APPROVED MINUTES
KPFA Local Station Board Meeting (Public Portion)
Saturday, August 20, 2005, at 1:00 PM
Freight and Salvage Coffee House
1111 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA.
1:12PM: Meeting called to order
Present for all or part of the meeting: Mary Berg, Max Blanchet, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Riva Enteen, Ted Friedman, Sherry Gendelman, Annie Hallatt, Chandra Hauptman, Mark Hernandez, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Attila Nagy, Richard Phelps, Sarv Randhawa, Willie Ratcliff, Lisa Rothman, Bonnie Simmons, Debbie Speer (KFCF), Marnie Tattersall, JoeWanzala, William Walker, LaVarn Williams. Roy Campanella (GM).
1:27PM: Vote to Excuse Members’ Absences: Rosalinda Palacios and Fadi Saba excused without objection. Debate ensues regarding Eric Park’s absence.
1:47PM: Eric Park’s absence excused 11 Yes, 10 No.
1:48PM: Review/Approve Agenda: MB moves to table approval of minutes because copies could not be made available to the board. Approved without objection. William moves to put the public parts of Treasurer’s Report before public comment. LaVarn moves to divide public comment, with a 2nd public comment session only for those who wish to speak on the budget. Brian moves to put the PersCom’s GM annual evaluation policy and format recommendations before the Treasurer’s Report. Vote is 10 yes, 10 no. Bonnie votes yes to break tie. Passes. Richard moves to add his transparency motion to New Business (Text of this resolution not available electronically). 14 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention. Passes.
2:04: Agenda approved as amended.
Consent Calendar: Chandra’s resolution in support of Berkeley Honda workers added as #4. Items #1, #2 and #4 (COI, town hall and Honda workers) pulled. Only #3 (next meeting 9/17, at 11:00AM at F&S) passes.
2:07PM: GM’s Report (text attached).
2:55-3:36PM: Public Comment
3:38PM: PersCom Recommendations for Annual GM Evaluation Policy and Format. Board agrees without objection to limit debate to 4 minutes per speaker. Marnie moves to split remaining time (30 minutes each) between PersCom and Treasurer’s Report.) Passes 15 yes, 2 no. Brian presents PersCom report. At 3:50PM, Brian moves that the LSB adopt the report. Discussion ensues. LaVarn moves to postpone till next meeting, as there hasn’t been enough time to study the documents. A motion to end debate fails, 7 yes, 10 no. Debate continues. At 4:10PM, a motion to end debate passes without objection. The vote to postpone passes 12 yes, 8 no. This topic postponed until next meeting.
Chandra opposes PersCom’s recommendation on her disability resolution; she will redraft it.
Bonnie announces that we must adjourn at 4:30 and cannot extend until 4:45 as originally thought.
4:15PM: Treasurer’s Report. Marnie makes partial presentation of the budget. Because of insufficient time, it is agreed that a workshop session will be set up before the next FinCom meeting; time to be set via email.
4:31PM: Meeting Adjourned.
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Text of General Manager’s Report:
General Manager Report to the Local Station Board
August 20, 2005
The following report covers the results of KPFA’s Summer Fund Drive and other key developments at the station.
Summer Fund Drive: July 26th – August 2nd
KPFA’s Summer Fund Drive raised $336,588 in pledges and payments over its seven and one quarter day period; July 26th to the morning of August 2nd. Based on our fund drive goal of $350,000 and our total of $336,588 we reached 96% of our financial objective. As of this week, we have received $197,784 or approximately 59% of the total. It is expected that 85% of the pledges will be fulfilled, that’s about $286,100.
Four programs accounted for 62% of KPFA’s Summer Fund Drive revenues: Democracy Now! 27.6%, The Morning Show 22.4%, Flashpoints 7.3%, and Sunday Salon 5%.
As you may recall, I have previously emphasized how critically important every fund drive would be for this year. As I warned in previous reports, KPFA will face a cash short fall by the end of this fiscal year, September 30th. Our projection is for KPFA to end its FY’05 with a cash balance of only $88,369. Since it costs about $344,000 per month to operate the station we will have a shortfall of approximately $255,631. This sum will be borrowed from our emergency savings fund and hopefully repaid over the rest of the year.
Looking further ahead in time to September ’06 and the end of our next fiscal year, the station has a projected deficit of $281,245. This is the condition we will face once again even if we continue generating revenues at a higher pace and implement a relatively aggressive cost-reduction plan. Our FY’06 budget reflects this projection. If we work together we can overcome this financial hurdle.
Six-Point Plan for Reconciliation
KPFA, in particular, and Pacifica, in general, have many talented and dedicated individuals. Whether paid or unpaid we are fortunate to have some incredible people working at our stations. As we face this current situation its very important to do our best to create a win/win solution. As you know, I have developed and submitted to the board a six-point plan for reconciliation and transformation to help us at KPFA accomplish this goal. The plan calls for the following:
1- Group Facilitation
2- Interim Program Director
3- Grievance Procedure
4- Small Group Meetings
5- Problem Solving Skills Workshop for Staff
6- Annual Performance Evaluations
We are all stakeholders in the above six-point process. As much as possible it’s important for each person to have the opportunity to enter into a process of personal growth and organizational change.
Comcast
KPFA is formerly now one of the thirty FM stations that will be carried by Comcast Cable beginning September 28th. After having our attorney, John Crigler, review the Retransmission Consent Agreement with Comcast, Pacifica’s Interim Executive Director, Ambrose Lane, signed the multi-year contract.
KPFA will be carried throughout the nine counties served by Comcast in the Bay area. With this agreement it has become easier to listen to KPFA in 1,000,000 homes. One of the most consistent complaints from our listeners is signal interruption. For our listeners who are Comcast subscribers this problem will now be eliminated.
Pre-emptions for August & September
On Saturday, August 27th, from noon to 6:30 p.m., KPFA will broadcast the Vallejo Jazz Festival. In September, KPFA will carry the Supreme Court Nomination Hearings focusing on John Roberts. This will be a three-day special airing on Tuesday, September 6th, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, September 7th, once again from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Thursday, September 8th, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Roy Campanella II, General Manager, KPFA