elections and governance

Pacifica board takes action on election, WBAI crisis

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wbaigraphicIn its new configuration, the board took several notable actions. It passed a motion that will put long-overdue board elections into motion. Pacifica’s bylaws required it to hold elections in 2013, but Pacifica’s executive director Summer Reese failed to hire anyone to run them, and that year’s board ratified her inaction by voting to postpone elections — effectively extending many of their own terms.

National board members also brought more transparency to discussions over what to do about long-suffering Pacifica station WBAI in New York City. After years of running massive deficits, the station was dealt a near-lethal blow when Superstorm Sandy flooded the building it broadcast from, rendering WBAI homeless in the middle of a fund drive. WBAI made sweeping layoffs last year, and has been struggling to catch up on unpaid bills.

The Pacifica National Board held a public discussion with FCC attorney Melodie Virtue about the implications of entering into a Public Service Operating Agreement (PSOA) in which another organization would temporarily take over responsibility for running the station and paying its bills. It also allowed the audience to ask her questions, and make comments. Eventually, the board approved a motion to hold off on entering into negotiations over a PSOA contract while it solicits an alternative plan from WBAI’s elected Local Station Board, and asks Pacifica’s management to come up with more detailed information on the station’s financial performance and prospects for the future. | READ about WBAI: Village Voice, Current, Radio Survivor

Meanwhile, on its 14th anniversary of February 11, Free Speech Radio News has relaunched its website and begun filing stories from around the globe. The independent newscast had gone off the air last fall after Pacifica’s national office failed to pay over $200,000 in fees owed to it.

KPFA’s budget in the black; challenges remain at Pacifica

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KPFAclockKPFA is doing well right now, with an upcoming budget under consideration by the Local Station Board (LSB). But problems elsewhere in the Pacifica network continue.

Financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for all five Pacifica stations is being withheld, after the network was cited in an audit for “insufficient accounting practices, misreported revenues and failure to comply with CPB rules on open meetings and financial transparency,” according to Current, an online magazine covering public broadcasting published by American University. At the same time, CPB ombudsman Joel Kaplan published a series of two reports (here and here) about questionable fundraising practices at Pacifica’s New York station, WBAI.

In our last issue, we reported that Pacifica’s interim executive director Summer Reese, who also serves as chair of the Pacifica National Board (PNB), had unilaterally put KPFA’s interim general manager Andrew Phillips on leave, even after KPFA’s elected LSB passed two resolutions overwhelmingly objecting to her actions, and hundreds of listeners signed this petition.

Radio historian Matthew Lasar interviewed Phillips, who makes it clear that Pacifica’s move to oust him is thoroughly political. “For about a year, remembering that I was employed by Arlene Engelhardt at Pacifica, I basically did her bidding,” Phillips told Lasar, saying he “realized over time that what she’d expected and what she implemented was the wrong strategy.” He explains why in this frank and revealing interview.

Pacifica’s Reese, whose supporters currently control the PNB, is also refusing to initiate this year’s bylaws-mandated elections, in what appears to be an attempt to prevent members from exercising their right to elect new leadership. Listeners have been signing this petition, initiated by Grassroots KPFK, urging that the election process be started immediately.

Meanwhile, layoff notices went out to all staff Pacifica’s WBAI in New York City last month. The station has long been running huge deficits, a situation compounded by unwise changes in programming and a declining listener base. “The status of Pacifica’s ability to cope with the situation is unclear,” writes Matthew Lasar in his RadioSurvivor blog. The cuts, which must be negotiated with the staff union, AFTRA, are expected to save $900,000 a year, according to Current.

In better news, the Pacifica Radio Archives, a separate unit at the network that preserves historic recordings, has won a $128,000 grant from the National Archives and Records Commission to save over 1,600 tapes in a project called “American Women Making History and Culture: 1963-1982.”

URGENT: KPFA’s spring fund drive needs your immediate support!

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KPFA-radio-dialProgrammers have been pouring their hearts into KPFA’s fund drive for over two weeks, so far raising over $436,000. The problem? That amount is quite short of the drive’s $750,000 goal.

“Let’s all step up to the plate and let KPFA’s staff know we value and support them,” said SaveKPFA‘s Margy Wilkinson, an elected member of the station’s local and national boards. “They have been working under very difficult circumstances for some time,” she said, “and if KPFA comes up short in its current fund drive, we fully expect some in Pacifica management to use the shortfall as a pretext to push for retaliatory cuts at KPFA.”

SaveKPFA encourages you to contribute what you can to KPFA by calling the phone room at 800-439-5732 or 510-848-5732, or by donating securely online at https://secure.kpfa.org/support. Phone room volunteers can describe the thank you gifts available, or you can peruse a list at the website.

Lend a hand, smooze with fellow listeners

Another way to support the station is come to KPFA’s phone room and help answer phones — every day of the fund drive starting at 6:30 am. Volunteers are really needed. There are usually tasty treats donated by bay area cafes and bakeries.

Remember, renewing or starting your KPFA membership gives you a vote and a voice in how Pacifica and KPFA are run. Another round of elections is coming up this fall for local and national representatives, and it is crucial that we elect smart, caring people to these posts. Giving at least $25 annually to KPFA makes you an eligible voter.

There have been some interesting developments at KPFA and in Pacifica, and we promise to cover them in our next SaveKPFA newsletter. For now, we have only one urgent message: please take a moment to give generously to KPFA!