Pacifica National Board

KPFA exceeds funding goals, but isn’t out of the woods yet

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bannerKPFA’s staff report the station beat its Summer Fund Drive goal by a tidy $10,000. (If you didn’t get a chance to give, you can still do so online). But with Pacifica’s financial problems intensifying, KPFA’s budget could be threatened.

KPFA’s fundraising success over the past year is partly a result of former manager Andrew Phillips‘ decision to buck Pacifica and put former Morning Show staff Brian Edwards-Tiekert and Laura Prives back to work in the mornings, producing UpFront, along with KPFK’s Sonali Kolhatkar. UpFront has consistently been the station’s biggest fundraiser since the first day of its existence. According to an analysis by KPFA staff, the total pledged during fund drives increased by $220,000 in the 12 months following the introduction of UpFront — all without adding a single day of fundraising.

The better fundraising means KPFA’s Local Station Board (LSB) was able to approve a budget for next year that starts to roll back cuts begun in 2010. The LSB-approved budget restores some funding to KPFA’s Apprenticeship Program, sets aside money for the professional development of KPFA’s unpaid staff, and invests in long-term off-air fundraising strategies, so that the station can shorten its fund drives. The budget passed last Saturday’s LSB with an overwhelming, cross-factional majority — but one KPFA board member voted against it.

Who could that be? The sole vote against approving KPFA’s budget was from Tracy Rosenberg, who also happens to be Pacifica’s treasurer and is at the heart of the network’s mismanagement. KPFA’s budget still needs approval by the Pacifica National Board. Rosenberg and some of her allies participated in a boycott of the LSB’s last budget meeting in an attempt to deny the LSB a quorum.

ACTION ALERT: Sign this petition supporting KPFA’s budget

Last year, under similar circumstances, Rosenberg unilaterally made changes to KPFA’s budget in her role as network treasurer AFTER local board approval. “We can’t let that happen this year,” said Local Station Board member Jack Kurzweil. “KPFA is not the network’s piggy bank. Our listeners give money to keep our local station strong.”

IF YOU AGREE, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION to the Pacifica National Board demanding that Pacifica respect local control and approve KPFA’s budget in the form adopted by our KPFA Local Station Board — with funding increases for the Apprenticeship Program intact. SHARE the petition with friends, and ask them to circulate it. Together, we can protect KPFA.

If you’d like to listen to the audio of August 10 Local Station Board meeting where the KPFA’s budget was discussed and voted on, you can find it here: part 1 (public comment, manager’s report); part 2 (budget discussion)

KPFA local board, staff object to Pacifica’s removal of station manager

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Original KPFA radio dial, circa 1949
Original KPFA radio dial, circa 1949

Pacifica’s top official moved to oust KPFA’s interim general manager, Andrew Phillips in a phone call on April 12th. Phillips told KPFA’s elected Local Station Board (LSB) on April 13 that interim Pacifica executive director Summer Reese told him to vacate his office within a week. Here’s a report that ran on the Pacifica Evening News.

The LSB passed two measures in response. The first states: “The KPFA Local Station Board opposes any move by Pacifica to remove or replace a KPFA manager without the meaningful participation of KPFA’s elected Local Station Board and consultation with KPFA’s paid and unpaid staff.” This resolution passed with a vote of 15 yes, 1 no, and 4 abstentions.

The second states: “Based on the information we have as of this date, the KPFA Local Station Board supports continuing the tenure of Andrew Phillips as interim general manager until the process of hiring a permanent general manager is complete.”  The vote for this one was 14 yes, 0 no and 3 abstentions.  Several members crossed factional lines to vote for (or abstain on) these resolutions.

Phillips was given the job in early 2011 by then-executive director Arlene Engelhart, and he faced widespread criticism – including a vote of “no confidence” by the local board in September 2011. Subsequently, Engelhardt rejected the LSB’s recommended pool of applicants for the permanent GM job.

By most accounts, Phillips had grown on the job and won support from many quarters. But the issue isn’t only about him.  It’s about local control at KPFA, Pacifica overstepping its authority, and a fair, legal and democratic process for hiring and firing.  | WRITE Pacifica via this page,  SIGN petition, LISTEN to the KPFA LSB meeting: part 1 (manager’s report followed by discussion starts at 23:30), part 2

Several in-person meetings of KPFA’s paid and volunteer staff have overwhelmingly supported the essence of these resolutions, and over 60 workers have signed a public statement (page 1 | page 2) insisting on a full investigation before any action is taken.

The Pacifica National Board met on April 25 behind closed doors and presumably discussed the situation at KPFA. On May 2, Pacifica suddenly put Phillips “on leave” and installed a new interim manager. | REPORT on the Pacifica Evening News

Phillips was given the job in early 2011 by then-executive director Arlene Engelhart, and he faced widespread criticism, including a vote of “no confidence” by the local board in September 2011. Shortly afterward, Engelhardt rejected the LSB’s recommended candidates for the permanent GM job.

Financial results: KPFA beating budget, Pacifica lagging

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KPFA’s most recent fund drive turnaround seems to have had a big impact on the station’s bottom line. On February 23, Pacifica distributed first-quarter income statements for the network. Brian Edwards-Tiekert (now serving as KPFA’s staff rep on the Pacifica National Board) reported the statements “show KPFA outperforming its budget to the tune of $115,000 in just three months. The main driver is KPFA’s fund drives — the statements show that KPFA brought in $154,348 more listener support than budgeted” before the most recent drive even started.

“The bad news,” said Edwards-Tiekert, “is that KPFA appears to be the only part of Pacifica doing well. First, a caveat: there appear to be some accuracy problems with the numbers that the Pacifica National Office distributed. As things stand, however, every other station in the network appears to be racking up deficits right now. The worst losses are coming from the Pacifica National Office, which appears to be over-spending its budget by roughly $80,000 per month. Pacifica’s current management has not made clear what is driving the over-spending.”

Late last year, Pacifica’s board allowed the contracts of then-executive director Arlene Engelhardt and then-CFO LaVarn Williams to expire. The chair of that board, Summer Reese, is currently also acting as the network’s interim executive director.