[Kzyxtalk] Letter to Editor -- Aigner Agonistes

[sako4 at comcast.net]

Thanks for sharing this thread, King. The fact that W. Dan Houck is now co-hosting "The Discussion" -- the replacement show for "Open Lines" with Doug McKenty -- speaks to the pitiful state of affairs at KZYX. 

While hosting his own weekly so-called comedy show, "The Treehouse", Houck is nothing if not banal. He is also frequently vulgar. Worst of all, he is never funny, despite his many attempts at humor. 

To have KZYX management think that Houck knows anything about current affairs is absurd. We have hit rock bottom. 

As a postscript, let's not forget that Houck offered as a gift premium during Spring Pledge Drive an afternoon shooting guns with Houck at the range...shooting and drinking Houck's own homebrew beer. Several donors signed up. 

Only in Mendonesia! 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Collins, King" <king at greenmac.com> 
To: "John and Shannon" <sako4 at comcast.net> 
Cc: "de Vall, Norman" <ndevall at mcn.org>, "nsi" <nsi at mcn.org>, "mckenty, doug" <dougmck at gmail.com>, "OBrien, Dennis" <dennisobrien at sharejerusalem.com>, "dawn50, sheila" <sheila.dawn50 at yahoo.com>, "Kovner, Patricia" <pkovner at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 12:53:15 PM 
Subject: Re: Letter to Editor -- Aigner Agonistes 

Thanks for keeping in touch. 

Re. "wDan": Below is his response to the pamphlet (The Secret Life of KZYX), written in 2005 after I served for two years on the board: 

Responses to the Minority Report 
WDan 
I can tell you put a lot of thought into this. Very concise. I'll pass it around so folks will understand me better. Thanks, King 


* * * 


O n Feb 21, 2005,, 
>From WDan "wdanlor" < wdanlor at pacific.net > 



Hello, I'm W.Dan, a programmer. Thanks for the e-mail. My first thought, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but my first thought was "Gee, what a fucking pretentious asshole!" My following thoughts were right in line with the first. It has nothing to do with the content of your pamphlet but with the manner by which it was thrust into my lap. I have read it and had I been asked my opinion on it in a timely manner I would have gladly given it, possibly without a trace of sarcasm nor contempt and even without profanity but alas the issue has become Spam. You see I am assaulted daily by uninvited pleas to enlarge my bank account, my health, my I.Q. and dick. Daily the postal service drops off a small forest in my mailbox, all of which I did not ask for. I don't care if it is Luther's fucking precepts nailed to my cathedral door, if I didn't ask for it, I don't want it. That is my problem with you Mr.Collins, you seem to think that you have written some god-damned, solve-it-all tome that "if folks would just read, it would change everything!" (editors note: cue chirping birds, rainbow and gaily laughing children here.) And you want to mail it to everyone so everyone will see what a visionary you are and we will all fall at your feet and hail you the great egalitarian savior. Your throwing this out for debate too late. You could have brought this out months ago but no, right before an election and fund-drive is a perfect time for you to throw your little self-serving tantrum. You are a narcissistic little shit-head.... 

Sincerely yours, W.Dan, aka Instigator One 
Collins response: 


* * * * 


Note: I have not received a comment from anyone that pointed out even one thing in the pamphlet which is false. And in fact, respected members, programmers and board members wrote mostly positively. Here's one: 
Joe Louis Wildman 


March 2005 

King, 
A good read. Very diplomatic, which will be lost on those you are being diplomatic about, but which will put you in good standing with those who are not embroiled in this stuff. 
BTW – I am a centrist regarding operations and an egalitarian about policy. The problem seems to be that the KZYX centrists take the broadest view of what falls under the heading of operations and the narrow view about what falls under the heading of policy. The station would benefit from reversing that bias. Part of the board’s policy role and obligation involves seeing that operations conform to policy. Oversight and monitoring are parts of the policy role and are a board responsibility. The board should not micro-manage, but it should macro-manage. In avoiding micro-management and in avoiding over reaching by the board, KZYX has thrown the baby out with the bath water. 
Good luck with your efforts. You would drive me crazy if I was on the staff or on the board, but that would not be such a bad thing. As a member/listener I appreciate your efforts. 
Keep pushing, but please don’t let it dominate the business of the board. Remember – Fundraising – FUNDRAISING – FUNDRAISING! 

Love, 
Joe Louis Wildman 

* * * * 

Jane Futcher also responded back in 2005: 



Jane Futcher 
Newly Elected Board Member 
2005 - 2008 








(Statement made at KZYX Candidate’s Forum:) 

I think it (The Minority Report) is extremely well written. Very caring and thoughtful. And this is obviously a man who cares a great deal about the future of the station. Because I haven’t spent a lot of time around the station, I don’t know about the accuracy of everything he says but clearly it comes from a sincere, concerned heart and mind. 






On Jun 24, 2014, at 12:26 PM, sako4 at comcast.net wrote: 







    1. 


AIGNER AGONISTES 



Editor: 



I read with interest the blurb in the Anderson Valley Advertiser's (AVA) blog, “Mendocino County Today”, June 24, 2014, about KZYX Program Director Mary Aigner having once been the “local FedEx girl.” You went on to say that Aigner would “bound through the door of our [the AVA] production room with a merry pirouette as she sang out, ‘A delivery, boys, from me to you!' Merry, indeed." 



Merry? Mary? Really? 



Are we talking about the same person? 



It’s hard to believe. In the eight years I have known Aigner, she never once seemed merry. When we talk -- which is rare -- she barks at me, she scolds, she criticizes, she frowns and fumes. I let it roll off of me. It's her shtick. But m erry? Aigner rarely seems to be anything but downright grumpy, or “aggrieved”, as you say. A Grumpy Puss. It’s like Aigner comes across like she's some put-upon drudge who slaves away for an oppressive employer. 



But why? Why would Aigner feel this way? Aigner has the best job in the Anderson Valley. 



I'll explain. 



Aigner makes her own hours. I finish my bi-weekly show at 10 a.m. on Fridays, and Aigner is rarely, if ever, at work at that time. 



Also, the 100 or so programmers that Aigner presumably manages as the station's program director are solely responsible for the own content on their own respective shows, solely responsible for preparing for their shows, and are solely responsible for scheduling their own guests — in other words, they get little or no help from Aigner from what I can see. 



And, Aigner’s salary is decent for the Anderson Valley — more than decent — where good jobs, professional jobs, are few and far between. Today, if not for her job at KZYX, Aigner would otherwise be working with true drudges of the Anderson Valley, like the drudges working at wine tasting room or bed & breakfast inns -- the only other employers here in undiversified tourist-based economy of the Anderson Valley. She would be pouring wine. Or making beds. By comparison, KZYX Program Manager is a dream job. 



Finally, and best of all, Aigner has job security. She can't be fired. And she is her own boss. In her 25 years at KZYX, Aigner has outlasted how many general managers at the station. Four? Five? Six? Who's counting? I predict Aigner will outlast current general manager, John Coate. 



So why is Aigner so grumpy? Maybe I’m missing something. 



Maybe throwing Doug McKenty and Norman De Vall off the air is hard work. Maybe purging the station's critics is hard work. Maybe shutting the public out from giving some input on new shows is hard work. 



Always keeping the door shut to all outsiders -- virtually all of us -- at the private clubhouse known as KZYX must be absolutely exhausting work. 



Case in point? KZYX’s newest show, “The Discussion”. 



“The Discussion” will start to air on Thursday nights, and it takes the place of “Open Lines” -- when returning “Open Lines” to the air with popular host, Doug McKenty, would have worked just fine. No outside input was solicited when developing this new show. 



And guess what? Yup, you guessed it! The new hosts of “The Discussion” are insiders. 



Two of them are W. Dan Houck and Stuart Campbell. 



Yup, KZYX Head Buffoon, W. Dan Houck, who as the host of "The Treehouse" has mastered banality, if not vulgarity, at the station. It's the same W. Dan who once offered as a premium gift during a recent pledge drive an afternoon with W. Dan shooting guns at the range and drinking beer. (Only in Mendonesia!) 



And yup, KZYX Board Vice President, Stuart Campbell, who is everywhere at the station, doing everything, for everyone. 



Campbell is truly all things to all people at KZYX. But mostly, he's a people-pleaser for station management. 



Let me count the ways. 



As Board Vice President, Stuart Campbell is the number two guy on the KZYX Board, despite being on the board for only a year. He is the host of the bi-weekly show, “Consider This”. He is the election coordinator. He is the recruiter of candidates for the Board of Directors. He is the recruiter of members for the Citizens Advisory Board. He is the reviewer of policies and procedures. He is the reviewer of the board’s by-laws. He is the reviewer of the programmers handbook. Stuart even has a KZYX table at the Ukiah Farmers Market. 



But wait. There’s more about KZYX’s newest show, “The Discussion”. 



Members of the public may only discuss station business on the months when there is a fifth Thursday. This fifth Thursday of "The Discussion" is the only opportunity for members of the public to offer criticisms or opinions of the station, or to challenge the judgement of station management. On these occasional fifth Thursday shows, a board member or member of the station’s management team may be -- or may not be -- a guest on “The Discussion”. 



So much for putting the “public” back into public radio. So much for including the significant numbers of dissidents at the station and the hundreds of people who voted for Doug McKenty and Patricia Kovner during the last board election. So much for including the 108 members of "KZYX Members for Change" on Facebook. 



The moral of this story? 



Keeping the public out of KZYX is hard work. And that''s why, I’m guessing, why Aigner is seems so grumpy, so “aggrieved”, as you say. She is simply over-worked. 


John Sakowicz 
Ukiah 








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