If one emptied Berthold Reimers' bulging bag of secrets onto the floor, his next address might well be Rikers Island.
Here is a downloadable PDF file of the November 12, 2014 WBAI LSB Treasurer's Report. I think you will find it interesting and somewhat clarifying.
R.PAUL'S ADDENDA (posted to his BlueBoard)
Furthermore...
ADDENDA
During this long, stretched marathon, my calculations were based on the $18,000 figure originally posted in one of Berthold Reimers' pre-thon messages. Today, Nov. 17, R. Paul Martin posted some pertinent details:
Last year's budget set the daily tally goal as $18,820. This goal was mostly not made. This year Berthold Reimers again wanted that same daily tally budgeted. I refused, other members of the local Finance Committee also balked at this. I maintained that the tally trend for calendar year 2014, was something more than $11,000 a day. This became a big disagreement between the General Manager and the local Finance Committee.
A "compromise" was reached of a daily tally goal of $15,476 for the FY15 budget. From my calculations the recently concluded 'thon got something more than $11,000 a day. At the November 12, WBAI LSB meeting the General Manager reported that the daily tally was about $11,000+. So we are looking at a lot of pitching this year.
Part of the motion from the NFC recommending WBAI's FY15 budget is that, "5) that the PNB direct WBAI Management to extend any and all fund drives until they have met their budgeted goals, and to increase fund drive goals accordingly if WBAI falls short of budget in other revenue sources;" which means that WBAI should have continued its Fall 'thon, but the motion has not been brought to the PNB yet. Of course the constant 'thons are killing the audience. There is no longer any clearly good direction for WBAI to take in order to be able to pay its bills.
R.PAUL'S ADDENDA (posted to his BlueBoard)
a trusted source reports having heard the following at KPFA's LSB meeting:
KPFA and KPFK met their goals
WPFW did 72% of their goal
KPFT did 85%
Audit is almost complete says Margy—they have met with 3 creditors and set up payment plans rather than lawsuits.
WPFW and KPFK are looking for GM.
Search for ED is ongoing.
There is a total hiring freeze and any exceptions must be approved by Margy and CFO.
PRA Archives will have two days of fundraising Nov 18 and 19 on all stations.
ADDENDA
Here is a post-fund drive message from Berthold Reimers with his figures attached:
Regarding the daily goal discrepancy...
Last year's budget set the daily tally goal as $18,820. This goal was mostly not made. This year Berthold Reimers again wanted that same daily tally budgeted. I refused, other members of the local Finance Committee also balked at this. I maintained that the tally trend for calendar year 2014, was something more than $11,000 a day. This became a big disagreement between the General Manager and the local Finance Committee.
A "compromise" was reached of a daily tally goal of $15,476 for the FY15 budget. From my calculations the recently concluded 'thon got something more than $11,000 a day. At the November 12, WBAI LSB meeting the General Manager reported that the daily tally was about $11,000+. So we are looking at a lot of pitching this year.
Part of the motion from the NFC recommending WBAI's FY15 budget is that, "5) that the PNB direct WBAI Management to extend any and all fund drives until they have met their budgeted goals, and to increase fund drive goals accordingly if WBAI falls short of budget in other revenue sources;" which means that WBAI should have continued its Fall 'thon, but the motion has not been brought to the PNB yet. Of course the constant 'thons are killing the audience. There is no longer any clearly good direction for WBAI to take in order to be able to pay its bills.
"The WBAI General Manager continues to express optimism about the negotiations with the Empire State Building."
ReplyDeleteDoes he also believe world hunger will be eliminated in this decade and that he's not on Santa's "Do not deliver" List?
"Should WBAI secure a rent reduction, it appears to be incapable of paying back rent, even at reduced rates."
OK, they want a rent reduction AND back rent forgiveness. Yeah, landlords will really love that. If WBAI gets its wish, that will only be because the ESB can't rent the space to anyone else.
"WBAI is currently unable to meet current obligations, including payroll and postage for mailing premiums."
WBAI charges postage costs for premiums. Hence, those funds are specifically earmarked for that purpose. To use those funds otherwise is blatant fraud.
The whole paragraph about credit charges is interesting because it means some listeners/suckers are not sitting back and taking the abuse anymore.
"CCNY has written off the back rent that WBAI owes and will not charge the station any further rent. A local Finance Committee member who is associated with the WBAI Community Advisory Board told the committee that WBAI will no longer be using the CCNY studios after February 2015. The station is setting up a “broadcast studio” at 388 Atlantic Ave. The Treasurer sees a number of problems with this “studio."
Interesting. Don't know what to make of it, really. But seems to mean they are to leave - period. I guess CCNY realized that WBAI was a deadbeat. Maybe Smith was CCNY's excuse? Not a real reason, just an excuse?
No comment on the ADA complaint. Just wondering whom it could be.
SDL
I think foreseeing "certain problems with this 'studio'" is putting it mildly. They can't afford to maintain basic equipment, so how much will be spent on the new studio? And where will that come from?
DeleteThe misappropriation of money raised specifically for p&h is, indeed, fraud, but Reimers who bunker operation is fraught with fraud.
I'm going to take a closer look at Reimers' tally figures---they seem somewhat doctored.
Witch doctored?
DeleteOoo eee,ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
Ooo eee ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla bing bang...
SDL
And to add: Reimers made up his own goal of $18,820/day. The Finance Comintern sets a goal of $15,476/day. Now Reimers can look not as bad as he would have by quoting the lowered goal. Cute.
ReplyDeleteSDL
That sort of thing has been Reimers' m.o. all along.
DeleteThe big question—and it's ever growing—has to be WHY? As in why has he not been fired? Has he informed the PNB's less upstanding members that he knows who among them is a Reptilian? :)
This sounds like a case for David Icke!
DeleteSDL
I can't escape... I tuned around my preset stations on my internet radio and stopped on Dark Matter Radio, only to hear the familiar dreary cello(?) music followed by... the opening of In Other News with Geoff Brady! WBAI won't release me! It won''t let me live the remainder of my life free of its shackles. Didn't I give it enough of my life since my early teen years? Maybe we really have no choice? Maybe WBAI IS the paranormal?
ReplyDeleteSDL
You might be convinced of that if you listen to the audio I am about to post!
DeleteIn other words, no one, including the GM, knows what the hell is going on or what they're doing. It's all going from Politico Playland to National Enquirer soap opera and rumors. I said a while back they need to make a reality show based on WBAI. Imagine those little interview inserts they throw into those shows here and there? Those could be wild. Schmid would do the best ones. Freund's would have to be heavily edited down from the three hour takes. Fass: "Is this mic working? It works? It doesn't work? Uhhh... You there?"
ReplyDeleteAnyway, natural sounds in the background could add a certain reality to their broadcasts. One day a police siren may go off and you'll hear a host abandon mic and run away scared that the cops are coming for him/him. Or maybe he/she could tell us how the cops are coming to shoot another brother. Whatever.
I once heard a tape of an American Indian reservation based little station that would open the windows at night. The station was in the desert and the light natural sounds added an ethereal feel to the broadcast. However, that was the desert, not an urban area.
SDL
R. Paul's description of the Atlantic Avenue studio space really makes me wonder if the Off the Hook guys were playing a game when they spiked their optimism last week.
DeletePerhaps the walls once did go up to the ceiling, but we must bear in mind that the studio architect is Tony Ryan, who is known to pack a sledgehammer.
Apropos staff-generated "technical" failures, our favorite DJ of bad taste, Dalton "Ta-Ta" Anderson couldn't conjure up a "bishop elect" on the phone this morning. After two or three failed attempts, he announced that he was summoning the engineers (yes, plural). Mind you, this is around 6:30 on a Sunday morning. The man is sounding worse and worse as he screams his "My my"s to kingdom come.... or whatever.
The December 13 church do has all the makings of a veiled "charity".
Not much to add, except that I lived a block away from that address for several years, and yes it is a noisy area...
DeleteJ.
Pastor Paranoia sounds like he's becoming more and more of a self-parody and/or insane. Engineers? On a Sunday morning? Gremlins, maybe, but not engineers. I just think he a nut. He's a second rate con man who sold Reimers, a third rate con man, a bill of goods. Now he can't deliver. His show is irrelevant. It actually makes you wonder how many listeners he had when he worked down the hallway...
DeleteSDL
It’s possible to create a properly acoustically isolated and tuned space very nearly anywhere – it takes expertise, and it takes money.
DeleteThese folks, of course, have neither.
It sounds from R Paul’s description as if the building is completely unsuited to what is its claimed purpose. Access and security are deal-breakers.
I fail to see how 388 can serve any purpose other than transient facilities as they await sale, signal swap, lease, or some combination thereof.
While there has been issue with respect to R Paul’s handling of the BB, I think credit is due for his work on finance, asking hard questions in public (particularly of late), and his efforts to provide what information it’s been possible to obtain.
~ ‘indigo’
@SDL — Yes, "con man" is a fitting description for this guy. He has a streak of Knight up his back when he delusionally thanks his listeners in London, India, Australia, and other distant places where people are not likely to be digging his sub-secular mishmash. That he was able to bamboozle Berthold is no surprise, given that vacant cranium.
ReplyDelete@indigo -— I can certainly identify with the loathing that R. Paul has for Reimers. It is becoming more widespread with every dumb thing that man does (talk about a con artist, SDL). Has that guy ever made a decision into which even a modicum of good sense or practical thought went? Has he ever looked beyond his nose?
I think not.