It's fund raising time at WBAI. On the air, Maggie Prescod tried to sell those 15 copies of the Robeson package that she has been pitching for over two years, the Bates-Davis team had another go at curing cancer, Ron Daniels attempted again to sell himself, others had pirated music to move from under the counter, I think there was a $400 trip to Hackensack, etc. Not much of anything seemed to be working, however, but we were told that the station is strong and on the upswing. Sound familiar?
As planned, nothing was accomplished. R. Paul Martin suggested, daringly, that the ESB arrears (over 1.4 million and growing faster than a Wonderbread™ kid) needed to be discussed, but the Board would have none of it. So, that's pretty much what they got.
Our friend Indigo captured a 13-minute essence, which you can hear here as you, too, wonder where the money went.
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Why would the Finance Committee have anything to do with Finance?
R. Paul Martin moves to have some discussion of the possible financial impact of the possible California Attorney General’s stripping Pacifica of its tax-exempt status, and of the possible financial impact of the Empire State Building’s suit for ~$1.4m+.
This is ruled as outside the authority or mandate of the National Finance Committee.
He appeals the ruling of the Chair, and is unanimously voted down.
All is silent, all is well in Pacifica Land.
~ ‘indigopirate’
PNB Finance Committee meeting (first 13 minutes)
Chris,
ReplyDeleteTo present R Paul Martin as a paradigm of financial rectitude is a huuuge mistake. Martin is one of the architects of financial mismanagement at WBAI. Like all sociopaths Martin overestimates his intellectual capabilities and underestimates the intellectual capabilities of others. This is not an ad hominem attack; it is the truth.
To illustrate Martin can only attack me on message boards, to which I am denied access. Martin does not attack individuals in a forum where an individual can reply.
Martin is an accounting innumerate. When I raised the issue of Steve Brown’s alleged $30,000 (at one time stated to be $60,000) loan to WBAI to enable the hiring of Andrea Katz, I replied that the loan had to be entered into the financial statements. Martin stated that the loan did not have to be entered into the financial statements. (I also stated that this loan was illegal- a violation of Not for Profit law.)
When Berthold Reimers stated that Steve Brown’s loan had been repaid, I replied that the repayment had to be entered into the financial records. Martin and Berthold replied that the accounting records of WBAI did not have to reflect the loan.
When I stated that Brown’s loan not only had to be entered into the financial records, but had to be explained in a note to the financial statements, Martin denied this.
When I inquired and requested the index number and venue of Bernard White’s lawsuit, Martin replied that it was “privileged information.” It is public information and must be provided upon request. One member of the WBAI Finance Committee defended Martin and instructed me to go to the PACER System (federal court records) with my credit card. That individual possesses a Series 7 (and I believe a Series 9 and a Series 63). I wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission about this. The Securities and Exchange Commission immediately responded; and the individual shut his mouth at all further meetings.
Incidentally, Bernard White’s lawsuit was not dismissed because it was not without merit. White’s lawsuit was dismissed because of several errors, both factual and procedural, which were made by his attorney. Every attorney to whom I spoke stated: Why did he file in Southern District and not Eastern District?
Then we have the actual rent for the Empire State Building. This has been covered up by Berthold Reimers and R Paul Martin. Martin was always defending Reimers when I was a member of the WBAI Finance Committee. Martin always defended Reimers lies that the lese for the Empire State Building was being renegotiated- despite the fact that the lease is a commercial lease and cannot be renegotiated. There had been nasty lawsuits with the ESB because investors believed that they were being defrauded by management. And here we have the head in the sand management and members of the WBAI Local Station Board, including Martin, stating that WBAI can renegotiate the lease- in the mistaken belief that the Empire State Building is a charity for leftist fools.
I can go on and on; but the gravamen of the argument is that R Paul Martin is an accounting innumerate and willingly lies to prove that he is smarter than everyone else. That is the hallmark of a fool; not the hallmark of a paradigm of virtue.
R Paul Martin is the libertarian version of Donald Trump. Martin believes that if he repeatedly lies, his lies will become truth. Martin’s view of the financial records of WBAI can be viewed thus: Alternative facts are valid facts. Remember Trump stated that 6 multiplied by 17 equals 112- and Trump insisted that he was correct. That is identical to Martin’s view of Reimers’ accounting schemes- until recently when it became obvious that Reimers was lying.
Incidentally, I had not had a course in accounting for 35 years when I realized that Berthold Reimers was cooking the books. And it only required one meeting of the WBAI Finance Committee for me to realize that Berthold Reimers was cooking the books.
Thank you.
Ed Manfredonia
Ed, you won't get an argument from me re R. Paul Martin.
DeleteEd - you are so right concerning R. Paul Martin. When he was union chief @ WBAI, he would make deals to screw over other workers. Staff remembers when he was sharing a beer with Utrice Leid during the 2000 coup, laughing about other workers. This is why his union was decertified and AFTRA was brought in to take over. He is worthless and his show stinks.
DeleteI only listened to your clip but I have to say that Tony Norman was correct. They could talk about issues regarding the audits but they can't consider the ESB arrears and AG matter in any meaningful way in public session.
ReplyDeleteI wasted 5 minutes of my time listening to bloated egos discussing procedure. Sums up in a nutshell the problem with WBAI management.
ReplyDeleteThey should consider our former President's idea for difficult negotiations...do it over a couple of beers. In WBAIs case...a few shots of vodka and a couple vicodine...