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KPFA UCR Faction Joins With "Save KPFA" To Push Transfer Of Stations To "non-profit"
The KPFA United For Community Radio UCR has joined with "Save KPFA" to push for the transfer of some stations licenses to another "non-profit". UCR head and KPFA LSB Member Sharon Adams also refused to report on how she and other UCR members voted on the transfer. So much for transparency from UCR
KPFA UCR Faction Joins With "Save KPFA" To Push Transfer Of Stations To "non-profit"-UCR Head Sharon Adams Refuses To Report How She And Other UCR People Voted On Transfer Motions For "asset grab"
UCR Outreach
Subject: Report from Nov. 17, 2016 KPFA Local Station Board meeting
Date: November 22, 2016 at 7:03:11 AM PST
Report on Nov. 19 KPFA Local Station Board Meeting
View this email in your browser
In this Newsletter:
1. Report From KPFA Local Station Board Meeting on Nov. 17, 2016
- Public Comment
- General Manager's Report
- Treasurer's Report
- Bylaw Amendment Proposal
- Election of Staff Representation to PNB
- Discussion of Crisis at Pacifica
2. Radio Highlights - "A Rude Awakening" interviews Director of AIM West Tony Gonzales
REPORT FROM NOV. 17 KPFA LOCAL STATION BOARD MEETING
By: Sharon Adams
The KPFA Local Station Board meeting was mainly devoted to a discussion of various plans and proposals to save Pacifica and KPFA. This discussion was toward the end of the meeting. The meeting will be described in chronological order, so skip to the end if you want to read about the proposals.
Public Comment
There was a good turn-out of interested listeners and members. More people showed up than usual, demonstrating that members really care about the future KPFA and Pacifica. Thanks for showing up!!!
General Manager's Report
Quincy McCoy gave the General Manager's report. The report mentioned the continued financial precariousness of KPFA and Pacifica as a whole. Quincy also recognized that KFPA listeners stepped up once again to support Free Speech radio, noting that the Fall Fund Drive exceeded its goal, and that the fulfillment rate is already at over 80%.
KPFA's expanded election coverage also received support from listeners. Quoting Quincy: "KPFA has the opportunity to be a number of things: influencer, thought leader, connector and a driver of high-level engagement that other public radio stations aren't courageous enough to be."
KPFA host Mitch Jeserich will be going to Washington D.C. for about 3 weeks to keep tabs on the beginning of the Trump Administration.
Union negotiations were suspended back in September. Talks resume on 11/22/16.
Central Services -- KPFA pays about $500,000 per year in Central Service payments to support Pacifica and the Archives. In return, according to Business Manager Maria Negret, KPFA receives corporate insurance and payroll services that the business manager said is not used by KPFA. The conclusion being that a lot of money going from KPFA to Pacifica, and not a lot coming back from Pacifica.
Treasurer's Report
The KPFA LSB treasurer is Barbara Whipperman, who will be leaving the LSB in December.
KPFA's fiscal year ends in October. The treasurer's report showed that KPFA is ahead of budget for FY2016. Barbara noted that the Fall Fund Drive was successful, and that some money came in during the month of September. However, the costs associated with the Fund Drive will be accrued in October, and therefore were not shown in the budget we received at the meeting because she did not have the October figures in time to include in the budget.
Phone Room Volunteers -- KPFA did not use phone room volunteers for the Fall Fund Drive. Because of a personnel change at the station KPFA used a call center for that fund drive. However, KPFA expects to use phone room volunteers for the next fund drive, which will start on Dec. 6.
Craft Fair -- The KPFA Craft Fair will be held on December 17 and 18. KPFA will received income from payments at the door, which is expected to be around $20,000 - $30,000.
Major Donors -- Major donor donations (donations greater than $1,000) have fallen off. Quincy is trying to expand KPFA's network of major donors.
Debts and Payments Between KPFA and Pacifica --
Business Manager Maria Negret reiterated that KPFA is completely up-to-date on its Central Services payments, and that other stations are not fully paying their Central Services obligations. The lack of Corporation for Pubic Broadcasting (CPB) money has aggravated this problem. Pacifica is not receiving CPB money because it has not filed audits for 2014 or 2015. Maria also discussed a debt of $1.4 million that Pacifica owes KPFA. In 2000 Pacifica moved its national offices from D.C. to Berkeley. To accomplish this move, Pacifica borrowed $1.4 million from KPFA. In 2006, this debt to KPFA was re-classified on Pacifica's books from a "current receivable" to a "long-term receivable". According to Maria, this book-keeping maneuver had the practical effect of eliminating Pacifica's duty to re-pay KPFA, and no payments have been made since 2006 on this debt.
ByLaw Amendment
The Pacifica National Board (PNB) has proposed two bylaw amendments. Information on these amendments can be found here. The LSB rejected both proposed bylaw amendments.
Election to Fill Vacant Position on PNB
Brian Edwards-Tiekert was the staff representative to the PNB. Since he has resigned, a new rep had to be elected. Staff members Anthony Fest and Lewis Sawyer ran. Anthony spoke about his commitment to KPFA and the LSB, and how he attends essentially all LSB meetings and PNB committees that he has joined. Lewis Sawyer wasn't present at the LSB meeting, but was elected on a straight party-line vote. So "S"K** retains a person from their faction on the PNB.
Crisis At Pacifica
The LSB spent quite a bit of time discussing the future of KFPA and Pacifica. Carole Travis spoke of the intent of all of the proposals to explore ways to preserve Pacifica at this urgent time with Trump as president. It's hard to capture the in-depth discussion, so you can listen to part 1 here and part 2 here.
The LSB looked at recommendations to send to the PNB, and also looked at actions that KPFA could take independently from Pacifica.
Recommendations to the PNB
The LSB voted to forward 3 plans to the PNB. These plans are:
Pacifica Recovery Plan -- Signal Swap, Pay Debts, Build Common Ground
Saving Pacifica -- Signal Swap, and Major Restructuring
Saving Pacifica -- KPFA Assumes Pacifica's Debt, separating the station from Pacifica
Plans 1 and 2 are similar in that they both propose a signal swap for WBAI to raise funds. The difference is that Plan 1 will use some of the money raised to pay for a facilitated process to build common ground across the Network. The facilitated process will be used to restructure Pacifica and bring the station forward.
Plan 2 proposes a signal swap, but then goes right to the restructuring process. Plan 2 has some proposed draft bylaws as part of the restructuring process.
Plan 3 has been receiving the most attention, but let's be wary of this. Trump received the most attention, and look what happened. Plan 3 involves KPFA assuming Pacifica's debt in exchange for KPFA receiving its broadcast license. In other words, KPFA would no longer be one of the sister-stations in the Pacifica Network. It would most likely be an affiliate of Pacifica.
In the opinion of many, Plan 3 proves what they have been saying all along: that "S"K has been trying to take KPFA out of Pacifica. And instead of discussing the plans, these people engage in a review of the past to assign blame. Instead of proposing viable plans that deal with the reality of a dysfunctional National Board, these people say things like: "the audits must be done". Everyone agrees, the audits must be done. But they have no real path to getting the audits done with a dysfunctional PNB and no money.
It's like a card game. Members of UCR and the crisis group through their meetings with S”K and independents have finally gotten "S"K to show their cards, to lay down their hand. And it's as expected -- they want to separate KPFA from Pacifica.
This process has also provided members of UCR an opportunity to propose alternative options in alignment with the UCR Platform goal of preserving all five stations and the Pacifica network, seen in Plan #1.
"S"K is in the majority and controls the KPFA LSB. Just like they got their staff rep elected to the PNB, they can pass anything they want at the LSB meetings. It's a credit to more than two years of work by those in the crisis group that there is a proposal for saving all five stations (Plan #1) on the table, and that the KPFA LSB actually voted to forward Plan #1 to the PNB.
The very existence of these plans has caused controversy across the Network. Interestingly, it has exposed a real difference between alleged allies "S"K and the Justice and Unity Caucus (JUC) at WBAI. Cerene Roberts and others from JUC are proposing a License Management Agreement (LMA), and reject a signal swap.
Signal Swap or LMA ?
A signal swap means that the frequency of WBAI would be changed, but WBAI would retain the right to control its programming. The WBAI frequency is in the commercial range on the dial. It's possible to swap the signal to the non-commercial range, and recover some money from this swap.
An LMA means that Pacifica would no longer have control over the content on WBAI. An LMA means that another entity takes control of the radio frequency and content for up to 10 years. Supposedly, the station will be able to recover during this time, and after 10 years, control of station would be returned to Pacifica. Ten years is a long time to wait to regain control of the content being played at WBAI. Especially given that we are looking at the start of a Trump Administration.
It is far better for Pacifica and WBAI to retain control over the content of the station through a signal swap, rather than losing control of content by an LMA.
Possible Independent Action by KPFA
The last two plans/proposals are actions that the KPFA LSB can take on its own. There are:
4. 501(c)(3) Proposal
5. Lawsuit
501(c)(3) Proposal --
In addition, the LSB voted to form a task force to explore creating a 501(c)(3). This proposal would create a non-profit that would be available to receive KPFA's broadcast license if Pacifica fails. In addition, this non-profit would be tasked with raising money from KPFA donors who are unwilling to give directly to KPFA because they are worried that Pacifica will take the money. The vote on this proposal went along party lines as well, with "S"K members voting for it, and UCR members voting against or abstaining.
Lawsuit --
Some KPFA LSB members believe that nothing will happen; that the PNB is paralyzed and will not take any real action to save Pacifica or KPFA. Therefore, as explained by Bill Campisi, they propose filing a lawsuit to bring the various sides together for forced mediation through the court. The lawsuit, according to Campisi, would seek dissolution of Pacifica, but the intent would not be to actually dissolve Pacifica. Instead, through standard alternative-dispute-resolution measures used by courts, the various factions would be brought into dispute resolution as an attempt to restructure and revive Pacifica. Campisi describes this proposal as a last-ditch effort to make other stations and the PNB understand the seriousness of what is happening, and to possibly force them to actually solve the problems facing Pacifica.
Conclusion
There are no easy answers to the difficult issues facing Pacifica and KPFA. However, thanks to the efforts of those in the crisis group and other interested people, a discussion has begun. Rather than demonizing each other, is it possible to rationally discuss how to solve the problems facing Pacific? Only time will tell.
2. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS
Sabrina Jacobs interviewed Tony Gonzales, Director of AIM West on "A Rude Awakening". This week, AIM West is having a conference in the Mission in San Francisco in solidarity with the Water Protectors in North Dakota.
If you want to take stand in support of indigenous people here in the Bay Area, there will be an protest at the Emeryville Shellmound on Black Friday from noon to 3 pm.
Sabrina also interviewed Berkeley Mayor-Elect Jesse Arreguin about the inability of the city of Berkeley to compassionately approach houseless people living on the streets, and his plans to change that.
** UCR often uses "S"K to refer to Save KPFA. "Save KPFA" was first used in the 1990s to represent the thousands of people who poured into the streets to protect Free Speech Radio on KPFA. That group disbanded after successfully removing a self-selecting board, and opening up the airwaves, and the Save KPFA name was not used. Then, several years back, a group called "Concerned Listeners" appropriated the name Save KPFA, and began using it to identify their viewpoint. However, many members of United for Community Radio were members of the original Save KPFA, and supported (and support) the views of the original Save KPFA.
This Newsletter is edited by Sharon Adams, currently serving on the KPFA Local Station Board, and a member of United for Community Radio.
Like, Share and Message us on Facebook: United for Community Radio
Visit our website: http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org
This is not an official Pacifica Foundation Newsletter nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA, KPFK, KPFT, WBAI, WPFW). Opinions and facts stated herein belong to the author(s) and should not be assumed to reflect the editorial stance or policy of Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations, or the opinions of management, the Pacifica National Board, or radio station staff. This disclaimer is required by the Pacifica Network.
DIVERSIFY
&
DEMOCRATIZE
KPFA
November 16, 2016
For Immediate Release
Rumored Asset Grab
Berkeley - A reliable anonymous source has indicated the Berkeley wing of the Siegel/Brazon faction, who refer to themselves as "Save KPFA", intend to present an offer at the next KPFA local station board meeting on November 19 to pay off Pacifica's debts (last reported at $4-5 million dollars) and in exchange get KPFA's broadcasting license transferred to themselves.
It is assumed the transfer would be to the "KPFA Foundation", the 501(c) 3 established by board member and former IED Margy Wilkinson and corporate counsel Dan Siegel and headquartered at Siegel's office. The founding articles of the "KPFA Foundation", which steal the Pacifica mission statement, can be found here. Wilkinson is terming off KPFA's local station board in December and apparently hopes to take KPFA's broadcast license with her.
While the details remain to be seen, and it isn't clear if premature disclosure of the rumored offer will change the timeline, a few things can be said about what is rumored will occur.
KPFA's broadcast license, which is one of the two in the network that is commercially convertible, can confidently be stated to be worth a minimum of $50 million dollars. KUSF's former 3,000 watt transmitter in the San Francisco Bay Area (the former cutting edge alternative station that now plays classical music) was sold for $3.75 million dollars in 2011. KPFA's license is 59,000 watts or 20 times the wattage. The Berkeley assets also include three buildings on Martin Luther King Jr Way (#1923, #1925 and #1929. #1929 contain's KPFA's broadcast studio), a transmitter site in the hills above Berkeley, the smaller KPFB-FM license, and two translator stations in Bonny Doon and Oakley. The station may have also set up a third translator station in Santa Cruz.
Whatever may or may not be included, the offer would appear to be for no more than 1/10 the value of the assets and possibly considerably less. When board members attempt to secure the assets of nonprofit organizations at a fraction of their value, such deals are usually labeled as self-dealing transactions.
The remaining Pacifica Foundation, after such a deal, would be a network of 4 major market radio stations, a national headquarters, an archival collection, and the program service Audioport which serves about 200 community radio stations across the country via the affiliates program. It would not be expected to be able to sustain itself going forward due to the loss of 32% of its income and deficit operations at most of its divisions. It's also not clear a new KPFA could sustain itself, given the need to hire additional administrative staff and vendors for audit services, payroll administration, additional insurance and tax preparation, among other needs. KPFA operated at a deficit for much of 2016 and finally moved its entire October fund drive a month forward into September due to financial pain that had the general manager declaring the station on the verge of collapse a few months ago.
The offer is said to have been disclosed at an informal group that calls itself the "crisis group", which is self-appointed and includes some members of the current local station board, some KPFA paid staff members, and a few selected listeners. The group meets privately and does not disclose the contents of their discussions or report back to any member-elected KPFA or Pacifica body. The meetings are not open to the public or uninvited KPFA members and do not release minutes. The group's only known previous activity was a 2015 civility pledge signed by a mere two dozen people across the country (a few of whom signed in jest).
In general, Pacifica in Exile prefers not to publish materials that cannot be definitively substantiated at the time of release, but given the gravity of this matter to the future of all of the Pacifica stations, we are making an exception since all Pacifica members have the right to know if such an offer is in the making, as all would be affected by it. The KPFA local station board has no power to dispose of foundation assets, but presumably the idea of presenting at the Saturday meeting is to have the Siegel/Brazon board majority formally recommend it to the national board of directors, despite the financial paucity of the offer. Pacifica's bylaws indicate that such a significant transfer of assets would have to put to an up or down vote of the Pacifica membership nationwide.
What would a privatized KPFA look like? Should the transfer occur, leaving aside the fates of the other Pacifica stations, archives and affiliates program, the new KPFA would likely dispense with most of the reforms instituted after 1999 and revert to a more traditional nonprofit industry structure with a self-appointed board and less stringent public participation requirements. It is not known if the new organization would apply for Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds, so it may exempt itself from that body's open meeting requirements which form the basis for Pacifica's own. Community advisory boards and program councils, both manifestations of Pacifica's attempts at democratic participation, as well as the unpaid staff organization, might all cease to exist along with member and staffer voting rights. It is not known if the new organization would be unionized, if the apprenticeship program would be maintained or what the ratio of paid to volunteer-produced programming or music to public affairs programming, would be after the transition. Members would revert to donor status with no commensurate rights regarding the new organization's bylaws, structure, or activities beyond choosing to donate - or not.
Such a fate would be an ironic end to the Pacifica democratic experiment, which was foisted on a somewhat reluctant national network after KPFA initiated a rebellion in 1999 following the firing of former general manager Nicole Sawaya. Local lawsuits, including one by the then-KPFA-local-board demanding the power to select national board representatives and a "listener lawsuit" demanding the California Attorney General provide voting rights to the station's donors, eventually toppled Pacifica's self-selected board of directors some time after a 50-day standoff in front of the station brought the City of Berkeley to a virtual halt in the summer of 1999.
Demands for the transformation of the station into a more diverse and community-based operation drove the protests and lawsuits. Such demands remain somewhat unmet, although a few of the innovations including the creation of Hard Knock Radio, the entry of several programs via the program council including Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, Guns and Butter, and the Women's Magazine, and Morning Mix refugees the Project Censored Show, A Rude Awakening, Work Week and El Show de Andres Soto remain staples of the current program grid.
The move to secede from Pacifica by the Berkeley Siegel-Brazonites follows the faction's March 2014 board coup by about two and a half years. Since then, 7 of the board's 12 officer positions (chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer) have been filled by members of KPFA's local station board, representing more than twice the dominance of any other station in the leadership of the national Pacifica board. (The next nearest is WPFW with 3 of the 12). Many of the problems anticipated in an attorney general complaint originally filed in March of 2014 by 8 former Pacifica board members, including the loss of directors and officers liability insurance, the loss of millions of dollars in Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants, labor troubles and the failure to complete timely financial audits came to pass as predicted under the leadership of the faction's Margy Wilkinson and successor volunteer ED Lydia Brazon. The faction now reportedly seeks to secede from, essentially, itself. At a 90% discount.
A timeline of the now more than two year old coup by the Siegel/Brazon faction can be seen here.
KPFA's November 19th board meeting will be held at the North Berkeley Senior Center at Hearst and Martin Luther King Jr Way in Downtown Berkeley beginning at 11:00am.
**
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###
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UCR Outreach
Subject: Report from Nov. 17, 2016 KPFA Local Station Board meeting
Date: November 22, 2016 at 7:03:11 AM PST
Report on Nov. 19 KPFA Local Station Board Meeting
View this email in your browser
In this Newsletter:
1. Report From KPFA Local Station Board Meeting on Nov. 17, 2016
- Public Comment
- General Manager's Report
- Treasurer's Report
- Bylaw Amendment Proposal
- Election of Staff Representation to PNB
- Discussion of Crisis at Pacifica
2. Radio Highlights - "A Rude Awakening" interviews Director of AIM West Tony Gonzales
REPORT FROM NOV. 17 KPFA LOCAL STATION BOARD MEETING
By: Sharon Adams
The KPFA Local Station Board meeting was mainly devoted to a discussion of various plans and proposals to save Pacifica and KPFA. This discussion was toward the end of the meeting. The meeting will be described in chronological order, so skip to the end if you want to read about the proposals.
Public Comment
There was a good turn-out of interested listeners and members. More people showed up than usual, demonstrating that members really care about the future KPFA and Pacifica. Thanks for showing up!!!
General Manager's Report
Quincy McCoy gave the General Manager's report. The report mentioned the continued financial precariousness of KPFA and Pacifica as a whole. Quincy also recognized that KFPA listeners stepped up once again to support Free Speech radio, noting that the Fall Fund Drive exceeded its goal, and that the fulfillment rate is already at over 80%.
KPFA's expanded election coverage also received support from listeners. Quoting Quincy: "KPFA has the opportunity to be a number of things: influencer, thought leader, connector and a driver of high-level engagement that other public radio stations aren't courageous enough to be."
KPFA host Mitch Jeserich will be going to Washington D.C. for about 3 weeks to keep tabs on the beginning of the Trump Administration.
Union negotiations were suspended back in September. Talks resume on 11/22/16.
Central Services -- KPFA pays about $500,000 per year in Central Service payments to support Pacifica and the Archives. In return, according to Business Manager Maria Negret, KPFA receives corporate insurance and payroll services that the business manager said is not used by KPFA. The conclusion being that a lot of money going from KPFA to Pacifica, and not a lot coming back from Pacifica.
Treasurer's Report
The KPFA LSB treasurer is Barbara Whipperman, who will be leaving the LSB in December.
KPFA's fiscal year ends in October. The treasurer's report showed that KPFA is ahead of budget for FY2016. Barbara noted that the Fall Fund Drive was successful, and that some money came in during the month of September. However, the costs associated with the Fund Drive will be accrued in October, and therefore were not shown in the budget we received at the meeting because she did not have the October figures in time to include in the budget.
Phone Room Volunteers -- KPFA did not use phone room volunteers for the Fall Fund Drive. Because of a personnel change at the station KPFA used a call center for that fund drive. However, KPFA expects to use phone room volunteers for the next fund drive, which will start on Dec. 6.
Craft Fair -- The KPFA Craft Fair will be held on December 17 and 18. KPFA will received income from payments at the door, which is expected to be around $20,000 - $30,000.
Major Donors -- Major donor donations (donations greater than $1,000) have fallen off. Quincy is trying to expand KPFA's network of major donors.
Debts and Payments Between KPFA and Pacifica --
Business Manager Maria Negret reiterated that KPFA is completely up-to-date on its Central Services payments, and that other stations are not fully paying their Central Services obligations. The lack of Corporation for Pubic Broadcasting (CPB) money has aggravated this problem. Pacifica is not receiving CPB money because it has not filed audits for 2014 or 2015. Maria also discussed a debt of $1.4 million that Pacifica owes KPFA. In 2000 Pacifica moved its national offices from D.C. to Berkeley. To accomplish this move, Pacifica borrowed $1.4 million from KPFA. In 2006, this debt to KPFA was re-classified on Pacifica's books from a "current receivable" to a "long-term receivable". According to Maria, this book-keeping maneuver had the practical effect of eliminating Pacifica's duty to re-pay KPFA, and no payments have been made since 2006 on this debt.
ByLaw Amendment
The Pacifica National Board (PNB) has proposed two bylaw amendments. Information on these amendments can be found here. The LSB rejected both proposed bylaw amendments.
Election to Fill Vacant Position on PNB
Brian Edwards-Tiekert was the staff representative to the PNB. Since he has resigned, a new rep had to be elected. Staff members Anthony Fest and Lewis Sawyer ran. Anthony spoke about his commitment to KPFA and the LSB, and how he attends essentially all LSB meetings and PNB committees that he has joined. Lewis Sawyer wasn't present at the LSB meeting, but was elected on a straight party-line vote. So "S"K** retains a person from their faction on the PNB.
Crisis At Pacifica
The LSB spent quite a bit of time discussing the future of KFPA and Pacifica. Carole Travis spoke of the intent of all of the proposals to explore ways to preserve Pacifica at this urgent time with Trump as president. It's hard to capture the in-depth discussion, so you can listen to part 1 here and part 2 here.
The LSB looked at recommendations to send to the PNB, and also looked at actions that KPFA could take independently from Pacifica.
Recommendations to the PNB
The LSB voted to forward 3 plans to the PNB. These plans are:
Pacifica Recovery Plan -- Signal Swap, Pay Debts, Build Common Ground
Saving Pacifica -- Signal Swap, and Major Restructuring
Saving Pacifica -- KPFA Assumes Pacifica's Debt, separating the station from Pacifica
Plans 1 and 2 are similar in that they both propose a signal swap for WBAI to raise funds. The difference is that Plan 1 will use some of the money raised to pay for a facilitated process to build common ground across the Network. The facilitated process will be used to restructure Pacifica and bring the station forward.
Plan 2 proposes a signal swap, but then goes right to the restructuring process. Plan 2 has some proposed draft bylaws as part of the restructuring process.
Plan 3 has been receiving the most attention, but let's be wary of this. Trump received the most attention, and look what happened. Plan 3 involves KPFA assuming Pacifica's debt in exchange for KPFA receiving its broadcast license. In other words, KPFA would no longer be one of the sister-stations in the Pacifica Network. It would most likely be an affiliate of Pacifica.
In the opinion of many, Plan 3 proves what they have been saying all along: that "S"K has been trying to take KPFA out of Pacifica. And instead of discussing the plans, these people engage in a review of the past to assign blame. Instead of proposing viable plans that deal with the reality of a dysfunctional National Board, these people say things like: "the audits must be done". Everyone agrees, the audits must be done. But they have no real path to getting the audits done with a dysfunctional PNB and no money.
It's like a card game. Members of UCR and the crisis group through their meetings with S”K and independents have finally gotten "S"K to show their cards, to lay down their hand. And it's as expected -- they want to separate KPFA from Pacifica.
This process has also provided members of UCR an opportunity to propose alternative options in alignment with the UCR Platform goal of preserving all five stations and the Pacifica network, seen in Plan #1.
"S"K is in the majority and controls the KPFA LSB. Just like they got their staff rep elected to the PNB, they can pass anything they want at the LSB meetings. It's a credit to more than two years of work by those in the crisis group that there is a proposal for saving all five stations (Plan #1) on the table, and that the KPFA LSB actually voted to forward Plan #1 to the PNB.
The very existence of these plans has caused controversy across the Network. Interestingly, it has exposed a real difference between alleged allies "S"K and the Justice and Unity Caucus (JUC) at WBAI. Cerene Roberts and others from JUC are proposing a License Management Agreement (LMA), and reject a signal swap.
Signal Swap or LMA ?
A signal swap means that the frequency of WBAI would be changed, but WBAI would retain the right to control its programming. The WBAI frequency is in the commercial range on the dial. It's possible to swap the signal to the non-commercial range, and recover some money from this swap.
An LMA means that Pacifica would no longer have control over the content on WBAI. An LMA means that another entity takes control of the radio frequency and content for up to 10 years. Supposedly, the station will be able to recover during this time, and after 10 years, control of station would be returned to Pacifica. Ten years is a long time to wait to regain control of the content being played at WBAI. Especially given that we are looking at the start of a Trump Administration.
It is far better for Pacifica and WBAI to retain control over the content of the station through a signal swap, rather than losing control of content by an LMA.
Possible Independent Action by KPFA
The last two plans/proposals are actions that the KPFA LSB can take on its own. There are:
4. 501(c)(3) Proposal
5. Lawsuit
501(c)(3) Proposal --
In addition, the LSB voted to form a task force to explore creating a 501(c)(3). This proposal would create a non-profit that would be available to receive KPFA's broadcast license if Pacifica fails. In addition, this non-profit would be tasked with raising money from KPFA donors who are unwilling to give directly to KPFA because they are worried that Pacifica will take the money. The vote on this proposal went along party lines as well, with "S"K members voting for it, and UCR members voting against or abstaining.
Lawsuit --
Some KPFA LSB members believe that nothing will happen; that the PNB is paralyzed and will not take any real action to save Pacifica or KPFA. Therefore, as explained by Bill Campisi, they propose filing a lawsuit to bring the various sides together for forced mediation through the court. The lawsuit, according to Campisi, would seek dissolution of Pacifica, but the intent would not be to actually dissolve Pacifica. Instead, through standard alternative-dispute-resolution measures used by courts, the various factions would be brought into dispute resolution as an attempt to restructure and revive Pacifica. Campisi describes this proposal as a last-ditch effort to make other stations and the PNB understand the seriousness of what is happening, and to possibly force them to actually solve the problems facing Pacifica.
Conclusion
There are no easy answers to the difficult issues facing Pacifica and KPFA. However, thanks to the efforts of those in the crisis group and other interested people, a discussion has begun. Rather than demonizing each other, is it possible to rationally discuss how to solve the problems facing Pacific? Only time will tell.
2. RADIO HIGHLIGHTS
Sabrina Jacobs interviewed Tony Gonzales, Director of AIM West on "A Rude Awakening". This week, AIM West is having a conference in the Mission in San Francisco in solidarity with the Water Protectors in North Dakota.
If you want to take stand in support of indigenous people here in the Bay Area, there will be an protest at the Emeryville Shellmound on Black Friday from noon to 3 pm.
Sabrina also interviewed Berkeley Mayor-Elect Jesse Arreguin about the inability of the city of Berkeley to compassionately approach houseless people living on the streets, and his plans to change that.
** UCR often uses "S"K to refer to Save KPFA. "Save KPFA" was first used in the 1990s to represent the thousands of people who poured into the streets to protect Free Speech Radio on KPFA. That group disbanded after successfully removing a self-selecting board, and opening up the airwaves, and the Save KPFA name was not used. Then, several years back, a group called "Concerned Listeners" appropriated the name Save KPFA, and began using it to identify their viewpoint. However, many members of United for Community Radio were members of the original Save KPFA, and supported (and support) the views of the original Save KPFA.
This Newsletter is edited by Sharon Adams, currently serving on the KPFA Local Station Board, and a member of United for Community Radio.
Like, Share and Message us on Facebook: United for Community Radio
Visit our website: http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org
This is not an official Pacifica Foundation Newsletter nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations (KPFA, KPFK, KPFT, WBAI, WPFW). Opinions and facts stated herein belong to the author(s) and should not be assumed to reflect the editorial stance or policy of Pacifica Foundation, or any of the five Pacifica Radio Stations, or the opinions of management, the Pacifica National Board, or radio station staff. This disclaimer is required by the Pacifica Network.
DIVERSIFY
&
DEMOCRATIZE
KPFA
November 16, 2016
For Immediate Release
Rumored Asset Grab
Berkeley - A reliable anonymous source has indicated the Berkeley wing of the Siegel/Brazon faction, who refer to themselves as "Save KPFA", intend to present an offer at the next KPFA local station board meeting on November 19 to pay off Pacifica's debts (last reported at $4-5 million dollars) and in exchange get KPFA's broadcasting license transferred to themselves.
It is assumed the transfer would be to the "KPFA Foundation", the 501(c) 3 established by board member and former IED Margy Wilkinson and corporate counsel Dan Siegel and headquartered at Siegel's office. The founding articles of the "KPFA Foundation", which steal the Pacifica mission statement, can be found here. Wilkinson is terming off KPFA's local station board in December and apparently hopes to take KPFA's broadcast license with her.
While the details remain to be seen, and it isn't clear if premature disclosure of the rumored offer will change the timeline, a few things can be said about what is rumored will occur.
KPFA's broadcast license, which is one of the two in the network that is commercially convertible, can confidently be stated to be worth a minimum of $50 million dollars. KUSF's former 3,000 watt transmitter in the San Francisco Bay Area (the former cutting edge alternative station that now plays classical music) was sold for $3.75 million dollars in 2011. KPFA's license is 59,000 watts or 20 times the wattage. The Berkeley assets also include three buildings on Martin Luther King Jr Way (#1923, #1925 and #1929. #1929 contain's KPFA's broadcast studio), a transmitter site in the hills above Berkeley, the smaller KPFB-FM license, and two translator stations in Bonny Doon and Oakley. The station may have also set up a third translator station in Santa Cruz.
Whatever may or may not be included, the offer would appear to be for no more than 1/10 the value of the assets and possibly considerably less. When board members attempt to secure the assets of nonprofit organizations at a fraction of their value, such deals are usually labeled as self-dealing transactions.
The remaining Pacifica Foundation, after such a deal, would be a network of 4 major market radio stations, a national headquarters, an archival collection, and the program service Audioport which serves about 200 community radio stations across the country via the affiliates program. It would not be expected to be able to sustain itself going forward due to the loss of 32% of its income and deficit operations at most of its divisions. It's also not clear a new KPFA could sustain itself, given the need to hire additional administrative staff and vendors for audit services, payroll administration, additional insurance and tax preparation, among other needs. KPFA operated at a deficit for much of 2016 and finally moved its entire October fund drive a month forward into September due to financial pain that had the general manager declaring the station on the verge of collapse a few months ago.
The offer is said to have been disclosed at an informal group that calls itself the "crisis group", which is self-appointed and includes some members of the current local station board, some KPFA paid staff members, and a few selected listeners. The group meets privately and does not disclose the contents of their discussions or report back to any member-elected KPFA or Pacifica body. The meetings are not open to the public or uninvited KPFA members and do not release minutes. The group's only known previous activity was a 2015 civility pledge signed by a mere two dozen people across the country (a few of whom signed in jest).
In general, Pacifica in Exile prefers not to publish materials that cannot be definitively substantiated at the time of release, but given the gravity of this matter to the future of all of the Pacifica stations, we are making an exception since all Pacifica members have the right to know if such an offer is in the making, as all would be affected by it. The KPFA local station board has no power to dispose of foundation assets, but presumably the idea of presenting at the Saturday meeting is to have the Siegel/Brazon board majority formally recommend it to the national board of directors, despite the financial paucity of the offer. Pacifica's bylaws indicate that such a significant transfer of assets would have to put to an up or down vote of the Pacifica membership nationwide.
What would a privatized KPFA look like? Should the transfer occur, leaving aside the fates of the other Pacifica stations, archives and affiliates program, the new KPFA would likely dispense with most of the reforms instituted after 1999 and revert to a more traditional nonprofit industry structure with a self-appointed board and less stringent public participation requirements. It is not known if the new organization would apply for Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds, so it may exempt itself from that body's open meeting requirements which form the basis for Pacifica's own. Community advisory boards and program councils, both manifestations of Pacifica's attempts at democratic participation, as well as the unpaid staff organization, might all cease to exist along with member and staffer voting rights. It is not known if the new organization would be unionized, if the apprenticeship program would be maintained or what the ratio of paid to volunteer-produced programming or music to public affairs programming, would be after the transition. Members would revert to donor status with no commensurate rights regarding the new organization's bylaws, structure, or activities beyond choosing to donate - or not.
Such a fate would be an ironic end to the Pacifica democratic experiment, which was foisted on a somewhat reluctant national network after KPFA initiated a rebellion in 1999 following the firing of former general manager Nicole Sawaya. Local lawsuits, including one by the then-KPFA-local-board demanding the power to select national board representatives and a "listener lawsuit" demanding the California Attorney General provide voting rights to the station's donors, eventually toppled Pacifica's self-selected board of directors some time after a 50-day standoff in front of the station brought the City of Berkeley to a virtual halt in the summer of 1999.
Demands for the transformation of the station into a more diverse and community-based operation drove the protests and lawsuits. Such demands remain somewhat unmet, although a few of the innovations including the creation of Hard Knock Radio, the entry of several programs via the program council including Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, Guns and Butter, and the Women's Magazine, and Morning Mix refugees the Project Censored Show, A Rude Awakening, Work Week and El Show de Andres Soto remain staples of the current program grid.
The move to secede from Pacifica by the Berkeley Siegel-Brazonites follows the faction's March 2014 board coup by about two and a half years. Since then, 7 of the board's 12 officer positions (chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer) have been filled by members of KPFA's local station board, representing more than twice the dominance of any other station in the leadership of the national Pacifica board. (The next nearest is WPFW with 3 of the 12). Many of the problems anticipated in an attorney general complaint originally filed in March of 2014 by 8 former Pacifica board members, including the loss of directors and officers liability insurance, the loss of millions of dollars in Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants, labor troubles and the failure to complete timely financial audits came to pass as predicted under the leadership of the faction's Margy Wilkinson and successor volunteer ED Lydia Brazon. The faction now reportedly seeks to secede from, essentially, itself. At a 90% discount.
A timeline of the now more than two year old coup by the Siegel/Brazon faction can be seen here.
KPFA's November 19th board meeting will be held at the North Berkeley Senior Center at Hearst and Martin Luther King Jr Way in Downtown Berkeley beginning at 11:00am.
**
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Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases including the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. Pacifica Foundation Radio operates noncommercial radio stations in New York, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and syndicates content to over 180 affiliates. It invented listener-supported radio.
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I have met with some members of the SK (deceptively so-called SAVE-KPFA, not the original group of the 90s with that name, of which I was then one) group in an attempt to see if some individuals could find enough in common to create something to break through the log-jam that happens in Pacifica. I have always had my doubts that a huge amount could happen quickly, but if people can not even sit in a room and talk with those whose methods and goals they oppose, what hope is there for a pacific future? So, ok. We very few who did this told other UCR members. We reported back in general terms at first, but had agreed not to do blow by blows. Now some are really distorting these "plans" which are really several very diverse proposals, only one of which I support a part of, and that is one that calls for a very wide network-wide dialog and publicity campaign to get many involved in understanding the problems and discuss possible solutions. If anyone would listen to the KPFA Local Station Board Meeting of 11/19/16, particularly the beginning of this agenda item, they would hear that these are just some draft suggestions with the hope that others will think publicly and do SOMETHING. This isn't UCR - it is a few individuals and I doubt any UCR members subscribe to the plans for dissolving the network in any way.