Berkeley – Every January, according to Pacifica’s badly written bylaws, the Pacifica National Board resets itself. This leads to regular chaos and 2018 was no disappointment in that regard. So the business of financial recovery has gone on almost exclusively in closed sessions of the board. We will fill you in on all the craziness below, but in deference to the seriousness of the situation, we are going to cover a few things of more significance first.
Pacifica’s financial audits, the subject of so much suffering for so long, seemed to be within shooting distance of finally getting current in mid-2017, when the FY 2015 audit was completed in August in record time. But 7 months later, the FY 2016 audit, which needed to be done by June 2017 or as soon thereafter as possible, hasn’t gone anywhere. Pacifica in Exile readers will remember that an audit fundraiser was held in March of 2017 to raise funds to pay for the two back audits with great success. Pacifica remains under some pressure to get the FY 2016 audit done with an original deadline from the CA Attorney General of mid-February 2018. Pacifica’s first attempt to get an extension was rejected, and a second attempt is underway. The ability of all the stations to accept charitable donations would be at risk if Pacifica’s tax-exempt status were pulled, a possible consequence of failing to submit timely financial audits. Continue reading The Return of Self-Selected Boards or Control At Any Price→
Berkeley – To no one’s real surprise, a NY court ruled on October 4 that the Pacifica Foundation owed $1.8 million dollars plus attorney’s fees to the Empire State Realty Trust, the multimillion dollar real estate firm that owns the Empire State Building, where Pacifica has lodged WBAI-FM’s antenna since 1966. A 15-year contract signed in 2005, after the collapse of the World Trade Center, made antenna space in NYC a hot commodity, and featured soaring prices and a 9% annual escalation, which left the price of the rental by 2015 at more than 4 times the market value and in excess of $500,000 a year, a vast amount for a listener-sponsored radio station.
Berkeley – Clean-up work continues as the recovery of the network from the 2014 Siegel/Brazon coup enters its 7th month.
Financial statements through June 30, 2017 are available here. For the first time in recent history, the Pacifica Foundation is listed as “Current” status (rather then Delinquent status) at the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts, after the fiscal year 2015 audit was completed prior to the deadline. The audit report, which is also available on the www.pacifica.org website, can be downloaded here.Continue reading Current For The First Time In A While→
Berkeley – The upcoming week features not one, but two, Pacifica National Board meetings on December 13 and December 15. The long-scheduled December 15th meeting is when the board will select two affiliate directors for 2017 from among 5 applicants, and a recently called special meeting was initiated by directors Cerene Roberts, Adriana Casenave and Janet Kobren for December 13. The reason for the sudden meeting on the 13th isn’t entirely clear with the meeting notice saying the meeting is about 2016 local board elections and the FY 2014 audit. The 2016 elections were certified as complete last Wednesday. A draft of the FY 2014 was distributed to Pacifica’s audit committee last Monday. Roberts, Casenave and Kobren have not indicated what motions, if any, they may be presenting for board for consideration. Continue reading Are Two Meetings Better Than One?→
Berkeley – (From Day 4 of Trumpocalypse) … Pacifica’s outgoing Siegel/Brazon board majority hit the network’s five stations with a large central service fee increase, with the deepest impact to be felt at Berkeley’s KPFA and DC’s WPFW. The maneuver, which was pushed by NY rep Cerene Roberts and Houston rep Adriana Casenave, is complicated so bear with us for an explanation of what happened and the likely effect if not repealed. Continue reading Organizational Darwinism 2.0→
