Tuesday, March 6, 2018

The Audit Waiting Game



A few salient points:
Sam Agarwal, Pacifica’s CFO, aka The One Armed Paper Hanger, has been far too busy to address the questions posed some months back by the Pacifica National Board, Finance Committee, and Audit Committee as to how special monies raised last year to be dedicated to the completion of the FY 2015 Audit were actually allocated.

He did not participate in tonight’s meeting.

A nontrivial amount appears to have been allocated to his and other salaries and special assistance in various unspecified forms, but the amounts and other particulars remain unanswered and unaddressed.

The CFO would appear to be unable to provide a simple accounting as to how the funds in question were spent. The Audit Committee Chair Pro Tem observed ‘They don’t do that.’

Some felt that iED Tom Livingston or the PNB might be asked to look into this, or alternatively that given the CFO’s finding himself as always overwhelmed such questions might be left open to some unspecified future consideration, the consistent consensus of the meeting being that given the CFO’s being overwhelmed such matters would have to await the completion of the already long overdue FY 2016 audit.

The long overdue pension fund audits, which are thought to be necessary for the completion of the long overdue FY 2016 were characterized by the CFO in the past as beyond his expertise, if not his comprehension, and appear uncompleted, those involved in their oversight having left their positions several months ago.

There is nothing officially publicly known as yet as to the status of the request made to the CA AG’s Office of Charitable Trusts for a further extension of the 14 February deadline for filing the FY 2016 Audit, previous requests for extension of that date having been consistently denied.

Pacifica’s legal status as a nonprofit depends on any such possible determination.

The consensus was that ‘No news is good news’.

The CFO said he’d try to find time to look into the question.

No station/unit budgets for FY 2018 have been submitted or approved.

No one knows if any of the previous recommendations from the going concern issues raised in previous audits as to financial accountability were ever addressed or implemented, the stability questions raised in the FY 2014 and 2015 audits appear therefore unaddressed .

The possibility of having an Audit Committee member go over the books in Berkeley was briefly mooted, but it was felt that given the CFO’s being overwhelmed this was best not pressed for the time being.

Agarwal continues to have failed to hire any additional staff, though authorized to do so a year ago and reauthorized since. [His previous explanation for this was in part that he couldn’t find anyone sufficiently skilled for anything he was willing to pay and that in any event it would take at least two or three months to get any new hire up to speed because of Pacifica’s particular needs and the special skills necessary.]

The Audit Committee briefly discussed the CFO’s previous statement that getting all audits current would require ~$500,000, and felt that the CFO hadn’t provided any actual estimate of how he’d arrived at that figure.

The meeting then adjourned.

All was pleasant, all was cordial, all was polite, all is well…

~ ‘indigopirate’

ps: The Finance Committee Meeting which had been scheduled for tomorrow, 6 March, has now been cancelled.

49 comments:

  1. The following was posted on Columbia University's WKCR website concerning its very recent "one week" fundraiser:"We are well into day 3 of our 2k18 every-so-annual fundraiser! As a non-commercial radio station, our commitment to alternative programming relies on the support of our dedicated listeners. We don't have a fundraiser every year, only when we have to. Help us reach our goal so we can stop talking about how great we are and why you should give us money and get back to the MUSIC!"
    Meanwhile, back at the ranch, WBAI is entering it's 5th week of fundraising overshadowed by Gary Null, Lisa Garr, Ron Daniels, et al....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WKCR is an awesome station, they DESERVE our cash.

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    2. I agree with you and to top it off, those are undergraduate students "running" the operation. Reimers and Bates could learn a few things from them.

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    3. The Pacifica MavenThursday, March 08, 2018

      I'll third the support for KCR.
      Thursday night African Show is an example of what good multicultural programming can yield.
      The week long Bach Festival alone is worth the $100 I sent them.
      Afternoon New Music is terrific, Morning Classical music is wonderful, and although I find Phil
      Schapp tedious, I enjoy most of their jazz programs.

      Delete
  2. off the air currently

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    Replies
    1. Less air pollution in NYC and environs—think positive!

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    2. BAI is back on the air - barely lofi Laura Flanders.

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  3. I would say they treat this station like it's just a hobby, but most people treat their hobbies with more seriousness.

    Chris in NJ

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    Replies
    1. Aside from cleaning up the air. Sam might be ready to audition as an "On the Count" producer, giving updates on the hardened CPAs and the likes of Bernie Medoff.

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  4. Berthold Reimers is scheduled to speak to the few WBAI listeners tuned in at 10:00 AM (if memory serves me correctly) on 3-13-2018. What the "f***" can he tell us that we don't all ready know? Really! When and where does the BS end?

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    1. The BS does not end. Reimers is, of course, the fountainhead of the lies that we have heard from him, Gary Null, Tony Bates, Linda Perry, Haskins, et al. My guess is that he will simply bring his fantasies up to date. It would be nice if he resigned, but I don't see him doing that unless, of course, he does so to veil a firing.

      I will be posting a reminder on Monday. Haskins will be the "engineer" on duty, so let's hope he doesn't give his usual amateur performance.

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    2. Maybe we will hear the fat lady sing?

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  5. WBAI goes off the air almost as much as EA's Call of Duty servers drop your connection (CoD players will understand the joke).

    OK, so I gave $50 to WFDU (2x$25 to support two shows on there) and $75, so far, to WFMU. How much did I give WBAI? Guess, and you're a moron if you get the answer wrong.

    I highly suggest listening to WFMU for an hour just to hear how a legitimate fund raiser is done successfully and enjoyably. It's mind boggling how the pledges come not only from around the USA but around the world.

    SDL

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    Replies
    1. I have been listening to WBAI—live and yesterday's archive. It's mostly a torturous experience, from Kathy's blather to Null's self-centered fiction, to Mimi pining for the plantation days, to Bates' lengthy, wholly fictional personal endorsement of a Null powder that brought him sleep, energy and....masculinity! Add to that the increasingly irresponsible lies of Trump University graduate Ron Daniels and Reggie Harris stumbling through bad English as he attempts to read a bland article on Lena Horne.

      Much more awful stuff that Berthold Reimers can try to mumble a veil over when he gives us a "report" on Tuesday morning at 10.

      I should have listened to a real radio station instead.

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    2. (sings the old Spooky Tooth song) "Better By You, Better Than Me..."

      SDL

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  6. Follow up on WNYC - They apparently easily made their pledge drive goal. Their entire drive lasted only 5 days and the goal was $600,000/day. Plus, they earned a $100,000 bonus from the Kaplan Group for hitting the goal on Monday, so their total haul is at least $3.1 million for the 5 days, and quite possibly much more than that. They haven't announced final tallies but they are running spots thanking listeners for their overwhelming response. BTW, there were no premiums. Those are pledges in appreciation for the programming.

    Compare to WBAI's pledge drive which lasted - what? - 30-35 days, and which depended entirely on premiums. What is their total? $250.000 (less the cost of the premiums)? Tbh, it is amazing to me that they get any pledges at this point. Even satisfied listeners must be exhausted by the endless fundraising, which takes up 40% of airtime.

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    1. Unceasing amazement at this idiocy. Bates and Reimers broadcast an endless repetition of scams that have proven to be failures and expect them to miraculously achieve positive results.

      I wonder what the hell they were doing between drives—they weren’t analyzing why these awful commercials failed, they didn’t even take time to remove the many references that date them. So what if it’s snowing in July, why shouldn’t the dumb listeners celebrate Halloween during black history month... or should that be the other way around?

      Guess one of them durn lizard folk from Jupiter stole their aura.


      Delete
    2. I was talking to someone at WFDU, which is a small station with a limited audience, and he told me their pledge drive went fine. He also told me all the support concerts brought in money.

      WFMU seems to be doing its usual successful drive. I'm not sure how WKCR did (or is doing), since I don't listen to them all that much, sometimes the afternoon experimental music shows.

      Well, I guess Samori would consider those stations to be bourgeois, as they play music and aren't trying to lead the world revolution.

      SDL

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    3. Stagnant evolution is a unique concept!

      I guess you have noticed the latest buzzword being used by the station's lowlife ignorants: it's a variation of "revolutionary", "rebellious", etc., a strenuous throwback to Samori.

      He sowed the seeds, they found nourishment in substandard programming and finally began to sprout...

      ...as toxic weeds.

      Delete
    4. Let's hear if the "crack" engineers can keep BAI on air for Berhold's report, or better yet, phone it in. Surprises await!

      Delete
  7. Implosion on the brink, how long can this radio shell game continue before the ongoing enterprise expires? Awaiting the Jenga collapse. Don't stay tuned!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You may have heard Reggie read a promo for Berthold Reimers' upcoming "report", which is to be aired on Tuesday (March 13) at 10 AM.

      If you heard it, you may have noted Reggie's sombre tone and the dirge-like organ background.

      Is someone or something making a final exit?

      We can dream, can't we?

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    2. I agree. Reggie knows the score, but he has yet to recognize how unfit he is for the announcer job. He is as bad at reading as Haskins is at "engineering."

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    3. Let's hear if the "crack" engineers can keep BAI on air for Berhold's report, or better yet, phone it in. Surprises await!

      Delete
  8. Looks like they got a new set of nuts to talk about race and blm crap .
    Using IWWD as an excuse . How predictable!

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  9. By the way, whatever became of Randy (Full of) Crapico and his one man Rambo war against WBAI?

    SDL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he was impersonating someone with real conviction and the semblance of a spine.

      He never was good at impersonation.

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    2. Well, he does kind of sound like Gilbert Gottfried...

      SDL

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    3. Could Randy be running the board? Levels are low, the signal is weak, a blessing, not to hear same old same old.

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  10. Wonder when they are gonna get around to talking about ANY women who is not black?
    Probably coming up next i'm sure. yeah right .

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  11. A few years ago Gary Byrd was pushing the Dr. Joy DeGruy's premium "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome": allegedly a "disease" many black people suffer from. Tonight WBAI is pushing a premium about young black females suffering from "Self Image Disorder". How can truly intelligent people of any ethnicity buy this crap?

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    1. The truth is that these WBAI con artists are not intelligent. Some of them are reasonably articulate, but—whether their ignorance is real or deliberate—a lack of intelligence is painfully evident.

      Byrd, Null, Bates, Reimers, Kathy, Haskins, Mimi, Brady, Daniels, and Kane are the most frequently heard or mentioned fraudsters, but WBAI own its insignificance to many more.

      It is going down and out quietly and—sadly—deservedly.

      Perhaps they should check the room that contains un-honored pledges. Who Know, they might just find a cure for Self Image Disorder.

      Delete
    2. I had to google these terms. From the wiki for PTSS:

      PTSS posits that centuries of slavery in the United States, followed by systemic and structural racism and oppression, including lynching, Jim Crow laws, and unwarranted mass incarceration, have resulted in multigenerational maladaptive behaviors, which originated as survival strategies. The syndrome continues because children whose parents suffer from PTSS are often indoctrinated into the same behaviors, long after the behaviors have lost their contextual effectiveness.

      DeGruy states that PTSS is not a disorder that can simply be treated and remedied clinically but rather also requires profound social change in individuals, as well as in institutions that continue to reify inequality and injustice toward the descendants of enslaved Africans.

      From the wiki for BDD:
      Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder characterized by the obsessive idea that some aspect of one's own appearance is severely flawed and warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix it. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined.[2] If the flaw is actual, its importance is severely exaggerated. Either way, thoughts about it are pervasive and intrusive, occupying up to several hours a day.

      Delete
  12. It's March 11. They are pitching again. I thought it was over but after 5 weeks, it seems to have started again. What is going on?

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    1. So naive, they didn't say what year. Respect for the listeners? Or repellent?

      Delete
    2. Yet WFMU, with its niche audience, can make more money in a few week, once a year marathon. Go figure...

      SDL

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    3. So it was at WBAI many years ago when staff/volunteer had the right spirit, the programming was on a high intellectual level, the targeted audience cam from every background imaginable, and the listenership was respected and appreciated.

      Sure, WBAI had its flaws, but it was also usually the first to point to and correct them. Listener-members knew that they mattered greatly and would not find themselves flimflammed. There was real communication between people on both sides of the microphone.

      It was, for example, unthinkable to engage in a fundraising drive or event without keeping the listeners/contributors appraised of the results. During the annual marathon, the latest tally was at all times announced. WBAI was in partnership with the people whose donations and interest kept it going. No single program was more important than another, all money was earmarked to maintain a common goal: Keep the station on the air without sacrificing its integrity and intellectual level.

      There were times when I, as manager, had to reach out for help in making the payroll (averaging 25 staffers), but such loans were repaid in less than a month. There were other times when staffers who could manage a short delay did so in order that coworkers with more immediate needs could receive a full paycheck.

      Nothing was more important to our sustenance than the quality and variety of our programming—that is what put Pacifica on the map. Not being commercially sponsored was certainly innovative and appreciated, but it means nothing if applied to the kind of pap that has become standard fare.

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    4. Chris, as a former GM, any empathy for Berthold?

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    5. None whatsoever. He has yet to show any justification for his hiring.

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    6. @Chris. You didn't get CPB funding in the '60s at WBAI, correct? Well, I guess that means Pacifica is kind of going retro by not getting CPB funding now. HAHAHA!

      SDL

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    7. You're right, SDL, no CPB funding. The only funds we receive while I was GM was a $10,000 grant from the Taconic Foundation, earmarked for Civil Rights coverage—the stipulation was that we not make the source public—it was a no-brainer and it resulted in a documentary called "This Little Light". I purchased a couple of wireless recording setups, knowing that the people in the South refused to be recorded by Northern reporters. Dale Minor was able to get very important audio with the tape recorder out of sight in his rented car.

      Did you ever hear "This Little Light" or Dale's reports from Vietnam, which followed? Both brought us extra money from other stations (including the BBC) that leased broadcast rights from us. I have never heard these programs rebroadcast by the corpse of WBAI.

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    8. No, sadly, never heard those things. I would love to hear old WBAI material, of course, but how much exists is a mystery. I know during my time listening, if a producer didn't make their own tapes, the show normally wasn't recorded for posterity. I don't think the logging tapes were kept for more than a short time.

      SDL

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    9. We did not maintain an archive. as such—although we should have, but most programs—especially ones that cost us so much time and effort—were duplicated and mailed to KPFA and KPFK.

      The two I cited would never have been deliberately degaussed. There is stuff in the Pacifica Archive today that I produced and don't see as worth preserving except for the sake of completeness.

      That said, I strongly endorse maintaining Pacifica's audio history, but I believe that, too, became misdirected.

      Delete
    10. Thanks for this detail. It underscores my negative assessment of the Pacifica Archives management.

      The last paragraph says all we need to know about warped Pacifica priorities.

      Delete
  13. Kudos and new program - the latest from Tony Bates

    Greetings All,

    Thanks for your efforts during WBAI's Winter Fund Drive everyone.

    We want to to send specific thanks out to Prof. Ron Daniels, ("Vantage Point", Mondays - 10 AM) who continues every fund drive, to make efforts toward the improvement of his pitching methods and connection with the audience. Those efforts are paying off as his fund drive numbers continue to rise with each drive. He is also consistently asking for BAI Buddies, whether or not it is fund drive. The audience is responding well. Prof. Daniels "Vantage Point" are leading the WBAI effort to build a viable "sustaining membership" roll.

    WBAI Management would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Fran Luck ("Joy of Resisitance" Sundays - 6 PM) who arranged a feminist film screening during this fund drive and somehow got 20 WBAI donors to slog through blizzard like conditions to attend the screening. The program also served as a successful on air fundraiser. Kudos Fran.

    We'd also like to thank and acknowledge Bich-Ha Pham ("City Watch", Saturdays - 10 AM) who took on International Women's Day at the last possible moment, on behalf of WBAI. Bich Ha managed the massive task with alacrity and finesse as is the Pacifica and WBAI tradition.

    Rebecca Myles "Rape Declaration Forum" - ([rotating] 4th Saturdays - 5 AM) also deserves an honorable mention and thanks for stepping up initially to coordinate IWD. Time constraints interfered with her efforts.

    Thanks to all of you!

    New Program

    WBAI is proud to announce a new host and program will be joining the WBAI family. Local professor (Union Theological Seminary) and activist, Reverend Sam Cruz is bringing an intellectual look at inspired activism to the WBAI airwaves.

    The program is a long form interview / conversation program. Reverend Cruz will interview high level activists, whose activism is informed by their spirituality. We've titled the show, "Crossroads - Where Spirit and Activism Meet" The new show will begin of Friday, April 6th, it will air on Fridays at 5 PM.

    Thank you,

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    1. Judging from his bio, I'd imagine the Rev Cruz will fit in very well https://utsnyc.edu/faculty/samuel-cruz/

      ~ 'indigopirate'

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    2. Twenty people to show up for an event? Now, that's pretty lame. I can get more people to show up somewhere to watch porno films...

      SDL

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  14. What high activists? David Peal? Abbie Hoffman? Dr. Timothy Leary? Bet they will use a cover of the classic blues tune as intro music. Will WBAI be on the air in April 2018?

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  15. You reset your clock, now set your alarm for a.M. Tuesday morning 10 AM the GM Speaks!

    ReplyDelete