<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><h1 class="entry-title">KZYX Surprises </h1><p><b>by Sheila Dawn-Tracy</b>, November 30, 2016</p><p>An unexpected development appeared as an action item on the November 7th agenda of the KZYX Board of Directors meeting.</p><p>The Board was asked to vote on the recommendation of the Hiring
Committee for the position of General Manager. Although the application
for the position was posted on the station's website and Facebook page,
advertised online nationally and in printed publications locally and in
neighboring counties, no notice of the opening of the application
process was broadcast over the station's own air waves. Mention of the
intent for a Hiring Committee to begin the process was made at a prior
Board meeting in late August but no announcement of meeting dates was
forthcoming despite written station policy to do so.</p><p>Attendance of the Ukiah meeting was sparse, consisting of nine people
in total, four of whom were members of the Community Advisory Board
(CAB). Three Board members, Directors Keller, Eubank and Azzaro were
absent.</p><p>According to the summary of the Committee's proceedings, twelve
applications were received of which four were vetted by Committee
members. Two candidates were chosen to be interviewed though no details
of the other candidates were given. In response to a question of whether
confidentiality of personnel information extended to applicants,
Director Stuart Campbell replied that it did.</p><p>A substantial portion of the meeting was devoted to discussing the
qualifications of the recommended candidate, Terry Green, formerly of
KUSP of Santa Cruz. Board members responded to CAB member, Tom Melcher's
request for more information on Mr. Green's termination from KUSP nine
months before the station filed for bankruptcy. Stating that although it
raised a red flag, the Board was satisfied that the station's financial
problems were not due to Green's management.</p><p>The Board voted to offer the General Manager position to Green who
declined an invitation to attend the meeting, stating that it might be
perceived that he was lobbying the Board in his favor. Campbell stated
that contract details would be finalized and a starting date would be
determined.</p><p>It appears the KZYX Board of Directors had a surprise of their own in
store. For reasons unknown, Mr. Green declined the station's offer. On
Friday, November 18th, the Board announced that it had offered the
position to Jeffrey Parker, a veteran newsman who had worked with
Reuters news agency and covered stories out of such varied places as New
York, Washington and Beijing among others. Parker had been living in
China from 1990 to 2016 and had applied for the position of GM in 2015
while still living in China. According to the Board's press release,
Parker also has experience as a social entrepreneur, working with a
non-profit as a community advocate to provide sustainable health care
services in China and India. While overseas, Parker listened to KZYX
daily via webstream and the Jukebox archives. He has supported the
station as a sustaining member and has returned to Mendocino County
where he will begin serving as Interim General Manager on December 1st.
The Board has stated its intention to remove the Interim GM status and
vote for Parker to be the Executive Director and General Manager at its
January meeting.</p><p>In other station news, Interim GM, Diane Hering will be taking a
medical leave of absence for the months of December and January and
expects to return in mid February to her former staff position as
Membership Coordinator.</p><p>Preparations for the upcoming Board election in March are being made.
Director Jonathan Middlebrook will act as Election Coordinator. Three
board seats mare available: The At-Large seat--residency requirement of
Mendocino County or contiguous counties, District 3 (Willits Laytonville
and Covelo areas) and District 4 (Fort Bragg and north coast areas). In
another surprise announcement, Director Futcher stated that both she
and Board President, Meg Courtney will not be seeking a second term.
Applicants must be members in good standing by Dec. 31st. The
application process closes Jan. 30th.</p><p>Director Campbell reported on developing proposals on sick leave and
vacation policy. As a result of not having a written policy, one long
time staff member was allowed to accrue unused vacation and sick leave
pay which amounted to a 14K on budgeted station liability. The sick
leave policy explicitly states that benefits are intended as protection
against illness and will not be paid out upon employment termination.
Vacation pay applies to full time staff and a cap of maximum accrual was
devised according to years of service. A public meeting of the Bylaws
and Policy Committee proposed for December will be announced.</p><p>As Treasurer, Campbell offered a fiscal report that showed the
station having a net loss of $45K as of Oct. 31st. Due to an August
transition of management, a planned short summer drive that was expected
to bring in $30K did not occur. The Fall pledge drive brought in $85K
but fell short of the $120K needed to make up the difference. Membership
renewal letters had been delayed due to the installment and training of
the new Allegiance software. The station’s line of credit of $75K has
dwindled to an available balance of $3.6 K in order to make payroll and
pay other expenses. Federal funds from a Corporation for Public
Broadcasting (CPB) grant of $121K have been awarded of which 70% is
expected to arrive soon.</p><p>Campbell stated that a six-month budget revision is necessary to make
adjustments for revenue shortfall as well as prepare for changes in
Federal law which have mandated salary increases for overtime exempt
status employees which will double as of Dec.1st from $23.6K to $47.5K.
He noted that pending legal action may affect implementation or its
applicability to a nonprofit.</p><p>General Manager's Report--The report was read as Hering is not able to attend evening meetings.</p><p>Operations--The Ukiah studio is now operational as a news production
facility due to the efforts of Operations Manager, Rich Culbertson. The
Program Director position is still part time despite the many
responsibilities of the job. Current PD, Alice Woeffle-Erskin has some
ideas to present to the new GM. The station's website will be converting
to a new web platform that is more adaptable to content changes.
Several staff members will be attending webinar training in the near
future.</p><p>Programming--Valerie Kim will take maternity leave in mid December.
Jason Morash, hired to cover Lake County news, will be taking on a
larger role in the News Dept.</p><p>Community Advisory Board Report (CAB)--The total sum of the CAB
report given by member Tony Novelli was that the group was close to
nailing down a date and location for an upcoming meeting. The only
public meeting held this year was on the coast in February. The three
inland members did not attend. The CAB has fallen far short of its goals
to have public meetings every other month. However, they did manage a
private meeting at the home of Director Campbell which was deemed
"improper" by a CPB spokesperson.</p><p>Public Comment--CAB member, Ellen Saxe addressed the unfinished
business of the CAB. She suggested that the focus of the proposed
meeting be to gather information on what priorities members thought
should be brought to the attention of the incoming GM. She also thought
that questions for a survey could be formulated from members input to be
included with the election ballot.</p><p>Tom Melcher thought an on air program with the CAB and the GM might
be more successful in getting a good public response than a public
meeting that has not had a high turn out in the past. I read Sect 3.3 of
the Policy Manual to the Board which states that all meetings are open
to the public. It also stipulates a noticing requirement of 5 days on
air and 5 days posting at the main studio. I informed the Board that I
would send a certified letter to them requesting the minutes of several
closed meetings which had not been responded after several previous
requests. I commented that a Strategic Plan for the station had not been
developed in ten years even though a template had been prepared by
former Board Secretary, Katharine Cole in 2011. I thought that since the
organizational details had been done, it would not be difficult to
update the plan to reflect the current station needs. In my years of
observing the operating procedures of the Board, I have noticed a
consistent pattern of ignore, delay and forget in regard to members
requests for information and long range planning. My final comment was
that although an on air CAB program was a good idea, I felt strongly
that it shouldn't act as a replacement for an on site public meeting.</p><p>Campbell responded to remarks I had made pertaining to when and by
whom the title of Executive Director had been added to the previous
Director's contract by stating that the title had no legal standing and
did not give any powers or responsibilities to distinguish it from those
of the GM. I was allowed to respond that that had not been my
experience as a former programmer and employee. I then shared my
experience that a former GM had intercepted, opened and responded to a
letter addressed to the Board under the alleged authority of Executive
Director.</p><p>A more compelling argument for not including an empty title in the GM
contract is that the only Directors recognized in the Bylaws are those
elected by the members or programmers of the station. To confer the
title of Director to staff can only serve to confuse the clear
boundaries of authority.</p><p>The Board concluded its meeting by outlining areas of priority for
future board action including volunteer training and long range
planning. The next board meeting is scheduled for January 2nd in
Willits. Location TBA.</p></body></html>