[Kzyxtalk] Jesus, David Steffen, where to start?

[Marco McClean]

David Steffen wrote to kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org:

 > Marco, it would be useful if you would spend a little time 
fact-checking. To begin,
 > start with facts.
 >
 > First, you suggest that KZYX salaries are unknown. The GM's salary is 
(and
 > has been) known for years. It's been published on the KZYX website and
 > continues to be published on the KZYX website: $54,000 (look at the 
IRS form
 > 990).
 >
 > Second, you state (as if there's a basis for it) that "a good guess 
for what
 > David Steffen, the "business underwriting coordinator", was paid is 
in the
 > $40,000 to $50,000 range." Wrong.
 >
 > As usual you fail to report that, as I announced at a board meeting last
 > spring, I'm paid a salary equivalent to $15.00 per hour, the oft-cited
 > "living wage" in Northern California. Do the math. That puts my income at
 > $31,200. That's assuming I worked only 40 hours per week. I wish. The
 > reality is that I work more like 60 hours per week. If you doubt that 
this
 > was announced publicly, feel free to check with the AVA's reporter 
who was
 > in attendance.
 >
 > Third, as for "vilifying . . . people", perhaps you're referring to 
the KZYX
 > board meeting in Willits where I asked one board member to apologize 
for his
 > unprovoked personal attacks. He would not. I asked that same board 
member to
 > apologize to a contributing member of the station for telling that 
member to
 > "go fuck yourself". He offered no apology for that either.

     Marco here. Okay, David, facts. John Coate was paid $60,000 a year 
since he demanded a ten-plus-percent raise in 2013. That's the 
equivalent of 1200 yearly $50 memberships. Adding just your cut, and 
Mary Aigner's cut, brings the amount paid to the bosses in the bunker to 
/more money than contributed by the entire membership list./ John Coate 
is gone now, but the problem is still there.

     You are a big fat liar, lying like a rug when you tell members and 
the public that they're supporting the station and "keeping the great 
shows on the air" when they give money. None of the membership's money 
helps the station in any way. /All/ of our money goes directly into your 
pockets.

     Second, David, if in fact you personally are getting $31,200, what 
are you doing in return for that? Honestly, if you were to take a month 
or two off and not tell anyone, would the sky fall? Would the gears of 
the world grind to a halt? Would anyone even notice? Does your entire 
job of being "business underwriting coordinator" raise even enough money 
to pay you? What is the point of you?

     I said that airpeople should be paid as much per hour as the 
oppressive and superfluous bosses. You replied that you're being paid 
$15 an hour. The airpeople are currently getting nothing. Wouldn't it be 
better to give your $15/hour to the person on the air, the one who's 
actually doing radio? Paying the airpeople is not a daunting task. The 
bookkeeper has a program in her computer that can do it handily with a 
little nudging once a month and a spare toner cartridge to print checks 
when the one in the printer runs out in three years. It's not as though 
you haven't got an air schedule showing when everyone is there and for 
how long. Little local theater companies have no trouble paying stipends 
to actors and directors and crew that change like a kaleidoscope.

     That goes for Mary, too. And John Campbell. Fact: every office 
task, every form that needs to be filled out, every FCC report and music 
publisher's report and maintenance and business task required of KZYX is 
also required of KNYO and KMEC. Let's compare: KNYO's Bob Young does the 
job of everyone in your entire office, David, and he does it for no pay, 
and he accomplishes this in an hour or two per week. The entire 
operating budgets (including management) of KNYO and KMEC put together 
don't add up to $25,000 a year. The people paying for memberships in 
KZYX are being ripped off. The taxpayers, who've supported KZYX to the 
tune of FOUR MILLION DOLLARS over the last quarter century, are being 
ripped off.

     I've been told that comparing KZYX to other little stations is 
comparing apples and oranges, but it's just not. The main difference 
between KZYX and KNYO is that KZYX has a bigger transmitter, so it costs 
KZYX about $500 per month for electricity. Another big difference is, 
and allow me to repeat this fact: the operation of KZYX is entirely paid 
for at least twice over by the annual Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting grant, and KNYO and KMEC get nothing and must fend for 
themselves, and we manage to do it and stay in the black.

     David, when yez all apologize to the public for the bollocks you've 
made of what should be the public resource of MCPB's county-spanning 
three noncommercial educational band frequencies, then I'll get around 
to consoling you for being all butt-hurt because people your gang has 
been bullying for years point it out in print and swear back at you.

p.s. I see that Liz points out that the job of a program director is to 
keep the flow of programming going. A fair point. Maybe such a 
functionary was necessary in the days when people rode horses to 
Washington to vote, and coordinating the washtub-and-Jew's-harp bands' 
entrances on stage and wrangling the jumping poodle show was a full time 
job. But here in the future what keeps the flow of programming going is 
the airpeople showing up to do their shows, and the computer --no more 
complicated to set a timer on than your phone-- switching on the distant 
and recorded shows, and switching automatically to a time-appropriate 
Plan B show on the /extremely rare occasion/ of an airperson getting a 
flat tire and being a little late or falling asleep drunk, or whatever. 
Paying Mary Aigner $50,000 a year, if that's what she's getting, to sit 
there and watch the computer blink is phenomenally stupid. $50,000 would 
easily maintain the entire station and cover everything. Everything. 
Including paying for the NPR shows.

p.p.s. I see that Jim Heid feels that Mary Aigner is worth every penny 
she sucks out of KZYX because when she's present she presses the print 
button when disaster reports come in on the fax machine.

     If for legal or fax-machine-tending reasons there needs to be 
continuous human occupation at the station, that human should be an old 
retired radio engineer. KMFB used to provide trailer space, electricity 
and a septic hookup for the engineer, who lived and kept his shop there, 
maintained his hobby and personal business of building and fixing 
things, and whenever something went wrong with the broadcast booth's 
electronics or a computer or the transmitter itself he was right on it. 
And if something came up in the way of a natural disaster or local 
emergency, he would answer the phone and get on the mic and deal with 
that too. There were several of that type over the years, all of them 
more knowledgeable, useful and valuable than any of you in the office of 
KZYX. And that's a fact.

     Bob Woelfel managed KMFB for most of those years. He's still 
around. He should be managing KZYX. If anyone on the board of MCPB had a 
brain in his or her head, Bob would be there tomorrow.

_____________
Marco McClean
memo at mcn.org
http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com