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. [email protected] 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.