[Kzyxtalk] Fwd: letter to the editor -- KZYX Pledge Drive

[sako4 at comcast.net]

To the Editor: 


KZYX is currently conducting a Pledge Drive. In a previous post on the KZYXtalk listserv -- kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org -- when I suggested that staff were "singing for their supper", they got bent out of shape. Seriously bent out of shape. One wrote saying he was insulted, deeply offended. 


But why? 


My two questions during Pledge Drive are the following. If the station was as nearly bankrupt five years ago, as General Manager, and self-appointed Executive Director and Vizier-i-Azam (Grand Vizier), John Coate, claimed at that time, then: 1.) why were all staff given a raise to double the California minimum wage in order to have them reclassified as exempt employees, and 2.) why did Coate push the Board to give him a 10 % raise? 


Coate's raise makes him much better paid then many in public radio, say, for instance, KMUD's Station Manger, Jeanette Todd. I know what Coate gets paid, but the KZYX Board's secrecy rules prohibit me from disclosing it. No such secrecy about salaries exists at KMUD. 


Now let's consider the case where KZYX staff got paid twice the California minimum wage, which is currently $9 an hour, in order to have them reclassified as exempt employees. Twice the minimum wage is $18 dollars an hour, but staff also gets an additional 2 weeks of paid vacation. 


Let's do the math. If you get paid for 2 extra weeks of vacation (at your regular hourly rate), or you actually work for those 2 extra weeks, then your total year now consists of 52 weeks. Assuming 40 hours a week, that equals 2,080 hours in a year. Your hourly wage of $18 would end up being about $37,440 per year in salary. 


That's $37, 440 as a base salary for all staff, except for Coate who gets paid more -- a lot more. Again, I can't say how much. The Board imposed a gag order on salaries. 


It's all pretty rich at a station that contended it was nearly going bankrupt. And now, they come hat in hand again. 


I have a plan for where the money should go: 




    • How about a Ukiah studio? KZYX is too Anderson Valley-centric. How about a collaboration between KZYX and Ukiah-based KMEC? KMEC is not the enemy. 
    • How about restoring free speech to KZYX by returning the now-canceled "Open Lines", and its indefinitely suspended, popular host, Doug McKenty, to the air? Maybe public comment in an open forum isn't such a bad idea for truly a "public", public radio station. 
    • How about restoring "Community News" to 60 minutes, instead of the skimpy 10 minutes we now get? And even those 10 minutes are two talking heads, who call themselves reporters, reading parts of press releases and newspaper articles -- pathetic. 
    • How about training community journalism volunteers -- stringers -- that can supplement KZYX's very part-time News Department? About about a program like KMUD's Community Journalism Project? This will enable more coverage of local arts, entertainment, politics, public affairs, and environmental issues. 
    • How about working with Mendocino College and College of the Redwoods to create campus radio stations? Low-power licenses, like at KMEC, with a maximum broadcast of 100 watts, are entirely feasible. 
    • How about an outreach program to recruit and train Pomo Native American Indian programmers to have their own shows? Here in Mendocino County, we have one of the largest per-capita populations of Native Americans in the U.S., yet we have no shows for our Pomo neighbors. Twenty-five years ago, KZYX's original license application to the FCC and KZYX's appropriations justification to the CPB made a big deal out of Mendocino County's Native American population, but once we got the licenses and the money, we forgot about them. This is KZYX's biggest fraud, in my opinion. Our biggest source of embarrassment. 
    • How about more edgy programs? A Green Party show? A Libertarian Party show? A conspiracy theory show? A medical marijuana show? Why does William Courtney, M.D. -- the country's leading researcher on the power of juicing raw cannabis -- have to take his show all the way to KMUD in Redway. Dr. Courtney lives in Willits. Why is all programming so "safe" and "mainstream" at KZYX? Why does one person -- the Program Director -- have total control over programming? And why isn't an Program Advisory Committee in place to ensure listeners get what listeners want? 



This is only a start to the possible new ideas of where your Pledge Drive dollars should really go at KZYX -- again, not salaries. 


By all means, please support KZYX. Support "KZYX Members for Change" (see Facebook page). And support Board candidates Doug McKenty and Patricia Kovner. 


John Sakowicz 
Ukiah
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