[Kzyxtalk] my recent letter to the KZYX Board

[sako4 at comcast.net]

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

From: sako4 at comcast.net 
To: "kzyxboard" <kzyxboard at lists.mcn.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 4:41:03 PM 
Subject: [KZYX-Board]- my full post at the KZYX Talk listserv 


Dear Mendocino County Public Broadcasting (MCPB) Board: 

Question: What has been the one constant at our dysfunctional radio station since its founding 25-yeras ago? 

Answer: Program Director, Mary Aigner. 

Aigner has been the one constant problem at KZYX since its founding 25-years ago. 

How is this possible? 

Well, it's simple. Aigner keeps her job by selectively enforcing FCC profanity regulations to purge the station of her critics, or even those who dare to raise questions about station operations. 

Doug McKenty (former board director and programmer), Norman De Vall (former member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and programmer), Johanna Schultz ( programmer), K.C. Meadows (editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal and programmer), Els Cooperrider (anti-GMO activist and programmer), Beth Bosk (editor of the New Settler Interviews , environmentalist, and programmer), DJ Sister Yasmin Solomon (activist and programmer), myself (current board member and programmer), and many, many others over the last 25-years can all sign affidavits attesting to this abuse under the color of authority. 

Meanwhile, Aigner, herself, has aired shows -- including recent shows -- wherein prerecorded material contained profanities. Aigner committed these violations without consequence. And, yes, I have tapes of those shows. 

This double standard will be the basis for my next complaint. 

Censorship will be another element of my complaint. 

There's something else that bothers me. 

Aigner's job description. 

Aigner's job description as program director is a mystery. A complete mystery. What exactly do Aigner do for $40,000 or $50,000 a year? Also, why do I as a board director have to guess at her salary? Why is her salary not disclosed in the station's financials? 

Most of all, why has Aigner been the one constant at the station since its founding 25-years ago? Why 25-years? Hundreds of people have come and gone at KZYX over the last 25-years -- many of them purged by Aigner -- but Mary Aigner has survived them all. Why? How? By what deceptions, manipulations, and abuses of power? 

Another issue: Where is Aigner's job description, her work logs, and her job performance evaluations? 

They're all non-existent. I know. As a board director, I have asked for all of the above. The station has refused. I doubt these documents even exist. In any other organization -- private sector or public sector -- this sort of deference towards one employee would be seen as favoritism. 

Favoritism. 

This will also be the subject of a future complaint. 

Incidentally, you, the public, may also have your own complaints about KZYX. Complaints may be filed at the following: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); the California Secretary of State; the California Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; the U.S. Department of Labor, Civil Rights Center; and the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. Each of these agencies oversee a particular area of the law. If you need guidance, or want to know how to file a complaint or report a violation, please write to me off list. 

Also, if you are a current programmer or member, please be aware that there are whistleblower statutes that protect you. 

See: http://www.whistleblowers.gov/wb_filing_time_limits.html 

Bottom line? 

Mary Aigner is the major stumbling block for real reform here at KZYX. First and foremost, she would never allow either programmers or members to organize to challenge her power. 

Being allowed to organize -- it's the key to change at KZYX. 

Programmers, like members, are not allowed to organize at KZYX. Programmers are regarded simply as a source of free volunteer labor. Members are regarded simply as a source of funds. 

And this is a fourth area where KZYX can expect complaints. Programmers and members at a public radio station must both be allowed to organize under station auspices, but we are not. 

If KZYX's board wants to preempt complaints in the four areas I have described above -- double standards, censorship, favoritism, and "union busting" of organizations supportive of programmers and members -- the board should show Aigner the door now. 

Now! 

Otherwise, the station's board can expect more complaints from more people, and the board can also expect to pay more in legal fees in defending itself against bad business practices at the regulatory agencies charged with overseeing KZYX. 

With Executive Director and General Manager John Coate's resignation last week, Aigner's protector -- her enabler -- is gone. It's time for change. Real and lasting and meaningful change at our public radio station. 

Thank you. 

John Sakowicz 

MCPB Board of Directors (2013-2016), Board Treasurer ((2014) 


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