[Kzyxtalk] from the AVA's "Mendocino County Today", March 9, 2017

[John Sakowicz]

KZYX'S COOKED BOOKS 

' 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017 




Mr. Jeffrey Parker, Executive Director and General Manager, 

Mendocino County Public Broadcasting (MCPB): 




I just finished watching all 2 hours and 25 minutes of the recent MCPB Board meeting in Fort Bragg on Monday, March 6, at Mendocino TV. 




See: http://mendocinotv.com/2017/03/06/kzyx-board-meets-in-fort-bragg-on-march-6/ '' 




At the meeting, when confronted with the questions raised by Scott Peterson's excellent flip chart presentation on MCPB's finances, MCPB Board member and Treasurer, Stuart Campbell, repeatedly insisted he "did not know," or "can't recall". Also, Campbell shifted blame on others. Furthermore, he states he doesn't have, nor has he ever had, the financial documents relevant to the questions being raised by Mr. Peterson.' 




Summing up Mr. Campbell's position when Mr. Peterson pressed him, Campbell seemed to say, and I'm paraphrasing: "I really don't know much about Board governance and financial matters for non-profit corporations." Campbell insisted that he would personally ensure that necessary corrections would be made to MCPB's financials, especially the station's confusing and misleading IRS Form 990s. 




During Monday's Board meeting, Campbell said no one on the Board saw the 990's prior to the presumed filings, including himself, MCPB Board Treasurer. Campbell even suggested that his job as a part-time instructor at a local community college was an excuse for not performing his duties as Treasurer at MCPB. He was visibly embarrassed. 




Campbell admitted he doesn't have time for Board officer responsibilities, and he would step down, if asked. 




Mr. Parker, the one and only time we spoke on the phone -- during our recent Pledge Drive in February -- you hung up on me. Before you hung up, you declared I was intent on "destroying KZYX" by filing complaints to the FCC and CPB two years ago. 




That's simply false, Mr. Parker -- I was actually trying to save the station two years ago by filing my complaints. I'll explain. 




While I was a MCPB Board member from 2013-2016, and Board Treasurer in 2014, I was deliberately kept from raising the very same financial questions raised by Mr. Peterson on Monday. During the entire time I was Board Treasurer, I never saw any drafts of any financial documents before they were presumably filed. And I never saw the filings. I never co-signed a check. I never saw our letter of credit agreement with the Mendocino Savings Bank. I never saw our IRS Form 990s. I never met our accountant or auditor. I never helped develop a budget. 




In fact, then-GM John Coate never once picked up the phone and called me while I was Board Treasurer in 2014, and he stonewalled me at all other times. 




History repeats itself, Mr. Parker. Although you alluded to "big debts" in your GM presentation on Monday, it was never disclosed at Monday's Board meeting how much we owe and to whom. 




So I'll ask now. 




How much do we owe to NPR for programming and affiliation status? How much do we owe to the California Department of Forestry for rent? How much do we owe to Public Radio International for programming? How much do we owe to Amy Goodman and Pacifica for programming? 




What are paying for the empty studio in Ukiah? How long is the lease? 




Also, how many fully-paid up members at MCPB do we currently have? How does that compare to membership numbers for each year going back five years, or ten years? 




And, what is the budget line item for salaries? (One could infer payroll by looking at payroll taxes, but MCPB's payroll taxes are consolidated into the budget line item called ""office expenses".) 

As a footnote to payroll, do we currently pay either John Coate or Mary Aigner any money for any work? For consulting services, perhaps? Have we paid either Coate or Aigner anything since they left their jobs at MCPB as full-time employees? 




I ask because MCPB''s new website seems to have purged much of our financials and other reports from the past -- there's no money trail. It would further seem as if Coate has an interest in purging the past. When talking about his time at MCPB, Coate is something of a revisionist of history. But, sadly, revisionism does not relieve legal and financial liabilities incurred in the past. 




Finally, why doesn't MCPB commit to best practices for accounting and audits for non-profit corporations? In particular, why don't we commit to multi-year budget line item reviews? 

I'll copy some members of the Board (past and present) and Mr. Peterson on this email, and also the CPB. 




MCPB would never pass a CPB audit at this time. After consulting with several media attorneys -- please remember that two former FCC commissioners have appeared on my show in the past -- I have concluded that MCPB's violations are numerous and serious. 




Thank you for your response in advance. 




Kind regards, 




John Sakowicz 

MCPB Board of Directors, 2013-2016; Board Treasurer, 2014 

Host and producer, "All about Money" 







* * * 




>From : "oigemail" 

To : "John Sakowicz" 

Sent : Wednesday, March 8, 2017 2:22:13 PM 

Subject : Acknowledgment from CPB OIG 




Thank you for your email sent to the hotline for the Office of Inspector General for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us. 




We will review your submission and take action as appropriate. If we need additional information or details, and if you have provided your contact information, we will contact you. If you obtain additional information or evidence, please forward it to us. 




Thank you for your interest in public media. 




Office of Inspector General Hotline 

Corporation for Public Broadcasting 





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