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.