Greetings..... reading
is believing . On this page you will find correspondence
between Board members, and with management, that will offer some quick
insight into the tenor and tendency of the current LSB.
Shortly after the LSB
election, a constituent informed me of two alarming developments
which, being out of town, I thought might best be investigated by an
open letter to KPFT GM Duane Bradley. Of course, I received no
response to this letter, in keeping with this management's practice of
blowing off its critics, whether elected to the Board or
otherwise. The letter follows:
Duane,
One
of my constituents has recently conveyed to
me his concern that the on-air message by Pacifica Executive
Director Greg Guma is not receiving significant broadcast by
KPFT during prime time hours. Mr. Guma's statement, from what
I've heard, is a fairly
lengthy and inspired articulation of a policy
statement that all Pacifica stations will be broadcasting programming
to challenge the threat to our civil rights and other deleterious
effects of our government's "war on terror" (a "war" which continues to
enjoy wide bipartisan support, as the newly empowered Democrats have
recently called for an increase in military spending to fund it, and a
Democratic congressman recently introduced a bill to reinstate the
military draft). I am requesting of you the following in
order that I may properly inform my consituent, and so that he can hear
for himself whether his concern is warranted or not:
documentation of the airplay given Mr. Guma's statement heretofore,
including times and dates; and a schedule for upcoming airplay for this
message, including times and dates. If KPFT management is
NOT mandating airplay for this on-air statement, a simple statement to
that effect will suffice.
This
same constituent also brings to my attention his belief you
have recently reduced several KPFT full time paid staff positions to
part time. If his report is not accurate, I would like you to
inform me of the fact, so I can set this constituent straight. If
his claim is valid, however, I have the following questions, and I
request that you answer each of them:
1) Is
KPFT in financial trouble? If so, at which LSB meeting did
you alert the Local Board to this fiscal crisis?
2)
Why were these staff positions reduced to part time?
3) To which part(s) of the budget have you applied the savings
from these changes?
4) At
which LSB meeting did you request approval of this budgetary revision?
5) At
which LSB meeting did you receive approval of this budgetary revision?
6) On
what date did you effect these personnel changes?
7)
Will you please include with your reply a copy of the revised table of
organization for KPFT reflecting these changes, as well as updated
job descriptions?
I
request that you "reply all" when you send your response, as my fellow
Board members, who are cc'd above, share the same fiduciary
responsibility which prompted these questions (cf. Article 7, Section
3, Part A of the Pacifica Foundation's Amended and Restated Bylaws).
Thank
you in advance for your soonest reply.
Peace,
Ken Freeland
Member,
KPFT LSB
More
to follow next week when i can again access my email archive. In
the meantime, don't forget: first LSB meeting, at which its
officers will be elected, is Wednesday 13 December , 7:00 pm at the
Alliance Francaise (right next to KPFT on Lovett St.).
Please come if you can, and sign up to speak to the Board about your
concerns!