[Kzyxtalk] Reasons for Challenging Programmer-Director Policy
Tim Gregory
tgregory at saber.net
Sat Apr 23 16:42:01 PDT 2016
I just meant like, on the telephone...you have admit, you love your megaphone...
:)
---
I was not elected last year, but that does not influence my thinking at this time.
What I wrote below is a true and accurate reflection of my present concerns.
I have sent copies of both the formal notice and the explanation to the Board of
Directors. I did not send them to the new GM as it was not within her power to make
such a decision. However, I did add a suggestion that management fully implement
the existing Programming Policy and the PAC, so I am sending that to her now, along
with the new interim PD. Thanks for the suggestion.
Denny
--------------------------------------------
On Sat, 4/23/16, Tim Gregory <tgregory at saber.net> wrote:
Subject: Re: [Kzyxtalk] Reasons for Challenging Programmer-Director Policy
To: dennisobrien at sharejerusalem.com, kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 2:45 PM
it did enter my mind that
this had something to do with the members not being a big
fan of you gaining a board seat recently, and
possibly that you wished to still
represent
them whether they want you to or not.
are you in conversation with the ceo/gm?
---
I have been asked to explain what I hope to
accomplish by asserting the right of the
Members to elect all of the Directors.
I am a big fan of membership
nonprofits. They are an excellent vehicle for the
collective efforts of a group of people who are
focused on a common mission. The
choosing
of the Directors by the Members is an act of collective
consciousness, and
the Directors are charged
with making decisions on behalf of the Members.
I am assuming that the
Programmers are well-informed, noble, and have the best
interests of the nonprofit at heart.Â
Nevertheless, they do not represent the
collective knowledge, wisdom, and interests of
the Members. If anything, there is
an
ongoing tendency, subconscious at least, to support the
continuation of the
status quo, as the
people and thinking that go into choosing a
Programmer-Director
are already present at
the station. Some have even suggested that, since the
Program Director selects the Programmers, there
is an internal loop of support that
protects
the General Manager and Program Director.
The power of selecting one out
of nine directors and having a guaranteed presence on
the board should not be underestimated. Much
of our nation's politics right now is
focused on who will choose the ninth vote on
the Supreme Court. Even in larger
bodies
such as Congress, the control of 11% of the vote (one out of
nine) would
swing almost any contested
decision. So taking away from the Members the power to
choose one of their nine directors is
significant.
In my life I
have watched the arc of history bend toward justice. But I
am very
troubled by the rising incidents of
voter suppression that we have witnessed this
year. ID's that are hard to get, tougher
registration rules, reduced polling
places,
reduced early voting, voting rolls purged - these are just
some of the
problems. And each one of them
means that the collective knowledge, wisdom, and
concerns of those being affected by important
decisions are less likely to be heard,
to be
integrated into the decision-making process.
I have reached the point where
I am compelled to do what I can to reverse that
trend. In politics, as with the environment,
we must think globally and act
locally.Â
The station and the nonprofit will benefit greatly by
restoring Member
selection of all
directors. Conversely, the Programmers will not suffer.Â
They have
for years been unfairly prohibited
from running for any of the five District seats
on the board, and that has kept good and
competent people from running the past few
elections. I don't have a problem with
individual Programmers being on the board.
But that decision should be made by the
Members.
Nor should people
be concerned that Programmers will be shut out of
programming
decisions. They are assured of
input under the current Programming Policy and the
Program Advisory Committee (PAC). The current
Board and Management should act
immediately
to fully implement that policy.
So what I hope to accomplish is to restore
legitimacy to the Board of Directors and
the
governance of MCPB/KZYXZ. I hope to make the Board a true
expression of the
will of the Members. Our
bylaws state that the station is Member controlled. We
have been told that means that the Members
choose the Directors. As noted above, it
is not enough to choose eight out of nine.Â
The Board must acknowledge the right of
the
Members to choose all of the Directors, and make the
necessary changes to our
Bylaws and Election
Policy.
Dennis
_______________________________________________
Kzyxtalk mailing list
Kzyxtalk at lists.mcn.org
http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/kzyxtalk
More information about the Kzyxtalk
mailing list