It was announced last night that personnel reduction notices will be issued at KPFA and $250,000 in layoffs will be implemented in the next 30 days.
No notification was given to the local or national boards of the massive layoffs (13% of the total payroll), which succeed five new hires made in the past 8 months.
The layoffs will hit union staff, as negotiations are underway with the CWA Local 9415.
At the December local station board meeting, KPFA’s bookkeeper Maria Negret gave out a report to the local station board describing KPFA as breaking even through the end of October, with a small surplus of $8K.
KPFA has reported that the October and December fund drives both achieved their planned fundraising goals and that the December crafts fair was a “big success”.
So what’s going on?
One year ago, in the period October to December 2013, KPFA posted revenue of $1.037M. . See financial statement attached.
Although financial statements under the 2014 rogue board have been virtually nonexistent, KPFA’s management has claimed the following revenues:
October pledge drive revenues: $690,000
December pledge drive revenues: $385,000
Crafts Fair Door income: $35,000
Major donor income: $50,000+
These numbers do not indicate any significant revenue drop from a year ago.
These numbers raise very serious questions. Why is a major financial crisis being presented with no supporting financial documentation? What has a million dollars been spent on so that it is not available to meet the basic expenses of the station? Is the financial reporting from management accurate or have the numbers been artificially inflated, provoking a crisis? What is the role of the local board? Has the “layoff list” been preceded by a call for voluntary resignations, as in 2010? Will management follow a last hired, first fired protocol? Why are program changes made to “increase revenue” resulting in massive layoffs six months later? Why were no such layoffs necessary in 2013 although income was the same?
Financial statement 1st Quarter FY2015 – Profit and Loss KPFA