3729 Cahuenga Blvd. West - N. Hollywood, CA 91604
Main phone: (818) 985-2711 - Fax: (818) 763-7526 - Studio phone:
(818) 985-5735
1
MINUTES
Local Station Board Meeting of January 8, 2017
Aris & Carolyn Anagnos Peace
Center
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230
Local Station Board (LSB) Meeting
I. Call to Order / Opening
Business 1:40 p.m.
a.) Roll Call Taken. Present are KPFK LSB Members Grace Aaron, Kenneth Aaron (Treasurer), Jonathan
Alexander, Sharon Brown, Sandy Childs, Roberta Eidman, Stephen Frantz, Jaime Gomez (Chair), Jan Goodman, Ricardo
Hernandez, Steve Kaiser, Doug Kriegel, Maggie LePique, Ali Lexa, Barbara Marbach, Reza Pour, Dorothy Reik, Myla Reson,
Adam Rice, Mansoor Sabbagh, Paul Song, Fernando Velazquez, Sabina Virgo (Vice-Chair), and Lisa Wong. Also present are
KPFK General Manager Leslie Radford; KPFK LSB Director Michael Novick; KPFK Interim Executive Director and Pacifica
National Board Vice Chair Lydia Brazon; and Michael Adler, who has volunteered to be LSB Secretary.
b.) There were no
absences.
c.) Seating of Secretary (Michael Adler) approved by consensus.
d.) Mansoor Sabbagh and Steve Kaiser
agree to be time keepers.
e.) The Local Station Board Minutes of 12/11/16 were approved by consensus.
f.) The
Proposed Agenda was approved with the addition of an agenda item to Review Future Meeting Dates as part of Closing
Business.
g.) A motion to set Time Certain to recess LSB to convene for Delegates Assembly to 3:00 p.m. was made,
seconded, and passed.
h.) A motion to set Time Certain to Adjourn the LSB at 4:30 p.m. was made, seconded, and
passed.
II. Public Comments
Public comments were heard by the Local Station Board.
2
Recessed for
Delegates’ Assembly.
LSB recess for Delegates Assembly (see Appendix B.)
LSB reconvenes
III. Public Comments
#2
Public comments were heard by the Local Station Board.
IV. Reports
a.) General Manager Report was presented
KPFK General Manager Leslie Radford (see Appendix C.)
b.) Questions for KPFK General Manager Leslie
Radford
Questions of the KPFK General Manager were heard and answered by the General Manager.
V. PNB Committee
Elections
There was a motion to move the PNB Committee elections to next month that was passed by consensus with no
objections.
VI. Closing Business
a.) Old motions for the old board will be sent back to their respective
committees to be forwarded to the LSB if needed.
b.) In the last Governance Committee meeting, there was a consensus
to develop a strategic planning presentation for next KPFK LSB meeting. Mansoor Sabbagh is the interim chair for
Governance and will take the lead on the agenda for the strategic planning presentation. Anyone with ideas for strategic
planning is asked to work with Mansoor.
c.) Review date and time for next LSB Meeting. It was agreed by consensus
that the next meeting will be held at 10:30 on Sunday February 26 at the Aris & Carolyn Anagnos Peace Center.
d.)
Meeting adjourns at 4:48 p.m.
Appendix A - Required Notices
Proper notice of this meeting was posted on the KPFK
Calendar and at the Pacifica Calendar as required.
3
Appendix B – DELEGATES ASSEMBLY MINUTES
KPFK Delegates
Assembly Meeting of January 8, 2017
Aris & Carolyn Anagnos Peace Center
3916 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA
90230
I. Call to Order / Opening Business
a.) Roll Call: Present are KPFK LSB Members Grace Aaron, Kenneth Aaron
(Treasurer), Jonathan Alexander, Sharon Brown, Sandy Childs, Roberta Eidman, Stephen Frantz, Jaime Gomez (Chair), Jan
Goodman, Ricardo Hernandez, Steve Kaiser, Doug Kriegel, Maggie LePique, Ali Lexa, Barbara Marbach, Reza Pour, Dorothy
Reik, Myla Reson, Adam Rice, Mansoor Sabbagh, Paul Song, Fernando Velazquez, Sabina Virgo (Vice-Chair), and Lisa Wong.
Also present are KPFK LSB Director Michael Novick, and Michael Adler, who has volunteered to be LSB Secretary.
b.)
Seating of Secretary (Michael Adler). Michael Adler was seated as Secretary by consensus
c.) Approve STV Teller(s).
Fred Blair and Charles Fredricks were approved to be the tellers of the elections without any objections.
d.)
Approval of December 11, 2016 Delegates Assembly Minutes delayed to next month. Grace Aaron has made many small changes
to the minutes. Will be postponed. 18 yea, 2 nay, 3 abstain.
e.) Approve Proposed Agenda
A motion was made to have
8 minutes of public comments immediately before each the staff and board elections to the PNB. The motion was seconded
and approved. The modified agenda was approved by consensus.
II. Election of 2017 Pacifica National Board (PNB)
Directors Staff Election
a.) Nominations for Staff Director
1. Jonathan Alexander
2. Fernando Velazquez
b.)
Candidate Statements
The candidates provided their statements.
c.) Board Questions of Candidates
The LSB asked
questions, which were answered by the candidates.
d.) Public Comment
The public’s comments regarding the
candidates were heard.
4
e.) Teller Instructions/Voting
Tellers provided LSB with voting instructions.
f.)
Results 24 votes received (all members voting).
Jonathan Alexander: 17
Fernando Valezquez: 7.
g.) Chair
announces winner Jonathan Alexander
III. Election of 2017 Pacifica National Board (PNB) Directors Listener
Election
a.) Nominations
1. Jan Goodman
2. Grace Aaron
3. Sharon Brown
4. Reza Pour
5. Mansoor
Sabbagh
b.) Candidate Statements
Each candidate presented a statement to the LSB.
c.) Board Questions of
Candidates
LSB Q&A of candidates was conducted.
d.) Public Comment
The public’s comments regarding the
candidates were heard.
e.) Teller Instructions/Voting
Tellers provided LSB with single transferable vote (STV)
system instructions.
f.) Chair announces results:
Grace Aaron (9) Jan Goodman (7) Sharon Brown (7) Mansoor Sabbagh
(1) Reza Pour (0)
Jan Goodman, Grace Aaron, and Sharon Brown are winners on first ballot.
5
IV. Pacifica
Delegates Motion
A motion was made and seconded to vote on the Pacifica Delegates Motion attached as Appendix
D.
The motion was passed by the Delegates Assembly; 15 yea, 3 nay, and 4 abstain.
V. Adjourned Delegates Assembly
and returned to LSB Meeting
Appendix C – General Manager’s Report to LSB
Report to the Local Station
Board
8 January 2017
PERSONNEL
We have hired Barry Brooks as our business manager. He will be working for KPFK
for three days a week and for the National Office for two days a week.
We have re-hired Jerry Quickly as a programmer
for a daily show. Jerry was a successful programmer on KPFK from 2002-2009. Alan and I are working to make room for his
show with the winter schedule changes. We are planning a promotional campaign around his return. His premier broadcast
will be on Inauguration Day.
Senior Producer Christine Blosdale has left KPFK.
Corey Dubin, former host of
American Indian Airwaves and former program director, has passed.
BUDGET AND FINANCES
I’m attaching the version
of the budget approved by the Pacifica Finance Committee. Significant changes from the version you received last month
are on the “Notes” tab.
I met with the Pacifica finance committee on December 27, and after some questions, our
budget was approved to be consolidated in the budget presented to the full Pacifica National Board.
On the financial
front, we have faced some unexpected difficulties. On a December 14, $95,195 was withdrawn from our operating account to
pay a court order to pay Pacifica’s attorney fees in the Cohen vs. Pacifica (2008) lawsuit originating at our sister
station. We were able to cover the outstanding checks, and we are not paying our Central Services fees until that amount
is recovered.
Two days later, a hold for approximately $53,000 was put on our operating account and lifted later that
day. We contacted payees with outstanding checks and all who had attempted to cash checks that day were willing to
accept replacement checks, which we issued. Then on or about December 30, a hold was placed on our operating account
that has stopped all check payment for the past week. I have been talking with a Bank
6
of America vice president
and a senior vice president, and neither has (or has offered me) any explanation for the holds. We have received no
documentation (as we did for the court order). None of the Foundation’s other Bank of America accounts appear to be
affected. Because of this latest hold, I know of five payees whose checks were returned. Nineteen more are outstanding.
The Interim Executive Director is now addressing the issue and will request that the bank write letters of apology and
explanation to the payees, and that the bank rebate fees associated with this.
We have about $80,000 remaining to pay
on the settlement agreement (assuming the January settlement payment clears the bank).
We paid about $8800 for
premiums in December.
The operating bank account balance is $179,529.95 as of January 6. The National Office has not
issued an income statement for November or December. I’ve attached an aging payables report.
OPERATIONS
We had a
water leak outside the building, which listener-member Kent Landfield of Alegre Plumbing repaired for free. That was
related to a defective water pressure regulator that was replaced and resulted in damage to a toilet that has been
repaired.
We are upgrading our spam filter and email server.
We have implemented a policy that requires the back
door remain closed and locked, and that allows any staff member to refuse to open that door to anyone they do not
recognize. We will be implementing a sign-in procedure for guests at the front desk during business hours. I have
discussed with the chief engineer replacing our security cameras with better ones.
PROGRAMMING
We aired
holiday-themed specials throughout the Christmas break, and we have aired two two-hour specials on stopping the Trump
administration.
The interim Program Director will be reviewing winter schedule changes with me next week.
We are
working with sister station WPFW in Washington D.C. and Democracy Now! to provide national coverage of Inauguration Day
events.
FUND DRIVE
Our listeners pledged $431,218 during our December fund drive, 18% over budget and 8% over what
we asked our listeners to donate. No doubt, part of this was a Trump bump that I hope will continue throughout the year
as our programmers speak out about the rise of the right and what we can do about it. Part of it was due to the Pacifica
Radio Archives, which let us offer their “Best of” flashdrive that they used so successfully for their November
drive day.
7
The February fund drive begins on February 7 and runs through February 28. The budget calls for
raising $22,500/day or $495,000. This is $2,866/day less than what we achieved in December, so I’m hoping we can do
better than budgeted.
OUTREACH, FUNDRAISING, DEVELOPMENT
A report on our upcoming media sponsorships is
attached.
The Fidel Castro celebration, sponsored by the Spanish Language Broadcasters Association, netted about
$3,100, and Junor Frances’s club benefit brought in about $300 (on a rainy, cold night).
We sent out letters to
listener-members who pledged more than $250 prior to December and asked them to give again for a tax write-off, and we
aired carts asking all listeners to do the same. I don’t know how many responded since we directed them to both our
paypal account and our lockbox, but we did have about $30,000 come into our lockbox account between 12/27/16 and
1/3/17.
The People’s School of Broadcasting will resume on Monday, January 9 at 5:00PM, and Adam welcomes the LSB
to attend. We are preparing for station representation at the anti-inauguration events and the Kingdom Day Parade. We
are hosting a screening of “Fidel: The Untold Story” here at the Peace Center next Saturday starting with a
reception at 4:00PM for a $35 donation. I hope you all will attend.
I would like to thank Maggie LePique and Adam
Rice for their assistance with this report.
Respectfully submitted, Leslie Radford
General Manager,
KPFK
January 8, 2017
8
Appendix D Pacifica Delegates Motion
Whereas, on 03/25/2016, the KPFK Local Station
Board passed a motion directing all four KPFK Directors to uphold the Pacifica (PNB) Bylaws, and further noted that
failure to adhere to the Pacifica Bylaws and to ensure compliance with state and federal laws could result in removal of
one or more KPFK Directors.
And whereas, on 04/17/2016, the KPFK Local Station Board passed a motion resolving that
the PNB remove delegates and directors (elected prior to 2012), who were improperly seated as delegates and directors
according to the PNB Bylaws. And further that the two affiliate directors be removed from their Affiliate Director seats
because of their improper seating according to the PNB Bylaws.
And whereas, on 05/15/2016, the KPFK Local Station
Board passed a motion condemning the PNB exclusion of WBAI directors, contrary to PNB Bylaws.
And whereas, on
06/19/2016, the KPFK Local Station Board went on record that it considers the current Pacifica National Board to be
illegitimate due to the improper seating of Affiliate Directors and the exclusion from seating of WBAI Directors as
properly elected representatives to the Pacifica National Board.
And whereas, on 06/19/2016, the KPFK Local Station
Board resolved that no PNB Bylaws changes may occur unless and until all PNB directors and delegates are properly seated
according to the current Pacifica National Board Bylaws.
And whereas, on December 13, 2016, and again on December 15,
2016, the PNB continued to breach the bylaws requirements for equal representation from all five stations by refusing to
seat newly elected WBAI Directors.
And whereas, on December 15, 2016, the PNB elected Affiliate Directors without the
proper participation of WBAI representatives, according to PNB Bylaws.
And whereas, the PNB has refused to accept the
final certified 2017 Pacifica Local Station Board elections, as certified by True Ballot, the nationally recognized
elections services firm hired by the PNB.
Therefore, the KPFK Delegates Assembly hereby determines that all of the
National Directors, as elected by each Local Station Board (as certified by True Ballot), including but not limited to
WBAI, should be immediately recognized and seated by the Pacifica National Board, in accordance with the Pacifica
National Board bylaws.
And furthermore, that as to the recent (December 15, 2016) PNB election of Affiliate Directors
that occurred without the full participation of all stations (i.e., WBAI), it is determined that said election of
Affiliate Directors is determined to be in violation of PNB bylaws, and is therefore null and void, and that a new
election of Affiliate Directors is warranted after the proper seating of National Directors from all member stations has
occurred.