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Results: KPFA Election, 2015

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Three United for Community Radio candidates have been elected as listener representatives, Scott Olsen, Sharon Adams and Janet Kobren.  T.M. Scruggs and Don Macleay, who also ran with this slate, were first and second runner ups.  Anthony Fest, United for Community Radio candidate, was elected as a staff representative.

Radio tower simpleComplete results follow.

KPFA Listener Delegates
Margy Wilkinson
Scott Olsen
Leland Thompson
Sharon Adams
William Campisi
Sasha Futran
Janet Kobren
Barbara Whipperman
David Lynch

KPFA Staff Delegates
Tim Lynch
Anthony Fest
Sabrina Jacobs

For more details about the vote count, click here.

2016 KPFA LSB Listener members
Sharon Adams (United for Community Radio – UCR)
Craig Alderson (Save KPFA – SK)
William Campisi (SK)
Jose Luis Fuentes (SK)
Sasha Futran (SK)
Kate Gowen (SK)
Mark Hernandez (SK)
Janet Kobren
David Lynch (SK)
Samsarah Morgan (UCR)
Scott Olsen (UCR)
T.M Scruggs* (UCR)
Ramses Teon-Nichols (UCR)
Leland Thompson (SK)
Carole Travis (SK)
Barbara Whipperman (SK)
Burton White (SK)
Margy Wilkinson (SK)
Rych Withers** (SK)
* T.M Scruggs will replace Andrea Pritchett when her term ends this December
** LSB seat but not a Delegate (see bylaws, Article 7, Section 8 at http://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art7sec8.html)
2016 KPFA LSB Staff members
Brian Edwards-Tiekert (SK)
Anthony Fest (UCR)
Sabrina Jacobs (non-aligned)
Tim Lynch (SK)
Joy Moore (UCR)
Frank T. Sterling Jr. (UCR)
2016 KPFA LSB Totals:
Delegates
14 SK
9 UCR
1 Non-aligned
LSB members
15 SK
9 UCR
1 Non-aligned
2016 KPFA LSB Listener Election runners-up list
*1. T.M. Scruggs (UCR) who will immediately replace UCR’s termed-out Andrea Pritchett
2. Don Macleay (UCR)
3. Yuri Gottesman (SK)
4. Virginia Browning (UCR)
5. Marilla Argüelles (UCR)
6. Jeremy Miller (UCR)
7. Tom Voorhees (UCR)
8. Mario Fernandez (UCR)
9. Brian Oakchunas (SK)
10. Richard Hart (UCR)
2016 KPFA LSB Staff Election runners-up list
1. Lewis Sawyer (SK)
2. Ann Garrison (UCR)
3. Luis Medina (???)

Joe Hill’s Last Will, 100 Years Later

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Joe Hill 3by Bob English

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you or me …

Swedish-American labor organizer, poet and songwriter Joe Hill was executed 100 years ago on Nov 19, 1915. Born Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, Oct 7, 1879, he emigrated to the US in 1902. Working on the West Coast as a migrant laborer in 1910, he joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the “Wobblies,” a radical union of immigrants (subjected to the anti-immigrant hysteria of that period), founded on the principle of One Big Industrial Union for all workers. 

Traveling widely and organizing workers under the IWW, Joe Hill was wildly popular and visible as a speaker, writer of satirical poems, political and union songs (based on tunes of the times), which he performed at IWW strikes and rallies.

Would you have freedom from Wage slavery…
Would you from mis’ry and hunger be free…

Come, all ye workers, from every land,
Come, join in the grand industrial band;
Then we our share of this earth shall demand…

(Rousing Chorus)

There is pow’r, there is pow’r in a band of workingmen,
When they stand, hand in hand,
That’s a pow’r, that’s a pow’r
That must rule in every land—
One Industrial Union Grand!

“There is Power in a Union” 1913 by Joe Hill

IWW tattoo

IWW tattoo

This year Joe Hill’s life, last hours and legacy to the labor movement and folk music are honored and narrated in a performance and album of his songs, Joe Hill’s Last Will by singer/songwriter John McCutcheon.   The stage play, written by Si Kahn, was first performed in Sebastopol, California 2011.

“Hill channeled his experiences into songs, the first written for the American working class. Those songs helped galvanize the union movement, specifically the IWW, whose activism triggered violent opposition from the wealthy class we now refer to as the ‘1 percent’” (from the show announcement).

As such, he was targeted by the 1% capitalists, particularly the “copper bosses” of Silver King mine, Park City Utah where he was arrested for murder in 1914, framed and convicted. The unjust trial and capital punishment sentence were challenged by a prominent clemency campaign and generated international media attention, union and public protest. In the stage narration of his last hours in jail before his execution at dawn, Hill thought few would remember his life and work.

(Written in his cell, on the eve of his execution)

My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kind don’t need to fuss and moan —
“Moss does not cling to a rolling stone.”

My body? Ah, if I could choose,
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow.

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my last and final will.
Good luck to all of you.

“Joe Hill’s Last Will” (lyrics by Joe Hill, music by John McCutcheon)

IWW sticker, 1910s, courtesy Wikipedia

IWW sticker, 1910s, courtesy Wikipedia

100 years later Joe Hill is one of, if not the most renowned, beloved and inspiring labor leaders of the 20th century. In this century, he stands Presente! with farm workers and the lowest paid, marginalized, unorganized workers; rank and file members fighting for democratic unions, today’s still militant IWW and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

In October 1960 in Sydney, Australia, the great Paul Robeson performed a powerful rendition of “Joe Hill” to construction workers at the site of the future Sydney Opera House.

 

Says I, “But Joe, you’re 100 [ten] years dead,”
“I never died,” says he.

And standing there as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Says Joe, “What they forgot to kill
Went on to organize.

Where working people [men] are out on strike
Joe Hill is at their side

From San Diego up to Maine,
In every mine and mill –
Where working people [men] defend their rights
It’s there you’ll find Joe Hill.

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you or me
Says I, “But Joe, you’re 100 [ten] years dead”,
“I never died,” says he.

“Joe Hill” 1930 by Alfred Hayes [updated for centenary]

Through his progressive songwriting a century ago, Joe Hill articulated and transmitted still current issues of immigrant and workers rights, economic and class inequality, feminism, religion and war. “Casey Jones–The Union Scab,” “The Preacher and the Slave,” “The Tramp,” “The Rebel Girl” and “There is Power in a Union” are folk and union standards.

Critically, Joe Hill inspired the great Woody Guthrie, a primary influence for modern singer/songwriters, including Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly), Phil Ochs, Billy Bragg, ani difranco – and Utah Phillips, who (before McCutcheon) had reintroduced Hill and his music. Their recordings, progressive commentary and connection to Joe Hill are featured in music programs on community radio KPFA 94.1 FM, especially Robbie Osman’s “Across the Great Divide,” now hosted by Kevin Vance Sunday mornings.

Further, the IWW/Joe Hill industrial union model, objectives and vision are central to understanding current issues, dynamics and effectiveness of labor organizing, after a long period of steadily declining, sporadically resurgent union membership and power. As we learn from John McCutcheon’s performance, Joe Hill and IWW regarded exclusive craft/trade unions as self-serving job trusts, often acting as “scab” unions. They would have a similar assessment of the larger, growing but often management friendly, hierarchical, bureaucratic, staff-run business unions  representing service workers and public employees, notably Service Workers International (SEIU).

Currently, there are struggles throughout the labor movement (e.g. National Union of Healthcare Workers defection from SEIU/United Healthcare Workers) for more democratic, “member driven,” inclusive unions, fighting for the interests and benefits of all workers, ready to take on (not accommodate, deal or collaborate with) management, the corporate-governmental complex, political machines and power structures.

These differences and conflicts between industrial and craft or business unions, their effects in terms of representing, including or excluding workers, are analyzed in an upcoming, related article, reviewing recent history and politics of Pacifica-KPFA community radio unions, a complex, controversial and well-documented subject.

———————-

Bob English, from a working class, union family; retired civil service worker, labor democracy activist formerly with SEIU L790 and Public Employees for a Democratic Union; community radio activist formerly with listener groups Coalition for a democratic Pacifica and Peoples Radio.

———————-

Thanks to Eszter Freeman, Attila Nagy (Sonoma Peace Press), Adrienne Lauby (UCR website), Isis Feral and Stan Woods for review/suggestions, editing, images, production; my son Austin and wife Linda Hewitt for review, encouragement and support completing the work;  John McCutcheon, and Dr. Barbara Hodges for inviting us to his inspiring performance of “Joe Hill’s Last Will” at the Palms Playhouse in Winters, California, June 5, 2015.

———————-

Graphics:
Joe Hill Poster
IWW Tattoo by vonlampard license
IWW sticker 191os

 

 

On-Air Candidate Forums

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/audiolucistore/11046790073

From Flickr, license below.

One-Hour Live
Listener Candidate Forums
KPFA Performance Studio
19 Candidates, 4 Forums

(Click on the dates, to listen)

Sharon Adams
Brian Oakchunas
Scott Olsen
 
Don Macleay
Barbara Whipperman
T.M. Scruggs
Margy Wilkinson
Marilla Arguelles

 

Yuri Gottesman
Janet Kobren
William Campisi
Mario Fernandez 
Jeremy Miller

 

Tom Voorhees
David Lynch
Virginia Browning
Sasha Futran

 

Moderator/Host:

Nelsy Batista, Local Election Supervisor
Substitute Moderator, Leon from Youth Radio/Bay Area MC

 Three or four of the questions asked came from the studio audience.  The names of those asking the question were pulled from a hat.

————

These candidates were scheduled but did not appear:
Richard Hart
Leland Thompson

 

Graphic: license

Does the $400K Bequest Belong to KPFA?

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WHAT MY OCTOBER
DIRECTOR’S INSPECTION REVEALED

By Janet Kobren,

In mid-October 2015 after numerous inquiries from KPFA members regarding the two large bequests made to KPFA amounting to a total of $958,000, I decided to perform a director’s inspection at KPFA to look into the bequest documents.LastWill

Note that the bequests had been reported at the April 2015 KPFA Local Station Board meeting. SaveKPFA’s LSB member Margy Wilkinson was serving as PNB chair and interim Executive Director at the time. KPFA General Manager Quincy McCoy’s April and May 2015 General Manager’s Report reflected these bequests (see “A Partial Financial Landscape of KPFA”.)

As a result of my director’s inspection I learned, among other things, that:

1)   The will of the Hall Trust listed $400,000 to be distributed to PACIFICA FOUNDATION RADIO*,

2)   The estate’s check was made out for this amount to pay to the order of PACIFICA FOUNDATION RADIO and was deposited in KPFA’s bank account (albeit one of Pacifica Foundation’s DBA’s** is KPFA), and

3)   There was no reference to KPFA in the will or on the check.

I also learned that the check for the other bequest was specifically written to KPFA for $558,000 and correctly deposited in KPFA’s bank account.

This discrepancy caused me to explore the Hall Trust further, discovering some gaps in information with regards to how the Hall Trust bequest had been handled internally. The bequest that had been spelled out in the bequest document and the check to go to PACIFICA FOUNDATION RADIO, rather than going to or through a Pacifica Foundation bank account, was deposited directly into KPFA’s bank account.

I meticulously chronicled this matter with substantial source documentation that included references to and actions by individual employees and which also revealed other individuals and organizations named in the bequest documents, all of which would have precluded this matter from being addressed in an open session. I had suspected there was more to be learned regarding this matter, but absent any other documentation provided even after requesting additional information that would have filled in some of the gaps, I was motivated by my fiduciary duties as a Pacifica National Board Director to bring the matter to the PNB as soon as possible. There was some back and forth within the PNB by email but no additional documentation was provided. So I presented the chronology/analysis that I had prepared to the PNB prior to its October 29, 2015 PNB closed session meeting and made the following motion during the meeting:

That by the end of day November 4, 2015 the KPFA GM and the interim Controller:

office-495808_640

  1. Produce an accounting with documentation to the PNB of how the Hall Trust bequest has been allocated and spent to date, including what KPFA transferred to Pacifica units – KPFT, KPFK, PRA, WBAI and election deposit shortages and the remaining balance, if any; and
  2. If a remaining balance exists, transfer it to the PNO unit or other Pacifica units as appropriate; and
  3. Based on the accounting, revise the plan to repay KPFA; and
  4. Based on the accounting, revise the KPFA and PNO budgets accordingly.

This is how the vote went:

Voting YES: Teresa Allen (KPFT), Rodrigo Argueta (KPFK), Lydia Brazon (KPFK), Jim Brown (WPFW), Stephen Brown (WBAI), Adriana Casenave (KPFT), Janet Coleman (WBAI), Benito Diaz (WPFW), Janet Kobren (KPFA), Janis Lane-Ewart (KFAI Affiliate), Lawrence Reyes (KPFK)

Voting NO: Brian Edwards-Tiekert (KPFA), George Reiter (KPFT), Cerene Roberts (WBAI), Pete Tucker (WPFW), Margy Wilkinson (KPFA)

ABSTENSIONS: None

PRESENT NOT VOTING: Robert Mark (KPFT), Tony Norman (WPFW)

The tally came to: 11-YES, 5-NO, 0 ABSTENSIONS, 2-PRESENT NOT VOTING

The motion passed handily and was included in the report-out of the executive session.

The main argument against my motion, chiefly by those directors who have a vested interest in KPFA, included a claim that since the snail mail address of an individual whose name was similar to but not the same as the name spelled out in the Hall Trust documents, someone who had donated a total of $1,745 between 1990 and 2014 (which by the way was way less than 1% of $400K) was in the North Bay and within the KPFA “signal area”, it was the “intent” of the donor to bequeath the $400K to KPFA, and not the Pacifica Foundation, even though the will and the check had spelled out PACIFICA FOUNDATION RADIO on both, with no reference to KPFA.

Janet Kobren at a protest at the San Leandro Walmart, 2013

Janet Kobren (with green hand) at a protest at the San Leandro Walmart, 2013

To me this was an attempt by some within Pacifica to interpret the intent of the donor, and there is no way, short of a seance, to determine the donor’s intent beyond that specified in her will.

Many questions remain, among which are the following: Was SaveKPFA’s influence through the then PNB chair/iED Margy Wilkinson used to make the interest of the Pacifica Foundation network to solely benefit SaveKPFA? 

To what extent does a financially weakened Pacifica Foundation, possibly intentionally starved to facilitate its bankruptcy, benefit a private entity, the now not-so-secret KPFA Foundation?

And, how far will Brian Edwards-Tiekert, the SaveKPFA, KPFA LSB member, PNB Director and chair of the PNB National Finance Committee (aka the PNB treasurer) go through motion after motion to attempt to get proposals passed to “capture” KPFA’s license for the benefit of an undemocratic, private entity?

KPFA has transferred approximately $310,000 of the two bequests to various Pacifica units to compensate for network-wide shortages at WBAI, KPFT, KPFK, WPFW, PRA, and PNO (see the KPFA General Manager’s April and May 2015 Report here),

 ♦♦♦♦

* Between February 26, 2013 and January 20, 2015, the “Pacifica Foundation” name had been captured by an entity in New York during which Pacifica used the name “Pacifica Foundation Radio” until recapturing the “Pacifica Foundation” name back on April 9, 2015.

** DBA = Doing Business As.  A DBA is also sometimes referred to as a fictitious business name. In the case of the Pacifica Foundation, it is the Pacifica Foundation, not the fictitious name, that is the entity conducting any business in the name of a DBA.

 

♦♦♦♦

SEE MORE INFORMATION AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION HERE A Partial Financial Landscape of KPFA

November 3, 2015

Secret Plot Revealed to Hijack Pacifica’s Broadcast Licenses & Assets

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Documents registered with the California Secretary of State for a private “foundation” called the “KPFA Foundation” seem to be part of a conspiracy by “SaveKPFA” insiders to gain total control of KPFA (under the guise of protecting KPFA) and to “capture” its license in the event of Pacifica’s dissolution. Further, it appears to be an attempt to privatize the Pacifica Foundation for the benefit of a few instead of the many. These documents were recently uncovered by Pacifica’s National Board (PNB) Secretary Janet Kobren, a United for Community Radio (UCR) candidate and whistleblower.KPFA_Foundation

Here’s what was revealed:
In September 2013, PNB director, former PNB chair/interim Executive Director (iED) Margy Wilkinson registered the above named shadow corporation with the California Secretary of State at the address of Siegel & Yee, the law firm of former PNB director and current Pacifica legal counsel Dan Siegel. They kept this information hidden from the KPFA listeners, the Local Station Board (LSB) and the Pacifica National Board (PNB) until its discovery only recently.

In addition to usurping Pacifica’s trademarked “KPFA” call letters, this shadow corporation also adopted Pacifica’s Articles of Incorporation that includes its Mission Statement. When asked to explain, Siegel and Wilkinson admitted that they created this shadow corporation to acquire the licenses and assets of Pacifica (estimated to be worth more than $100 million) in case Pacifica went bankrupt and/or was taken over by creditors or the government.

The establishment of this covert “KPFA Foundation” raises the question of whether some of the decisions Wilkinson made when overseeing Pacifica’s finances during her tenure as interim ED contributed to the current disastrous financial state of the Pacifica Foundation and its stations. What might be considered gross ineptitude was so systematic that it appears to be an intentional attempt to bankrupt Pacifica and its stations, in order to gain control of KPFA from Pacifica via the “KPFA Foundation”  At the very least, this constitutes a severe conflict of interest and ethical violation by Wilkinson and Siegel.

How does this relate to the KPFA Local Station Board election?

Your Vote Matters (photo credit below)

Your Vote Matters (photo credit below)

As a KPFA member, your vote will elect members to the KPFA LSB. This board not only sets policy for KPFA, it also selects four of its members to sit on Pacifica’s National Board. Right now, the Siegel-Wilkinson “Save KPFA” faction has a majority of KPFA’s seats on this board. This election can overturn the “Save KPFA” majority of seats on the board and enable the new local and national boards to block their plan to hijack Pacifica’s licenses. “Save KPFA’s” Brian Edwards-Tiekert’s recent motion to get the KPFA LSB to overstep its powers and ratify the creation of thesecret “KPFA Foundation” was stopped by UCR LSB members. But it could still be approved if the LSB majority stays the same in this election.
The United for Community Radio (UCR) candidates are committed to doing everything in their power to block “Save KPFA” from dismantling KPFA and Pacifica and walking away with KPFA’s licenses and assets.

     HELP PACIFICA REMAIN INTACT ~
RESCUE KPFA ~  VOTE FOR THE UCR 9

————

“Your Vote Matters” photo by Brooke Anderson from a rally for the Right to a Roof / El Derecho al Techo in Santa Rosa, California, Summer 2015.

 

A Partial Financial Landscape of KPFA

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Compiled by Janet Kobren, including notes by Kobren interspersed 
This article is supplemental to Does the $400K Bequest Belong to KPFA

FY2015 KPFA BUDGET APPROVALS BY KPFA LOCAL STATION BOARD (LSB) AND PACIFICA NATIONAL BOARD (PNB) NATIONAL FINANCE COMMITTEE (NFC)

FY2015 KPFA budget (Approved LSB: 10/18/14; Approved NFC: 10/23/14)

—————————————————————————————————

COMPARISONS OF KPFA BUDGET FIGURES (2013 – 2016)

Kobren notes the following:

The KPFA GM is responsible for preparing and managing the KPFA budget while the KPFA LSB is responsible for approving the KPFA budget. What would also be useful would be to have the listener membership numbers over this same time period.

No Coal in Oakland Rally. Photo by Brooke Anderson

“Speaking to the Crowd” ~No Coal in Oakland Rally~ Photo by Brooke Anderson

Below are KPFA LSB approved budget figures from FY2013 – FY2016:

Budgeted Fund Drive Days (Assumptions)
FY2013 = 89 days
FY2014 = 79 days
FY2015 = 89 days (actual was 65 days because 24 days — April 15 and April 27-May 19 fund drive days were cancelled)
FY2016 = 71 days

Projected (Budgeted) Listener Support Money
FY2013 = $2,680,476
FY2014 = $2,705,000 (up 1%- from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $2,741,378 (up 1%+ from FY2014 budget)
FY2016 = $2,655,003 (down 3%+ from FY2015 budget)

Actual Listener Support reported in the following year’s budget (varies depending on what report one looks at)
FY2012 = $2,539,180 (as reported in FY2015 budget as audited amount)
FY2013 = $2,552,174 (as reported in FY2016 budget; note: up 1%+ from FY2012 budget)
FY2014 = $2,529,196 (as reported in FY2016 budget; down 1%- from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $2,607,297 (up 1%+ from FY2014 budget)

Total Budgeted Revenue
FY2013 = $3,652,756
FY2014 = $3,461,764 (down 5%+ from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $3,486,708 (up .5%+ from FY2014 budget)
FY2016 = $3,337,510 (down 4%+ from FY2015 budget)

Actual Total Revenue (varies depending on what report one looks at)
FY2013 = $3,652,756
FY2014 = $3,461,764 (down 1%- from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $3,486,708 (up 1%+ from FY2014 budget)
FY2016 = $3,337,510 (down 1%- from FY2015 budget)

Total Budgeted Operating Expenses
FY2013 = $3,060,229 (Note: FY2013 Audit indicated $2,811,334, which is $3,295,986 minus $484,652 for Central Services)
FY2014 = $2,929,063 (down 4%+ from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $3,486,708 (up 19%+ from FY2014 budget)
FY2016 = $2,862,049 (down 17%+ from FY2015 budget)

Total Budgeted Expenses
FY2013 = $3,582,922 (Note: FY2013 Audit lists $3,295,986)
FY2014 = $3,457,903 (down 4%- from FY2013 budget)
FY2015 = $3,409,836 (down 1%+ from FY2014 budget)
FY2016 = $3,333,505 (down 2%+ from FY2015 budget)

Net Income
FY2013 = $69,834 (based on 8/3/12 email attachment from KPFA LSB Treasurer Whipperman)
FY2014 = $3,861
FY2015 = $76,872
FY2016 = $4,005

Surplus (Deficit)
FY2013 = $69,834 (based on 8/3/12 email attachment from KPFA LSB Treasurer Whipperman)
FY2014 = $ 3,861
FY2015 = $50,496
FY2016 = $ 4,005

Some additional notes by Kobren:income

Net Income and Surplus (Deficit), otherwise know as Reserves, budget numbers have fluctuated, with FY2016 being the worst yet regarding having reserves.

Also note that the KPFA LSB is the only LSB that has no Finance Committee which means that the KPFA Business Manager (with input by the KPFA GM) with input from the KPFA LSB Treasurer (who gets perfunctory input from the LSB) has total control of the budget items that are provided to the LSB which is empowered by the bylaws to approve the budget. The other four stations have Finance Committees that allow input from committee members (LSB members, staff and the public) into the budget process and the final draft budget that is presented to the LSB for approval.

But also when it comes to KPFA, the LSB is only provided the version to be approved either in the middle of the night the night before the LSB meeting or at the LSB meeting itself, and never with formulas, providing little if no time for LSB members to independently and responsibly review what they are expected to vote on. What happens in the end is that the LSB gets snowed under with multiple types of related documents distributed during the meeting by the Business Manager who proceeds to explain them, with little if no opportunity for LSB members to thoroughly review and critique the documents.

—————————————————————————————————

FY2015 KPFA BUDGET APPROVAL BY PNB WITH FINANCIAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT PROVISOS AND AN AMENDMENT

FY2015 KPFA budget with Financial Crisis Management provisos and as amended (Approved PNB:1/8/15)

—————————

FY2015 KPFA – Financial Crisis Management provisos (Approved NFC: 1/5/15; Approved PNB: 1/8/15)

For the next six months, KPFA Management shall require approval from either Pacifica’s CFO or interim Executive Director prior to making any disbursement or incurring any expense greater than $1,000 for other than for rent, utilities, payroll, and other regular, recurring expenses.

The PNB directs the interim Executive Director to direct Management at KPFA to prepare within 30 days a plan for reducing expenses by at at least $250,000 per year in order to bring KPFA’s operating deficit under control.” (Passed without objection)

FY2015 KPFA budget amendment (Approved PNB: 1/8/15)

Before any union and line staff reduction in force occurs, a formula for concurrent management cuts must be approved by the PNB

—————————————————————————————————

KPFA GENERAL MANAGER’S STATE OF THE STATION REPORT

Dated: January 29, 2015

Excerpts:

“The PNB Resolution:

The PNB has requested that the KPFA management create a plan to make $250 thousand dollars in cuts, which would include a formula for reduction in management salaries”. . .

“The management team has met with the union and proposed a cut to our benefits package, with a change in co-pay from $10 to $20. That would be a yearly savings of $42 thousand dollars a year. Since this would alter the contract, the union must have a secret ballot vote on the proposal.”

————————————————————————————————

TWO LARGE BEQUESTS IN THE PIPELINE

Save East 12th St Rally. Photo by Brooke Anderson.

Save East 12th St Rally. Photo by Brooke Anderson.

Kobren notes the following:

There apparently had been leaks from within KPFA and/or the national office regarding the two large bequests totaling $958,000 that had been in the pipeline, one since to 2012 and the other since 2014.

Once both bequests were probated, the checks were deposited in KPFA’s bank account in March 2015.

————————————————————————————————

APRIL AND MAY 2015 KPFA GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT

Kobren notes the following:

In KPFA GM McCoy’s April and May 2015 General Manager’s Report (also sent to the PNB for the June in-person meeting) he spelled out plans for spending the two bequests, as follows:

Of the total $958,000 (see chart below for reference),

$149,720 had already been spent on KPFA (96,400+38,070+9,000+6,250) — see column 1,

and an additional $9,000 was “committed” to be spent on KPFA — see column 2,

which comes to a total of $158,720 allocated.

Then there is a total of $233,396 that went towards KPFA’s Central Services ($198,979 to PNO/$34,417 to PRA) — see column 1,

which comes to a total of $392,116 allocated.

And then you have $118,976 that “KPFA” loaned to WBAI and KPFT (100,000+18,976) — see column 1 and column 2,

which comes to a total of $511,092 allocated.

Which leaves a balance of $446,908 from the total $958,000.

This was back in June.

But $350,000 had also been “reserved” for KPFA salaries — see column 1. Is that still in reserve or has that been spent?

If spent, that would leave a balance of $96,908 of the total $958,000.

There might have been more expenditures on that balance since June as well.

Note that part of the two bequests was being applied as “reserves” (at least to paid staff salaries thus the decision to forego the 2015 Spring fund drive), however it is not clear if the two-month salary reserves have already been exhausted, i.e., are there still any reserves? But since KPFA left itself dependent on the two bequests, it is not known what the financial situation within KPFA currently is or will be once the October 29, 2015 motion passed by the PNB is executed.

————————————————————————

APRIL/MAY 2015 KPFA GM REPORT EXCERPTS

Quincy Chart

11-3-15