November 2005 LSB Meeting Records

1:30PM: Meeting called to order: Intros and Announcements:

Present for all or part of the meeting: Mary Berg, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Riva Enteen, Ted Friedman, Sherry Gendelman, Annie Hallatt, Chandra Hauptman, Mark Hernandez, Sepideh Khosrowjah, Attila Nagy, Rosalinda Montes Palacios, Richard Phelps, Sarv Randhawa, Willie Ratcliff, Bonnie Simmons, Marnie Tattersall, JoeWanzala, William Walker, LaVarn Williams. Roy Campanella (GM).

1:45PM: Vote to Excuse Members’ Absences:Howard Beeman, Max Blanchet, Eric Park, Lisa Rothman, Fadi Saba.

1:46PM: Review/Approve Agenda: MB moves to approve agenda. Seconded. BET moves to transpose #6 and #7.

Vote: 9 Y, 10 N. FAILS. SK moves to end debate. Vote: 12 Y, 3 N. PASSES. Vote on agenda: 9 Y, 10 N. FAILS.

MT moves to add reports from PD Search and PNB. MB moves to strike GovCom report, which was a typo.

1:56. WR moves to approve agenda as amended. PASSES without objection.

1:47PM: Consent Calendar: Both items pulled (BS pulls #1, re next meeting date, SK pulls #2 re January meeting date).

Debate ensues re December meeting date. BET: 12/17 was the date approved by LSB in April meeting.

1:53PM: Approved without objection: The next regular meeting of the LSB will be Saturday, December 17^th, at 11:00AM at the Freight & Salvage.

2:00PM: MT moves to approve 10/22 minutes. APPROVED 12 Y, 3 N.

2:05PM: GM Report. The text is appended to these minutes.

2:43-3:00PM: Public Comment

3:00-3:20PM: Break

3:20PM: Treasurer’s Report.

3:42PM: PersCom Proposed GM Evaluation Report. BET: All survey forms have gone out. Due back in December.

3:45PM: PD Hire Report: SG: We’ve reviewed and ranked all applications received; 56 total received and approximately 15 made the first cut.

3:52PM: MH moves to extend time for 5 minutes to consider #10-1, extension of terms of LSB reps to Program Council.

BET: If we don’t get to the item for lack of time, it has the same effect as if we’d voted to approve the extension.

3:55PM: LW moves to change the December meeting date to 12/3/05. Chair rules we are out of time.

3:55PM: Meeting Adjourned.

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General Manager Report to the Local Station Board

November ‘05

The following report covers various topics: a brief update about the Six Point Plan, reporting relationships, the issue of “professionalism,” the audit by EDD, KPFA’s Fall Fund Drive, and a working draft of KPFA’s Code of Conduct.

Six Point Plan – brief update

Since we have completed a successful Fall Fund Drive and secured approval of KPFA’s FY06 budget, the conditions have improved for implementing the Six Point Plan for Reconciliation. December provides an opportunity for the staff elected members of the LSB to meet with three prospective facilitators. I am currently negotiating the financial arrangements so this process can fit within our budget. It is anticipated that our group facilitation will take place in early January. Regarding the hiring of an Interim Program Director, the progress of the PD Hiring committee has made an interim selection unnecessary. The Code of Conduct mentioned in this report has been distributed to KPFA’s staff and will be discussed at our next meeting in December. This will provide an opportunity to review our grievance procedure. The small group meetings in my plan will begin about one week after our Winter Fund Drive (January 24th to February 7th) ends. I have completed the two CompassPoint workshops and begun exploring the creation of a problem solving skills workshop for staff. February or March will probably be the ideal period of time. At present, annual performance evaluations for the staff are slated for March. I will provide the LSB with a more detailed update in my next report.

Reporting Relationships

Over the past few weeks there has been some confusion surrounding various reporting relationships. This is regrettable but also understandable based on Pacifica’s dysfunctional organizational environment. So, let’s briefly review our reporting structure. As GM, I report directly to Pacifica’s ED, and regarding particular areas of my management portfolio, to the CFO, the PNB, and the LSB. Except for special situations, such as the LSB’s Treasurer conferring with the CFO or Business Manager, these bodies should address their concerns about KPFA to the GM. Even when I am out of town, I am in regular contact with the station, especially the department heads. If ever I need to designate someone to assume any or all or my duties, the LSB will be notified in advance. Finally, throughout the Pacifica organization there is a significant problem with the establishment, maintenance, and reliability of key reporting relationships. This condition is a major factor contributing to Pacifica’s crisis management environment. This week, at our monthly staff meeting I circulated copies of the Pacifica Employee Handbook and requested everyone to review its contents in preparation further discussions about such concerns as our Code of Conduct and reporting relationships.

“Professionalism”

A recent article in the East Bay Daily News by Fred Dodsworth failed to properly quote me regarding the role of paid and unpaid staff. Professionalism, in its positive form, is not an attribute of only paid employees. KPFA is blessed to have many unpaid staff members who, like many of their paid counterparts, make an outstanding contribution to our programming and general operations. I expressed to the East Bay Daily News my firm belief that KPFA needs and deserves to have a dedicated, talented staff composed of paid and unpaid personnel so that it can continue to deliver the finest programming possible and expand its listener base.

Audit

A few weeks ago, our Business Manager, Lois Withers, received information from Pacifica that KPFA would be undergoing an EDD audit (California Employment Development Department). It is our understanding that state auditors want to check for underpayment of state unemployment and state disability. They will be checking our independent contractor payments to find out whether we classified them correctly. At our staff meeting this week our Business Manager distributed and discussed the following ‘one sheet’ exploring the basic differences between independent contractors and employees.

The key questions to help you determine if someone is an independent contractor are:

1.Can they hire others to help them and then they pay them?

2.Do they supply their own materials?

3.Do they set their own work hours and work standards?

4.Do they have their own business?

If you answer yes to the above the person is an independent contractor. If you supervise their work and you tell them what to do then you have an employee.

In either case paperwork must be done through the Business Office before the person begins working.

The paperwork for an Independent Contractor is the W-9 form and it is available outside the Business Office on the wall.

The paperwork for an employee involves the completion of an I-9 form that requires documentation of ability to work in the United States. There are other forms employees must complete such as the W-4 tax withholding form, emergency information form, worker’s compensation form and hire data form.

No employee or independent contractor can be hired without first getting permission from the General Manager and then doing appropriate paperwork through the Business Office.

In addition, no one is to sign contracts on behalf of KPFA FM 94.1 without the review of the Business Manager and General Manager. In some cases a Pacifica officer may be required to sign the contract.

The General Manager must authorize all special projects or extraordinary situations requiring cash outlays. A budget must be submitted to the Business Manager outlining the person(s) or company involved and amounts to be paid. This will enable us to quickly process any related payments to employees and companies involved.

Fall Fund Drive

Last month I examined our station’s performance for the initial ten days of the drive (October 11-20). This month I’m focusing on the entire drive.

The Fall Fund Drive ran from Tuesday, October 11th to Friday morning, October 28th. We had slightly less than 17 days to meet our goal of $1,000,000. KPFA averaged about $61,000 per day in fund drive revenues. To date, we have total pledges of $992,474.

As noted previously, on Saturday, October 15th, we raised $47,326 for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. These funds, after deducting the cost of premiums and shipping, will be equally divided between the Vanguard Foundation and the Tipitinas Foundation; about $42,000.

KPFA’s weekday morning line-up of Democracy Now! at 6:00 am, The Morning Show from 7:00 to 9:00 am and the re-run of Democracy Now! at 9:00 am accounted for $436,912 in pledges. In other words, our 6:00 am to 10:00 am weekday line-up, only two programs, is responsible for about 44.3% of our revenues this fund drive.

The early afternoon weekday line-up from noon to 4:00 pm has some programs that regularly perform well. This line-up contributed a total of $149,869 or about 14.4% to our pledge total. The revenue performers in this line-up are Against the Grain ($33,135/3.3%), Living Room ($27,767/2.8%), Free Speech Radio News ($27,130/2.7%), Visionary Artist ($10,296/1.0%), Guns & Butter ($9,764/0.9%), Your Own Health & Fitness ($8,147/0.8%), Explorations ($7,555/0.7%), Cover to Cover ($5,815/0.5%), Bay Native Circle ($5,640/0.5%), Herbal Highway ($4,455/0.4%), Women’s Magazine ($3,930/0.3%), About Health ($3,720/0.3%), and Counterspin ($2,515/0.2%). Among this group, Against the Grain, Free Speech Radio News, and Counterspin have improved their performance in comparison with past results.

KPFA’s weekday late afternoon line-up from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm includes Hard Knock Radio, Flashpoints, and the Evening News. Flashpoints has regularly accounted for 7% of total revenues during various fund drives. At this point in our fund drive Flashpoints has earned $81,427 or 8.2% of our total revenues. Hard Knock Radio has earned $29,354 or about 2.9% of total pledges. The KPFA Evening News has earned $33,846 or about 3.4%. In other words, our afternoon weekday drive-time line-up accounts for about 14.5% of total revenues.

In the weekday evenings from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm, four programs have distinguished themselves as relatively strong revenue performers: The Bonnie Simmons Show ($9,370/0.9%), Hear & Now ($7,165/0.7%), Voices of the Middle East & North Africa ($4,480/0.4%), and Full Circle ($4,175/0.4%). The later has significantly improved its fund drive performance.

Sunday Salon is a very strong revenue performer, usually earning 5% of total revenues. For this drive it earned $50,261 or 5.1%.

The remainder of KPFA’s Sunday line-up from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm has consistently solid performers: Across the Great Divide ($14,159/1.4%), America’s Back 40 ($10,470/1.0%), and A Musical Offering ($7,865/0.7%).

Finally, in terms of current cash balances KPFA entered the drive in a strong position. By early November we had about $800,000 in the KPFA checking account and approximately $680,000 in our savings fund. The $800,000 in our checking account is $440,000 above of the PNB’s requirement of one month operating expenses.

Code of Conduct: a working draft

The following is based on the Code of Conduct which has been used by our sister station, KPFT, since 2002. It is intended to serve as a summary of the basic principles and practices guiding our conduct within the station. Any feedback is welcomed.

1. Treat other people as you would like to be treated yourself.

2. Verbal and physical attacks are not tolerated on Pacifica and KPFA property, or at KPFA and Pacifica events and meetings.

3. Discussions will be centered on issues, not people, and on verifiable facts, not innuendo and rumor. This covers oral and written statements made anywhere, including on the Internet.

4. Information will be shared as much as possible, keeping in mind that some information, at particular times, must remain confidential. If information has been designated as confidential, it will not be divulged either publicly or privately.

5. Care will be taken with Pacifica and KPFA property, and it will be returned in the same or better condition as when it was received.

6. Staff, volunteers, visitors and guests will follow the rules and regulations of the station, the Pacifica Foundation, the Local Station Board, and, where appropriate, all applicable laws.

7. Violation of this code will result in a penalty, which may include exclusion from Pacifica and KPFA property and events.

8. The General Manager is responsible for overseeing all matters relating to the operation of the station, and works with Pacifica’s Executive Director, who has final authority to ensure the station is in compliance with the Foundation’s Mission and policies, as well as all relevant laws.

9. Disputed charges of violation of this code will be brought before a neutral, independent fact finder, chosen and paid by KPFA, for a final and binding decision. Any union member is free to bypass this process and can file a complaint according to the existing contract.

Respectfully submitted,

Roy Campanella II