[Kzyxtalk] [MCN-Announce]- KZYX

[King Collins]

JIm Heid said: 

> John Coate is leaving for the very best reason: family. I'm sad to see him go, I wish him and his family all the best, and I thank him for the his tireless efforts at KZYX these last years.


Dear Jim,

As loyal critic, believer in community radio and a long-time supporter of the station, and a devoted listener to Point and Clcik Radio, I think your statement is very partial and your confidence misplaced.

As you must know, because you are a member of the programmers list, John Coate has attacked the critics as if we were liars and cheats, and"haters."  And most of his defamatory remarks were done "confidentially" or in a venue in which those attacked could not respond, like the programmers list.  Here's an example, a leaked memo to another closed list, the board only listserv. The things said about me and others are false both in fact and in implication. 

So Jim, even if you support what Coate may or may not, have accomplished, you can see that he is not a man of integrity. 

On June 10, 2015, Coate received a letter from five of us including banned programmers and former board members. We cited the Corporation Code and demanded to see financial and organizational documents which had been denied to us, documents asking important questions like what happened to the missing Ukiah studio funds. 

The day after he received the Demand Letter, John Coate resigned.  

--King Collins, KZYX board 2003-2005

Below is part of a leaked memo from John Coate to the closed board listserv, published in the AVA, Oct 9, 2013. 

"....I guess they (the critics) think this work is easy, or that if we just let the ultra-left political peopple have their way, even more money will flow into our coffers. All we have to do is get rid of me, Mary and NPR and then install Christina and Sheila as the local news people, join forces with KMEC, allow the listeners to vote on programming or have a committee make the decision, and stage more open lines type programs so that Sister Yasmin and Jeff Wright and the other regular callers can even further express the true will of the people while bashing what would by then be the former KZYX management.
In truth, Doug and his group are just yet another iteration of the same battle over KZYX that are the same people who tried to physically take over the station in the early 90s, they are the same people who screamed at us in Fort Bragg in 2009. They are the same people who vote for King Collins (who was only elected to the Board the one time he was unopposed). That are the ones who say we aren’t “transparent” because, from what I can tell, we haven’t allowed them to force us to get rid of NPR. In short, despite whatever the argument du jour may be (this year it is not following regulations and policies), at its heart the motivation is political.
Despite our still heavily leflt-leaning programming, we still as a station do not take the correct side in most political debates so that listeners can always hear “the truth.” As for the mission statement, “programming and operational philosophy...controlled by the membership” means things like a professional staff with volunteer programmers, a mixture of music and talk, national and local programs. And sure the membership, via the Board does control that.
But it also says that we are “open to all” and we “reflect the rich diversity of the county” and we seek to “foster communication among all groups in the county.” We on this staff take that very seriously and we strive for a station that doesn’t take sides and does not favor any given faction.
In my view, Doug and his group are most unhappy with the fact that we do this and do not favor a slant that gives even more airtime to their side of an argument. As for the PAC (Programming Advisory Committee) and programming policy, that was created specifically to help Mary resist the pressure to change the programming in order to better satisfy this same group of people and their friends who now claim that it is being used for a purpose opposite of its reason for existing in the first place.
This is a crazy rewriting of history. Ask anyone who was there for all of this: Johanna, Kathy Bailey, Diane and many others who have fought this same battle again and again for years. Doug is totally and dangerously wrong on this point. Meanwhile, no complaint about music, one about the physical infrastructure. It’s all a political battle. And one they have never won. Do not cave in to this.”

* * * * * *

On Jun 13, 2015, at 10:08 AM, Jim Heid wrote:

> John's public announcement:
> http://kzyx.org/index.php/about-us/station-business/general-managers-blog/entry/my-announcement
> 
> He's leaving for the very best reason: family. I'm sad to see him go, I wish him and his family all the best, and I thank him for the his tireless efforts at KZYX these last years.
> 
> Jim
> (Hosting "Sunday Evening Jazz" tomorrow evening at 7 pm, including a tribute to the great Ornette Coleman, who passed away this past week.)
> 
> 
> On Jun 13, 2015, at 9:32 AM, Norman de Vall <ndevall at mcn.org> wrote:
> 
>> It is confirmed that John Coate
>> has resigned as  General Manager 
>> of KZYX.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> __________________________________________________________
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> Use of the list is subject to the terms of service at
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