[Kzyxtalk] Fwd: Response to Lambert -- final draft

[sako4 at comcast.net]

Subject: Response to Lambert 



To the Editor: 

Paul Lambert, the host of a show at KZYX, in a prime time slot, nonetheless -- every other Wednesday at 7 p.m. -- and also one of the station's Board members, has every reason in the world to be a reliable schill for General Manager, John Coate, and Program Director, Mary Aigner. Lambert is an "insider", if ever there were an insider.. 

Let me set the record straight for Mr. Lambert by quoting from the letter I received from the FCC. It is dated January 15, and it signed by Peter H. Doyle, Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau. 

The letter from Mr. Doyle reads, in part: "We request that MCPB [Mendocino County Public Broadcasting} provide information regarding the station's hiring practices. Specifically, Sakowicz alleges that John Coate, the Station's General Manager and Executive Director, hired Paul Lambert, a news reporter, in 2011, without posting or advertising for this position. While we [the FCC] acknowledge that the Station claims a 'small station exemption' to the Commission's Equal Opportunity Rule ('EEOC Rule') because it has fewer than five full-time employees since July 2012, the Lambert hiring occurred prior to this time." 

The FCC letter continues: "Accordingly, we request that MCPB clarify whether it recruited widely for Lambert's position in 2011. If so, we reqquest information regarding the Station's recruitment efforts, including any available documentation. If MCPB did not recruit widely, please provide its reasons, if any, for failing to do so." 

The FCC concludes: "We direct MCPB to provide the information within fifteen days (15) of the date of this letter. Failure to supply the requested information within the specified timeframe will result in our making a disposition based on the current record." 

I hope this satisfies Mr. Lambert's curiosity. 

That said, MCPB has not advertised for any of its news reports jobs during the last several years. Not one. This may,or may not, violate the letter of EEOC law, but it certainly flies in the face of the spirit of the law. The bottom line is that KZYX is a closed shop. Management hires friends. Management hires friends of friends. Management hires insiders who blindly support them. 

Management does not support affirmative action. 

This should come as no surprise. How could KZYX management be expected to support affirmative action when they fail to investigated battery committed against two women on station premises? 

I will provide the names of these two woman to any responsible journalist or investigator with the permission of the women. However, I feel comfortable describing the incidents, since I know both women to be credible. 

One woman, a co-host of "Trading Time" was choked by her then-partner. Yes, choked. She ended up reporting the incident to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. 

The other woman is a former staff member of Nashville Public Radio, WPLN. She knows what a real public radio stations looks like -- and it's not KZYX. And it was she who was one of five people who filed an FCC complaint against KZYX, objecting to the renewal of the station's licenses pending a change in management at the station. This woman was spit at by KZYX's operations manager. Yes, spit at. And spitting at a woman, like choking a woman, is battery. 

KZYX refused to investigate either incident. 

The station's possible EEOC Rule violation, cited in the FCC's January 15 letter, pales in comparison to the battery of women on the station's premises. 

Being a public radio station, KZYX is a public trust. But it has lost the public's trust. No affirmative action. No investigation of sexist violence. And that's on top of missing monies, financial irregularities , failure to disclose staff salaries, frequent failure of aging broadcast equipment, total control of programming decisions, etc. 


Shocking. 

Absolutely shocking. 

Yours very truly, 

John Sakowicz 
MCPB Board of Directors, 2013-2016, Board Treasurer, 2014 



----- Forwarded Message -----


-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

I would like to respond to the misleading and false claims Mr John Sakowitz 
has been making about me, personally, and KZYX. 

1) The FCC has* not* ruled in his favor; they have asked for clarification 
on his claim that the station violated EEOC employee rules in my hiring. I 
have seen the letter and this is the only conclusion that can be reasonably 
drawn. 

2) My hiring was not subject to EEOC rules because I was an independent 
contractor, working 15 or so hours a week, working from my home, using my 
own equipment, with no benefits, paid by the hour and invoiced to the 
station, paid by 1099 not a 1040 - the definition of an independent 
contractor. Therefore, the station was not required to make the job offer 
public. 

3) I was not an "insider," or "friend of management" per se with regard to 
the news job. I had applied for the job of news director *before* Dave 
Brookshier was hired and was known as such to the staff. I had contributed 
to the news several times while Dave Brookshier was the News Director (and 
paid as an independent contractor). 

4) Dave was laid off 6.30.12. I was hired and began 7.1.12. There was no 
overlap. 

Why Mr Sakowitz continues to pile falsehood on top of each other while 
refusing to accept his own culpability is something I simply do not 
understand. 

And, no, no one asked me to write this letter. 
Paul Lambert 

Paul Lambert is a member of the KZYX Board of Directors, host of the 
bi-weekly Mendo Matters program, and the former News reader. 
-- 
Paul E. Lambert 
Mendocino Matters 

kzyx.org <http://kzyx.org> 

Remember: Do your part, we're all in this together. 

Please consider the environment, do you need to print this E-mail? 
Thank you. 





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