[Approved]
KPFA Local Station Board
Regular in-person meeting
September 13, 2014, 11am-4pm
North Berkeley Senior Center
1901 Hearst Ave., Berkeley, CA map
Present: Craig Alderson, Mal Burnstein, Brian Edwards-Tiekert, Paula Erkkila, Donald Goldmacher*, Mark Hernandez, Cynthia Johnson, Janet Kobren, Joy Moore, Lewis Sawyer*, Franklin Sterling, Carole Travis, David Welsh, Barbara Whipperman, Margy Wilkinson, Rych Withers
*Arrived after roll call.
Absent: José Luis Fuentes, David Gans, Kate Gowen, Jack Kurzweil, David Landau, Samsarah Morgan, Andrea Prichett, Ramsés Teón-Nichols, Burton White,.
1. Call to order
Meeting called to order by chair at 11:16 am.
2. Roll call and excusing of members
Chair Travis welcomed Rych Withers, replacing Mel Sanders as KFCF rep. M. Sanders had resigned previously. Moved (B. Edwards-Tiekert) to excuse all absent members. Approved without objection.
3. Approve agenda
Moved (M. Wilkinson) to adopt agenda as drafted. Unanimously approved by voice vote.
4. Minutes
Minutes of the August 9, 2014, were not ready for the meeting.
5. Announcements
J. Kobren: Saturday, Sept. 20, 4-8pm is the third convergence of Occupy San Francisco at Chelsea Manning Plaza (Justin Herman Plaza).
P. Erkkila: Oct. 22 event for stop mass incarceration movement. Santa Rosa task forces dealing with killing of Andy Lopez. Urban Shield last Friday. Several hundred people demonstrated and stopped Urban Shield from being held in Oakland.
B. Whipperman: Event in New York Sept. 21. Committees of Correspondence has brochure on climate.
M. Wilkinson: 50th anniversary of Free Speech Movement. She was one of 800 arrested. Commemorative events begin Friday Sept. 26, with panels on Saturday and Sunday.
C. Johnson: Sept. 27 at Ashkenaz, County joe, Bettina Aptheker and others. D. Welsh will provide music at Occupy SF event.
6. Public comments
Public comments begin at 10:18 of audio file part 1. Kathy Horsley, Vylma Ortiz, Daniel Borgstrom, Virginia Browning, Lara Kiswani, Mohamed Shehk
7. General manager’s report (Quincy McCoy)
Fall fund drive is beginning. Implementing 3-phase campaign with theme of “refresh KPFA.” Phase 1: letter to consistent donors asking to donate now. Phase 2: promotions to urge listerners to donate at least $100 online. Phase 3: on-air drive will have fewer premiums. Goal is $680k.
Website being targeted to allow more off-air drives. Proposal to refresh website, develop smart identity, re-branding KPFA as primary goal. Would like 24-hour streaming audio, fund-raising platform. New website will be built on user-friendly WordPress and be integrated with KPFA social media. GM1 is website proposal (attached).
GM does not have complete budget for meeting. Expects one this week. On Monday he, treasurer, and business manager will meet and review. Budget will be emailed to LSB and NFC on Tuesday. 3 opportunities for board members to review and discuss budget: Thursday afternoon and evening, Saturday.
F. Sterling made statement on controversy over Block the Boat coverage. Moved (M. Wilkinson) to extend time to allow him to finish statement. Approved without objection.
8. Report on program director hire (B. Edwards-Tiekert)
J. Moore, M. Wilkinson, B. Whipperman, B. Edwards-Tiekert, R. Teón-Nichols on hiring committee. Committee began reviewing resumes one week after GM hire. 88 received, narrowed to 12 in round one, then down to 6 in round 2. No further consensus about any particular application. Committee discussed reposting job versus forwarding pool to GM. Voted 4-1 to forward 6 finalists to GM. Reasons for not re-posting included 1) need for PD; 2) dragging out process might cause some finalists to drop out.
Moved (B. Edwards-Tiekert): “The KPFA LSB ratifies the 6-person program director pool assembled by its hiring committee, and authorizes KPFA’s general manager to make a hire from that pool.”
Moved (J. Kobren) as substitute motion: Prior to approving the 6-person Program Director pool assembled by its hiring committee and prior to authorizing KPFA’s general Manager to make a hire from that pool, the entire KPFA LSB is to be given the opportunity to review the resumes of these 6 PD candidates and discuss them in executive session.”
Moved (B. Whipperman) to close debate. Approved by voice vote, 1 no.
Substitute motion failed: 5Y (C. Johnson, J. Kobren, J. Moore, F. Sterling, D. Welsh); 11N (C. Alderson, M. Burnstein, B. Edwards-Tiekert, P. Erkkila, D. Goldmacher, M. Hernandez, L. Sawyer, C. Travis, B. Whipperman, M. Wilkinson, R. Withers).
Moved (D. Gans) to close debate. Approved by voice vote, 1 no.
Main motion approved: 11Y (C. Alderson, M. Burnstein, B. Edwards-Tiekert, P. Erkkila, D. Goldmacher, M. Hernandez, L. Sawyer, C. Travis, B. Whipperman, M. Wilkinson, R. Withers); 5N (C. Johnson, J. Kobren, J. Moore, F. Sterling, D. Welsh).
9. Treasurer’s report (B. Whipperman)
No treasurer’s report. Budget is still being worked on and is not ready.
Moved (D. Welsh): “In view of the fact that the budget is not ready and the fiscal year ends September 30, 2014, the LSB meet some time prior to September 30 in a special meeting, with budget in hand.”
Moved (M. Burnstein) to close debate. Approved by unanimous voice vote.
Motion approved: 7Y, 3N, 6A.
Chair noted that if we’re not able to convene by Sept. 30, we’ll consider budget in meeting on Oct. 18.
10. PNB report (M. Wilkinson)
National office has a small but dedicated staff. They are getting ready for the audit. Latest difficulty is that Pacifica is supposed to contribute 2% of salaries to employee pension plan per law and union contract, but no payments have been forwarded since 2012 and no attempt has been made to collect this money from stations. Station managers have been notified that they will need to come up with money for 2012 and 2013, and 2014 money must be deposited by June 2015. KPFA owes approximately $22k for 2012.
Elections committee is struggling to make elections happen. All previously budgeted money has already been spent on other things. How to pay for elections is still a question. National election supervisor posting closes Monday and some applications received. Committee also looking at election service.
Continuing problem of demands surfacing from creditors for which no documentation exists in office. Forced to ask creditors for paperwork. PNB recently approved loan to cover another serious debt liability. CFO has taken cut in pay. Personnel committee is collecting applications for ED; position closes 9/29.
B. Edwards-Tiekert reported on disarray in Pacifica’s books. We have a better handle now. Network is break-even as a whole. Further savings in view, e.g. with BAI transmitter. CPB reinstatement won’t happen quickly. Old bills continue to hang over us. Huge unpaid employment tax bill from WBAI severance payments. 3 creditors have gone to court. Acting ED Wilkinson was able to renegotiate with one and a major donor covered payroll tax liability with 0% loan, but two lawsuits remain. Not many more surprises, but huge stack of unpaid bills remains.
J. Kobren reported that personnel committee is conducting permanent ED search while election committee is dealing with timeline for election. Elections delayed from last year and seem unlikely this year. PNB resolution would require new members to be seated by December.
11. Community Advisory Board (Carol Wolfley)
CAB is continuing to meet third Sunday of every month, usually at Grassroots House. Word from community organizations CAB is in touch with is that live streaming is important. Listeners look to KPFA for information about local events.
12. KFCF report (R. Withers)
Successful news stringer fundraiser in May; $8800 raised via email and regular fundraising. Annual banquet is Dec. 7 featuring Laurie Lewis.
13. Old business
None.
14. New business
Moved (J. Kobren) to discuss live streaming.
Moved (B. Edwards-Tiekert) to postpone. Approved without objection.
P. Erkkila announced formation of ad hoc committee to plan for annual KPFA picnic. Volunteers are her, Carol Wolfley, Kathy Horsley, L. Sawyer, and any other interested board members. Meeting is scheduled for Oct. 18, 9:30 am, at station before next board meeting.
Adjourned 2:23 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Craig Alderson
LSB Secretary