[grc] [PacificaRadiowaves] Re: PNB Meeting Thurs. 1/8/15 - 8:30pm EST
Tracy Rosenberg
tracyrose at gmail.com
Thu Jan 8 16:29:54 PST 2015
Hi all,
There are a number of things that need to be said with regard to these
notes and I will discuss station by station, starting with my own, but
first and foremost I need to ditto what Kim Kaufman said. Namely that this
PNB and executive staff have lost control of the organization and are
stumbling into an acute financial crisis with not a single accurate
consolidated financial report for the entire year. The PNB must reject
every budget document and send them back to the finance committee for
needed repairs.
KPFA: Edwards-Tiekert says:
"*KPFA's produced an income statement through November that showed KPFK's
bottom line falling short of budget by $67,000. We know KPFA outperformed
its budget for year-end giving in December, and should have have full
accounting of how much ground it made up shortly. It looks like KPFA ran
into three problems: Cash Budgeting error. The cash flow tab of KPFA's
budget accidentally omitted October Central Services, producing a cash
balance ~$34,000 higher than it should have been. Cash Timing. Much of
KPFA's off-air revenues were spread out evenly across the year in the
budget, but that doesn't reflect how they actually come in. For instance,
the Major Donor line is budgeted at $18,000 per month. However, KPFA's
Major Donor income comes in fits and starts--we had no income on this line
in October, November, or December, but have had $42,000 (so far) in
January. Also: the budget template's cash flow formula assumes fund
drive money arrives in the month it is pledged -- and shows KPFA recording
about $100,000 of Listener Support in January from the fund drive that
starts January 26. In fact, KPFA doesn't process credit card payments until
1-3 business days after pledges are made. That means none of the money from
that fund drive will arrive in time to help with KPFA's end-of-month
payroll in January--which means we'll have to keep other bills unpaid to
keep money on hand for payroll and benefits. Optimism. Absent a major
bequest we don't know about, it looks like KPFA's off-air fundraising will
lag what's budgeted over the long run -- it's not just a timing issue. KPFA
management say they're preparing to cut about $250,000/year in personnel
spending through layoffs, consolidation of part-time positions (to
eliminate extra benefit packages), and hour cuts. However, the savings from
that will take time to phase in -- and won't help with KPFA's January cash
crunch".*
When KPFA's local station board treasurer released this partial financial
statement on December 13th, a mere 3 weeks ago, she chirped "KPFA was not
in a hole" and observed an $8,000 surplus. I guess we can all assume this
surplus was achieved by failing to pay bills. But one would have hoped the
PNB treasurer would have issued a corrective statement to the "we're not in
a hole" routine, since KPFA is in a hole.
Sound clip:
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/treasurers-report-at-december-13-kpfa-local-station-board-meeting
KPFA incurred an expense of $37,000 for a new website this fall. KPFA's
local station board was told that off-air fundraising was done for this
project and raised somewhere between $10-15K during the September to
October fund drive period. Why is the PNB treasurer stating KPFA had no
donation income in October, November and December?
A notice to the unions that layoffs are forthcoming also requires a notice
to staff. Enclosed is an example of such a notice. A member of the
bargaining unit may not be in possession of knowledge that cuts are
forthcoming and not share that knowledge with other members of the
bargaining unit. That is the difference between rank and file workers and
management. Why was KPFA's staff not told a 30-day notice of impending
layoffs was sent to their union?
Are the layoffs layoffs? On Tuesday, Edwards-Tiekert says they are not
layoffs, just "reductions". On Thursday, he says they are layoffs and
"consolidation of part-time positions".This is contradictory information.
Sound clip from 1-5-2015 NFC:
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/follow-up-question-on-quarter-million-in-cuts-at-kpfa
*KPFK: Edwards-Tiekert says: *
"*We do not have any recent financial statements from KPFK--the bookkeeping
has been too deficient there to produce anything useful. Pacifica
Management has taken steps to fix that situation by replacing the person
doing accounting at KPFK. We DO know, based on Memsys data on pledge
collections and cash receipts, that the 89-90% fulfillment rate KPFK built
its budget around is not bearing out, and KPFK is collecting closer to 80%
of pledges -- that will produce a bottom-line shortfall in the ballpark of
$250,000 over the course of a year. *
KPFK's reports from the subscriptions department verified an average
fulfillment rate of 77-82% rate and the finance committee was informed of
that fact and chose nonetheless to use an inaccurate fulfillment rate of
90%. The NFC should take responsibility for their goof-up and redo KPFK's
budget accurately.
The bookkeeping at KPFK was noticeably deficient over six months ago, as
the only income statement produced by the CFO all year did not have 4
months of KPFK revenues in it. Why did Pacifica management not remedy the
problem six months ago, when they were eager to describe it as a "lag in
data entry"?
WBAI:
*Edwards-Tiekert says: "We do not have any recent financial statements from
WBAI. We learned on the NFC call that WBAI is three months behind on
transmitter rent, has been spending money on an unbudgeted studio
build-out, cancelled most of its December Fund Drive, and required
assistance from the National Office to cover Payroll and Benefits in
December. We also heard that WBAI's General Manager has been
uncommunicative to its Local Station Board and local Finance Committee, and
has not been attending management conference calls"*
The New York station is using a broadcast studio at City College in New
York. The lease for that space ends in February of 2015. The New York
station does not have any other studio space. Is the PNB treasurer
seriously stating executive management made no arrangements for studio
space and the national finance committee did not consider that the station
needed a broadcast studio after February?
Similarly, how is it that the IED, CFO and PNB treasurer are not aware of
nor authorizing the cancellation of a fund drive? Does the IED not
supervise the general managers? Does the PNB not supervise the IED?
Sound clip from finance committee 1-5-2015
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/what-was-the-thinking
Finally, it is beyond the scope of the PNB treasurer to make decisions
about selling or swapping WBAI's license. It is, in fact, beyond the scope
of the PNB and requires a vote by Pacifica's members. It is also relevant
that WBAI's re-licensure (originally scheduled for June of 2014) has not
been granted. A station whose license is still in renewal process cannot be
approved for any license transfer, swap, JOA or sale.
Sound clip from finance committee 2-5-2015
https://soundcloud.com/tracy-rosenberg/brian-edwards-tiekert-on-winding-down-wbai
On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 3:37 AM, Cerene WBAI yes.cerene at yahoo.com
[PacificaRadiowaves] <PacificaRadiowaves at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> Below are a report from the Interim Executive Director Margy Wilkinson and
> some motions from the National Finance Committee (NFC). (The NFC is
> comprised of the treasurers of the five local boards, a national board
> member from each station area, and the foundation's CFO.)
>
> The draft meeting agenda is here:
> http://kpftx.org/pacalendar/cal_show1.php?eventdate=20150108
>
>
> *INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OPEN SESSION REPORT*
>
> The Pacifica National Office is hard at work to gather information and
> documents in response to the AG's correspondence audit. For those of you
> who do not know, the AG has given us an extension to February 17, 2015 to
> respond to the requests for documents and information. We have assigned
> responsibility for each of the 23 requests in the AG's audit. And are
> beginning to pull together the needed materials which will be submitted
> electronically. Volunteers are welcome in the PNO to assist. Please
> contact me at ed at pacifica.org or call 510-849-2590 if you have time to
> help.
>
> End of the year letter - Pacifica's end of the year letter signed by Ralph
> Nader with an endorsement by Amy Goodman went out just before Christmas to
> 15,000 previous donors. The first returns were received on the day after
> Christmas and brought in enough money to cover the costs of the mailing -
> approximately $8K. Since then we have received an additional $10K and
> donations continue to arrive every day.
>
> The difficult financial situation at Pacifica and at the stations in our
> network is now well known. Station and unit managers are having to make
> some very hard choices in order to make ends meet. Whatever any of you can
> do to generate financial support for Pacifica and for our stations and
> Pacifica Radio Archives is very important. Please consider what you can do
> and pitch in.
>
>
>
> *MOTIONS FROM THE NFC* with notes from its Chair Brian Edwards-Tiekert.
>
> Greetings,
>
> The National Finance Committee met Monday to discuss crisis management
> measures for every financial unit facing difficulty paying its bills. We
> unanimously approved motions recommending the PNB adopt the following
> resolutions.
>
> I'll put some background at the bottom of the resolutions.
>
> WBAI
>
> The interim Executive Director shall require the WBAI General Manager
> to attend the next meeting of both the WBAI Finance Committee and
> Local Station Board to give a First Quarter Financial Report.
>
> For the next six months, WBAI Management shall require approval from
> either Pacifica's CFO or interim Executive Director prior to making any
> disbursement greater than $500 other than for rent, utilities, payroll
> and other regular, recurring expenses.
>
> The PNB directs WBAI Management and LSB to prepare within 45 days
> a recommended contingency plan to the PNB in the event that the
> station's deficits cannot be stabilized.
>
> KPFK
>
> For the next six months, KPFK Management shall require approval from
> either Pacifica's CFO or interim Executive Director prior to making any
> financial commitment or disbursement greater than $1,000 other than for
> rent, utilities, payroll, and other regular, recurring expenses
>
> The PNB directs the Interim Executive Director to direct Management at
> KPFK to prepare within 30 days a plan for reducing expenses by at at
> least $250,000 per year in order to bring KPFK's operating deficit under
> control."
>
>
> KPFA
>
> For the next six months, KPFA Management shall require approval from
> either Pacifica's CFO or interim Executive Director prior to making any
> disbursement or incurring any expense greater than $1,000 for other
> than for rent, utilities, payroll, and other regular, recurring expenses
>
> The PNB directs the interim Executive Director to direct Management at
> KPFA to prepare within 30 days a plan for reducing expenses by at at
> least $250,000 per year in order to bring KPFA's operating deficit under
> control." (Passed without objection)
>
>
> Pacifica Radio Archive
>
> The PNB directs the interim Executive Director to direct Management at
> PRA to increase revenue from unbudgeted sources or prepare within 30
> days a plan for reducing expenses by at least $9,000 per month in order
> to bring PRA's operating deficit from fund-raising shortfalls under
> control.
>
> =============
> Discussion
>
> WBAI:
>
> We do not have any recent financial statements from WBAI. We learned on
> the NFC call that WBAI is three months behind on transmitter rent, has been
> spending money on an unbudgeted studio build-out, cancelled most of its
> December Fund Drive, and required assistance from the National Office to
> cover Payroll and Benefits in December. We also heard that WBAI's General
> Manager has been uncommunicative to its Local Station Board and local
> Finance Committee, and has not been attending management conference calls.
>
> KPFK:
>
> We do not have any recent financial statements from KPFK--the bookkeeping
> has been too deficient there to produce anything useful. Pacifica
> Management has taken steps to fix that situation by replacing the person
> doing accounting at KPFK.
>
> We DO know, based on Memsys data on pledge collections and cash receipts,
> that the 89-90% fulfillment rate KPFK built its budget around is not
> bearing out, and KPFK is collecting closer to 80% of pledges -- that will
> produce a bottom-line shortfall in the ballpark of $250,000 over the course
> of a year.
>
> KPFA:
>
> KPFA's produced an income statement through November that showed KPFK's
> bottom line falling short of budget by $67,000. We know KPFA outperformed
> its budget for year-end giving in December, and should have have full
> accounting of how much ground it made up shortly.
>
> It looks like KPFA ran into three problems:
> * Cash Budgeting error. The cash flow tab of KPFA's budget
> accidentally omitted October Central Services, producing a cash balance
> ~$34,000 higher than it should have been.
> * Cash Timing. Much of KPFA's off-air revenues were spread
> out evenly across the year in the budget, but that doesn't reflect how they
> actually come in. For instance, the Major Donor line is budgeted at $18,000
> per month. However, KPFA's Major Donor income comes in fits and starts--we
> had no income on this line in October, November, or December, but have had
> $42,000 (so far) in January. Also: the budget template's cash flow
> formula assumes fund drive money arrives in the month it is pledged -- and
> shows KPFA recording about $100,000 of Listener Support in January from the
> fund drive that starts January 26. In fact, KPFA doesn't process credit
> card payments until 1-3 business days after pledges are made. That means
> none of the money from that fund drive will arrive in time to help with
> KPFA's end-of-month payroll in January--which means we'll have to keep
> other bills unpaid to keep money on hand for payroll and benefits.
> * Optimism. Absent a major bequest we don't know about, it
> looks like KPFA's off-air fundraising will lag what's budgeted over the
> long run -- it's not just a timing issue.
>
> KPFA management say they're preparing to cut about $250,000/year in
> personnel spending through layoffs, consolidation of part-time positions
> (to eliminate extra benefit packages), and hour cuts. However, the savings
> from that will take time to phase in -- and won't help with KPFA's January
> cash crunch.
>
> PRA [ed: Pacifica Radio Archives]:
>
> PRA fell $72,000 short of its Fall Fund Drive goal; it is also about
> $20,000 behind on Central Service payments from stations. The first quarter
> financial statement PRA sent to the board today indicates it had a bottom
> line shortfall of $90,000 in just three months.
>
>
> On Wednesday, January 7, 2015 6:38 PM, Cerene WBAI <yes.cerene at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> The Pacifica National Board will meet on Thursday, January 8, 2015, in
> open, then executive session. There will be some discussion of our
> financial situation and the audit by the California Attorney General, as
> well as other business.
>
> You can listen live where shown below and/or later, on the archive, at
> http://archive.kpftx.org/
>
> Streamed at
> http://kpftx.org/pls/kpftx6280.pls
>
> The direct link is
> http://kpftx.org:6280
>
> Also at
> http://audioport.org:8000/pnb1
>
>
> The full list of governance meetings around the network, including live
> meetings in your listening area, can be found here: http://kpftx.org/
>
>
> Cerene
>
>
>
> __._,_.___
> ------------------------------
> Posted by: Cerene WBAI <yes.cerene at yahoo.com>
> ------------------------------
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> __,_._,___
>
--
Tracy Rosenberg
Executive Director
Media Alliance
1904 Franklin Street # 818
Oakland CA 94612
www.media-alliance.org
510-832-9000 x303
510-684-6853 Cell
tracy at media-alliance.org
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