Pacifica board votes 11-5 to censure two members for their role in secret contract

SaveKPFA folks often yell at, threaten, or censure their opponents; it's happened to me more than once. A couple years ago then boardmember Dan Siegel (now candidate for Oakland Mayor) approached me after a Local Station Board meeting and growled, “You're a chicken-shitt coward!”

http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2011/01/siegel-stuff.html

On another occasion Jack Kurzweil (a SaveKPFA boardmember) made this motion: "I move that Daniel Borgström be prohibited from addressing this KPFA Local Station Board for the next year."

http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2012/12/please-dont-ask-any-more-questions-about.html

It's the kind of stuff that makes great anecdotes.

It is amazing that the government thugs known as SaveKPFA dare to publish anything on this website. We are all following the Support KPFA websites,
http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/
and
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedForCommunityRadio
Here are excerpts from recent articles:
http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1627
NOTHING BUT SHRIEKING
Posted on August 16, 2014
Berkeley- The rogue board occupied itself on Thursday with a midnight-special lynching, picking the cheery time of 11:45pm EST to devote a solid 12 minutes to voting on a meaningless statement of censure to KPFT director Richard Uzzell and Affiliates Director Heather Gray. The censure gained the support of only half the members of the board (11 out of 22), divided entirely along factional lines, and prevented the objects of the “censure motion” from speaking in their own defense, with Uzzell being shouted down and Gray receiving an abrupt 90 seconds prior to the vote, at which point she was shushed into silence. The vote was followed by a shrieking match audible on the audio, during which unelected chair Wilkinson implores former PNB vice-chair Bill Croiser, the volunteer streamer, to “turn off the stream”. The board oddly reversed the normal schedule, holding the closed session at the open session time and the open session at the closed session time, presumably to do the censuring at the latest possible hour of the evening. Audio released by Berkeley’s Save KPFA faction omits the hysterical screaming match and the shouting down of Uzzell and Gray (the entire audio is available here). http://kpftx.org/archive.php
The manipulated snippet from Save KPFA features an amnesia-laden statement from KPFA programmer Brian Edwards-Tiekert that suing Pacifica is bad behavior – Edwards-Tiekert apparently forgetting about the multiple lawsuits and grievances (at least 8) that he, himself, was a party too. Uzzell’s tongue-in-cheek response can be found here.

Members objecting to the board majority’s actions over the past six months can sign a petition.
http://www.pacificaforever.org/
other news from the board meeting, during the rescheduled closed session, attorney John Crigler canceled his planned report, apparently having nothing new to say about the ongoing process to resuscitate Pacifica’s CPB grant funding. The rogue majority is unwilling and/or unable to secure legal services following the resignation of prominent media attorney Terry Gross in March, besides the conflict-ridden relationship with Siegel and Yee, the law firm that employs director Jose Luis Fuentes.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/hr5yzf3gv8r3d93/S+%26+Y+agreement.pdf

A pending complaint to the CA Attorney General Registry of Charitable Trusts by 8 former board members can be found here (in a slightly updated version) http://www.mediafire.com/download/5nsh489qhpr81cg/AG+complaint-+Update.pdf

The AG is responsible for California charitable compliance and can be asked to force the Pacifica board to run for re-election. Pacifica members can send a note to the AG here.
https://oag.ca.gov/charities/contact

In the open session, fired/rehired CFO Raul Salavador announced the organization’s tax filings (IRS form 990 and FTB form 199) had been received “that day” (August 14th). The filing date is August 15th after two 3-month extensions. The documents were not provided to the board and will be filed without being seen by the board, the audit committee or the finance committee. Salvador mentioned he expects the 2013 audit (which has not yet begun) to “greatly transform” the numbers and that it would be necessary to file an amended return. The previous year’s tax return prepared by Salvador in August of 2013 contained over $2 million dollars in discrepancies with the later audit and has not been amended. Salvador’s finally-released financial statements (after 2 missed deadlines) muddle accrual and cash accounting (2012 and 2013 use accrual accounting, 2014 uses cash accounting), and misplace several bequests which are not recorded despite having been deposited in Pacifica-owned bank accounts. The missing bequests include a $105,000 check from Chevron to KPFA, and 5 gifts to WBAI totaling $85,000 including a $10,000 check from Yoko Ono, artist and widow of former Beatle John Lennon. Other problems included no affiliate payments recorded, and no income from KPFK’s spring fund drive. Salvador mentioned that missing items had been “discovered,” but claims that bank accounts were reconciled appear to be specious. For the Chevron check, see
http://www.mediafire.com/download/dxyj9c4rp6kku5d/check.pdf

IED Wilkinson’s board report focused on accusations directed at her predecessor which appear both unsubstantiated and false. The first accusation referred to excessive bank charges incurred to the national office. Salvador’s financial statements indicated average national office bank charges of $2,000 a month from October 2012 to February of 2014. In March of 2014, after Wilkinson inserted herself as the IED, national office bank charges doubled to over $5,000 a month and maintained that level in March, April, May and June of 2014. Wilkinson’s second accusation addressed late fees she claimed were paid on Kaiser health care benefits. Wilkinson was unaware that both CA divisons (the only ones that use Kaiser) pay for their health care benefits directly, not via the national office. Salvador’s financial statements indicated no late payments nor benefits expenses disproportional to the station’s salary expenses. Requests to Wilkinson to substantiate her accusations or withdraw her report to the board were met with silence.

Wilkinson also indicated that Pacifica’s DC station, WPFW-FM, refused to hold a summer mini-drive, along with the other 4 stations, despite financial statements indicating tWPFW was operating at a deficit through June 30th.

The Bay Area chapter of the venerable National Lawyer’s Guild, the legal arm of social justice movements across the nation, issued a letter to KPFA expressing great concern about the station’s direction and the recent removal of community-based public affairs programming from the AM drive-time. The letter stated that KPFA “reduced diversity on its airwaves”, “erased local character”, “silenced excellent reporting” and “engaged in viewpoint suppression”. The letter also refers to a lack of support for critical black programming and issues relevant to Black communities”.
See http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1606

In recent day’s Berkeley’s KPFA has been riven by a conflict over whether or not to provide extended special coverage of the planned blockade at the Port of Oakland of Israeli cargo ships in protest of the Gaza massacres. An initial “no” from KPFA’s management resulted in an impassioned plea from KPFA local board staff rep (UCR-affiliated) and programmer Frank Sterling. Many emails flooded the station protesting the decision. Sterling said KPFA was “breaking his heart”. http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1624

At a department heads meeting that followed Sterling’s plea and an outpouring of community support, the KPFA GM is reported to have punted the final decision to news co-director Aileen Alfandary saying it was “her call”. While Alfandary assented to the broadcast, which aired this morning from 8:30am to 11:00am, Alfandary is a member of the CWA bargaining unit, not the station’s program director, which is a non-union management position. On July 14th, CWA shop steward Phillip Maldari testified at the San Francisco Labor Council that the CWA contract does not deal with programming, and that the bargaining unit “works to bring back the people-not the programming.” KPFA management does not appear to be in compliance with the contract if members of the bargaining unit are exercising sole veto power over programming decisions. The full text of Maldari’s comments to the Labor Council can be found here.

Berkeley-based satirical sound collage Twit-Wit Radio, a 3-minute collaborative spoken word collage produced by noted theatrical director George Coates, continued to spoof the board-induced craziness on July 27th, with snippets of audio drawn from Pacifica’s actual board meetings.
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http://www.unitedforcommunityradio.org/?p=1603
SELLING STATIONS, Posted on August 10, 2014,
Berkeley-As rumors of the intended sale of Pacifica stations have spread widely, members of the rogue majority (with the exception of Houston director Hank Lamb who has been upfront about his desire to sell off NY station WBAI), have insisted the rumors are untrue. But when given the opportunity to put their money where their mouths are, unelected board chair Wilkinson and treasurer Edwards-Tiekert declined. At KPFA’s local station board meeting earlier today, an advisory motion by United for Community Radio-affiliated board member Dave Welsh (former Ramparts editor and SF Labor Council delegate) requesting a policy “that under no circumstances will the broadcast licenses of the five stations that comprise the Pacifica radio network be put up for sale or lease”, treasurer Edwards-Tiekert substituted and passed a motion replacing it with a request to the national board to “to explore and prioritize all options and sell a license as a last resort“.

While Edwards-Tiekert has more verbal finesse than many members affiliated with the Siegel-Brazon faction, who in the past have referred to both East Coast stations as “toast”, and suggested WBAI be “amputated”, the rogue board majority’s reluctance to publicly disavow attorney Dan Siegel’s comments about “organizational Darwinism” suggests that plans to cash in on licenses remain in play. The station’s most lucrative licenses are the two commercially convertible licenses in the Bay Area and New York, although all 5 are worth tens of millions of dollars on the open market.

Members objecting to the board majority’s actions over the past six months can sign a petition here.

In 1999, board explorations of license sales drew the attention of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee of the CA State Legislature, the CA Attorney General and multiple lawsuits, which led to new bylaws that prevent the sale of any network license without the permission of the members.

The rogue board continues to refuse to hold elections to replace themselves. Plans to convert to an online voting system to save $50,000 in printing and postage costs cannot be implemented until the board appoints someone to do the job. Former PNB vice-chair Bill Crosier applied for the job months ago and issued detailed plans for how to proceed, but cannot be hired. IED/IED Wilkinson’s elected term ended in December 2013, before she maneuvered a tied vote into the chairmanship of the board, engineered the firing of the executive director, and replaced her with herself.

A pending complaint to the CA Attorney General Registry of Charitable Trusts by 8 former board members can be found here (in a slightly updated version). The AG is responsible for California charitable compliance and can be asked to force the Pacifica board to run for re-election. Pacifica members can send a note to the AG here.

The fired-and-rehired-34-days-later CFO finally issued another stab at financial statements, but they are filled with problems. PNB treasurer Brian Edwards-Tiekert issued a defensive report casting blame for the reporting void on the departed national office accounting staff and the previous executive director (now 4 executive directors ago). The statement just came out and will undergo further review, but at first glance it omits several bequests and donations (including the $105,000 from Chevron remitted to KPFA, a large bequest to KPFK last fall, and $85,000 in bequests to WBAI reported by the WBAI GM), and contains no payments into Pacifica’s pension plan in the last nine months. LA station KPFK is without community events income, website income or development expenses for several months. Strangely, the statement posits that the network has posted an overall surplus of $106,000 for the year, which probably means numerous expenses have also been omitted. The statement can be seen here.

The fired-and-then-rehired-34-days-later CFO has presided over a national office accounting staff that has largely fled in the past 2 months, with the majority of the accounting staff either quitting or going out on medical leave after an 8-hour mediation session did not resolve complaints dating back to 2013.

A number of donations by check have caused confusion within the network. A $105,000 check with a Chevron logo on it dated from April 2014 was left at KPFA’s printer, and caused distress to station staff who have recently undergone pressure regarding aggressive reporting on the Chevron refinery expansion in Richmond, CA. The check, according to PNB treasurer Edwards-Tiekert, represents the buyback of Chevron from a bequest of shares from an estate, but references to “80 shares” didn’t make sense as the approximate value of 80 shares of Chevon stock is $10,000, not $105,000. Requests for documentation of a donation of approximately 850 shares of Chevron stock have not been answered. CFO Salvador also referred to a check for $150,000 from an unknown donor, describing the check as being from “T Rowe Price”, the national mutual fund/investment firm. By policy, the Pacifica Foundation does not accept corporate donations.

The network’s overall condition has deteriorated in the past 8 months, with Houston’s KPFT unlicensable until its equipment is replaced (the station is on its 5th consecutive temporary authorization to operate at reduced power which expires in November), WBAI’s transmitter remaining unstably housed, the network lacking a corporate counsel, an audit that has not begun 11 months after the end of the last fiscal year, 2014 CPB funding deadlines missed in June, copyright violation cases on file at the FCC, and two external lawsuits, one from the Robert Half personnel agency (for accounting staff unable to work with the rehired CFO), and one from Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship, who produced Free Speech Radio News. The PDGG vs Pacifica lawsuit from the minority directors has continued all remaining matters until September 18th.

KPFA’s recent fund drive eliminated 65 years of community volunteer pledge drive rooms. KPFA GM Quincy McCoy said at the local board meeting that he didn’t really know how much corporate call center Comnet cost the station, but had heard figures between $30,000 and $60,000, which if true, represent a substantial reduction in the fund drive results. This means the station did not meet its fundraising goals, as it did not raise the goal to accommodate the additional expense. The GM also referred to “customer service problems” with the call center. It’s not clear why the experiment went forward with management confused about how much it cost.
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PLEASE READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH AGAIN: As a contributor to KPFA, you paid for EMPLOYEES of a PRIVATE PROFIT BUSINESS to answer phone calls, not volunteers, which means the paltry fundraising was a waste of time.

THIS ALL CAN ONLY BE A DELIBERATE CAMPAIGN BY THESE PROUD DEMOCRATS KNOWN AS "SAVEKPFA" TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE PACIFICA RADIO NETWORK which challenges the war machine, a profit-making operation proudly supported by the Democrats and Republicans 100% as they insist that they have NO DIFFERENCE IN FOREIGN POLICY. It is LUDICROUS that KPFA would ever say no to programming exposing Nazi Israel and its paymaster, Nazi USA. You can hear the Block the Boat program at
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/105708

Unless the State of California enforces the Corporations Code, it is hard to see how the entire Pacifica network will survive much longer. This is speculative but so far, all Margy Wilkinson and her reactionary Democratic Party thug gang are doing is destroying the Pacifica network with malice aforethought. Let us remember, the leading light of these thugs is Larry Bensky, a former KPFA programmer and former editor of the CIA publication, Paris Review. For more on Bensky, see:
1. His attacks to callers on air:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/25/18659813.php

2. Supporters of Pat Scott Gang and union busters American Consulting:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/21/18659436.php

3. More horrors of supporting Concerned Listeners gang:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/22/18626386.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/15/18472757.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/29/18324348.php

4. His opposition to Peace & Freedom and Green Parties:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/27/18495315.php

5. His use of name lists in violation of Pacifica election rules:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/21/18462672.php

6. His opposition to the 9/11 Truth Movement
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/10/18459899.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311830.php

7. His anti-labor outlook on labor programming:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/14/18154241.php

8. His contempt for free speech:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/11/13/17051361.php

9. His attack on William Blum's book exposing the CIA and a reminder that Bensky was editor of the CIA front, the Paris Review, at
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/06/27/17498851.php

10. His ridicule of the fact of history that Nazis influenced the anti-Communist witchhunts of the 1940s-1950s as of course they were first and foremost anti-communist:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/04/05/16762211.php

SaveKPFA loves to punish its opponents with kangroo court style practices. If they believe in "due process" they don't practice it when they are in the majority. They ignore the rules and censure their opponents without minimal due process. Their recent censure of two opposing Pacifica National Board (PNB) members is just one more example of their tyranny of the majority practices that we see whenever they have the majority. It is sad that we need to be SAVED from SaveKPFA!

Pacifica Bylaws require the use of Roberts Rules of Order (RRO). Under RRO if you want to discipline a board member for conduct that took place outside of a meeting you must give them notice of a hearing and allow them to bring witnesses and evidence for their defense. This is "due process". Censuring members at a meeting without notice of a date set for a hearing and the charges they will face, for conduct outside a meeting, where those charged can have time to prepare and present a defense is a gross violation of minimal "due process". This is not the first time they have done this to a board opponent. See the article listed below.

http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2012/07/without-due-process.html

You can find many of their other tyranny of the majority acts, elections violations and various unprincipled acts detailed in may of the articles on the above web site. What kind of progressives don't believe in "due process"? Sectarians that believe that they have the "correct line" and thus must be allowed to do anything to continue their power and leadership. SaveKPFA is not at all concerned about their continuing the corporate culture practices they say they oppose when they ask for your votes.

You can not change an anti-democratic society into a democratic society unless you practice democracy and "due process" in your developing institutions and especially in struggles internal to progressive movements and people.

It is really sad how they trumpet this illegal censure as a great achievment on their web site. SaveKPFA's unprincipled actions to gain and maintain power is one of the reasons that the progressive movement doesn't gain more traction with the victims of our corporate autrocracy. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. How does SaveKPFA's and their allies' behavior differ from the 1999 "hijackers"? I don't see any difference in practice, just the rhetoric.

Margy was elected chair in a procedure that was a violation of the by-laws and the Board, then, at a later date, voted to approve the violation. The majority vote to disregard the by-laws was supposed to make it OK.

http://wbai-nowthen.blogspot.com/2014/08/response-to-recent-graphic-commentary.html