Originally posted February 17, 2015
Berkeley-Just when it seemed the process to fill the vacant executive director position at Pacifica Radio couldn’t get any more troubled, another shoe dropped when board vice-chair Tony Norman, a DC attorney employed by the federal government, inexplicably carbon-copied his ballot indicating his choice for the position to a public Pacifica discussion list-serv with about 100 subscribers. Continue reading Ballot on the Internet
Originally posted February 9, 2015
Berkeley-Pacifica’s expedited executive director search (to replace unelected board chair Margy Wlkinson) hit a snag when the board majority’s favored candidate declined the job, apparently spooked by the upcoming attorney general audit. The search process, which has been marred by consistent charges of corruption including the running of private want ads by Wilkinson directing applications to herself instead of the board-appointed search committee, and restoring candidates to the final pool after they had objectively received lower scores in early interviews than candidates who were eliminated from the final pool. The process finally concluded with a rushed vote only 3 days prior to the expiration of the 2014 boards term of office. Continue reading Chicanery
Saturday, 31 January 2015 11:00 By Michael Corcoran, Truthout | News Analysis
Pacifica Radio, one of the most iconic and last remaining outlets for progressive voices on the radio, is facing an increasingly uncertain future.
The network, which consists of five radio stations and dozens of affiliates across the country, has been full of dysfunction in recent years. The dysfunction has been caused by heated infighting caused by two factions vying for control of the network, the loss of important grant money, dwindling listenership, and near-constant fundraising and accounting hiccups.
Originally posted February 2, 2015
Berkeley-As another month ticks by without a completed audit for the fiscal year that ended September 20, 2013, Pacifica’s audit committee reported in writing that auditor Armanino LLC had declined to sign an engagement letter for Pacifica’s next audit (for the year that ended in September of 2014). The report stated: (you can read the full public version here):
The PNB should be advised that, based on available information, it does not appear feasible to meet the regular March 31 due date for the FY2014 audit for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The issue at hand is that this work cannot begin until the FY2013 audit is completed, nor can we even engage Armanino to commit to this work, as approved by the PNB at the December 3 meeting. Continue reading Pacifica’s Auditor Declines To Sign 2014 Engagement Letter
Originally posted January 22, 2015
Berkeley-At the January 22nd national board meeting, it was revealed Pacifica has defaulted on a loan from board member Lydia Brazon’s employer, Aris Anagnos. The $156,000 loan was approved by the board in September with the first $25,000 repayment due on October 28th, 2014. The board violated California Corporations Code in September by having interested director Brazon voting favorably on the transaction. Brazon stated repeatedly that she had not voted, which was a lie as this audio clip of the September vote reveals. It’s not clear why an elected representative would lie about a vote recorded on audio. Brazon did not reply when provided the audio recording of her vote. It provides a disproportionate level of influence for a single board member to mediate on behalf of an organization which is in default to her employer. Continue reading Lying To The Listeners
Originally posted January 17, 2015
Berkeley-Local management at KPFA has been under fire for their increasing reluctance to provide live coverage of community rallies and demonstrations, backpedaling on a denial of the “Block The Boat” broadcast from the Port of Oakland and acknowledging a tepid response to the Black Lives Matters protests that swept the station’s Berkeley neighborhood in the first week of December. That reluctance has amplified, with staffer Frank Sterling in receipt of angry emails after submitting a proposal for a 90-minute special program for the March For Real Climate Change Leadership planned in Oakland for February 7th. Continue reading KPFA Threatens Staffer For Trying To Broadcast Oakland Climate Change Rally
Originally posted January 11, 2015
Berkeley-Pacifica’s rogue board majority voted on January 8th to retain conflicted law firm Siegel and Yee to represent the network in the correspondence audit by California’s Attorney General. Dan Siegel’s Oakland law firm specializes in employment law and has no practice in accountancy. The motion to retain the firm again was made by board member Jose-Luis Fuentes who has been employed as an associate attorney at Siegel and Yee since 2003. Fuentes replaced his boss, Dan Siegel, on Pacifica’s board of directors in January 2014. When board members contested Fuente’s motion and favorable vote as a conflict of interest, Fuentes replied that he had resigned from Siegel and Yee in September of 2014. Continue reading Truth Or Dare
Attorney Jose Luis Fuentes moved for and voted on the hiring of the conflicted law firm Siegel and Yee to “represent” Pacifica Foundation Radio in front of the California Attorney General in the upcoming correspondence audit, although Siegel and Yee is an employment law firm with no expertise in accounting or nonprofit law.
Fuentes began working at Siegel and Yee as an associate attorney in 2003 and remained in that position when he joined the Pacifica board in January of 2014, taking the seat formerly held by his boss Dan Siegel, who resigned in order to run for the mayoral position in Oakland (Siegel came in fifth).
California law is very clear that board members with “affiliations” to vendors must be removed from votes that would result in financial benefits for the affiliated vendor. Fuentes both moved the action and then voted for it. When challenged, he said that he had resigned from the law firm of Siegel and Yee in September of 2014.
However a call to Siegel and Yee’s Oakland office (510-839-1200) in the morning of January 9th, 2015 directed the caller to extension 224 where Mr. Fuentes announced that he was either out of the office or on the phone, and to leave a message after the beep.
A screen shot of the Siegal and Yee website taken on January 8, 2015 showed Mr Fuentes listed on the firm’s attorney list.
And Mr Fuentes sent email to the Pacifica board list from his [email protected] months after his resignation date.
Fuentes email address 12-1-2014
Is this a Clintonesque definition of “working at”?
* Jose Luis Fuentes responded to this material by stating he was working with Siegel and Yee clients for no pay 4 months after his resignation date.
Detail of Accrued Settlement Fees-1
After attempting for more than a week to privately address the significant errors in the supposed independent audit of Pacifica’s FY2013 fiscal year, it is time to notify the members of the foundation that the document is incorrect and it appears to be fraudulent. Continue reading An Open Letter to the Pacifica National Board – (by Tracy Rosenberg)
National Finance Committee 1/5/2015
Initial announcement of quarter million dollars in cuts: https://soundcloud.com/tracy-
National Finance Committee 1/5/2015
Follow-up question on quarter million dollars in cuts: https://soundcloud.com/tracy-
(*Note that $250,000 at KPFA’s union scale wage is equal to 11,383 work hours or 284 hours for every remaining week of the fiscal year, not including the removal of employees from health insurance coverage).
KPFA Local Station Board Treasurer’s Report 12-13-2014
KPFA Local Station Board treasurer reporting an $8,000 surplus for the first two months of the current fiscal year and stating “KPFA is not in a hole” https://soundcloud.com/tracy-
National Finance Committee 1/5/2015
