[Kzyxtalk] Mendocino Street Talk

[Doug McKenty]

I wrote the Board some time ago discussing the "Culture of Corruption" that had overtaken the station. I soon changed that to a "Culture of Complacency."  

I appreciate that Scott is looking for a smoking gun. Some hidden policy that somehow replaced the policies that are shown to the public. 

I don't know that it is that simple. I really think that somehow a few people just took control and the board did not have the gumption or desire to stand up to them. Like Norman said, it was just easier to meet less often and let the few take over. 

I liken the station's culture to a dysfunctional family with a passive aggressive patriarch. Those who stand up to him get written out of the will. Everybody else just pretends like everything is normal. 

Never underestimate the power of denial. 

Doug



Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 29, 2016, at 5:50 PM, Scott Peterson <scottmartinpeterson at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I've been looking at this issue within the broader context .. i.e.; what happened to Mendocino County 
> 
> 
> nonprofits? .. going back to Jim Tarbell's recollections about the early days of KZYX .. around 1993 .. 
> 
> 
> when the board of directors accepted a 'flat top management' proposal .. I like Jim Tarbell .. and I 
> 
> 
> totally respect him .. but the phrase 'flat top management' woke me up the other night .. in a cold 
> 
> 
> sweat .. [insert James Brown music here] .. 
> 
> 
> there's definitely some kind of engineered mechanism that got a group of socially responsible, 
> 
> 
> politically active -- smart people -- to surrender the democratic control of Mendocino County's 
> 
> 
> only high power community radio station to a very non-democratic group .. who's run it for the 
> 
> 
> the last umpteen years .. if we don't understand how it happened, how can we undo it? .. 
> 
> 
> 
> Scott,
> I appreciate your posts.  The first few gave me doubt: Is this really true?
> I'm now convinced.  But at the same time cannot (yet) believe that the
> Board of Directors wishes ill.  I'm more thinking that like the Board of
> Supervisors they want to be part-time by meeting half as often as 
> necessary; moving away from standing committee work, ad infinitum.
> 
> My concern is focused on the overall lack of large donations as compared
> to years ago and that we don't have a pool of programmers who can (or
> wish) to focus on local issues.
> 
> KZYX is facing more competition than ever before; it's time for a full review
> of who we are and want do we want to do.  It's time to review our Mission
> Statement.  
> Norman
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> > On Apr 29, 2016, at 4:21 PM, Scott Peterson <scottmartinpeterson at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > maybe worth mentioning here .. I was walking down the street in Mendocino today .. 
> > 
> > 
> > then I got stopped by a person I've known here for decades .. asking if I was the same 
> > 
> > 
> > person who'd been writing all those things about KZYX .. gulp .. yep .. I'm the culprit .. 
> > 
> > 
> > so then this person said, 'Thank you.' .. I must've looked shocked .. they went on to 
> > 
> > 
> > say how they'd been buttonholed recently in the same vicinity by a former KZYX
> > 
> > 
> > manager .. when the person I was talking to said how much they missed community 
> > 
> > 
> > radio, the former management member launched into a personal attack against the 
> > 
> > 
> > host of this newsgroup .. my response was this .. there are two conflicting policies at 
> > 
> > 
> > KZYX .. the open policy on the website that everybody loves .. and the closed policy 
> > 
> > 
> > on the Form 990 tax returns that nobody talks about .. the people in favor of the open 
> > 
> > 
> > policy are all focused on policy .. while the people in favor of the closed policy are all 
> > 
> > 
> > focused on people .. 
> > 
> > 
> > .
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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