Berkeley – Pacifica Foundation Chief Financial Officer Sam Agarwal submitted his resignation today. Agarwal came to Pacifica in December of 2015 after the chief financial officer position had been vacant for six months following the June 2015 departure of his predecessor, Raul Salvador. Agarwal’s departure leaves the network with no executive management, following a succession of volunteer executive directors for 24 of the last 29 months.
Berkeley – Ballots mailed for Pacifica’s 2016 board elections from the East Coast on August 15th. Pacifica in Exile’s candidate endorsements for all stations can be found here. You will find online voting instructions inside your printed ballot envelope. The voting period ends on September 30 at 11:59pm in your own time zone. If you donated, but don’t receive a ballot or for any ballot-related question at any station, you can contact King Reilly, a KPFK member who has graciously agreed to assist folks, at [email protected].
For more on our endorsed slates, see the Committee to Strengthen KPFK, Move KPFT Forward, United for Community Radio (KPFA), and WBAI Indy Caucus websites. Continue reading Mass Layoffs Averted; Now What?
Berkeley-PNB director Bill Crosier notified the local board in Houston that Pacifica’s directors and officers liability policy had been cancelled, with an extension for only 60 days, and a bankruptcy/insolvency exemption in effect for those 60 days. The last day the policy provided full coverage was August 11th. Insurance underwriters had been demanding audited financial statements for months. Crosier told his board (the only local one to date that has been informed): Continue reading The Day The Insurance Died
Berkeley-On July 28th, a second special meeting on finances was held, once again boycotted by the entire board majority, with an attempt to unliaterally cancel the meeting by board chair Tony Norman. You can listen to the entire meeting here,a highlights reel here, and read a written summary of recommendations here.
The Siegel/Brazon board majority did attend the August 4th board meeting a week later, a meeting which which focused primarily on bylaws amendments, elections and disciplinary retribution. A highlights reel can be heard here. Among the subjects discussed:
After a two-year delay, New York station WBAI was re-licensed by the FCC, although the station’s lack of a local or toll-free telephone number since June 23rd place it in violation of broadcasting law (Section 47 C.F.R. 73.1125(e)). The Siegel/Brazon majority on the national board celebrated with Brazon announcing “The really good news is that WBAI has been granted their license renewal until June 1, 2022. That is really important in that it allows us to proceed with a lot of things (giggle) including negotiations that we have with debtors {sic} and so forth”. License renewal is what permits a sale or lease transaction of a broadcasting license. License renewal has no value in a negotiation with a creditor due to FCC prohibitions on using the value of broadcast licenses as collateral. Continue reading Proceeding With Things
Overview
In the two years since Pacifica in Exile began publication after a coup, the Pacifica Foundation has toppled into critical condition.
Many, if not most, observers conclude the Pacifica stations don’t have much time left without a big change in direction.
The perpetrator are not unknown: it’s the Siegel/Brazon faction which grabbed control of the network in March of 2014. What has ensued since then has been exhaustively documented on this website.
There is only one source of correction. It’s you and your vote.
Continue reading 2016 Elections: Pacifica in Exile Endorsements
Berkeley-The special meeting on finances called by board members Jan Goodman, Jonathan Alexander, Grace Aaron and Bill Crosier is now streaming at kpftx.org, the independent server that once served as KPFT-In-Exile when the Pacifica membership community was rebelling against another bad board 17 years ago.
You can listen live here. Click on the listen now on the upper left side below the leaf image. A full length audio archive as well as a highlights reel will be available after the meeting. Continue reading PNB Uncensored – Streaming Now
Berkeley-Independent national board members Grace Aaron, Jan Goodman, Jonathan Alexander and Bill Crosier have called for another special meeting on finances. Board chair Tony Norman announced he was unilaterally cancelling the July 28th meeting in advance and board secretary Janet Kobren cancelled the posted meeting notices. But Houston listener rep Bill Crosier indicated in a public email that the called meeting would occur despite their actions. “The meeting is still on and will happen, regardless of whether you continue, in your childish manner, to cancel the meeting listing on the kpftx calendar. I wish you would be willing to cooperate, but we’re going to have the meeting on July 28, whether you like it or not”. Continue reading Lydia’s Scorecard
As a financial meltdown continues to endanger the Pacifica Foundation, emails demonstrate national board officers have been spending their time cancelling meeting notices.
Board chair Tony Norman, whose station (Washington’s WPFW) does not have sufficient funds in the bank to meet the month-end payroll, unilaterally canceled a special board meeting on the financial crisis called by Crosier and LA board members Grace Aaron, Jan Goodman and Jonathan Alexander for July 28th. Continue reading No Talking Or Else – Part II
Berkeley-Recovering from a brief 15-minute flirtation with taking action to address the financial crisis, interim executive director Lydia Brazon ignored a unanimous vote from the board of directors and didn’t pay for the audit. The motion instructed her to use last week’s $50,000 bequest to KPFK to get the 2014 audit report released, and then use the 2014 audit to take out a loan on the national office building and pay a long list of pressing items. Didn’t happen. Continue reading Never Mind
Berkeley-After a literal slew of “special meetings on finances”, the Pacifica National Board finally came to the conclusion they had to pay the fiscal year 2014 audit fee – 22 months after the end of that fiscal year. At a few minutes to midnight, in a bit of a hysterical rush, they agreed to snatch money from anywhere in the network they could find it, starting with a $50,000 bequest gift to KPFK that reportedly came in just a few days ago. The motion was amended repeatedly, most significantly to authorize another grab for a $38,000 payment to the contractor for the board elections. The total amount will range from $68,000 to $117,000, depending on what portion of the $67,000 remaining balance due on the audit fee will be enough to pry the audit from the unpaid audit firm. The motion may have been motivated by the looming August 11 deadline on the third extension of board liability insurance that protects the assets of board members from litigation directed at Pacifica.
The network’s financial crisis is summarized in this bullet point list prepared for the Pacfica National Board. Continue reading Better Pay The Audit
