[Kzyxtalk] BALES LAST HURRAH (MAYBE) MEC Newsletter Attached in PDF Format

[nsi at mcn.org]

Mary! Get off your mucking high horse. . . .  Alicia Littletree Bales has
led a purposeful life since the age of seventeen. Every day of it!  A life
full of risk and forked pathways, and when it came down to it: incredible
dependability. She is an inspiring woman, from a generation sorely
under-represented in Mendocino County's public squares. . . . Pick up your
sour grapes and go take back your radio show.  If you don't have an arrest
record at your age, you should be ashamed of yourself.  -beth robinson
bosk
 To the Editor:
>
> Didn't know if you saw this.  It's Alicia Bales' last newsletter as "Prez"
> (her words) for the MEC.  I noted two things.  Two board members were
> leaving which leaves a total of two women; and, that Bales intended to
> help
> with new talent during the transition after securing herself a spot at
> KZYX..... she couldn't secure new talent as president of the MEC in the
> two
> or so years she was there.  In fact, she personally removed board members
> who were not like her in thought, word or deed.
> In her final MEC letter, President Alicia Bales writes " When people
> wandered over to our booth, I proudly told them the MEC is a local
> grassroots resource center in Ukiah that provides support to activists and
> groups working for social and environmental justice in Mendocino County.
> That we operate a Low-Power FM radio station at our Standley Street
> storefront, provide a monthly newsletter to amplify the work of local
> organizations, and offer meeting space and outreach support for local
> organizing efforts. And isn’t that what really changes the world, local
> people joining together to build grassroots movements?"
>
> The Mendocino Environmental Center, thanks to Bales, has been reduced to
> two board members, no money, no mention of a determined volunteer pool to
> work towards the MEC's mission, no short or long range plans for the MEC,
> and 'rents' its space from BOS John McCowen while "offering the space" as
> a
> meeting room for local groups.  One has to ask:  what have the MEC
> volunteers actually* changed in the world. * How many people have had
> their
> lives directly made better through the MEC. And, what real tangible
> resources for Mendocino residents does the MEC have in place under
> outgoing
> "prez" Alicia Bales?  Mostly, there are poorly made signs cluttering the
> space McCowen owns. Easy peasy. Simple.  Nothing.
>
> About the low-power radio station:  My national news and public affairs
> program was removed from the program schedule by Sid Cooperrider, *a very
> close personal friend of Bales*. Cooperrider is such a close a friend that
> he didn't bother to tell Ms. Bales that he unilaterally decided to remove
> a
> well-received program.  Cooperrider was/is not a board member and he
> purged
> my program (without board knowledge) that he himself quit two years ago.
> He
> quit the program out of anger because he thought he should be paid.  NO
> ONE
> is paid at the MEC.  NO ONE.  So, my well-received program was removed by
> Cooperrider with Bales approval and support.
>
> BTW an interesting link:
> https://mugshots.com/US-Counties/California/Mendocino-County-CA/Sidney-Allen-Cooperrider.70785291.html
> .
>
> If the MEC is to survive, and I hope it does, there needs to be a clean
> sweep of the gatekeepers that have been around for years.
>
> The MEC needs to:
>
> recruit volunteers who are truly open to the ideas and needs of ALL
> community members
> actively fund raise and not just bang pots on the court house steps
> recruit viable board members who have non-profit management experience
> develop the radio station into a real voice for the county with programs
> of
> real content and substance.  Foregoing the self-interest and ego boosting
> playlists.
>
> Mary Massey
> Ukiah, CA
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