[Kzyxtalk] Breaking news in the ongoing KZYX fiasco.

[Marco McClean]

Latest managerial radio fraud Jeffrey Parker absconds from KZYX with 
$120,000 of your money. (It's his money now.)

Here: http://theava.com/archives/91104

(And in case that's behind the AVA's paywall, here's the text:)

KZYX GENERAL MANAGER JEFF PARKER TO RESIGN IN JANUARY
--by Tom Dow

Station Board of Directors names Tom Dow to serve as interim GM.

December 3, 2018, For immediate release

Contact: Tom Dow, 707-895-2324

KZYX general manager Jeffrey Parker offered his resignation to the KZYX 
Board of Directors at the Board’s November 28th meeting. Parker has 
served as the public radio station’s general manager for two years.

KZYX Board President John Azzaro commented that the station and Parker 
have parted ways, but remain on amicable terms. "We wish to offer Jeff 
our sincere thanks for his passion and dedication to KZYX and community 
radio during his time here. We are especially grateful for his 
commitment to helping us over the coming weeks as we transition into the 
next chapter of the grand KZYX adventure.”

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served as General Manager of 
KZYX for two years,” Parker said, “and I believe more than ever in the 
crucial roles being served by public broadcasting in Mendocino County. 
We’ve made a lot of progress during the time I’ve been here, 
strengthening KZYX’s visibility and adding to our stature as an on-air 
service provider. That said, I feel that now is an appropriate time for 
a change of leadership for the station and a change of direction 
professionally for me.”

During his tenure at KZYX, Parker has overseen significant improvements 
in the station’s ability to serve the Mendocino County community. He 
helped create a partnership with Fort Bragg wireless provider, Further 
Reach, that increased the station’s bandwidth and made wireless internet 
available to a significant population in Anderson Valley. He developed a 
mutually beneficial, ongoing training and production relationship with 
Mendocino Community College in Ukiah, and established a new satellite 
broadcast studio in the Fort Bragg Senior Center. Additionally, Parker 
worked extensively to forge crucial partnerships with Mendocino County 
firefighters and law enforcement agencies to enhance the station’s 
already substantial emergency broadcast capabilities.

Now coming up on its 30th anniversary, listener supported KZYX 
broadcasts music, news, sports and public affairs programming across the 
length and breadth of Mendocino County, northern Sonoma County and into 
Lake County. The region’s primary NPR affiliate, KZYX is preparing for a 
festive year, celebrating that milestone anniversary with a series of 
events beginning in the spring. The station recently made news with the 
inauguration of the weekly series, Promise of Paradise: Back to the Land 
Oral Histories of Mendocino County. A much anticipated expanded news 
staff is also in the works.

Parker’s resignation will be effective January 1, 2019. Tom Dow, KZYX 
Board Member, has agreed to serve as Interim General Manager, without 
compensation, while the KZYX Board conducts a search for a new permanent 
General Manager. Parker will stay to offer Dow his experience and 
expertise during this period of transition.

Dow has been on the KZYX Board since April. In addition to his 
leadership role at KZYX, he is active in the Community Foundation of 
Mendocino County and is on the Mendocino College Foundation Board. He 
serves on the steering committee for Rural Health Rocks, a fund-raising 
project which works to bring family medicine residents to our county. He 
has also served as President and board member of the Alaska Visitors 
Association and on the boards of the Alaska Native Tourism Association 
and the Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation.

--------

(And here's my comment after that:)

RE: Jeffrey Parker resigns from KZYX.

In his two years there which, by the way, are the latest two of /seven 
years now/ I’ve been waiting for one disposable so-called program 
director or another to schedule my excellent time-proven local show on 
KZYX, Jeffrey has sucked $120,000 out of the station just for himself 
and accomplished exactly nothing in return. That’s enough money to 
entirely fund KNYO through the year 2028. “Partnering with Mendo College 
for production education opportunities” equals airing a total of almost 
four hours, over years, of material from the college by pressing a 
button. “Establishing a satellite station at the Senior Center” equals 
hearing that /there was already a studio there in use by other radio 
stations, including KMFB, going back decades,/ and taking credit for 
MCN's doing all the tech work.

As for public services, the fires were and are great for KZYX. Whoever’s 
in charge this week gets to pretend to help, and then forever afterward 
they can crow about how helpful they pretended to be. The Further Reach 
expansion adventure was and is happening anyway and KZYX’ involvement in 
that and MCN’s digital phone service resulted from a phone rate hike and 
calling around to get a better rate, just like everyone else in the 
world with a phone does when the rates go up, woopty-fricking-doo. 
Meanwhile considerably more than half-a-million dollars every year 
vanishes into the black hole of Mendocino County Public Broadcasting 
Incorporated to ride on a system as reliable as a refrigerator, that’s 
was entirely paid for and running 29 years ago, that costs less than a 
dollar an hour to jazz with electricity, and another dollar an hour for 
/everything else/ not covered by the yearly six-figure grant from Uncle 
Sugar.

Really. A puff-paean to this guy? Or to anyone in the office or on the 
board of KZYX, ever? Wow.

—
Marco McClean
memo at mcn.org
https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com