KPFA's Budgetary Challenges and Election Propoganda

It is really unfortunate that work people must do when they are seated on the board of an institution to attend to their fiduciary responsibilities is considered grist for this idiotic rumor mill on Indybay.

Save KPFA/Concerned Listener candidates should find other ways to spend their time. There's plenty of work to be done.

What's being described as a "purge list" is a union seniority chart. KPFA, as most have heard by now, has a paid staff union, The CWA. Like most unions, it states that when times are hard and retrenchment may be necessary - seniority status is a guiding principal in working those matters out fairly and equitably It's hard to believe that anyone would seriously suggest that, pending core operational functions, seniority should not prevail.

Only in election season.

No one is proposing anything yet. National Board members, including Save KPFA's Andrea Turner, who didn't attend the meeting, were asked to give input and brainstorm ideas. After 10 hours of budget meetings over three weeks resulted in a still-unbalanced budget with a deficit, ideas were needed. All individuals present were asked to maintain confidentiality, One clearly did not. I do not intend to violate my own promise even if some Save KPFA-affiliated folks want to make a campaign issue out of it.

The fiscal year begins October 1st and it is necessary for a budget plan to be in place. It would be irresponsible for the Foundation's national board not to pay attention to the fact that interim station management hasn't yet produced one. I'm sure one will be ready for the next scheduled Local Station Board meeting on October 16th. The Local Station board was fully briefed at the last one on the incomplete state of the budget. If the 12 members of the Local Board affiliated with Concerned Listeners/Save KPFA were not sleeping through the financial report or the monthly ones in July and August too, it shouldn't be news to them.

KPFA owes Pacifica more than $300,000 from the last fiscal year, when it ran a $495,000 deficit. The failure to pay that money has been a large contributing factor in stiffing Democracy Now of its programming fees, endangering Free Speech Radio News and making it difficult to pay for the professional audit required to stay in good standing with federal funding sources. These things are important. KPFA cannot continue to pay its expenses by stiffing vendors of their fees for programs and services rendered. No can possibly say that is a responsible way to run an institution. At least I hope that's not what I'm hearing. That's just dumb.

KPFA lent money to support WBAI for the many years the New York station ran disastrous deficits. I wasn't in governance then, but Save KPFA/Concerned Listeners stalwarts Sherry Gendelman and Bonnie Simmons were, and Gendelman and Siegel both spent time as Pacifica's interim executive directors. They were fully aware of all those inter-station transfers and did little to insist on fiscal responsibility for all units. This year's National Finance Committee does not intend to approve deficit budgets for any units, although BAI still has structural problems with a terribly expensive lease and an expensive Empire State building transmitter. It does not own its own building as KFFA does. WBAI has already laid off a substantial amount of staffers trying to get to a better financial position.

Pacifica is - at the last budget draft I saw - allowing KPFA to use the CD as a credit towards back Central Services due. KPFA pays exactly the same amount of Central Service fees as any other station in the network 19.8% of pledge drive income or 14.5% of overall revenue. Why do the Save KPFA/Concerned Listeners folks tell so many whoppers? Do they not pay attention to financial reports or is it just to win the election? One has to wonder. The only exception is KPFK which gets about a $25,000 discount annually for loaning a floor in its LA building to house the Pacifica archives.

The recommendations of Concerned Listeners/Save KPFA were followed for 2 straight years. End result: A 1 million dollar loss in 23 months.

You be the judge.

Now let's stop campaigning and get down to the hard work of surviving this economic morass in a sustainable fashion.

When elections are over, the work that needs to be done continues.