Minutes of the KPFK Local Station Board Meeting of December 17, 2011
The regular monthly meeting of the KPFK Local Station Board was held on
Saturday,
December 17, 2011 at 1:11 PM PST at Peace Center West, 3916 Sepulveda Blvd.,
Culver City,
CA 90230, the chair (Margie Murray, upon election) being in the chair and the
secretary
(John P. Garry III) being present. The minutes of the previous meeting
(November 19, 2011) were approved. Board officers were elected.
Twenty-three members were present, constituting a quorum: Ken Aaron, Chuck
Anderson, Ankine Antaram, Rodrigo Argueta (late), Fred Blair, Lydia Brazon,
Omar Burdet (late),
John Cromshow (1:43), Leonard Isenberg, Kim Kaufman, Fred Klunder, Jim
Lafferty, Ali Lexa, Brenda Medina, Sequoia Olivia Mercier, Dutch Merrick,
Margie Murray, Michael Novick,
John Parker (1:46), Summer Reese (1:49), Lawrence Reyes, John Wenger (2:34),
Lamont Yeakey (1:48).
One member was absent: Aryana Gladney.
Also present: Bernard Duncan (KPFK General Manager), Steve Goldsmith (Audio
Board), Terry Goodman (Audio Recordist, Election Teller) and members of the
public.
Authority and Notice: This meeting was authorized by the LSB by a motion
approved at its meeting of October 19, 2011. Public notice was posted on
December 12, 2011 (see Appendix A).
Audio Recording: The audio of the meeting is available for a limited time at
KPFTX.org
Audio Part 1 and 3 have been temporarily taken offline by Terry Goodman "...in
response to a claim of possible defamation."
[Audio Part 1]
I. CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL (1:11)
The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 1:11 PM.
ANNOUNCEMENTS (1:15)
Novick noticed the beginning of the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning. Merrick
announced Manning's birthday. The Chair thanked Steve Goldsmith for operating
the sound board. Merrick announced that his film One Minute was playing in film
festivals.
MINUTES APPROVAL (1:16)
The minutes of November 19, 2011 were distributed to the board electronically
before the meeting and were approved by a hand vote: Yes-13, No-0, Abstain-1.
Responding to a concern raised by Kaufman, the Secretary committed to check the
accuracy of a passage for possible correction.
AGENDA APPROVAL (1:20)
Following a discussion initiated by Isenberg, Reyes moved to table the agenda
item "Politics Or Pedagogy" until John Cromshow (the host of the show) arrives.
Motion passed without objection.
Kaufman moved to make the Solar Project discussion a closed session. Motion
failed by a hand vote: Yes-6, No-9, Abstain--0.
Aaron moved to move Election of Officers to after General Manager Q&A. Motion
failed by a hand vote: Yes-6, No-8, Abstain-1.
Lafferty moved the Agenda. The amended agenda was approved by a hand vote:
Yes--10, No-0, Abstain-0.
GROUND RULES FOR COMMUNICATION (1:32)
The Chair reiterated the ground rules for board communication and methods of
public participation.
II. SCHEDULING / NOTICE OF MEETINGS (1:32)
Saturday, January 14, 2012, Peace Center West, 1:00-4:00.
III. CHAIR REPORT (1:34)
The Chair delivered an oral report. Discussion followed.
IV. TREASURER'S REPORT (1:47)
Kaufman (Treasurer) gave an oral report. Discussion followed.
V. ELECTION OF OFFICERS (1:51)
[Audio Part 2]
Listener comment was heard after the first two nominations and before each vote
was taken.
Chair nominations: Murray, Novick.
The secret ballot being tied (11-11), by a coin toss Novick was elected Chair.
Novick took the Chair (2:27)
Vice-Chair nominations: Murray, Medina.
By a secret ballot Murray was elected Vice-Chair by a vote of 12-11.
Treasurer nominations: Kaufman, Medina.
The Chair ruled to limit the number of board comments on candidates to four
(two speaking in favor of each candidate). Reyes appealed the ruling of the
Chair and moved to have a third round of board comments. The motion to overrule
the Chair and hold a third round of board comment failed by a hand vote: Yes-
10, No-10, Abstain-0.
[Audio Part 3]
By a secret ballot Kaufman was elected Treasurer by a vote of 13-9.
Brazon moved to hold an election for Secretary at this meeting.
Cromshow moved to publicly advertise the position of Secretary and hold an
election for Secretary at the next meeting. No vote taken-motion mooted by
Brazon's motion.
Brazon's motion passed by a hand vote: Yes-14, No-5, Abstain-1.
Secretary nominations: John Wenger (declined), John P. Garry III.
Running unopposed, Garry was elected by acclamation.
Isenberg moved to amend the agenda to include a discussion of the KPFK's
"Politics Or Pedagogy" program. Motion failed by a hand vote Yes-3, No-11,
Abstain-4.
Reese moved to have a time certain of 4:15 for Bylaws Amendments. Motion passed
without objection.
VI. IMPLEMENTATION / FOLLOW-UP / ACTION ITEMS (3:41)
The Secretary reported on information requests from the previous meeting
regarding Arbitron motions and the PD Search Committee. Ali Lexa (PD Search Co-
Chair) gave a report on the PD Search process. The ICE raids reporting policy
was discussed.
VII. PD SEARCH (included in the above item)
VIII. GENERAL MANAGER Q&A
Klunder moved: "The LSB directs the General Manager to return at its next
meeting either (a) to explain that ICE raids can not be announced on air and
why or (b) to indicate when they will begin to be announced and how and to what
extent and per which procedures."
Motion passed by a hand vote: Yes-17, No-0, Abstain--1.
Wenger noticed a Governance Committee meeting for Monday, January 9, 2011 at
Peace Center West.
Time certain having been reached, the meeting was adjourned and reconvened in
the same place for a Delegates Assembly at 4:14 PM.
[Audio Part 4] Delegates Assembly (see 12-17-2011 Delegates Assembly Minutes)
[Audio Part 5]
The reconvened LSB Meeting was called to order at 4:41 PM PST.
VIII. GENERAL MANAGER Q&A (continued, 4:42)
The General Manager answered questions from the board.
Isenberg moved to definitively end the Solar Project. Ruled out of order by the
Chair.
IX. PUBLIC COMMENT II (4:57)
Public comment was heard for ten minutes.
X. GENERAL MANAGER RESPONDS TO PUBLIC COMMENT
Omitted due to the departure of the General Manager. Murray took the Chair.
Point of Personal Privilege from Reese: Reese responded to a public comment
that was about her.
Lexa moved to extend ten minutes for discussion of the Solar Project. Motion
passed by a hand vote: Yes-10, No--1, Abstain-1. (5:12)
Lexa distributed a "Solar Potential Report" to the board. This report can be
reproduced online at http://solarmap.lacounty.gov/ by entering 3729 Cahuenga
Blvd.
Point of order from Medina: Time has expired, we need to vote to extend.
Lexa moved to extend five minutes. Motion passed without objection.
XI. SOLAR ARRAY PROJECT MOTION (5:20)
Whereas the solar project status report from Management, of November, 2011, in
response to the LSB motion, did not address the LSB's concerns relating to
unsoundness of the contract, the accuracy of the budget or the science asserted
in SunGreen's estimates;
Whereas former KPFK management did not return to the LSB with proposals, as the
LSB authorized the Operations Director to do, but instead incorrectly signed a
contract for $107,649 (only officers of the corporation are vested to sign
contracts) with additional unbudgeted and unaccounted costs bringing the
possible total for the project up to or above approximately $150,000;
Whereas press releases and promotional material contain speculative and
misleading statements;
Whereas former KPFK management presented the Solar Array Project to the public
and LSB as a fait accompli and an "off budget" project, while still making use
of station resources including staff time, solicitation of donations during
fund drive and otherwise, promotion on the website , promotion in the e-
newsletter and a special fund raising event promoted on-air, and time spent in
soliciting grants -- all for an "off budget" project with funds in a restricted
account and not for the general operational budget of the station;
Whereas the October fund drive came in $180,000 under budget and there are
already significant outlays for unbudgeted expenses, such as for the new
transmitter;
The Finance Committee moves that the solar project be brought to the National
Finance Committee for review and recommendations as soon as possible and that
until that adjudication is obtained, there will be no further promotion, press
releases, solicitation of donations, acquisition of grants or any other actions
that would act to fund this project.
Motion passed by a hand vote: Yes-7, No-3, Abstain-1.
Due to expiration of time, the meeting adjourned at 5:29 PM.
Respectfully submitted by John P. Garry III, Secretary
(these minutes were approved on February 15, 2012)
**********
Appendix A-Public Notice
Emailed by Terry Goodman on Monday, December 12, 2011 8:26:41 AM
The KPFK Delegates will meet on Saturday, December 17, 2011 beginning
at 1:00 pm at 3916 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230. This is a
special meeting to consider various proposed ammendments to the
Pacifica Foundation Bylaws. The KPFK Local Station Board will convene
for a regular meeting following the special Delegates meeting. New
LSB officers for the 2012 term should be elected.
Refs:
http://www.kpfk.org/lsbpnbmenu/93-calenderandnotices/5504-delegates-and-lsb-
12172011-100-pm.html
http://www.kpfk.org/eventcal.html?task=view_detail&agid=2327&year=2011&month=12&
day=17
http://www.kpftx.org/pacalendar/calresults.php?eventdate=20111217
**********
Appendix A-Approved Agenda
LSB Meeting
I. Call to Order, Roll Call, Excused Absences, Minutes Approval, Agenda
Approval,
Announcements, Ground Rules for Communication (15
min)
II. Scheduling/Notice of Meetings (5
min)
III. Chair Report (5 min)
IV. Treasurer's Report
V. Election of Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary)
(45 min)
a. Nominations
b. Public Comment I (7.5
min)
c. Voting / Results
VI. Implementation/Follow-Up/Action Items (5 min)
Secretary report on information requests (scheduling of meetings,
Arbitron Motions), Website LSB committee information, et al, LSB
Contract,
ICE Raids Notifications,
VII. PD Search
VIII. General Manager Q&A (15 min)
1X. Public Comment II (questions may be directed to GM) (7.5 min)
X. General Manager responds to public comment. (5
min)
Delegates Meeting
I. Call to Order, Roll Call, Excused Absences, Agenda Approval
(5 min)
II. Public Comment (on Proposed Bylaws Amendments) (7.5 min)
III. Proposed Bylaws Amendments Elections (30
min)
Proposed Amendment 5: Staff Quorum, Art. 3, Sec. 7.
Proposed Amendment 6: Nomination Period, Art. 3, Sec. 7.
Proposed Amendment 8: STV/IRT Voting with Ties, Art. 15, Sec. 1, para 1.
Proposed Amendment 9: STV Droop Threshold, Art. 15, Sec. 1, para 3.
LSB Meeting Reconvenes
XI. Solar Project GM Report & Discussion
(30 min)
Solar Power Motion from Finance Committee
XII. Public Comment IV (7.5 min)
XIII. PNB Director Reports (15 min)
**********
Appendix B-GM Report
PACIFICA RADIO KPFK 90.7 FM
MANAGER'S REPORT TO THE LOCAL STATION BOARD
Saturday, December 17, 2011
(Bernard Duncan, General Manager)
Manager's Overview
. This week the December fund-drive began, and it is planned to keep it
short at seven days. The target is $350,000. At the time this report was
prepared, the total pledged was just over $120,000. The drive will end on
Monday.
. Work is underway to have staff and volunteers undertake Title VII sexual
harassment training in the coming few months. The Pacifica Foundation will
begin the process by having managers complete the training, with other
staff and volunteers following soon after.
. The strongest Santa Ana winds in a decade took out SoCal Edison's power
service to our transmitter site on Mt Wilson (and much of L.A.), and left
us without terrestrial signal for two days. The imminent installation of
our new transmitter and recommissioned back-up generator will alleviate
such eventualities, but the timing was particularly frustrating, just a
week out from the December fund-drive.
. Preparation has begun to clarify and confirm the lists required to
facilitate a trouble-free LSB election process in 2012. This includes
updating and confirming information currently held is databases that
relates to anyone eligible to cast a ballot in the election.
. General - KPFK's Public File is up to date.
Outreach and Development
. Fund Drive Fallout - During this month Development/Outreach has been
focused on Fund Drive deliveries and prep work for the Holiday Season Mini
Pledge Drive.
. Member Benefits - The new format of the Member Benefits Card has been
worked out and will be going into production at the close of the mini
drive.
. Speaker Series - The production team of Uprising Radio produced an
overwhelmingly successful Speaker Event with Gabor Mate which brought over
1,000 listeners to Immanuel Presbyterian Church and an income to KPFK of
more than $9,000*.
. Media Sponsorships - A sponsorship agreement has been negotiated with
the Skirball Cultural Center to support the "2012 Women in World Music"
concert series, which compliments the larger cultural exhibition "Women
Hold Up Half the Sky". The cross-promotion will feature KPFK in print and
their websites, as well as e-blasts to the Skirball's donor base.
. Interns - KPFK is hosting a student intern from UCLA who is working on
updating descriptions of programming for the KPFK website so that access
to information about our shows is reliable, appealing and consistent.
. CAB - The next CAB meeting is scheduled for Sunday, December 18th and will
be focused on building the CAB membership and electing an interim Chair
and Secretary.
Programming
. OccupyLA - The highlight of the last month's programming was the
exceptional coverage of the Occupy movement; in particular of OccupyLA. In
contrast to virtually every other broadcast media outlet, KPFK's shows
consistently featured the voices of movement participants. Virtually all
of our talk shows, in English and Spanish, made excellent contributions in
this regard - and even some of our music shows. While all the occupy
coverage has been excellent, mention should be made of the exceptional
work done by KPFK news reporter Ernesto Arce. From inside and outside
City Hall, to LAPD press conferences, to bank sit-ins, to foreclosure
protests, to the Port Action early Monday morning, Ernesto has been
everywhere he could be these past couple of months. Acknowledgement is
also due to volunteers and the LSB members who contributed high-standard
reports from the scene.
. The Downside - The loss of our signal less than 24 hours after the raid on
the OccupyLA camp was frustrating. As word of the brutal treatment meted
out by the LAPD began to leak out of the Metropolitan Detention Center,
KPFK was unable to report this information over our airwaves because the
winds on Mt. Wilson had knocked out power to our transmitter.
. On-air Programming - Mary Katherine Aldin has given word to management
that she will not be continuing Alive and Pickin' after the New Year.
While we haven't made the final decision on what will replace Mary
Katherine's successful Saturday morning show, we are looking at a proposal
of a rotation of former KPFK music hosts, who will, in effect, be
"executive produced" by Mary Katherine.
. Hiatus - Also, we will begin putting some longstanding shows on hiatus,
allowing them a few weeks (or a couple of months) to retool - while
allowing more people a chance to produce radio on KPFK. The first to take
a brief hiatus will be IMRU, which will be off for five weeks beginning in
January, while a series called The Out Agenda will run in the Monday at
7pm timeslot. IMRU will be back in February. Other one-hour-a-week shows
will be put on hiatus shortly thereafter.
. Evaluation - A General Manager's program evaluation questionnaire, that is
to be filled out and returned in January, has been sent out to all station
programmers.
. LPAC - The Listener Programming Advisory Committee is completing its
review of all English language talk shows; and interim Program Director
Alan Minsky will be meeting with all of these programmers beginning in
January to discuss the LPAC reviews and strategies for strengthening their
programs.
Operations
. Facilities - Carpet donated by Bentley Prince Street, has been installed
in PCR, the production office, studio C and the computer room. Most of the
left over carpet will be stored for later use in other areas.
. Carpets and vent screens will be cleaned the weekend of December 23rd.
. Air-conditioning - Our main A/C unit that serves the 1st floor studios had
a compressor fail, which was replaced. We are looking at remedying one of
the causes of the compressor icing up. The ducting from the roof top to
the first floor is not big enough to provide the necessary return air flow
for our unit to run efficiently. Two vendors have made their
recommendations another one is pending.
. MCR has had its old peeling paint removed and has been repainted.
. Equipment - The Phone systems voicemail menu is going through some changes
and will be updated before the year's end. The ability to transfer a call
from any office phone including the MCR hotline to the on air phone lines
has been programmed and implemented.
. Energy Champions - Information on this program was included in the
October's LSB report. It has been on hold because it was initially meant
to help raise funds for "The Solarize KPFK Project". We have decided to
move ahead with the program in any case now, because it was also meant to
generate revenue for KPFK and the administrators at Energy Upgrade have
been asking if KPFK still wants to participate in the program.
. Production Training - Training will resume next year after the holidays.
We encourage all programmers that don't know how to maximize their use of
the studio and Cool Edit to take these trainings. Those wishing to
undertake the training should RSVP to operations@kpfk.org
Engineering
. Studios - The studios are generally in good condition and repair with few
problems.
. Malibu Booster site - During the high winds that we experienced at the
beginning of December a tree limb fell on the receive antenna coaxial
cable and broke a connector. We are using the test antenna system for the
time being until we can replace the broken connector and reroute the
coaxial cable on the main receive system. We will continue to monitor the
booster to make sure it's operating properly.
. Ranch Bernardo translator site - This translator is working very well.
. Santa Barbara translator site - The translator is in good condition and is
operating properly.
. Mt. Wilson transmitter site - The emergency generator maintenance and
service has been done. The electrical work will be done during the
installation of the new transmitter, which has now been delivered to a
storage facility in Glendale and will be moved to our transmitter site
before Christmas for installation in January.
Maintenance and repair of the current KPFK transmitters and associated
equipment on Mt. Wilson is ongoing.
Business Office
. Financial status as at December 15 (cf. November 15) -
o Total Cash in Bank is $397,400 (390,000)
o The current balance in the solar project account is $23,699. (Note:
this is additional to Cash in Bank)
o Total payables stand at $90,600 (58,190).
o Central Services fees owed to National Office and Pacifica Radio
Archives stand at $67,500 (42,428).
Bernard Duncan
General Manager
December 16 2011
**********