as well.
Mary Berg: After being poles apart, we eventually arrived at consensus on the committee. Can we substitute the phrase “work hours” for “man hours”? We put a lot of work into the Majority Report and I think you should accept it.
Willie Thompson: I have an appreciation for this process but I have a greater appreciation for the timeframe we are looking to work within. We should vote on each point in the Majority Report individually.
Carol Spooner: I was on last year’s hiring committee and I can tell you it took a long time to put a search committee together. I understand the impulse to bring more people in but this recent LSB election vetted us as community reps with such responsibilities and there is a need for confidentiality for the applicants. Therefore, I am going to vote for the Minority Report.
Gerald Sanders: Marnie did a really good job. The work of the committee is to do the work and we ought to accept their conclusions. They discussed the issue at length. We shouldn’t need to. The point of a committee is to get something done.
Howard Beeman: I agree that we need to have Latino representation on the hiring committee.
Willie Ratcliff: We have a fiduciary responsibility. We are community reps. Let’s get the hiring done.
Mark Hernandez: Marnie is right. It is a time consuming process to select a committee. The community elected us. If we screw this up, they can hold us accountable. They will have to trust us to make the right decisions.
Call the question of the Amendment to Motion to cut off debate: 19 in favor, 3 opposed
Vote on the amendment to the motion
That the composition of the community representatives on the hiring committee will consist of the following LSB members
Riva Enteen
Willie Ratcliff
Marnie Tattersall
Sepideh Khosrowjah
Willie Thompson
Michael Lubin
Roll call:
In favor: Blanchet, Khosrowjah, Friedman, Sanders, Lubin, Ratcliff, Thompson, Tattersall, Spooner, Williams, Speer, Hernandez, Beeman, Rothman (14)
Opposed: Molina, Conley, Berg, Pringle, Randhawa, Simmons, Walker (7)
Abstentions: Hallett (1)
Amendment to the Main Motion passes.
Motion to amend the Main Motion
3 Staff members: to strike the following text
“1 LSB Staff Rep (elected by Staff in Feb 04)”
and insert the following text:
“1 LSB Staff Rep who shall be Miguel Molina”.
Discussion:
Lisa Rothman: We should move to elect rather than to appoint
Willie Thompson: We do not want to leave the appointment of a Latino representative up to chance. I support Carol’s motion.
William Walker: I have issues with appointing people as well. I also have a problem that a 36 year old is the youth representative. I am sick of being shut down and I will continue to vote motions down until we can have more discussion about what we are deciding.
Mark Hernandez: We are able to elect for Miguel as the LSB staff representative right now.
Annie Hallett: This group was put in for expediency. These LSB community representatives were not chosen on their merits. I think the staff should decide on their three representatives independent of us.
Call question to close debate: 15 in favor, 3 opposed
Vote on the amendment to the Main Motion: 16 in favor, 5 opposed
Discussion on the Main Motion as amended:
Carol Spooner: I ask for clarification on the third bullet point down about close relationships or vested interests.
Lisa Rothman: It is vague. We don’t want to discourage people from telling others about the hire. But we do not want a hiring committee who already knows who they want to be General Manager.
Mary Berg: I understand the term vested interest to mean that a hiring committee member would personally benefit from the hire. If I were close with someone I would recuse myself from serving on the committee.
Move to amend the Main Motion by adding a youth member (25 or under) to the committee
Call the question to end the debate: 16 in favor, 3 opposed
Roll Call:
In favor: Beeman, Berg, Conley, Molina, Simmons, Spooner, Walker, Williams (8)
Opposed: Blanchet, Friedman, Hernandez, Lubin, Pringle, Randhawa, Ratcliff, Rothman, Sanders, Speer, Tattersall, Thompson (12)
Abstentions: Khosrowjah, Hallett (2)
Motion to amend the main motion failed.
For the record: Lisa Rothman stated, “I am not against youth representation but want to honor work done by the personnel committee.”
Call the question to end debate on Main Motion: 17 in favor, 4 opposed
Main Motion (restated): To adopt the Action Resolution of the Majority report, with the following amendments: that the Community Reps on the GM Search Committee shall be LSB community members: Riva Enteen, Willie Ratcliff, Marnie Tattersall, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Willie Thompson, and Michael Lubin, and that the LSB staff representative shall be Miguel Molina.
Roll Call:
In favor: Beeman, Blanchet, Friedman, Hallett, Hernandez, Khosrowjah, Lubin, Molina, Ratcliff, Rothman, Sanders, Simmons, Speer, Spooner, Tattersall, Thompson, Williams (17)
Opposed: Conley, Pringle, Walker (3)
Abstentions: Berg, Randhawa (2)
Motion passes.
Motion that the ad hoc committee keep KFCF informed. Passed unanimously.
Move to go directly to Program Council agenda item:
Discussion:
Mary Berg: It is important to elect these members to the national committees today.
Carol Spooner: The Program Council issue is the most contentious to come before the Board in 5 years. I call for a special meeting to handle this issue one week from today.
Lisa Rothman: I will not be in the country. Can we please find a time that I can attend?
Mark Hernandez: As much as I would like everyone there, we are a body if members are absent.
Sepidah Khosrowjah: I amend the motion for the meeting to take place in three weeks (Saturday, April 17th)
Willie Ratcliff: Three weeks will give us more time to figure this issue out.
Sarv Randhawa: Prior to any special meeting on this subject, all written materials from all parties in the dispute should be provided to the LSB members.
Call the question to end the debate: 13 in favor, 1 opposed
Motion to have a special LSB meeting on April 17th at 10:30pm to discuss the issue of the Program Council: 17 in favor, 5 opposed. Motion passes. Location TBA
.
The PC will remain in status quo until this meeting.
Sarv Randhawa made his comment about written documentation a Motion:
Discussion:
Ted Friedman: If you all send me the info, I will pass it along.
Carol Spooner: The record of the composition and authority of the Program Council changes has not been documented. There are copious minutes, identified by person, that are confidential. I cannot provide these minutes.
Mark Hernandez: With respect to these minutes, would there be objection to an executive summary of the document.
Willie Thompson: The request made by Sarv Randhawa will make it possible for us to make informed decisions.
Riva Enteen: We all need to know what a complete packet is.
William Walker: The only thing people agree on is that the Program Council is advisory to Management. Management should provide documentation of the Council’s role.
Mary Berg: We should not limit ourselves in data or be limited in any other way.
Marnie Tattersall: I hope the Program Council will release their minutes for this meeting.
Ted Friedman: The Program Council’s minutes have been distributed to the LAB in the past.
Ann Hallett: I do not believe we should get bogged down in the past.
Debbie Speer: No one has ever included KFCF in the issues of the Program Council. I want to hear the whole story from both sides.
Steve Conley: The Program Council could meet about this on Tuesday.
Call the question to end the debate: 19 in favor, 1 opposed
Motion: Prior to the next special meeting, the involved parties will provide the LSB with all the written documentation around this issue: 17 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion passes.
Election of Reps to the National Committees:
Nominations for Governance committee:
Blanchet, Lubin, Thompson, Berg, Khosrowjah (declined)
Nominations for Audit committee:
Blanchet, Tattersall
Nominations for Technology committee:
Conley, Beeman, Hernandez, Berg
Nominations for Programming committee:
Khosrowjah, Simmons, Conley, Molina, Pringle
Nominations for Executive Review Committee (to review ED and CFO):
Williams, Enteen, Thompson, Tattersall, Simmons, Berg, Jackson
Nominations for Election Review Committee (to review election problems):
Molina, Beeman (declined), Lubin, Friedman, Hallett (declined), Thompson, Berg
Secret ballots distributed and cast for all committees.
From the vote counters: Somebody put two 1’s on a ballot. How should we handle this ballot? The bylaws say you cannot split your votes.
Motion to count the ballot in question as a split vote. 15 in favor, 5 opposed
Results as follows:
GC: Blanchet (9) & Thompson (6)
AC: Blanchet (9) & Tattersall (13)
TC: Hernandez (8-1/2) & Conley (7)
PC: Khosrowjah (8) & Simmons (9)
Executive Review Committee: Williams, Enteen
Election Review Committee: Molina, Lubin
KPFA LSB RESOLUTION ON HAITI:
The following resolution was read aloud, as prepared by Willie Thompson:
The act of United States regime change in the sovereign democratic state of Haiti sets a dangerous precedent for the world and has a particularly destabilizing effect on Caribbean and Latin American countries. What happened in Haiti is unethical and immoral and in clear violation of international and federal laws for which the Bush administrating should be held accountable. We now know the fact is that the United States military, allied with Haitian drug traffickers and convicted assassins, is implicated in the forcible removal of the Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide from his elected office and the mass murder of his followers.
As a broadcast media organization in the United State we demand a Congressional review of the Bush administration's removal from power of a foreign country's democratically elected leader. We note that in recent history, this is not the first time the U.S. government has acted in direct military retaliation against governments who differ in their economic and political policies from that of the U.S. In this call for justice, we join CARICOM and the Africa Union in condemning the removal of a democratically elected president. We support the Truth Act sponsored by Congress members Barbara Lee and John Conyers calling for the immediate investigation into the role of the Bush administration in the coup against Haiti.
We strongly condemn the role of the 'free' press in this country in its totally biased coverage of the removal of President Aristide by force. Corporate media continue to report that President Aristide left voluntarily when in fact he was forced out of office through deception and coercion.
For the above stated reasons, the KPFA Local Station Board demands:
· The unconditional and immediate return of President Aristide to Haiti so he can serve out his term of office until 2006. Only the Haitian people can make the decision to elect their government.
· A congressional investigation into the role of the U.S. government in a) destabilizing the Haitian government and b) in implementing the coup d' etat.
· An immediate end to the repression and daily attacks on Lavalas supporters and those demanding the return of President Aristide to power.
· Support for Haitian refugees and the granting of Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to refugees from Haiti who are fleeing the terror of their home country;
· The U.S. Marines be withdrawn from Haiti now!
In conclusion, we are alarmed by the audacity of the Bush administration to forcibly remove an elected President from office in total disregard for international norms and laws. We are highly concerned at the overall level of negative images the U.S. has in global politics, which reflect on all of us. As progressive members of the global community, we strive with people and governments of the world in total respected for their sovereignty-this precludes coercive military attacks on foreign countries and their elected leaders.
Sarv Randhawa made the following amendment to the motion: “In order to be consistent with the Pacifica Mission of social justice and peace, KPFA-LSB condemns the overthrow of a democratically elected government by violent means and asks the U.S. Congress to establish an appropriate committee to look into this urgent matter and recommend actions to be taken to restore Mr. Aristide to his democratically elected office."
Motion to accept the Haiti resolution with amendment: 18 in favor, 0 opposed
Motion passes.
The next meeting will be on Sunday, April 25th.
Motion to meet on the 25th as Delegates first and then reconvene as LSB.
Motion passes unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 3:50pm.
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes April 17th, 2004: Special Session
Minutes
Special Session of the KPFA Local Station Board
April 17, 2004 at 10:30 am
at the Berkeley Friends Meeting House
Present: Willie Thompson, Annie Hallatt, Steve Conley, Ted Friedman, Lisa Rothman, Max Pringle, William Walker, Marnie Tattersall, Michael Lubin, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Riva Enteen, Bonnie Simmons, Sarv Randhawa, Mark Hernandez, Debbie Speer, LaVarn Williams, Willie Ratcliff, Mary Berg, Gerald Sanders, Max Blanchet, Jane Jackson, Carol Spooner, Howard Beeman
Late Arrival: Fadi Saba (noon)
Absent: Miguel Molina
Annie Hallatt provided opening statements with a breathing exercise.
I. Introductory Remarks
Riva Enteen (Chair): We need to respect each other here even through our disagreements.
The times on the agenda are only for guidance. The public comment in particular may need to be extended based on the number of people who are signed up to speak.
Motion: Every public comment shall be allotted 3 minutes.
20 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion passes.
Motion: to defer all action items until the next regular meeting.
9 in favor, 12 opposed. Motion fails.
Motion: to allow the public comment period to become the first agenda item.
3 in favor, 18 opposed. Motion fails.
Motion: to approve the agenda.
10 in favor. 1 opposed. Motion passes.
II. Report from LSB Reps to the Program Council
Steve Conley: Thank you to all of the listeners who have come today. Thank you also to all of the previous PC members. It is indeed a thankless job. [Steve read the statement prepared by Carol Spooner and himself. See handout packet for text.]
Motion to receive this report as a part of the Public Record.
Motion passes unanimously.
III. Report from Jim Bennett
I have some big picture concerns regarding the leadership of the network. I would call it growing pains. The management needs to have input into all programming decisions at KPFA. We are guessing what our listeners want without really asking them. The March 9th deadline for the morning changes was impossible to meet. NPR recently made a decision to remove one of their Morning Show anchors with 2 months notice. They told their listeners that they wanted to know what they thought but that it would not change the decision. The change was not popular with their listener-ship. We need to be better than that. We have to measure the listener’s feelings about the change. This is a significant change. We also need to measure the actual financial impact. We should ask Subscriptions staff what they think the impact would be and if we would have enough phone volunteers at 7am. I have no problem with the decision but with the implementation of the decision. The date was set in my absence. I think the change could be implemented on a timetable of 3-6 months.
IV. Statement from Vic Bedoian
Vic Bedoian’s statement was read by Debbie Speer. Vic Bedoian is Executive Director of the Fresno Free College Foundation which holds the license for KFCF 88.1 FM, Fresno, CA. The text as follows:
Programming decisions at community radio stations are inherently difficult and sometimes painful. In making programming decisions, it is critically important to consider the full range of impacts that those decisions will have. How will the decision affect subscribers and listeners? What will be the impact on staff time and workload? What research has been done to justify the addition of new program, time changes of current programs, or removing programs? How to evaluate a program to be replaced, or a new addition, is not straightforward, there is no formula, and every radio station must create a process that works for its particular situation.
KFCF and KPFA clearly have different ways of making program decisions, although we are closely tied together. At KFCF, adding a new program to the schedule necessarily means eliminating a KPFA program. Conversely, if KPFA adds or moves programs, it potentially has an impact on KFCF local programming. Both decisions must be made with great care and due diligence. At KFCF, as at many community radio stations, the program director is empowered to make day-to-day decisions about special programs, review current programs, evaluate proposals for new programs and make recommendations to the Board of Directors. The program director also has the authority to make on-the-spot decisions about preemptions or crises that may arise. The democratic structure now in place at KPFA and Pacifica incorporates input from listeners, paid and unpaid staff and management in decision making. That is an important and hard-won accomplishment. Collective decisions are critical in establishing priorities, setting goals and shaping the future. Equally important is the ability, and flexibility, of designated staff and management to do their work. At best there must be a collaborative and collegial process to make certain that listeners are well served, and that the staff has the resources available to carry out decisions. Whatever the process, it is crucial that the staff and management of the station have the right to review decisions regarding potential financial and legal impacts, as well as the impacts on staff. We at KFCF hope that the programming decisions made by the KPFA Local Station Board and the Program Council fully take into account our situation and our listeners.
Motion: to begin public comment period by reading other prepared statements.
18 in favor, 3 opposed. Motion passes.
V. Public Comment Period
(Public comments are no longer included in the official minutes.)
Break at 2:15. Meeting reconvened at 2:45.
VI. LSB Deliberation Period
Carol Spooner introduces a motion.
“Resolved that:
Whereas, it is the duty of the KPFA LSB: “To work with station management to ensure that station programming fulfills the purposes of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served by the station, and that station policies and procedures for making programming decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality programming.” Bylaws, Article Seven, Section 3.G.
Therefore, the KPFA LSB adopts and approves the programming decision-making policy and procedure agreed upon by the KPFA management and Program Council at their retreat on November 18, 2003, specifically:
That programming decisions at KPFA shall be made by the majority vote of the Program Council, pursuant to the Program Council quorum rules that a majority of the Program Council members are present, and that at least one representative each from the paid staff, unpaid staff, LSB listener members, and community representatives (appointed by the LSB) is present at the meeting.
Further, the LSB adopts the following policy: The General Manager may override a programming decision made by the Program Council in the following cases: (1) legal issues that pose a threat to the broadcast license, (2) personnel issues where the programming decision conflicts with a disciplinary action taken by the GM, (3) violations of the KPFA union contract, and (4) where the GM believes the decision would cause serious financial harm to the station.
If the General Manager overrides a programming decision made by the Program Council, the Program Council may appeal to the LSB to override the General Manager.”
Carol Spooner: I have served on the Program Council for about a year now. We have made many decisions. The department heads are members. The unpaid staff will be electing their representatives (4) soon. The LSB will choose LSB reps and community reps. We have operated by majority vote. I think, fundamentally, the Program Council takes its responsibilities seriously. It has been very disappointing to have the morning programming decision not be implemented. (The membership of the Program Council was listed.)
Fadi Saba: I second the motion.
Howard Beeman: I support the motion.
Max Blanchet: I support the motion and feels it is very important to address the issue of sharing power.
Gerald Sanders: I was disappointed to see young people being used in the name of a policy the does not suit them. If you are getting paid on a job, you are in a different position than the listeners. I was elected by people who wanted to see change at the station. This is a vote that says “To be or not to be” to the LSB. This talk about process is revolting. The listeners have already weighed in and want this change.
Mary Berg: This motion does not address the time change but the powers of the Program Council. I do not support this motion. The Program Council is not under the jurisdiction of the Board. I don’t think this board should be getting into these issues. We have a lot of other work to do. If the decision was capable of being implemented, it would have been.
Debbie Speer: I have been split on this. The fund raising issue should not be the deciding factor. I think the majority in Fresno would support this time change. We need adequate notice from the Program Council about programming changes. KFCF has never been included in Program Council, so neither are our listeners.
Mark Hernandez: I support the spirit of this motion but I cannot support the motion itself. We have never had input over the structure of the Program Council. We are being asked to rubber stamp something that happened in a secret retreat in November. This isn’t democratic, it never was. It needs to be torn down and built back up.
Sarv Randhawa: My concern is regarding governance and management. There’s going to be a constant battle between the LSB and those that do the actual work. We are entrusted with protecting the station, which is completely different from acting on our own agenda campaigns. The Program Council structure is not a good one. Any small clique of people can get 50% +1 vote and the management has no control over it.
Bonnie Simmons: Collaborative, respectful and fair. These words would not be bandied around so much if people felt this Council was behaving properly. I ask you to think about what the term implementation means. The way that we are going about this does not respect the people who have to buy in to the decisions and do the actual work.
Mark Hernandez: If we do not adopt this motion, programming decisions will be in the hands of one person. The Program Council is not perfect but there is nothing else in place. It is the duty of the station board to work with management to make good radio. This is what we signed up for as Board members and if we don’t step up to the challenge, no one will.
Sepideh Khosrowjah: Have we forgotten 1999? Do we want one person making decisions? This decision took a long time to be made. What is the meaning of “Whose station? Our station.” I want to be part of decision-making.
LaVarn Williams: We cannot allow this to happen. We are setting up a confrontation for our entire tenure as a board. Diversity exists on Program Council. I am angry. I support the Program Council.
Marnie Tattersall: I concede my time.
William Walker: I feel this resolution is reactionary. I took notes for Program Council for several months. A lot of decisions that are made don’t go through the auspices of the PC due to fighting and the inability to prioritize business. The documents that govern PC need to be revised. A lot of the work is not happening because there is no programming staff. If you look at the numbers, you will see it is not truly democratic.
Max Pringle: I’ve seen no compelling evidence that we as an LSB have the ability to make this decision. I do not support the time shift. I support local programming to be on during drive time. We are in competition with other stations. There has been no scientific survey conducted of listener response. How would you like to fly on an airline where the passengers take over the airplane? This is the kind of power grab that is all too common on the left by a small group of self-appointed guardians of the station with too much time on their hands.
Lisa Rothman: I feel overwhelmed by all of the information. I feel everyone has spoken their hearts here today. I am going to oppose this motion. Jim does want to implement this decision in a way that he sees fit. I think the GM should be empowered to make decisions in a way that he or she sees fit. Our Development Director has stated that thousands of dollars of money are at stake here. I would ask you all to look at his report. We have a wonderful opportunity to make a true, concerted effort to draft a comprehensive survey.
Ted Friedman: I’m not familiar with the internal workings of the Program Council but it is the best group we have to make decisions. This is not the LSB making decisions and micro-managing, it is merely the LSB supporting the Council.
Steve Conley: There have been a lot of valid statements made today. Our retreat was not a “secret meeting.” It was an opportunity to discuss the direction of the station and to be visionary. Your various representatives should have been regularly informing you of what was happening at these meetings. That means that the staff reps should have told the staff what was going on. We need to be able to make decisions or someone else will.
Annie Hallett: I feel like this is an old battle. We cannot proceed. This Program Council has failed. It created division between staff and listeners and the management. I feel like this is a trap. We do need to talk to each other. The rude comments need to stop. Let’s regroup and look at our style and our tactics. We can have dissention but we don’t need to tear each other to pieces. I would strongly urge you to reject this course of action. Remember inclusion, process.
Willie Ratcliff: You ever been caught in the woods without a map? I agree with the change but we are not prepared to do this right now. I don’t like the power plays that are going on right now. It’s not good for any of us. We need to be ready to implement changes before jumping in. Nobody is even sure how many people are on the Program Council. We all need to work together. I cannot support this.
Willie Thompson: I have the highest regard for all of you. There might be some concern about democratizing the station’s administration. There has been no complaint or concern expressed about the station being led dictatorially. So, where is this all coming from? We don’t want to micromanage. I hope this motion is fails but that rational dialogue is continued.
Riva Enteen: I support the resolution. I feel the Program Council structure is democratic. We need to ensure that good decisions are made and we have the authority to do so. I think we need to work with the Program Council.
Motion: to end debate and call the question.
Mark Hernandez: It is premature to call the question. We have not had any debate.
We’ve just been listening to people talking.
8 in favor, 13 opposed. Debate continues.
Sepideh: I would like to hear from Debbie what she would like to add to this motion.
Debbie: I would like to propose an amendment. At the end of the 3rd paragraph I would like to add, “and in timely consultation with KFCF and other Associate Station management, which shall have access to the Program Council, access to all relevant information and input on any programming proposals that impact KFCF or other Associate Stations and their listeners.”
Motion to call the question.
11 in favor. 8 opposed. Not 2/3. Debate continues.
Willie Thompson: I am concerned about the bias of the Chair. Now, we are getting into an area where we will be mired down. I am going to have to leave here. I am not feeling productive and I am tired. This is the worst kind of thing that could happen for our tenure.
William Walker: I move that we adjourn the meeting.
Motion: to adjourn.
6 in favor, 14 opposed. Meeting continues.
Fadi Saba: I support Debbie’s amendment.
Vote to pass the amendment.
18 in favor, none opposed. Amendment passes.
Sarv Randhawa: I would like to amend the main motion as follows: to add the specific language from the retreat on Nov.18, 2003 regarding the adoption and approval of programming decision-making policy and procedures.
Call the question to vote on the amendment:
16 in favor, 2 opposed. Debate ends.
Vote to pass the amendment.
15 in favor, 2 opposed. Amendment passes.
Sarv Randhawa: I would like to amend the main motion as follows: “The programming decisions facing the KPFA Program Council shall be made by requiring the affirmative votes of 2 members of each constituency in order to promote inclusiveness when making programming changes.”
Carol Spooner: I am opposed to this amendment. It contradicts what we just voted on.
Ted Friedman: This amendment is unnecessarily complicated and is micro-managing.
Lisa Rothman: I want to endorse this amendment. There was no staff support for the programming changes. This is clearly in our bylaws, it is clearly our mandate.
Max Pringle: I echo Sarv and Lisa.
William Walker: I support this as well.
Gerald Sanders: I am against this process.
Mary Berg: Sarv has every right to make this amendment.
Bonnie Simmons: I understand where Sarv is going with this and I think it makes real sense. This makes it all more collaborative. Historically, it can go astray and that is what we are all fighting today.
William Walker: If we don’t accept this than what we fear could come to pass.
Michael Lubin: I oppose this amendment as being a filibuster and I call the question.
Willie Thompson: I support this amendment. It sends a message to the Program Council that we are concerned about democracy.
Vote to pass the amendment:
12 in favor, 10 opposed. Amendment passes.
Here is the role call break-down:
Howard Beeman yes
Mary Berg yes
Max Blanchet no
Steve Conley no
Ted Friedman no
Ann Hallatt yes
Mark Hernandez yes
Sepideh Khosrowjah no
Michael Lubin no
Max Pringle yes
Sarv Randhawa yes
Willie Ratcliff yes
Lisa Rothman yes
Fadi Saba no
Gerald Sanders no
Bonnie Simmons yes
Carol Spooner no
Marnie Tattersall yes
Willie Thompson yes
William Walker yes
LaVarn Williams no
Debbie Speer no
The Main motion, as amended:
"Resolved that:
Whereas, it is the duty of the KPFA LSB: To work with station management to ensure that station programming fulfills the purposes of the Foundation and is responsive to the diverse needs of the listeners (demographic) and communities (geographic) served by the station, and that station policies and procedures for making programming decisions and for program evaluation are working in a fair, collaborative and respectful manner to provide quality programming.@ Bylaws, Article Seven, Section 3.G.
Therefore, the KPFA LSB adopts and approves the programming decision-making policy and procedure agreed upon by the KPFA management and Program Council at their retreat on November 18, 2003, specifically:
We affirm the power of the Program Council to make programming decisions by majority vote, and to affirm the composition of the program council to include as voting members, management (programming and development), department heads (music, drama and literature, training, news, and future public affairs), unpaid staff (4 plus 2 alternates), and Local Advisory Board, which elects 3, and appoints 3 community representatives, provided however, that every programming decision shall be made by requiring the affirmative votes of 2 members of each constituency (at least two affirmative votes each from the management/paid staff reps, the unpaid staff reps, the LSB, and the Community reps) in order to promote inclusiveness when making programming changes and in timely consultation with KFCF and other Associate Station management, which shall have access to the Program Council, access to all relevant information and input on any programming proposals that impact KFCF or other Associate Stations and their listeners.
Further, the LSB adopts the following policy: The General Manager may override a programming decision made by the Program Council in the following cases: (1) legal issues that pose a threat to the broadcast license, (2) personnel issues where the programming decision conflicts with a disciplinary action taken by the GM, (3) violations of the KPFA union contract, and (4) where the GM believes the decision would cause serious financial harm to the station.
If the General Manager overrides a programming decision made by the Program
Council, the Program Council may appeal to the LSB to override the General
Manager."
Motion: to adjourn.
14 in favor, 3 opposed. Meeting adjourned at 4:40pm.
No vote was taken on the main motion.
Ted Friedman Secretary
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes April 25th, 2004:
Minutes
Regular Session of the KPFA Local Station Board
April 25, 2004
at the Humanist Hall, Oakland, CA
Minutes were recorded by Mary Bishop, KPFA Administrative Assistant.
All members were present and constituted a quorum: Jane Jackson, Miguel Molina, Max Pringle, Lisa Rothman, Gerald Sanders, Max Blanchet, Marnie Tattersall, Mary Berg, Debbie Speer, Annie Hallatt, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Riva Enteen (Chair), Bonnie Simmons, Mark Hernandez, Ted Friedman (Secretary), Willie Thompson, Michael Lubin, Steve Conley, Carol Spooner, Howard Beeman, Sarv Randhawa, Willie Ratcliff, William Walker, Fadi Saba, LaVarn Williams (Treasurer).
I. Introductions
Meeting called to order at 12:15pm.
II. Agenda Setting
Michael Lubin: Unfinished business is most important issue.
Moves: to place unfinished business to directly after public comment on the agenda. Seconded.
The Chair provided clarification about process and frequency and length of comments.
Mary Berg: We have been spending too much time on an unmandated discussion. We have a lot of work to do and the attention being paid to the unfinished business is getting in the way of our other work.
William Walker: I echo Mary and want us to turn our attention to other business.
Gerald Sanders: I am all for moving the agenda forward as published and to work on all of our issues.
Bonnie Simmons: I agree to stay with the agenda that the public received.
Ted Friedman: I support changing the agenda because we have a member with transportation issues who may not be able to participate if we hold off on unfinished business.
Willie Thompson: This issue needs to be dealt with in a timely fashion. I do not know if it can be resolved today.
Vote to call the question. 17 in favor, 6 opposed. Debate ends.
Motion: to amend the agenda so that unfinished business will follow public comment
13 in favor, 10 opposed. Motion passes.
Mark Hernandez: Motion: to add to new business - clarification of issues regarding the committee meeting process. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
Lisa Rothman: At the top of the agenda there is a notice about the motion that was amended last week. How do these notices get included on the agenda.
Carol Spooner: If a member wants to amend something, they need to inform the whole board. The secretary was required to place it on the top of the agenda.
Jane Jackson: I would like to discuss the issue of time because when we go over, I am disqualified.
William Walker: I move: to strike the notice from the top of the agenda.
Sarv Randhawa: The way that the notice is made could have been in a different way instead of on the top of the agenda.
Mark Hernandez: Having it on top of the agenda shows that it was distributed in a timely and effective matter.
Carol Spooner: The notice issue is separate from the agenda issue. Let's approve the agenda first.
Mary Berg: I move: to limit the old business item to an hour as a special issue of the day. Seconded.
Carol Spooner: If we limit the item to an hour, the process would be to go directly to a vote at the end of that hour, regardless of what people have to say and didn't have time to.
William Walker: I rescind my motion.
Motion: Unfinished business becomes a special order of business for one hour.
10 in favor. 11 opposed. Motion fails.
Move to approve the agenda as amended. Seconded.
18 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion passes.
Carol Spooner: I'd like to congratulate the Program Council for passing today's preempt of the DC March.
III. Minutes Approval
Motion to approve March 27th minutes. Motion passes by unanimous consent.
April 17th minutes approval. There were many problems with these minutes. Move to table the approval of the minutes. Seconded. Unanimous consent to table the minutes approval from April 17th.
Jane Jackson asks to make a clarification to the March 27th minutes. This body will rescind our approval unanimously to allow Jane to make her correction.
IV. Public Comment
There was an hour and a half period during which the Board heard Public Comments.
(Submitted statements and a summary of public comments are provided in separate documents.)
Break 2:30-2:40pm.
V. Unfinished Business
a. Continuing Debate of the PC Issue
Annie Hallatt had to leave early.
There is a motion on the table from last week, thrice amended.
Sarv: When we left off last week, we had amended the main motion up to the third paragraph. We should begin now with the fourth paragraph.
William: Sarv did not complete his motion last week.
Howard: I move to rescind the prior amendment.
Carol: Sarv does not have the floor. The main motion has been amended three times. Howard is following process to rescind the amendment.
Lisa: I look for process and clarity from the Chair. I would request her to ask for a second.
Carol: Sarv did not make a motion.
Riva: There is a motion on the floor from Howard. People can jump in to second.
Gerald: I am not sure that people are even clear on what we are doing from moment to moment. We need to make sure we know what we are doing. The last amendment ensures political constipation. That is unacceptable. It should be counterpoised to the Main Motion.
Mary: Can we clarify whether this is a simple majority or a 2/3 majority?
Sarv (called by Chair to respond): I am bewildered how we can go forward without accepted minutes from the Special Session.
Carol: The minutes were not approved because the wording of the motions was never provided to the secretary. We voted on things that were never written down. The summation was accurate. Howard is asking to strike that. The PC is a management committee, not a part of the LSB. I think we should trust the work of the body. They had a retreat to discuss how we wanted to move forward. All of the members were there. We came to a conclusion that the PC makes decisions by 50%+1 vote. Give that decision a chance to work.
Willie T.: Can we proceed if the minutes are not approved? I need some process by which the ruling of the Chair is conducted.
Mark: I appeal the ruling of the Chair based on lack of clarity.
Gerald: At a certain point, what might be camouflaged as confusion could be a delaying tactic.
Lisa: I remember that the minutes from the last LAB got backed up. We should slow down and keep up with what is happening.
William: There is an issue of respect here and the Chair should not be cutting people off who are formulating their thoughts.
Carol: Howard was clear. He wants us to reclaim our positions regarding Sarv's last amendment of last week. We do not need minutes to proceed.
Mark: We are going to be judged by our actions here. In order to do that fairly, we need to have an accurate recording of what we are deciding on.
Call the question by Gerald. Seconded.
Vote to end debate on the appeal
14 in favor, 5 opposed. Debate ended.
Vote on the appeal: (yes sustains the chair)
14 in favor, 7 opposed. Ruling is sustained
Return to debating the motion on the floor.
Willie R.: I don't like the main motion on the floor. I think both the Main motion and the amendment should be defeated and redrafted.
Jane: Does Howard not have the right to change his vote? Why is there any discussion?
Motion restated: to rescind Sarv's last amendment to the main motion.
Mark: If a member wants to change their vote, they need to get the permission of the body to do so.
Lisa: I am completely lost. [The Chair provided clarification.] It is significant that Gus was at the Program Council retreat. This is how he wanted things to go but he is not here anymore.
Max B.: I think it is important to rescind that language because it is going to make democracy on Program Council difficult. Berkeley had the idea for equitable representation on committees and the staff should be grateful to have representation.
Ted: The amendment would paralyze the Program Council and end up turning control over to management.
Call the question to end debate. Seconded.
12 in favor, 9 opposed. Not 2/3. Debate continues.
Jane: I will vote to sustain Howard's request. I had been denied the right to explain myself or to vote when it came around last week.
Steve: We took several votes in the retreat and Jim Bennett supported the actions we made as much as Gus. We discussed many things. The process of the Program Council is to be self-reflective.
William: It's interesting that we are talking about how the Program Council had such a great process when the vote was 12-0 (meaning there were 6 abstentions.) I third of the people in the room weren't buying into the process. These amendments are trying to balance things out.
Carol: The vote at the retreat was 12 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.
Fadi: This is really a simple matter that does not require all of this debate.
I call the question
17 in favor, 3 opposed. Debate ends.
Motion: to rescind the language of the last amendment made last week.
14 in favor, 7 opposed, 2 abstentions. Motion passes.
Gerald: I call the question of the main motion.
13 in favor, 9 opposed. Debate continues on the Main Motion.
William: I don't support the Main Motion as it is being put forth today. I am not against democracy but we need to look at the governance of the current Program Council. If we really look at creating mechanisms for things to take place it will be the best way to proceed. The General Manager should have the ability to make decisions. The community that I see in this room is white and older. I have my own community of people and I don't want to invite them to witness a process such as we have seen today. As a note-taker, I didn't see the Program Council as being the sort of group we want to give these responsibilities to.
Sarv: The last amendment I made had the intent of creating a different model that would allow for the best possible outcome and cooperation. You have seen the hostility here today. If we give power to one group, it will be a hardship for the station. I am going to amend this motion again so that a collaborative model exists.
Mary: Divisiveness is more destructive than the fights we were had in the first place. In the interest of finding common ground, I propose this substitute motion:
Resolved, that the Local Station Board hereby affirms that the KPFA Program Council - which is a committee of the station admin (and not the LSB) - has the authority to make programming decisions as it has been doing since at least August 1999. Seconded.
7 in favor, 15 opposed. Motion fails.
Call the question to end debate on the main motion:
13 in favor, 10 opposed. Debate continues.
Lisa: I'd like to amend the main motion as follows (where Sarv's wording was) "provided however, that every programming decision shall be made by requiring the affirmative votes of 1 member of each constituency in order to promote inclusiveness when making programming changes."
Fadi: This is tyranny of the minority and I am getting sick of these delay tactics. 50%+1 vote is democracy.
Sepideh: We have been discussing this exhaustively. It is frustrating to come to no decision and I want the public to take notice of this.
Sarv: The public was here last week and the vote was very different. If we do not have cooperation, the fighting will go on and on. I second.
Call the question to end debate.
13 in favor, 10 opposed. Debate continues.
Mary: Substitute Motion: change the wording on the amendment from "1 member of each constituency" to "2 members of three constituencies."
Call the question:
18 in favor, 1 opposed. Debate ends.
Vote on the substitute motion.
2 in favor, 15 opposed. Motion fails.
Call the question of Lisa's amendment:
15 in favor, 8 opposed. Chair voted in favor to make it 2/3 vote. Debate ends.
Vote on the amendment.
8 in favor, 13 opposed. Motion fails.
Call the question of the Main Motion:
13 in favor, 9 opposed. Debate continues.
Motion to commit: That the Main Motion as amended be referred to Programming Committee, along with all amendments , proposals and comments received by midnight, April 30, 2004. That the Programming Committee consider all such material and refer a resolution to the LSB by the regular May 2004 meeting with respect to programming issues. That the Governance Committee consider all such material and refer a resolution to the LSB by the regular May 2004 meeting with respect to issues of the structure of the Program Council. That this LSB shall hold the general manager to his statement that the decision of the Program Council is being implemented on April 17th, 2004.
Call the question:
16 in favor, 4 opposed. Call passes.
Vote to motion:
9 in favor, 14 opposed Motion fails.
Call the question to main motion:
14 in favor, 9 opposed. Debate continues.
Jane: You have all already discussed this. I think it is shameful to send this message.
Gerald: Constructing social structures is not an easy thing to do. It seems the staff have too much representation here. What you see here today is a parallel action to filibustering. Think about what we are trying to do, to democratize. There are people who will do anything to prevent that.
Miguel: Motion to end debate in 25 minutes.
15 in favor, 8 opposed. Chair votes in favor. Motion passes.
Mark: This whole thing has been arranged for no dissent or debate. There is no room for compromise in this main motion. Therefore, I have a substitute motion:
In order to prevent continued contention over issues, and to bring about a genuinely democratic process, the following resolution is presented:
Be it resolved that the Local Station Board of KPFA exercises its power and authority, as granted under Article VII, Section 3, and with particular reference to subsections G, J and K, and with substantive reference to subsections B, C, D, E, F, H and M;
Be it further resolved that the Program Council is dissolved as constituted prior to April 25, 2004; and
Be it further resolved that, under the above authority, the Local Station Board creates a Program Council for the express purpose of implementing Programming Policy for KPFA, as determined under the authority of the Pacifica Foundation By-laws, Article Vii, Section 3, subsection G; and,
Be it further resolved that the initial structure of the Program Council shall be as follows:
I) The Program Council shall be responsible for implementing the
programming policies of the LSB, established per Pacifica By-Laws,
by soliciting, evaluating, developing methods for creation, support,
and ongoing review of KPFA programming. These actions shall be done
in close consultation with all KPFA Associate stations before any
are implemented.
Pending the development of such policies, the Program Council shall
utilize information from the latest Community Needs Assessments,
listener and staff comments on programming, and data solicited from
listeners and staff via postal mail, electronic mail, or telephonic
communication in the evaluation and development of new programming,
and review of existing programming.
2) The Program Council shall consist of two sections, Management and
Community.
a) Due to the restrictions on involvement in day-to-day operations,
and due to the Local Station Board being composed of both staff
and listeners, no Local Station Board member may sit on the
Program Council as a voting member.
b) Management will consist of four (4) management persons,
excluding the General Manager and, if present, the Program
Director. Community will consist of six (6) listeners and
two (2) staff members, reflective of the composition of the
Local Station Board constituencies.
c) The Chair of the Program Council shall be the General Manager
or, if present, the Program Director. The Chair will have
the ability to vote to change the outcome of a vote by either
making or breaking a tie vote; however, the Chair is not
obligated to cast such a vote.
d) Each Program Council member shall have one (1) vote each.
e) A quorum will consist of a majority of 50% plus 1 for the
purposes of conducting official business.
3) The Program Council shall meet during hours accessible to a quorum
of its members; at least once per month, the Program Council shall
meet openly with the public, outside normal business hours, to hear
the concerns of the public and staff on issues concerning
programming.
a) Failure to attend three consecutive meetings shall result in
automatic and mandatory removal from the Program Council.
b) Failure to attend three meetings in a calendar year shall
result in automatic and mandatory removal from the Program
Council.
c) Any Program Council member so removed may apply to the
Local Station Board for reinstatement. If reinstatement is
declined, the former member will be ineligible to be seated
on the Program Council for a period of not less than one (1)
year from the date of removal.
4) The Chair of the Program Council is responsible for executing the
decisions and findings of the Program Council, unless need arises to
override these decisions.
Such reasons for override include breaking news events; absent or
missing staff; actions contrary to LSB Program Policy, Pacifica
By-laws, FCC regulations, or applicable state/Federal laws; or any
legitimate incident in which a decision needs to be made and
consultation or convening of the Program Council is not reasonable
to perform. All such actions are subject to review and assessment
by the Program Council at its immediate next meeting.
Additionally, any incident of national programming pre-emption shall
be reviewed by the Program Council for development of means of
implementation of future preemptions.
5) The Local Station Board Programming Committee shall review the
actions of the Program Council on a quarterly basis, and shall
forward any determination of Program Council deviations from
programming policy to the Local Station Board for further action.
This information shall include, if any, all information as to the
reasons for such a deviation.
6) Should the Program Council be found to be failing to properly
implement Local Station Board programming policy, the Local Station
Board may, at its discretion, dissolve the Program Council.
a) Should a Program Council be dissolved as a result of this
section, none of the members of the dissolved body shall be
eligible for a seat on a new Program Council for a period of
not less than one (1) year. The Chair is exempt from this
restriction.
7) Any two members of the Program Council may appeal any decision of
the Program Council to the General Manager, unless the General
Manager is sitting as Chair of the Program Council; in such an
event, the appeal will be dealt with by the Local Station Board.
a) All appeals shall be based on whether or not the decision is in
compliance with LSB Program Policy or, should such a Policy not
be in place, the basis for decisions on appeals shall be on
whether or not due diligence and proper assessment of issues were
used to make the decision under appeal. The LSB will not make
rulings on specific programs or the persons who produce said
programs.
b) Dissolution of the Program Council shall not cause an appeal to
stop or be ignored. All appeals must be answered and addressed
to a conclusion; such decision shall be recorded with the LSB
minutes by the LSB Secretary.
c) Further appeals, if they can be made, will be under the
jurisdiction and methods established by the Pacifica National Board.
Be it further resolved that this resolution shall go into effect five (5) business days after approval; all present members of the Program Council would remain seated as representatives of each faction until replaced or reaffirmed, or at the end of ninety (90) days after approval of the resolution in any event.
Seconded.
Willie R.: We need to have some type of a compromise here, we need to look at setting up structure. People are being kept from speaking. We ought to send it up to a committee. We've been sitting here all day.
Call the question on Mark's substitute motion.
16 in favor, 6 opposed. Debate ends.
Vote on the motion:
8 in favor, 13 opposed. Motion fails.
Main motion back on the floor.
Mary: This has been framed entirely so that anyone who is opposed to this is perceived as wanting to stay in power and hold on to their control. Turf has nothing to do with it. I want checks and balances and no more of this slanderous stuff. If you hadn't tried to drag all of these compound things into it I would have voted for each piece. I failed at supporting the Program Council.
Max P.: I'm against the motion because it is taking away the responsibilities of the station's management. I ran for this Board because I saw the opportunity to assist in guiding and putting forth ideas to make KPFA stronger.
Marnie: I am trying to learn, to be cautious and respectful. In November, the Program Council decided they had the authority to trump the General Manager and it gives me great concern. I'm referring to the organizational chart, which indicates that the structure has changed greatly.
Howard: I want a definition of democracy that everyone can understand. Everyone here seems to have their own ideas of it and we should just post what our version of democracy is.
Carol: The way we structured our bylaws was to allow for the broadest contribution. The Program Council makes programming decisions, which the GM can override but we as a board limit his discretion. This is quite normal. Please, vote for the main motion.
Bonnie: I want to echo Max, Marnie and Mary. I am troubled by things like the limiting quality and the four reasons that the General Manager may question something that the Program Council decides. I do not read the bylaws to allow us to go above the GM.
LaVarn: If there were more respect, I would hope that we do not do this in the future. When Riva was attacked, this was totally out of order.
Willie T: Point of Order-There is ambiguity about what the main motion is. I would associate myself with the comments of Debbie and others. This motion doesn't permit me to be in line with the constituents that elected me. It becomes difficult to exercise restraint though I will because of my own sense of manners.
Call the question to end debate.
15 in favor, 5 opposed. Debate ends
Vote on the Main Motion.
Vote taken by role call, as follows:
In Favor: Howard Beeman, Max Blanchet, Steve Conley, Ted Friedman, Jane Jackson, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Michael Lubin, Miguel Molina, Fadi Saba, Gerald Sanders, Debbie Speer, Carol Spooner, LaVarn Williams.
Opposed: Mary Berg, Mark Hernandez, Max Pringle, Sarv Randhawa, Willie Ratcliff, Lisa Rothman, Bonnie Simmons, Marnie Tattersall, Willie Thompson, William Walker.
13 in favor, 10 opposed. Motion passes.
William: I recommend we extend the General Manager deadline for applications date because the mailing is going out late. Also, I move that Gerald be censured for his conduct.
Carol: I agree to refer to committee. Our current Programming Coordinator will not allow us to meet until we tell him what makeup is. We need to discuss Program Council make-up.
William: Motion -That the motion re Gerald's conduct be tabled to first item on next meeting's agenda.
Carol - seconds.
Motion passes by unanimous consent -- Motion is moved to next meeting.
Break
(Note: at this time Mary Bishop, the regular note-taker stepped down, and was replaced for the remainder of the meeting by Chandra Hauptman.)
Carol: Motion: to move everything to a special meeting and just deal with three issues- gm search com issue and whether or not to continue with the current LSB pc reps, Mark's request to discuss committee procedure.
Marnie- seconded.
16 in favor,
1 opposed
No abstentions
Motion passes.
Mary: Suggest to urge national board to immediately find a new national election supervisor and all local election supervisors by unanimous consent.
William: Motion - defer decision making power of LSB to gm hire to setting application deadline for GM hire.
Motion passes unanimously.
Steve: point of info - Gm search com circulate job announcement and job description to entire board.- by unanimous consent.
Mark: Moves that the board to register the votes of only committee members who are registered members of committees.
William: Substitute motion-The decision who will decide on committee membership will be referred to governance committee.
Lisa asks for clarification about who will make the above decision because there are non LSB members on the governance committee.
Mary: committee should be allowed to decide on their composition.
Carol: against referring this to governance committee.
What was discussed was that each committee would make it's own membership rules and bring them to the LSB for approval and not count votes of non members.
Riva : after we vote it down is allowed according to Robert's rules of order.
Motion: to call the question
yes- 4 no- 13. Debate continues.
Motion by Mark: that those who vote on committees be members of record.
Amended by Carol: that each committee will determine who their members of record are and their membership rules and that they bring that list to LSB for approval to next regular LSB meeting.
Steve's amendment: add that committees that have not been constituted be constituted so they can meet the same requirements. (LSB is approving membership rules not membership roster).
Yes- 16 no- 0 Motion passes
Sarv: cites bylaws- section 10, a,b,c,.
Michael: calls the question- Yes- 15, no -1.
Motion: that existing LAB pc member reps be continued until June. These include LAB reps Carol Spooner and Stan Woods and appointed community reps Steve Conley and Attila Nagy. And request that the programming committee interview people who want to be community reps and bring those recommendation to the LSB for approval.
William: substitute motion- to elect new LSB reps in May at special May meeting. And to draft a community rep process at the special meeting. And the programming committee will present a process to the LSB at the special May meeting.
Motion to approve replacing substitute motion. Yes- 11 no- 6. Motion passes.
In favor of substitute motion yes- 10 no- 3. Motion passes.
Call the question to end debate- passes.
Mary submits amendment: Carts soliciting new pc reps should be prepared right away.
Sepideh suggests we maintain status quo- it's just for one month.
Bonnie disagrees.
LaVarn: new KPFA budget being prepared, asks for budget requests for LSB's budget go to LaVarn.
Carol: suggests that we ask committee to also submit budget requests to LaVarn.
Next meeting - is a special meeting.
Carol moves: that there be a special meeting on Saturday, May 8th.
Mark suggests that the meeting date motion be tentative upon polling all of the board members to ensure there will be a quorum.
Carol: we have to comply with notice requirements and suggests we decide today about meeting on may 8th and give notice to all board members not in attendance. Meeting to begin at 11 am.
Call the question - passed unanimously.
Yes- 13 , no- 0
Sat, May 22nd will be next regular meeting. regular meetings of board are on the 4th Saturday of every month.
Carol moves: that the meetings begin at 11 am unless otherwise necessary.
Yes- 12, no- 2 Motion passes
Governance com- will find next meeting space.
Mark: suggests one week between meetings, as a policy.
Ted moves to adjourn . Motion passes unanimously. Meeting adjourned.
Ted Friedman, Local Station Board Secretary
APPENDIX
Report from the KPFA LSB FINANCE COMMITTEE
The Finance committee meets weekly at KPFA on Saturday from 12 noon until 1:30 pm. The meetings are well attended with action items assigned and with weekly progress monitoring. The 'Goals for Next Six Months' (Attachment I) outline the various areas that need attention and that allow the Board to fulfill the responsibilities that are in the by-laws.
Eileen Hazel, KPFA Business Manager, completed the KPFA first half results. Listener Support and Donations exceeded budget and 'Salaries & Related' and Administrative expenses also exceeded budget resulting in the station essentially being on budget with $7.5K in operating deficits.
The Finance Committee also plans to formalize a fundraising subcommittee. With a new Development Director at KPFA, we must invite the Development Director to work with the LSB in fundraising.
Other ongoing issues follow:
o The request for presentation of financials in formats that are standard and that are transparent including actual and percentage variances and year-over-year analysis is in the process of development based on conversations with Lonnie Hicks. These formats make financials clear and understandable to the individual whose life concentration is not finance.
o In a related request, financial data from prior years and headcount information that allow the board to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities have resulted in a call for a special National Board meeting by conference call on April 28, 2004.
o In conversation with Lonnie Hicks, we understand that the National Office will request additional transfers from the stations to cover the legal obligations of the Foundation. A forecast has not been delivered reflecting a transfer increase to National.
o The first meeting of the Pacifica National Finance Committee was held on April 21, 2004. The following summarizes some of the topics that were discussed.
ü The 2005 Fiscal Year budgeting process has begun. A draft of the budget will be available on May 15, 2004, for review by the LSB. The Committee plans to work with the station in the development of the KPFA budget. The preliminary budget should be available for the June National Board and the final budget is projected to be available for approval at the September National Board Meeting.
ü One budget guideline communicated by Hicks is to include one month of operating expenses in the budget. The KPFA cash balance over the first half of the fiscal year consistently exceeds the $300K amount for operating funds by more than three times the requirement. We have not received the balance sheet for the second quarter as of April 23, 2004.
ü The election for the Pacifica Foundation Treasurer is in process with voting by the National Finance Committee. Carol Spooner along with three other members was nominated. Paul Surovell was nominated for Board Secretary.
o The National Office began a fundraising campaign on April 20, 2004, including mailings to current KPFA listeners. A forecast (budget) that covers the cost of Election Year National Programming and offset by the fundraising was also e-mailed. The impact on FY '04 is not known due to the forecast overlapping the fiscal years.
o A second half forecast is needed to understand the spending for the remainder of the year. The request to fund legal expenses questions the current balance sheet position of the station at the end of the fiscal year, as well as, the budget for FY 2005.
LaVarn Williams, Chair LSB Finance Committee
April 25, 2004
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting minutes May 8th, 2004: Special Session
Minutes
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting on May 8, 2004
La Pena Cultural Center, Berkeley, California
Special Session to complete unfinished business
of its meeting on April 25, 2004
Minutes were recorded by Mary Bishop, KPFA Administrative Assistant.
Members present constituting a quorum: Carol Spooner, Lisa Rothman, Ted Friedman, Willie Ratcliff, LaVarn Williams, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Michael Lubin, Riva Enteen (Chair), Bonnie Simmons, Sarv Randhawa, Mark Hernandez, Gerald Sanders, Steve Conley, Max Pringle, Willie Thompson, Max Blanchet, Marnie Tattersall, Annie Hallett, Mary Berg, Jane Jackson, Miguel Molina, Howard Beeman
Late Arrivals: William Walker (1:15pm), Fadi Saba (1:30pm)
Absent: Debbie Speer (excused)
Meeting called to order at 12:00 pm.
I. Introductions
The Chair reiterated the policy of respect. She stated that maintaining order is her responsibility and she will be increasing her efforts to achieve it. Also, she clarified the purpose of debate.
II. Agenda Approval
There was discussion about allowing Tomas Moran to speak
Motion: that Tomas Moran speak for 10 minutes after announcements and before financial reports.
Substitute Motion: that Tomas Moran have the floor for 10 minutes after Jim Bennett’s presentation and before Public Comments.
13 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion passes.
Motion: to replace item 10 with election of LSB members to the PC.
12 in favor, 12 opposed. Jane Jackson abstains. She does not have an adequate agenda for this meeting. Chair votes in favor. Motion passes.
The agenda is approved by unanimous vote.
III. Announcements
Lisa: Please come to volunteer during the fund drive. LSB members may contact Susan Stone about pitching on-air during the drive.
Carol: The Pacifica National Board will be meeting June 4th in Houston. Housing is available by emailing her at wildrose@pon.net
Steve: There are many events coming up that require volunteers. There is a sign-up sheet on the debate table.
Max B.: There will be an event about Haiti showing two films here at La Pena May 23rd at 7pm.
Willie T.: I suggest that each LSB member commit to a minimum of 3 hours of volunteer assistance during the fund drive.
LaVarn: Carol Spooner received an award last week. Congratulations were extended by the Board.
Ted: The outreach committee has been working with Lisa Ballard to develop pages for the Station Board on the KPFA web-site.
Willie R.: Next Friday, “The Oppressed Conference” at the Green House about police abuse.
IV. Financial Report
Please, refer to hand-outs.
LaVarn: The station is on budget for the first half of the year. The surplus is expected to be about half a million dollars. We are looking forward to working with our new Development Director, Lem Lem Rijio. Lonnie Hicks and Eileen Hazel are also working with the finance committee. The National Finance Committee passed a motion toward increased accountability and transparence. If there are questions, please ask. varnwill@aol.com or 510-427-2608.
Motion: to approve the preliminary budget for the Local Station Board.
There was a request that Board Members take some time to digest the report before voting on anything.
Substitute Motion: to table this item until the next meeting.
Unanimous in favor. Substitute Motion passes.
V. Jim Bennett’s Presentation
$850,000 is the goal for the upcoming fund drive. Any and all volunteer time will be greatly appreciated. It would be nice to see the participation of the Board Members.
Prepared Statement:
1. Please, study material submitted by Phil Osegueda and use what he has assembled as a starting point for a more lengthy and informed discussion.
2. There is an immediate financial impact if not mitigated by a comprehensive objective and inclusive survey and listener forums. That impact concerns the cancellation of subscriptions by some of our most loyal and supportive listeners, if we take away their only option for hearing Democracy Now! or the Morning Show. If we tell them that 7am is a better time for more listeners to DN!, it won’t be an explanation that they will understand, especially if they can’t listen then. A conservative estimate of cancellations without at least trying to include the listeners more would be 100-200 subscribers, or $10K-$20K, a part-time position at KPFA with perhaps more to come. Remember, if we are not offering another option and letting them help us find some choices, we will potentially lose significant support and listeners at 6, 7, 8 and 9.
3. There should not be an assumption that DN! will raise more or equal financial support in fifteen to twenty minutes once, then it does twice in 45-55 minutes worth of fundraising. People will not give more money at 7:45am. There will not be 16 people potentially answering phones as happens at 9:45am. There may not even be 12. In any event, if there would be a higher volume of calls in those 15 minutes, there would not be the infrastructure to handle those calls. If we went to a rollover service, that would be more costly and would result in a lack of responsiveness and knowledge of KPFA by those answering the phones. Since Amy cannot set her premiums until the day of fundraising, there would be nothing but generic premiums offered by a rollover service, as they have no one authorized to change things at the last minute. Our listeners also would rightfully feel as if we were moving to a more removed and corporate model, with those who know nothing of KPFA or DN!’s mission and may in fact not believe in it. The downside is that again we alienate and disrespect our listeners, in order to raise more money. The end result is we pay more to raise money, we lose money and the support of our listeners.
4. The steps Vini and I have outlined and that others have suggested are designed to decrease the potential financial and loyalty fallout that this decision could create. We need to take advantage of the knowledge and expertise of someone like Tomas Moran, in order to have meaningful, respectful and objective dialogues with our listeners. They need to be a better and bigger part of this. What we end up with may look different than what we are starting with, but we will at last deal with the huge mistakes of our past and will end up with something that a larger part of our listener base will be involved in. That cannot be wrong.
LaVarn: How is the preliminary plan coming along for 2005?
Jim: I’ve met with Eileen this week. There is some concern about the money being raised and what is being spent. We will have a narrative outline in a couple of weeks for the Board.
Willie T.: This Board has overlooked some serious diversity issues. Will you make a comment on the question of diversity?
Gerald: I heard an opinion of Jim’s, not a report.
Jim: I agree that it is an area that we need to consider. We would like to do a comprehensive survey.
Max B.: The GM should submit his reports in writing several days in advance of a meeting.
Jim: I apologize, I was in NY but they will be in the notes.
Carol: We are now getting balance sheets, which is good but I noticed new legal fees that were not in last month.
Jim: This has to do with some of the outstanding litigation of the network.
Carol: They are charging KPFA 5-6x more than the other stations.
Steve: In the future I would like to hear reports about the different departments and the station’s finances instead of listening to an opinion about an agendized item.
Jim: I was under the impression that this is a special meeting. At regular meetings I will prepare a presentation about the station such as you have suggested.
Sarv: I concur with Jim. This is a special meeting.
LaVarn: The preliminary budget was completed two weeks ago and is on-line for review. We are continuing to update it
VI. Tomas Moran’s Presentation
Thank you for allowing me to speak.
These remarks are blunt. They are blunt because there is no time to waste. The process for making decisions at KPFA needs to change, and your first step will set the course. This issue is your most important issue. All other work by the LSB will produce no effect if this is not fixed.
The decision-making process has and continues to be governed by an intense fight between a few factions.
They maneuver to exercise control over one or another of the bodies or positions in the station that may have some historic claim to an aspect of power.
They attempt to use these bodies and positions to control the decisions at KPFA, at the same time that they criticize and attempt to expose the other factions' use of the same techniques.
These "exposes" are played out in front of a confused listener, who knows little of the internal conflicts, yet is asked to be judge or arbiter of the situation.
Some would say that in spite of the massive documentation, as provided by some of the participants in the form of 3-4 page emails broadcast to internet lists, the average listener, who cares deeply about KPFA and voted in the recent elections, seems unable to render judgment on such matters, and the decision-making process remains stuck.
I would say that this inability by the listeners is not "in spite", but rather because, of the "massive documentation". Try as they may, a caring listener cannot process these convoluted arguments, these gyrations in the abstract. Further hampered by lack of knowledge of the internal politics at KPFA, the listener often shakes his or her head as they wonder why, indeed, are such complicated and regimented rules sought if we are all trying to make progressive radio and to get along.
The solution for this malady is NOT with the creation of more complicated rules, no matter how wise they may seem. If you proceed in that direction, you will simply join the fray. You will replace the old LAB, itself a past player in this collective behavior, and you will begin to play the power game. The minutes of your meeting will be one more in the line of undecipherable documents.
There is a simpler and surer path: to expose the decision-making processes of the organization. The LSB has the power to make this happen, by hosting the first transparent decision-making event in the new KPFA. If you are successful, you will have helped KPFA to model a new behavior.
This means that you act by acting. Here is one way to do it:
Set a time line for the Program Council to reach a decision on this matter. For example, two months.
Offer to host, and schedule three meetings:
1)Program Council members are invited to make 10 minute statements each, including presenting any information for or against the change.2)KPFA community experts and listeners are invited to make 5 minute statements each. You could take nominations for a period of time and invite 15-20 speakers.3)You host a regular meeting of the Program Council at a public venue two months from the start of this process, where they agree to have the motion in question as the first item on the agenda.
You record all three meetings in digital audio, and make transcripts and the audio files in an easily accessible format (edited, with indexed links to the various speakers) to any and all listeners.
There is no greater transformative power than the power of information. KPFA was founded on this belief.
Bring the decision-making process in the open, and you will earn the gratitude and support of the listeners. You will gain their involvement in providing the necessary weight to pull KPFA into