Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Wind up time...


Pacifica National Board, Finance Committee
11 September 2018

The Finance Committee met, as per custom, approximately half an hour behind schedule, having reached quorum minimum of six members present.

The first item was a report from Anita Sims, of NETA.

At this point NETA has visited every station, and the National Office. While NETA appears to be active, diligent, and competent, they have had no ability to access the information necessary to do their work. Stations haven’t actually entered their information into Great Plains for two years or so. Stations and the National Office simply haven’t provided them the necessary financial information despite constantly constantly repeated requests for the necessary information. Critically, they have no access to Great Plains, for which they have requested access since first taking on the job of attempting to put Pacifica’s financial house in order. For whatever reasons, the National Office simply hasn’t granted them access. They’re in the dark, flying blind.

As is, of course, Pacifica, at both the unit and the national levels.

From the Q&A and discussion that followed it’s once again crystal clear that Pacifica is without organization, without lines of authority, and fails completely to communicate within itself.

NETA, clearly, will do what it can, but it desperately needs some degree of cooperation from Pacifica in order to do that.

The committees response was to draft and approve a motion.

As for the next item on the agenda, budget preparation, there is very nearly no progress. KPFK appears to have some preliminary draft budgets, which means it’s far further along than anyone else.

WBAI, for example, with its fund raising collapsing further than ever, hasn’t bothered to have the General Manager address the issues, as he prefers to take the day off, it seems, rather than attempt to do so.

There is no question, budget or not, that WBAI is looking at deficits.

The one positive note this pirate heard in the course of the meeting was from KPFK. The newly permanent GM, who has a showbiz background, appears to have made some real progress in taking things in hand, thus improving morale, has purchased Nielsen’s which will be used to shape the programming grid, and is reported to be determined to move KPFK on from the 1960’s and into the current century.

On the whole, however, Pacifica is clearly as abysmally chronically dysfunctional as ever.

It may prove amusing to see what the forthcoming General Manager attempts.

Or not.                                  ~ ‘indigopirate’

8 comments:

  1. I got an idea. Let's get rid of the CFO and hire a firm but don't give them access to the system so they don't see that we don't actually use it. These rogue general managers are out of control and unaccountable to anyone. They do what they want when they want. When they do get around to making budgets, they will be filled with numbers that have no basis in reality.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heard of smoke & mirrors? This is more like farts & shattered glass...

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
  3. WBAI has actually shown up in the ratings, with a 0.1 (!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nielsen rating for NY https://ratings.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/arb001

      Scroll down to find them. No, keep scrolling down lower and lower. Trust me, they're down there...

      SDL

      Delete
    2. 0.1% people did not listen in the two surveys that hit WBAI. When I left the GM Office, AFTER the survey had hit, we had anywhere from 10 to 15% listenership. As time went by it did not go down by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really small numbers, like 0.1 ...

      .....This was done by the Haters in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild WBAI. If a listener switched off for any reason, like old age, just subtract them from the list. Bad politics. I love WBAI!

      September 13, 2018

      @realHe-of-the-Augsburger

      Delete
  4. Indie says: "For whatever reasons, the National Office simply hasn’t granted them access."

    Um, there is no one in the National Office who could do that. Only perhaps two very low level people still there. It's the iED's responsibility who also took on the "Acting CFO" title when Sam left. He should have been on that call but he's seriously MIA.

    Indie says: "KPFK appears to have some preliminary draft budgets, which means it’s far further along than anyone else."

    I think you mean KPFA which does have a draft budget their LSB reviewed last month. K did not have a budget yesterday although it might have something now as the local Finance Committee met today for the first time in two months.

    Indie says: "The one positive note this pirate heard in the course of the meeting was from KPFK."

    LOL.

    Indie: "The newly permanent GM,"

    who has been there since January, plus see next paragraph.

    Indie: "who has a showbiz background,"

    Um, wut? Zuberi/Anyel was the Operations Director at KPFK since the early 2000s. He came from commercial radio. In July, 2014, Lydia Brazon made him interim GM during that coup. He ran up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid bills. The reason he got replaced by Leslie Radford in June, 2015 was because he wouldn't fire all the paid staff like Lydia wanted him to do. Radford had no problem union-busting and cut them all by 50% and incurring arbitration with the SAG-AFTRA union. Dan Siegal was her legal advisor and, needless to say, KPFK lost the arbitration. The "showbiz background" Ken Aaron refers to is probably because after June 2015 Zuberi/Anyel got hired at a successful animation company doing operations again until he was re-hired as GM. The staff wanted him back.

    Indie: "appears to have made some real progress in taking things in hand, thus improving morale, has purchased Nielsen’s which will be used to shape the programming grid,"

    Yes, morale improved but KPFK's ratings took a seriously deep dive in the second quarter of 2018. Way lower than its already way low ratings. They need more than tweaking some programming changes.

    Indie: "and is reported to be determined to move KPFK on from the 1960’s and into the current century."

    Whatev.

    You have to remember that Ken's wife, Grace Aaron, pushed the hardest to get the loan which is now in default. They and their faction have dominated KPFK's LSB for the last 2 1/2 years and there's an election coming. It's in Ken's interest to put a happy face on the cluster*** that is KPFK and Pacifica.

    Kim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim, there obviously is some voting scam afoot. I am beginning to believe that Pacifica thrives on lies, and little else.

      Delete
    2. You acknowledge then that the NO hasn’t granted access, but provide an excuse.

      Ah, an excuse.

      As you said elsewhere, ‘Whatev.’

      Seems to me yet another sad sorry slackerass example of It’s Too Hard How Can We Do That We’re Overwhelmed We’re So Busy We Work So Hard, We’re So Very Very Dedicated to Our Mission, which would rightly mean firing from any functioning organization.

      Fortunately, Pacifica isn’t a functioning organization, is it?

      I stand corrected as to my statement re draft budgets. I was hasty and sloppy phrasing that. KPFA stated they had a draft budget, whereas KPFK stated they had things comparably in hand and were to meet formally in a day or two to approve a draft budget. Correction accepted.

      As for the ‘positive note’: I’m simply stating the character of the information presented, not vouching for its accuracy.

      The same applies as to my stating the statement as to ‘showbiz’ background, ‘improved morale’ and its making a difference, etc.

      I’m not operating as a reporter here, all this is a situation and a group of people I’ve made quite clear I see as overwhelmingly clueless and hopeless, but I try to be accurate when I present a summary of what was said/claimed/stated. I’ll repeat, though, that I’m not vouching for the accuracy of the statements I present and/or mock.

      If it isn’t absolutely clear let me try and help you: I’m not rooting for any of you, anywhere. Got that? Manage to parse it?

      I suppose it’s a challenge.

      You’re clearly a partisan, which is fine, but I have a simple question:

      Think there’s any reason for this sad little show to continue?

      I don’t.

      If you do, we differ.

      One request: Please go easy on the dated VG ‘whatev’.

      Just a personal request.

      Thanks for playing :)

      ~ ‘indigopirate’

      Delete