[Kzyxtalk] full text of my complaint to the FCC

Wed Feb 12 20:35:21 PST 2014

Rick,
  It was John Sakowicz who was elected by the members to the Bd. of Directors last year who penned that last response.
   Tim--I will grant one of John Coate's strong points is his technical upgrades at the station. That is good & we would all be giving him 100% support if his other strong suit was fostering the community part of public radio.
  Instead, beside the numerous points of control mentioned by John S., --Coate has complete control over the website and is unwilling to let anyone else make changes to make it more interactive so that members might know what others are saying both about the station and to the Board. If you knew what info people have asked to have included on the site, like the responses of those who took the time to fill out the the station survey 2 years ago, like the $ totals for the various shows during pledge drive, you would understand how Coate consistently ignores requests for info from members and is very selective and in total control of the what goes out over the website. 
     Aside from the programmers shows and the archives which admittedly are beneficial to listeners and a welcomed improvement, the website, at least to me, feels like one way "station speak". 
     As someone who also was a volunteer at the station for ten years, I have personally witnessed the transition from power sharing and community open involvement to what is the antithesis of my understanding of public radio--a fear of crossing the authoritarian structure currently in place to protect one's status at the station.
Anyone who tries to participate in the supposedly democratic decision making process becomes vilified as an enemy of the station and purged. This is the subject of my next article for the AVA.
  Additionally,  the Board has refused to set up individual emails that one can, if one wishes, communicate privately with one or all of our elected reps w/o Coate having access--another suspected illegal practice. Come to the next Bd. meeting : Monday, March 3rd-Senior Center--Ft Bragg--6 p.m.
          For truth,liberty & justice,
            Sheila Dawn Tracy-former KZYX news reporter

Rick <rbharris11 at comcast.net> wrote:

>Thank you for your reply. But who wrote this? Might I ask that we sign our responses so that we know who is speaking? 
>
>
>By the way, I have seen only one of these FCC complaints (I understand there are three), and what I saw was baseless in my opinion. Frankly, so far all I can discern is that this is some sort of personal spat between people at KZYX and really doesn't have much basis other than personal animosity. Seems like a lot of smoke to me. Where is the fire? 
>
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>As a concerned KZYX listener, if there are real problems, let us know. 
>
>
>Rick Harris 
>
>----- Original Message -----
>
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>With all due respect, Tim, it is central to my duties as a Board member to report what I perceive to be violations of the law. 
>
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>Board Directors at what the FCC calls a "non-commercial" station are sworn to uphold the highest standards for corporate governance, which include: accounting and audit oversight (including bank borrowings and other off-balance-sheet transactions); board independence; corporate responsibility; internal controls assuring participation of the public in both management decisions and programming decisions; restoring and maintaining public confidence in station management; maintaining the tower, repeaters and all other equipment; compliance with all federal regulations (including EEO compliance and diversity); meeting all public interest obligations and obligations for localism; and assuring protection for programmers and news reporters from all forms of censorship and interference while providing protections for investigative journalists and whistle-blowers. 
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>These are my legal duties, and I can be held criminally and civilly liable for failing to uphold these duties as a Board Director. 
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>On all boards and commissions on which I serve, my personal style is to be aggressive about inspecting all records, policing the conduct of management, assuring quality control of services, and enforcing compliance with the law, corporate by-laws, and other specific mandates. 
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>In the past and by way of example, I helped identify an improper diversion of $9.6 million in county contributions at the county retirement system. The retirement system could have lost its tax-exempt status. Fortunately, we're in discussions and negotiations with the IRS for a Voluntary Correction Program (VCP). 
>
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>I was also involved in the Ukiah Sanitation District's $28 million lawsuit against the City of Ukiah for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. 
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>I'm also all over the City of Ukiah's sweetheart contract with C&S Waste Solutions. 
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>And I'm all over Ukiah for failure to cap and seal the city dump on Vichy Springs Road which was closed ten years ago and which is located in an important watershed area and near the historic Vichy Springs resort. Vichy Springs was known for more than 5,000 years to the local Native American Pomo tribes who still live on Vichy Springs Road (actually not far from the city dump and its toxic effluvia). Vichy Springs is called “katuct” (water of eggs) by the local Pomo. After ten years, we must cap and seal the dump. 
>
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>All of the above examples are about fighting on behalf of the public trust. It's not about ego or grandstanding. It's hard work, and often it gets ugly. For the record, I'm deeply saddened by my decision to file my FCC complaint. But it's my duty, as I see it. 
>
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>Public radio is about public trust, too, Tim. 
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>It's all about trust. The FCC trusts us. Our bank trusts us. Our members trust us. Our underwriters trust us. Our listeners trust us. 
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>The people trust us -- the people trust us, especially the voiceless. Public radio gives them a voice. 
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>Never forget that. 
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tim Bray" <tbray at wildblue.net> 
>To: kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org 
>Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 9:25:10 AM 
>Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] full text of my complaint to the FCC 
>
>
>John, this was irresponsible and a direct contravention of your duties as a Board member. You should be ashamed of yourself. 
>
>It's purely grandstanding, as you well know the FCC is not going to reach down and pluck John Coate out of his position. (If you really thought they would, then you aren't as smart as I think you are.) 
>
>By asking them to suspend the station's license, you have deliberately risked the existence of community radio in Mendocino County. You're willing to take away the station so many people have come to depend upon, just because you don't like the way it is managed. That is a shocking level of hubris and self-righteousness. 
>
>You are on a Board of Directors. We elected you to help keep the station going, not to tear it down. You are supposed to be working with the other Directors to accomplish the positive changes many of us would like to see, but it seems you have not been able to do that. It's one thing to put up a slate of candidates to change the Board, it's something else entirely to monkey-wrench the licensing process. By doing so you have lost my respect, and diminished support for those associated with you. 
>
>Sincerely, 
>Tim Bray 
>-- 
>
>Oak & Thorn 
>Facebook: Oak and Thorn 
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