[Kzyxtalk] The KZYX's board letter to Members

[nsi at mcn.org]

 Who is Elaine Herring? And why has she passed this task on to a
former employee of the station? 
To shield her personal contact information I would guess. 

Ms. Herring (not of the Anderson Valley Herrings) resided in Ukiah
two years before she managed a seat on the Board of Directors of
KZYX/Z.  And now she is the Chair. 
A Chair who shudders at the prospect of in-person, public, and
video-streamed Board meetings.  Who has reduced the frequency of
those public meetings to even less than what the Board itself
recently agreed to. 
 
Herring has no Institutional memory regarding the station. She is
comparing John Coate's performance with Belinda Rawlin's, the ditz
who went through the bank draw and then vanished. 

Does anyone have contact information for Elaine Herring to share.
She's not listed in the phone book. The Board does not list their
email addresses on the station website. 
Elaine does not answer email directed to her through the station
website. 
I'd like to know, for instance, how Elaine Herring is connected to
RemCo, a plant along Highway 101 on the fringe of Ukiah, which
manufactures parts for nuclear weaponry. And whether that connection
(if it exists) has any bearing. 

So the statement below, devoid of any opportunity for Public Input,
made behind the curtain of the board listserv--where they are not
supposed to meet as a full group to come to decisions regarding the
station: those are tasks to be performed in Open Board meetings or
NOTICED Closed Sessions. 
I am really interested in how these board members came to what they
profess to "know."

And Paul Lambert. He too with the tiny Institutional memory; he too
with a smidgen of experience of residency in Mendocino County: who
was paid the full $20,000 of the allotted News Department budget to
do a daily 5 minute reading of submitted PR pieces, plus excerpts
from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and (occasionally) Ukiah Daily
Journal, often without attribution. The most criticized venture ZXYX
has ever engaged in.  And was rewarded with the slot previously held
by Open Lines. 

For those of you with Institutional memory: Remember the struggle at
Pacifica. The struggle against the machinations of the Pacifica Board
background:rgb(228,228,228);">From: "Paul Lambert" 
To:"kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org" , "kzyxtalk-request at lists.mcn.org" 
Cc:
Sent:Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:16:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject:[Kzyxtalk] The KZYX's board letter to Members

The State of the Station February 2014 We are eight of the nine
Directors on the Board of Mendocino County Public Broadcasting.  We
are pleased to report on the remarkable STATE OF THE STATION.
·         We know that KZYX&Z is financially secure. 
·         We know that the station is ready and able to provide
the community with critical, lifesaving information and news when
needed in an emergency.
·         We know that we offer programs that listeners enjoy
and depend on hearing in their daily lives.
·         We know that the station has a devoted, stable
membership.
·         We know that the station is making necessary technical
improvements to its infrastructure and equipment to improve our
signals and minimize/eliminate downtime. 
And we know that we owe much of this progress, this success, to the
efforts and accomplishments of our General Manager John Coate and his
staff. 
Business/Finances:
We give our General Manager full credit for turning around the
station’s finances. When John Coate was hired in 2008, KZYX was
more than $200K in debt.  At this time (Feb. 17, 2014) we have more
money in the bank than we owe.  We could pay every bill we have,
past and present, and still have funds in the bank.  Our $75K line
of credit has not been touched since November, and has been untouched
for 8 out of the past 12 months.
For the past 3 years our audits, prepared by an independent
professional, have included a cover letter declaring that there are
no irregularities or problems with our bookkeeping and accounting
practices.
John retired $116K in old debts last fiscal year.  He restructured
our remaining debt into a single no-interest monthly payment, which
we have made without fail for almost two years.
John reorganized our membership department to ensure more timely and
consistent mailings, such as pledge acknowledgement letters. 
John shares all financial information with the Board in a way that is
prompt and upfront.  During his tenure as GM he has become an expert
in managing a highly unpredictable cash flow and implementing cost
control measures.
Operations/Infrastructure:
We installed a new backup power generator at the Philo studio.  In
the past, the entire station would go off the air every winter,
sometimes for days at a time, due to power failure.  This no longer
happens.
Now we have
a new Emergency Alert Systema new main control console in Philoa new
state-of-the-art antenna for KZYX 90.7a new and improved program
automation systema digital storage unit to begin building a
comprehensive digital music library. backup equipment for various
parts of the signal path resulting in far less downtime when
something breaksWe have changed the way the satellite studios connect
to Philo, saving hundreds of dollars each month in phone charges.
We rebuilt every part of the equipment required for the 88.1 signal
on Bald Hill above Fort Bragg.  Now it is trouble-free.
We replaced the unit that converts audio to a radio signal to a
higher quality unit that greatly improves the fidelity of the
broadcast.
We completely rebuilt the kzyx.org website in 2012, relying primarily
on the efforts of staff and volunteers
There have been numerous improvements to office and studio components
such as computers, microphones, CD players, etc. and the Philo studio
building has been rewired for better reliability. 
Programming: 
We have a dedicated volunteer staff of about 100 programmers who
provide a quality product, week in and week out We have 31 local
programmers and 17 local programs on the air today that were not on
the air in August 2008 when John began.  These include Mendo
Matters, Give and Take, Consider This, The Sonic Blender, Portrait in
Jazz as well as many others.  We are constantly looking to update our
programming to keep it fresh, and we continue to welcome new
programmers and new program ideas that will help us to better serve
our community.  We expanded our local news coverage with the
addition of Michael Kisslinger and veteran reporter and producer
Sheri Quinn.
We, the undersigned trustees on the MCPB Board of Directors, are very
grateful to John Coate and to his A-Team staff for their excellent
contributions to our station.  We are diverse, independent-minded
individuals who believe wholeheartedly that they are doing a fine job
of day-to-day management, and that they are moving the station forward
in the right strategic direction.  
February 17, 2014
Eliane Herring, Board President, Attorney (admitted to practice in
Wash. D.C. and Tex., not Cal.)
Holly Madrigal, Board Vice-President, Mayor of Willits
Meg Courtney, Board Secretary, Vice-Mayor of Ft. Bragg
Stuart Campbell, Programmer-Elected Representative, College Professor
Fran Koliner, Retired Teacher, Visual Artist
Bob Page, Managing Partner, Airport Health Club, Santa Rosa
Laviva Dakers, Mother and KZYX programmer
Ed Keller, Realtor and Property Development Consultant
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