I just wanted to address some statements made by the current PNB treasurer Brian Edwards-Tiekert at the last two finance committee meetings. I can't speak to whether this is indulging in exaggerated rhetoric or whether there is genuinely a problem with reading spreadsheets, but I would caution that the finance committee is a place for dealing with what spreadsheets actually say, not for exaggerated comments.
None of these four statements appears at all tethered to reality, so its a problem if they are being used to make financial decisions.
"The Pacifica Archives is becoming as big as some of our smaller stations".
No it isn't. PRA had expenses in 2012-2014 in the $545-575K range annually. In 2015, it will be spending $91K in National Archives grant funding it received, so it might go up to $650K.
Pacifica's smallest station is KPFT, which raises and spends $1.2-$1.3 million annually.
The correct statement is the Pacifica Archives has grown to one half the size of Pacifica's smallest station.
2) Second wacky statement
"Pacifica has $6 million dollars less than it did before the economic crash in 2008".
No, it doesn't. It has $3 million dollars less than it did before the economic crash, including the loss of CPB funding.
In 2006, listener support was $13,6 million and total income was $16.9 million.
In 2005, listener support was $13.7 million and total income was $16.9 million.
In 2012, (you seem to have suddenly taken down the 2012 Armanino audit from the pacifica.org website), listener support was $10.8 million and total income was $13.2 million. Or if you want to use the CFO's numbers and not Armanino's, total income was $14.3 million.
Either way, that's a loss of $2.5 million to $3.5 million, not $6 million.
The correct statement is that listener support has declined by about $2 million over the past 5-7 years and combined with the loss of CPB funding, the network has about $3 million less in annual revenue.
3) Third wacky statement
"Pacifica has $6 million dollars in unpaid bills"
Pacifica issued a balance statement with an accounts payable line on August 8th. The accounts payable line said $3.3 million.
So is the accusation being made here that the CFO missed $2.8 million dollars in bills or that another $2.8 million dollars in bills has been generated in the past 80 days?
I would suggest that if the claim is that the balance sheet issued 7 weeks ago was off by $2.5 million dollars that an accounts payable printout, preferably from Great Plains, be issued immediately to back up such a statement. As well as maybe a correct balance sheet.
The correct statement is Pacifica has $3.3 million in unpaid bills, about 2/3 of them payable to Democracy Now.
4) Fourth wacky statement
"Every station has laid off at least a third of their staff"
No, they haven't. WBAI certainly has. WPFW and KPFT made fairly substantial cuts in the 20-25% range of salary/benefits expense. KPA cut $375,000 in 2010, which was about 15%, but is now creeping back up over $2 million in payroll, so the net reduction is barely 10%. KPFK cut even less, about 13% and is also creeping back up to pretty much where it was a few years ago at $1.9 million a year.
Tracy
What's the difference between Pacifica and a porno video? Pacifica has bigger boobs...
ReplyDeleteSDL
What's the problem with Pacifica ?
ReplyDelete– You weren't *there*, man!
~ 'indigo'
When people who staunchly support Lew Hill's Pacifica concept respond to its death throes with humor, you know the problem is real. In this case, it also has a cast of characters (the bozos, the boobs, the beatified), a long list that goes back several decades.
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