. . . Pacifica Evening News, spilling the beans, broadcasted by KPFA, 1800 PT, Th8Dec2022, during the meet of the Pacifica National Board, where the directors sleepwalkers were choosing to conceal reality from their listening public – pathetic. https://kpfa.org/episode/the-pacifica-evening-news-weekdays-december-8-2022/(The screenshot has been updated to show the inclusion a few hours later of a ‘button’ to an added transcript – the URL of that page is at the very end of this post.) . . .
So broadcasted during the PNB meeting, 30mins after it was due to start at 2030 ET, 1730 PT.
~
“$305k” seized “this week”.
Oh.
Layoffs underway – “10 positions” announced “Monday”.
Oh.
. . . double oh . . .
Helps explain why KPFA Treasurer Chris ‘Janus’ Cory (staff-delegate) wasn’t at the Tu6Dec PNB Finance Cttee, with Chair Sagurton silent on any comms with him, & no-one mentioning that there wasn’t an excused absence item on the agenda. These peeps would have excelled in Stalinist times.
Helps explain why at the Cttee two weeks before, Tu22Nov, Cory, curiously cryptic:
“[w]e have a lot of undeclared assets within the organization. If we’re talking about declaring those assets that creates a lot of trouble for us. Umm, so [false laugh, expertly delivered – as usual] […] I don’t see any problem creating an informal balance sheet which also has undeclared assets on it […] But, umm, yah, urr, making it more formal than that I-I-I-I definitely see, I-I definitely [see] problems with that” (7:46).
Undeclared assets, you say? . . .
Odd, you may think?
But the Cttee knew.
So silence.
Chris ‘Janus’ Cory (7:46), Tu22Nov2022 PNB Finance Cttee – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/221122/finance221122b.mp3. (He was commenting on the motion from Beth ‘I prefer to pose rather than propose policy ensuring the ED controls the GM’s & bookkeepers’ Gunten (KPFK listener-delegate), the motion for the PNB to have two documents: “management shall provide a complete current balance sheet […] and […] an overall Pacifica business plan proposing a path forward from Pacifica’s current financial predicament into a viable future”, this “in advance of any further consideration of irrevocable liquidation and disposition of proceeds from [the sale of] any significant Pacifica capital asset” (a-file, 58:15).)
Interesting, yes? But will any delegate, of any local station board, publicly ask their treasurer or director sleepwalker what the hell are these “undeclared assets”? Of course not. The public record shows most don’t even know what’s going on at national.
The lack of scrutinisers is one reason why the Pacifica decision-makers keep getting away with their incompetence. Unfortunately, revelation is usually the result of external discipline, from contractors or the state.
~
Layoffs numbering 10 is somewhat dramatic. But the whole picture is different, as revealed by the newsreader herself:
“[o]n Monday, KPFA management announced 10 positions would be laid off, totaling 150 hours, effective [Friday] December 30th, including producers and engineers” (5:20).
150hrs. This explains why the talk of 10 peeps isn’t as drastic as it seems – for the station. 150hrs, presumably per week, is 4 full-time equivalents (approximate saving of 4 x $80k = $320k per annum). And the present KPFA complement? Per the Aug2022 KPFA net income statement (such as it is), personnel expenses for the first 11mths of FY2022 were $2 259 812 … annualising as $2 465 249 … @$80k = 30.82 FTE ≃ 31 FTE. So the loss of 4 FTE is a 12.9% drop, ~13% (4 ÷ 31); roughly 1-in-8 laid off.
Aug2022 Pacifica net income statements, https://mega.nz/file/oc91RQDJ#RKw7_pFuAJ2DTTXhrJR2lC0pwKzxgLVhI2myX1RXUsA. Incidently, the file data are not without interest: “Authors[:] columbia”, as per usual this year, not least because Columbia, South Carolina is the location of NETA’s HQ – https://www.netaonline.org/about-us; & “Content created[:] 2/10/2022”, so presumably NETA hung onto it for over 2mths awaiting payment from Pacifica – why weren’t the members, other donors, staff & listeners told of this? (At Tu6Dec, NETA was owed “I believe it’s close to a little under [$]40 000” (46:45), if one can believe ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ Wells, not least because since 22Sep (when NETA left) Pacifica has lacked fiscal management – Tu6Dec2022 PNB Finance Cttee, https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/221206/finance221206a.mp3.)
~
And there’s another small matter:
just in case peeps think KPFA was on top of the world before this hiccup, its Aug2022 net income statement declares something never mentioned at the PNB Finance Cttee, even that of Tu6Dec when this ‘report’ was presented to it by ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ Wells, protecting NBM Markisha from scrutiny: KPFA has made an 11mth loss of $282 634.
. . . triple oh . . .
And this loss is more than WBAI’s!!!
KPFA’s loss is 61% more than WBAI’s!!! (282634 ÷ 175721)
. . . quadruple & quintuple oh !!!
The Aug monthlies are a mess, even arithmetically – not least for understating WBAI’s total revenue in the totals column by ~$140k! WBAI’s loss isn’t the stated $311 893: it’s $175 721. The restatement: loss = $ −311893 + ((9065 + 129158) − (1031 + 1020)) = −$175 721. Put another way, the loss, restated = revenue − expenses = $ (1129246 + 9065 + 129158) − ((1208907 + 1031 + 1020) + 232232) = 1267469 − 1443190 = −$175 721. This also means WBAI made a net gain of $56 511 before applying the Central Services charge. (Note, put to one side has been the nonsense concerning (a) the Aug telephone charge (being bigger than the year-to-date carried-forward total – sic), & (b) there being the usual office rent charge for Aug but the B/F & C/F totals are the same . . . can, worms.)
The directors sleepwalkers have chosen not to have a chief financial officer. The directors sleepwalkers have chosen to not even have an accounting professional, a CPA, a certified public accountant. Instead, the directors sleepwalkers have chosen to do it all by themselves, do it all without the expertise of a specialist. The directors sleepwalkers have chosen to fly blind. To fly a $11m annual turnover public charity completely blind. To fly without fiscal management. Defying the California Corporations Code requirement that a corporation have a chief financial officer (§§ 312, 5213).
At the Th8Dec PNB itself, the directors sleepwalkers pussy-footed around with euphemisms, refusing to call a spade a spade. The executive director also chose to say nothing in her report – yes, that’s the sort of ED we have. All this ensured the cash cow punters, Joe & Joanna Public, got what they think they deserve: nothing.
But KPFA, that black site, was breaking the news.
~
Note, the news report stated two falsehoods.
First, the framing was “parent” & so subsidiary, “Pacifica Foundation” & “KPFA”. No, the only legal personality in this is Pacifica: KPFA is Pacifica thru-n-thru, not related to it externally, but related internally: what’s here is an inner-connection.
Nevertheless, the breakers will try to ‘spin’ the state action to their advantage, mounting a defence of KPFA, not Pacifica – to the contrary, Pacifica will be presented as the problem. Will the anti-breakers respond, & how? Are the anti-breakers organised?
Are the anti-breakers ready for the coming storm?
The answer, we know.
Second, twice the report spoke of “KPFA assets”: no, all assets are those of Pacifica Foundation, Inc. A station holds, owns, no assets: a station is simply a manager of Pacifica assets (& liabilities), a custodian. There being ‘KPFA assets’ is a fantasy. There being a ‘KPFA building’ is a fantasy. This is because a station lacks legal personality. It’s an accounting unit. All this whilst the listeners usually live the station in quite a different way, as an attachment, living it affectively, cognitively, conatively. This can be purely utilitarian: the station as object, used as a means to satisfy wants or needs. But the relationship can be much more: causing a merging of self & object, an immersing, even turning into submerging: ‘soy Cuba’ ‘I am KPFA’. Generating a proprietary consciousness, disposition, &, crucially, orientation. Motivating. Lived with passion, even obsession. Escalating to an animosity towards opponents, the unbelievers. Persecuting perceived enemies. Hatching plans to separate the station, the physicality, from its current social organisation, it being an integral part of Pacifica. All this is a far cry from simply appreciating a radio station, holding it dear – caring for its programmes & what the station represents in an oppressive world.
This is why talk of “KPFA assets” is not benign: it’s part of a separatist politics. “KPFA assets” is a conception consistent with an ideology of station chauvinism, the polity of a fiefdom, & a separatist political practice; a conception antagonistic & alien to Pacifica pride & the polity of a network, one that could be powered by a network development plan – but that’s a path not taken, a path now closed off.
[UPDATE: KPFA is currently in fund-drive, 11days, Tu6-F16Dec. Something happened Friday morning, 9Dec, just after 0700 PT. The news summary ended with the Fed raid (6:29), & this was immediately elaborated upon by the presenter of UpFront. Yes, Brian Edwards-Tiekert gave his take (8:25), framing KPFA as captured by a corporate power that messes up, before dumping on the station:
“our parent organization, the-the Pacifica Foundation, the-the corporation that owns KPFA, has been severely financially distressed for some time, umm, and, I-I think it’s safe to say, quite poorly managed for a lot of that time. We at KPFA have mostly been insulated from that by, umm, local managers who-who ran a lot of interference for us, and by you, umm, by-by the fact that every time we’ve asked, you have stepped up and contributed enough money that-that we could keep paying KPFA’s bills no matter what was happening in the rest of the network”
[After a while he asked for money, & from 14:06 the broadcast continued with a prepared package, Zirin on the NFL. Whether it was down to Dave, the chosen item, or The Descent of the Feds, within the hour, after a longer reading of the news of the Feds, Brian was almost in tears:
“[w]hat I am awe-struck to report is h-how your fellow listeners have responded. Umm. To put this in context, during fundraising, you know, i’-if-if we raise $2 000 during the 7am hour, you know, we feel like we show[ed] up for work and we did our job. If we raise $4 000 during the 7am hour, we feel like we had a really good day. This morning, during the 7am hour of fundraising on KPFA, after we explained our situation, your fellow listeners contributed a total of $15 016. I-I can’t express to you how much that means to us”
Brian Edwards-Tiekert (9:24), fundraising for the next hour instead of Sabrina ‘you think I’m being nasty? I’m not even trying’ Jacobs, her show suitably titled A Rude Awakening, F9Dec2022 – https://archives.kpfa.org/data/20221209-Fri0800.mp3
This is becoming an unfortunate habit, the relevant Pacifica decision-makers & workers not bothering to post the audios of meetings, or doing so late. Low priority. Or not even registering. This has the anti-democratic effect of materially restricting the dissemination of knowledge (not simply info), plus discouraging the involvement of new peeps, especially those under the age of 70. The latest example is Thursday’s PNB meet. The same thing happened for two meets on Wednesday – still not posted at https://kpftx.org/archive.php as of 1600 MT, Su4Dec:
Teresa Allen (KPFT listener-delegate) saying solemnly, slowly, with great gravity, “[s]omething’s happened today” (11:12). Oh.
Oh dear. And she asked the Chair if it’s on the agenda for the closed meeting, & as the first item. Within seconds an interjected “yes” was heard from a KPFA staff-delegate, Darlene Pagano. (So a KPFA matter?) Then came a slow, purposeful nod from PNB Chair Julie ‘I’m so corrupt I’m insisting that Eileen Rosin is a delegate even though her 6yrs expired on 22June’ Hewitt.
Wonder what alarmed Teresa, wonder what happened? Does anybody work for Teresa, at her sour cream creamery? If so, please drop PacificaWatch a line, at pacificawatch@tutamail.com.
Off-topic, I know, but there should always be room for hearing a heart-warming story: Teresa must feel so at home surrounded by all that sour produce. Some peeps are so lucky, finding their niche in the world. Truly blessed. Can we have a hallelujah? . . . Hallelujah!!! Can we have a hallelujah? . . . Hallelujah!!! Can we have a hallelujah? . . . Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord!
~
[UPDATE:
[Our answer is revealed by the Vernile court docs. It’s about the seized $304 986.00. It seems that Th1Dec was when the Pacifica directors, as a group, found out. The docs have some real peculiarities – not least the deposition from Maria, KPFA’s business manager, made in support of Vernile & against her employer, Pacifica Foundation, Inc.: “declaration of Maria Negret in opposition to application for post-judgment ex parte relief”. A true volunteer: “if called as a witness I could testify”. In for a penny, in for a pound.
[An oddity is her physical evidence that the money was seized on W23Nov – yet she implies that the first anyone at Pacifica learnt of this was M28Nov (sic). She further implies that for the best part of 3days the news was kept at KPFA, with her sharing it with KPFA LSB Chair Christina ‘Nurse Ratched’ Huggins & GM Antonio Ortiz – and presumably others. It was only at c. 0905 PT, on Th1Dec, that ED Wells was informed (double sic) – who no doubt passed on the glad tidings to General Counsel Arthur Schwartz. Don’t you just luv it?
[If the Lord grants a minion strength, then the court docs will be written up – as ‘The Strange Case of Maria & the Cockatoo’. Can’t be fairer than that.]
46:34 magic moment, “that’s the magic combination”
49:54 question: is magic real, especially performed in the GM’s office? The answer may surprise you
59:22 (& 1:01:40 & 1:03:15 & 1:09:52) Michael D D Double-D D D White lives up to his reputation, being obnoxious, snarky, petty (guess Mario was never on his Xmas list)
~
Apparently, everything’s under control, largely because of the nitric oxide premium (56:26) & Gary Null’s latest film, Science for Hire (59:33) . . .
Donny G just fell off his chair – please, no cheering . . . instead, buy the latest merch from WBAI, the voodoo dolls, designed by Sister Mama Mama, a full range, closely resembling the leading breakers: Donny himself, Gendelman, Turner, Tanaka, Huggins, Wolfley, Cory, Jacobs, Adams, da Silva, Dodsworth, Lynch, Maldari, Goodman, Reson, Jones, Lexa, Macon, Marbach, Sabbagh, Wasserman, Crosier, Allen, Young, Foley, LaViolette – take your pick, then take your pin – or scissors.
~
Berthold’s report was as confusing as ever. But less so if one relates it to the last station report coming from outside WBAI management. This is the July2022 net income statement for WBAI, generated by NETA – remember them, the time when the directors sleepwalkers bothered to have fiscal management? This report has some of the figures mentioned by Berthold, & it helps orientate oneself when he goes into scattergun mode, spraying numbers all round the room, the likes of $70k, $100k, $120k, and $29k & $30k.
So the basics of this WBAI statement, the 10mths of FY2022 thru July2022:
• total revenue $1 015 003, total expenses $1 312 754 (non-Central Services, $1 101 634; CS, $211 120), loss $297 751;
• annualising as, total revenue $1 218 003, total expenses $1 575 304 (non-CS $1 321 960, CS $253 344), loss $357 301;
• per mth (the figures useful for our purpose), total revenue ~$101.5k, total expenses ~$131.3k (non-CS ~$110.2k, CS ~$21.1k), loss ~$29.8k;
• so, loss > CS charge, so revenue doesn’t cover non-CS expenses, this portion of total loss annualising as $103 957 (1218003 − 1321960), so almost exactly $2k per wk (no-one has publicly pointed this out); &
• for those sceptical about the guidance offered by data from quite a while ago, Oct2021 thru July2022, one can compare the average of its later mths to the period as a whole. So, mthly averages for Apr-July, & the trend: revenue $92k, so downward trend, −9%; non-CS expenses $97k, downward, −12%; loss $26k, downward, −13%. The station has contracted since Oct2021 . . . again, no-one’s put this in the public record. But it is losing less, coz even though revenue fell, expenses fell more. This trend should be borne in mind, improving one’s intuition, prudently, at a time when Pacifica has been flying blind since 22Sep, without fiscal management.
So, the NETA report is thru July2022. Scroll on 4mths, thru a wasteland without NETA, & we come to Berthold, holding court, on the last evening of November . . .
~
As said, for trying to make sense of Berthold’s report, keep in mind NETA’s mthly figures: revenue $101k; non-CS expenses $110k, CS expense $21k, total expenses $131k; loss $30k.
once into his stride, having gone thru key creditors, the first figure thrown into the mix was $70k (40:12), apparently Nov’s revenue – but the sum isn’t enough: “we need 100 000, minimum” (40:20).
That was his report. Effectively.
Not so quick, buster. WBAI’s finest were there, thankfully, & they probed Mr B with a probe – sorry, questions:
extracted, then illuminated, was “my-our analysis of our deficit is that we are about 29 000, $30 000, urgh, in the red every month, for-on an average” (44:26);
R Paul laid a jab: “[w]hat do we pay if we get, if we get to 100 000? Does that pay our bills?” (45:09) … “[i]f we get to 100 000 we’ll definitely be paying our bills, yes” (45:14);
but that wasn’t what it seems. Another jab: “[d]oes that include Central Services fees?” (45:17) … “[u]mm, nah, umm, all-all of Central Services together would, would include more like 120 000 – but what happened is […]” – and then he was off, quick as a flash, a veritable jack-in-the-box, expounding on something quite different (45:21) . . . the master of evasion;
Mr B, ever inventive, blazing a new trail, throwing in figures not yet in a WBAI net income statement: Sep $93k, Oct $79k, Nov $80k (45:32) – an average of $84k. These being? Not immediately obvious because he was talking about “when you’re looking at the profit-and-loss” (45:40). However, they seem to be mthly total revenue – although, you may remember, earlier he gave Nov as “70 000” (40:12), not “80 000”. The power of magic.
What a performance. Drawing blood from a stone. Dragged from $70k, to $100k, then onto $120k. Alchemy turning 70k into 80k (a Gary Null product?).
[UPDATE: the so-called Aug2022 monthlies are a complete mess. Not just the inconsistency in how many FY2022 mths are displayed prior to Aug itself, nor whether there’s the comparative – there’s also the lack of analyses, describing the composition of broad categories, such as, you know, personnel expenses, admin expenses, programming expenses, development expenses . . . so for Pacifica as a whole (per the “Consolidated-F” tab), no analysis of $5.4m personnel expenses, $2.5m admin expenses, $0.9m programming expenses, $0.75m development expenses. No analysis at all. And no-one on the PNB Finance Cttee or the PNB remarked, let alone complained. A lack of fiscal management is simply accepted, lived, as a non-event.
[So what Markisha did to the WBAI statement, even as editor, hardly merits comment. Such as, not all the Aug figures finding their way into the totals column! So, “Community Events Income”, $9 065 in Aug, has a $0 total for the fiscal year to date. The same happens, egregiously, for “Miscellaneous/Other Income”, $129 158 in Aug. So WBAI total revenue is understated by ~$140k! Other categories totalling as $0 but with an Aug figure are “Board Expenses” $1 031, “Depreciation (Admin Exp)” $1 357, & “Postage, USPS, FedEx, UPS” $1 020. None of this was spotted by the preparer of the statement, nor by those who review the monthlies before they’re distributed, the reviewers being the ED, the five station managers, & the 10 on the PNB Finance Cttee – so missed by 17 people. Welcome to the quality that is PacificaWorld.
[And did you catch the restatement of WBAI “Total Revenue” & “Listener Support” – without accompanying notes? Total revenue: the July monthlies have a carry-forward (C/F) of $1 015 003, but the Aug brought-forward (B/F) is $1 002 791 ((1129246 + 9065 + 129158) − (264654 + 24)) – a reduction of $12 212. Not explained. Listener support: C/F $948 159, but B/F $935 947 (1062378 − 126431) – the $12 212 reduction. Not explained. Also, no note explaining where the $129 158 “Miscellaneous/Other Income” comes from. All this passed in silence when the monthlies were presented by ED Steph ‘The Breeze’ (48:53) to the Tu6Dec PNB Finance Cttee – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/221206/finance221206a.mp3.
[Sloppier than sloppy.]
~
This is the reality. 2022. Pacifica, & WBAI. So from Mr B nothing as simple, or systematic, as:
‘my report is in four parts, focusing wholeheartedly on eliminating the current loss-making of the station:
• (1) currently, the average monthly revenue, expenses (non-Central Services, CS), & the resulting loss are $ x, y, z; more informatively, $ x, y (y₁ + y₂), z;
• (2) for the remaining 10mths of FY2023, action will be taken to best reduce this otherwise expected loss by implementing these evidenced & costed programmes of work, a, b, & c, adjusted per our monitoring reports – all grounded in what I presented to you in September, before the year started, the evidenced & costed scenarios & derived policies that guide management;
• (3) looking beyond FY2023, I am devising the outlines of evidenced & costed scenarios, & derived candidate policies, & attendant programmes of work, that will be presented to this Cttee, starting in January; however
• (4) WBAI is confronted by a resources barrier, not just holding it back but burying it, slowly. That’s why annual losses keep being so high. To cut to the conclusion, I see no way out other than the directors adopting a network development plan, one that involves fundamental change, not only of management but also correcting the lopsided distribution of resources. Controlled properly, this new way ahead can *maximize the total marginal gain* available to the stations. Pacifica’s money needs to stop three of the stations operating on a shoestring, & allow them to breathe, allow them to make an impact, & grow. The money at Pacifica’s disposal needs to be treated as an investment fund, distributed to further the development of the network, of Pacifica as a whole, in fulfilment of its mission. This must replace the alien dogma currently applied to each station: the Reaganite/Thatcherite ‘pull y’self up by y’bootstraps’ mantra. Obviously this new approach will require changing the *structure* of where personnel are deployed; this means away from KPFA & towards KPFT in particular, & also towards WPFW & WBAI. To remind you all, this is the current structure of station full-time equivalents (@ $80k each), with half being at Berkeley: KPFA 31, KPFK 13½, KPFT 1½, WPFW 8, WBAI 7½. Total 61½. There are also three other units to consider (PNO, PRA, PAN) – not least to ensure the employment of adequate accountancy staff, including an internal audit team (if paid program producers have to be made redundant, so be it: the bookkeeping, accountancy, & internal audit function must be protected, above all else – otherwise no-one knows what’s going on). The principle of a network development plan is a matter for governance (not management), so for the Pacifica delegates, & ultimately the directors. I’ll leave it there, R Paul. I thank everyone for their attention, & I look forward to your questions & remarks.’
The station manager’s report not given by Berthold Reimers to the W30Nov2022 WBAI Finance Cttee
~
It’s worthwhile noting three errors in Mr Martin’s report, pace the public record: (1) “the Pacifica National Board has voted to sell the KPFK building in Los Angeles” (1:21); (2) “[t]he sale would also be used to retire the FJC loan [Foundation for the Jewish Community]” (1:49; the principal is currently $2 258 821); & (3) “the sale probably will not be final until April” (6:28) – per the link given above to the audiofile, https://mega.nz/file/ZUcygI4C#0etbbbWJ5SnIAcEjZmByWU7491VHhhF16o-YSsJ2vfc.
(Also, he got the 31Dec FJC quarterly interest charge wrong: it isn’t “a payment of around $48 000 or so” (3:36) – no, ⅐ more, $55 402.99. Workings: effective Th3Nov the rate went up from 9.25% to 10%; the Sa31Dec charge = ((2258821 x 0.0925 x 33) ÷ 365) + ((2258821 x 0.1 x 59)÷ 365) = 18890.550 + 36512.449 = $55 402.99.)
Why are these errors?
• (1) a decision hasn’t been made to sell the Studio City land & building. Only to prepare for a sale, doing everything required to sell it – so more than simply ‘getting it listed’. The passage in the PNB resolution: “[t]he PNB met […] to authorize the Board Chair, Executive Director and General Counsel to take all steps necessary to the most advantageous sale of the building currently housing the KPFK station and Pacifica National Office at 3729 Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, California and relocation of all activities currently housed at 3729 Cahuenga and bring these transactions to the Board for approval” – Th27Oct2022 PNB closed meeting, https://pacifica.org/documents/pnb_exec_221027.pdf.
Director James Sagurton (listener-delegate, PNB Finance Cttee Chair), mealy-mouthed, put it this way: “the motion on the PNB was to explore [this he emphasised] a sale of the KPFK building. There’s been no decision to sell the KPFK building, as everybody knows. You know, the final decision in a real estate transaction doesn’t happen until the closing. Any number of things could happen that would derail this – one of which could be we only get an offer of $2m: we’re not going to sell that building for $2m. So right now what we’re doing is exploring the sale, which includes, by the way – which is a pretty good indication of where we’re going – realtors walking through the KPFK building, looking at it, and sizing it up. So that is happening. It’s assumed that’s probably where we’re headed, but it’s not a done deal. We didn’t vote to sell the building: we voted to explore the sale of the building” (22:44). Guess James could have written the press release for Columbus or Pizarro.
The resolution was suffused with woolly wording – praps intentional: nothing as unambiguous as ‘the PNB (a) has decided to sell the Cahuenga land & building, (b) instructs the Board Chair, Executive Director and General Counsel to do what’s required, within reason, to maximize the selling price, (c) instructs the Executive Director and General Counsel to bring to the PNB for approval each and every purchase they intend to make, and (d) instructs the Executive Director to ask the PNB for permission to arrange the public listing of the lot for sale’.
So, yes, a decision was made on 27Oct to prepare for a sale, so there is the intention to sell, but a decision to sell hasn’t actually been made, nor even to list it for sale;
• (2) the PNB hasn’t said how any of the net proceeds will be spent, & certainly not as specific as “to retire the FJC loan”; &
• (3) R Paul’s claim re April for completion is the first time in a Pacifica public meet that anyone has given a temporal estimate.
~
To conclude, the wider Pacifica picture. Despite NETA giving their 3mths’ notice 30June, allowing an efficient transition to new busy-beavers, the Pacifica directors sleepwalkers have succeeded, probably without too much effort, in rendering Pacifica without any fiscal management – not just an absence of any reconciled statements, or monthly net income statements, but, crucially this:
leaving this $11m annual turnover public charity with an absence of both internal audit control, & the recording of *all* financial events. These events are either transactions (money coming in or going out), or events that establish obligations (such as fund-drive pledges, or incoming goods & services that have to be paid for). And the scale of what hasn’t been recorded in Pacifica’s general ledger since 22Sep, when NETA left 8days early? Well, for Oct-Nov2022 alone one can estimate from the evidence a total of ~$3 284 862 x 2 ≃ $6.57m (this excludes intra-Pacifica events, such as scraping together payroll by ‘borrowing’ from an accounting unit or three). Come the New Year, the figure climbs to ~$9.855m ≃ $10m. The directors sleepwalkers continually demonstrate they’re oblivious to this double neglect: internal audit control & event recording. Oblivious to the scale of their neglect, one that increases hourly. Oblivious to *their personal liability* arising from a failure to discharge their legal responsibility to protect the assets of this public charity, a liability that is *not* protected by the famed D & O, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance.
The sleepwalkers have indicated not one iota that they are aware of what is happening. They’ve given no indication that they’re even thinking of producing a costed & evidenced plan to fund an accounting professional (or three) to establish fiscal management – not least finishing with FY2022: performing all the reconciliations, producing a trial balance, generating the three main financial statements, having all the supporting evidence available – that is, having everything ready to invite in the auditors to do their work.
Per NETA’s July2022 consolidated net income statement: FY2022, average mthly revenue, $764 871 + that for non-CS expenses, $877 560 = 1 642 431 … x 2 (that Italian thing, the nature of double-entry bookkeeping) = $3 284 862 of financial events to be recorded each mth
That’s the second of our 30Nov meets. Now a very short report on the final one.
PNB Strategic Planning Cttee
Semi-woke director Jim Dingeman (WBAI listener-delegate) advocated making applications to the CPB Radio Community Service Grant Program in May next year. Note, no-one expresses ‘application’ in the plural: because Pacifica holds multiple FCC broadcasting licences, any application is for an individual broadcasting station.
Apart from audience level, here are three obvious reasons why applications would fail, & the first, because it’s supervening, is a hurdle confronting each application:
• KPFA not having a CAB (last met 23Nov2019 (sic), over 3yrs ago – https://kpfa.org/station-announcements/community-advisory-board/; last meeting noticed in the Pacifica archive is 16Apr2022, with no evidence it met – https://kpftx.org/archive.php; Section 2D, p. 5) . . . with no director having even once spoken to this, let alone bringing a motion, can anyone deny they’re sleepwalkers?; &
• KPFT not having 4 employees, 2 being full-time (Section 5A & B, pp. 8-9) . . . why has no director sleepwalker spoken to this? don’t they know the CPB rules?
~~~
By coincidence, held & published today, Th1Dec: Mearsheimer on Ukraine, debating with Carl Bildt (starts 9:25; Bildt, 15:50; Mearsheimer, 32:32; & from then it continues. 2h45m. In an oil city, Bergen, Norway – further proof that a distraction distracts from the essential).
. . . (note, that’s 3.2 thousand, not 32k!) . . . few know the reality of how it’s been being a Ukrainian since the end of Stalinism: per capita real income in 2021 was only ~74% of what it was in 1989 (2451.9 ÷ 3330.5 = 0.7362) . . . &, in 2015’s money, since the 2008 crash,it’s been less than $50 gross a week (just over $1 an hour; note, this is per capita, so including those not working, even neonates!) . . . Ukraine GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$), 1987-2021 – https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD?end=2021&locations=UA&name_desc=true&start=1987 . . .
• The sleepwalkers order a financial news blackout: trying to hide their tracks, conceal their acts of omission – Th20Oct2022 PNB
• Contra Counsel Arthur’s advice, the directors illegally extend all delegates’ terms – even their own. The sense of entitlement, privilege, indispensability, superiority – even contra the heavy-duty “in no event” imperative of by-law 4/8. Shredding the by-laws – Pacifica, governed by decisions, not rules. Now in double jeopardy: out of control ‘governance’, plus flying blind post-NETA with no fiscal management – Th20Oct2022 PNB
• Why don’t we decide to sell the building used by KPFK/PRA, then come up with a reason for doing it? Maybe even publish a plan? But maybe we won’t – Th27Oct2022 PNB closed meeting
• After deciding to sell the building used by KPFK/PRA, they then decide to try to come up with a plan. Yup, always rational, always on top of things: “I know that some of us are beginning to take a shot at putting together a draft strategic plan” – Director Jim, Th3Nov2022 PNB
• Questions on the sale of the building used by KPFK/PRA – public comment, Su6Nov2022 KPFK LSB
• PNB Audit Cttee Chair Eileen Rosin, also WPFW Vice-Chair, ‘termed out’ 22June2022, but LSB Chair Williams says she’s staying! Letters to PNB, PNB Audit Cttee, WPFW LSB, auditors Rogers & Company, & their licensors, the Virginia Board of Accountancy & the California Board of Accountancy
• Preparing to default on the payroll – be it F25Nov, F9Dec, F23Dec, F6Jan . . . A cut by a uniform x%, so a regressive policy, favouring the higher paid – Th17Nov2022 PNB closed meeting
• Public comment: illegally extending delegates’ terms; corruptly letting Eileen Rosin usurp a delegate’s seat & worse; & the August monthly statements being withheld illegally by the directors – not heard at the Su20Nov2022 KPFK LSB . . . bonus, the missing audio
[the audio was published in the Pacifica meetings archive, as two audiofiles, but then withdrawn; it seems this was done for a few possible reasons. #1: there’s mention of whether the breaker directors from the KPFK LSB voted in the Th27Oct2022 closed meeting to sell the building used by the station (56:37). These are Ali Lexa Al-Hilali & PacificaWorld’s retort to Austin Powers, ‘Mrs Evil’, Evelia Jones. The good lady had absented herself, but Ali Lexa vehemently denied the accusation against him, disclosing that he abstained (sic – well, that’s ok then). #2: [? – check] disclosed that the PNB has lost its secretary, Marianne ‘¡bueno!’ Edain, who was supposed to get paid – which is exactly how the PNB let it remain until, surprise, surprise, she found better things to do than staying up to see in Friday with friends like that (TimeStamp) – don’t you just luv that talk of ‘the Pacifica family’? The recording linked here misses out the prelims (the first few days, with all-nighters, when the agenda was decided), & starts with GM Novick’s report & questions – https://mega.nz/file/cdsyTbzK#XziI3eyEb8Vlv1dTwcQZQ7BtKbNF-sRTbj-3ExZpBvY (2h31, 210MB)]
• Gunten’s ‘business plan & market-priced balance sheet’ proposal rejected: why on earth would the directors need this when, ganging up 4-on-1, they’ve already decided to sacrifice KPFK? Get real, Gunten: rationality resides with each station fiefdom, not Pacifica – Tu22Nov2022 PNB Finance Cttee
[note, all this ‘von’ talk in people’s names is inegalitarian nonsense. A nobiliary particle, as they say in linguistics. In German it denotes ‘from’, the land owned by the family; it ranks somewhat lower than von und zu, Freiherr, Graf, Herzog, Fürst. These are markers of distinction – nod to Bourdieu, who examined “strategies of pretension” (Distinction, p. 253). We can do better than this, yes, especially in PacificaWorld? Indeed, in some countries, as part of their attempt to continue a capitalist cultural transition after World War One, such markers were even banned by law]
[The Pacifica info gatekeepers were tardy posting the Th10Nov PNB audio recording, likewise now with the 17Nov – https://kpftx.org/archive.php. So here’s a revealing portion of that meet. When g-d gives a minion strength, PacificaWatch will replace this placeholder with a proper post. UPDATE, Sa26Nov: even after eight days there’s nothing.
[UPDATE: on another topic, KPFA. Three regressive developments:
• the Chair of the KPFA Local Station Board has violated a Pacifica by-law by not calling a public meeting of that paragon of civility & cordiality, decency & bliss. It last met on Sa17Sep, & it’s now too late to have a November properly noticed public meeting. This violates the requirement that “[e]ach LSB shall meet as often as required to accomplish it [sic] duties, but not less than every other month” – https://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art7sec6.html (stated in full);
• KPFA also doesn’t have a functioning CAB, the Community Advisory Board. According to the station website, the last time it met was over 3yrs ago, 23Nov2019 (sic) – https://kpfa.org/station-announcements/community-advisory-board/. The only notice of it meeting this year was for Sa16Apr, but this provided no joining details, & there’s no evidence that Berkeley had a happening – https://kpftx.org/archive.php. As the world knows, not having a CAB disqualifies a station’s application to join the CPB Radio Community Service Grant programme – and joining is the stage each Pacifica station is at, having last received money from that source more than 10yrs ago (sic), in Oct2012; grant totals are at https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2013.pdf(pages 4 & 20; pages 6 & 23 of the PDF). As ED Steph would no doubt say, ‘moi? Nothing to do with me, that’s a station matter. I’m just the executive director, the ED of the company’.]
Obviously no-one asked why, having been 10mths in the job, she hasn’t presented to the Board a costed operational plan for Pacifica – with the director then asking, reflexively, why none of them has presented a motion requiring the ED to devise & present a range of costed operational plans, plans derived from costed scenarios of Pacifica’s future scaled over one, three & five years, scenarios that would have to be devised by the ED coz there hasn’t been even one director during the last half decade who’s shown either the interest or aptitude.
Unsaid questions immediately followed by a motion requiring all that conceptual & imaginative work to be done by the ED. An attempt to give the ED’s work direction, future-oriented direction, breaking with the running-to-stay-still, the perpetual firefighting, the immersion in the groundhog present. An attempt at being proactive, rather than reactive. An attempt at engineeringchange, rather than being transfixed in stasis. The effort of leading, rather than the effort of just being busy.
But that would require Pacifica having, at a minimum, a director who knows what’s required of a director. A director who can then convince their colleagues to change the culture of the organisation, namely, its habitual way of working. A director who especially has some idea of how to best use the talents & expertise of an ED, a director determined to ensure that the polity of fiefdoms is replaced by a chain of command: PNB policy ⭢ ED programmes of work ⭢ GM implementation. A director able to motivate a national board to pursue what needs to be done to turn around a failing $11m annual turnover public charity that has been declining for at least 15yrs & has now hit the buffers with not enough cash coming in to pay current creditors, let alone past-due balances.
Instead, an assemblage of sleepwalkers. Inferior even to the zombies of Night of the Living Dead – who at least acted with common purpose.
Still not in the Pacifica meetings archive, https://kpftx.org/archive.php, as of 1200 MST, M14Nov2022. One other 2022 PNB meeting is missing, that of Th9June: the daily calendar notice, https://kpftx.org/pacalendar/cal_show1.php?eventdate=20220609, is in the form of an open meeting (so including three links for the stream), although the linked “Agenda” says “[p]art of the meeting will be in executive session.”, & the notice says there’ll be a closed meeting (but the calendar grid only gives an open meeting: yup, the software needs excluding pathways) –https://kpftx.org/pacalendar/showfile.php?id=7863&type=agenda.
~
Since the end of summer 2021 there has been a marked deterioration in Pacifica’s intercourse with the public. Yes, more online ‘town halls’, but a significant reduction in the streaming of meetings & the posting of audiofiles. Those in charge of this work have chosen to neglect the public. Low priority. As so often in Pacifica, even when workloads become even heavier, peeps are reluctant to delegate, or ask for volunteers. Neglect is the result. And an ageing organisation, a gerontocracy, heads in only one direction. The only question is whether the final repose – which is horizontal – is either supine or prone. (Incineration isn’t green.)
So, the Th10Nov2022 PNB. It started as a whirlwind, to cite the title of Yevgeniya Ginzburg’s memoir: a surprise attack, an ambush, from Lawrence – causing Chair Julie to shoot coffee all over her ‘Jerry Paris’ coaster.
That aside, Lawrence’s question: does the sale of the Pacifica building housing KPFK & Pacifica Radio Archives count as “substantially all” of the assets of Pacifica Foundation, Inc.? By-law 3/5:
“All Members shall have all rights granted to them by law or by these Bylaws, including without limit the right to vote, on the terms and in the manner set forth in these Bylaws […] on the sale, exchange, transfer or disposition of all or substantially all of the Foundation’s assets”
Folder containing the whole of the public meeting (bar a few secs of roll-call), plus the first 10mins of the after party, when the grandparents & great-grandparents let down their hair – or at least took off their wigs – during the intermezzo before the great & the good donned their ceremonial robes, disappearing into their conclave, the closed PNB meeting: https://mega.nz/folder/0FMRRQbQ#-wrD-ngqOULnWDcUb2k_JQ (as two audiofiles).
~
But if you want to spend your time doing better things, here are some tributes to Mike Davis – plus SoCal Mike from 7mths ago, an essay, an excerpt, & free PDF’s:
two episodes of ‘Beneath the Surface’, Suzi Weissman, 1000 PT, Su30Oct & Su6Nov: https://archive.kpfk.org/ (yes, the website really needs to get unique URL’s for each item in the KPFK archive)
. . . test launch of the KPFK repeater station, the Ojai Valley, Ventura County, the whole event supervised by local hip-hop sensation, MC False Decorum, PNB Vice-Chair Queen Liz III . . .
~
[UPDATE: with a 22-day drive report given to the W26Oct KPFK Finance Cttee, the original calculations arising from the 12-day report had to be revised (see below). So the numerical portion of the post’s title had to be changed to, ‘current annualised rate of loss-making is $1.3m $1.260m, up $219k $143k on the August FY2023 budget … total revenue now down 20% 13%, covering only 80% 87% of personnel costs, 51% 56% of operating costs, & 40% 43% of total costs’.]
[FINAL UPDATE: after the drive ended, an oral report – all of one sentence – was given to the W9Nov KPFK Finance Cttee by GM Michael Novick. The calculations, revised again. So the final post title: ‘current annualised rate of loss-making is $1.260m $1.282m [show it as $1.28m], up $143k $165k on the August FY2023 budget … total revenue now down 13% 15%, covering only 87% 85% of personnel costs, 56% 55% of operating costs, & 43% 42% of total costs’. The original URL remains.]
~
UPDATE (not to be secreted away): The Case of the Entitlement & Arrogance of Cde Chair & Vice-Chair Eileen ‘honestly, with Trump running that year, 2016, I completely forgot I joined the June LSB’Rosin: . . .
(Speaking of chairs, & so of seats, it hasn’t been mentioned in public, but current PNB Chair, ‘Julie Clueless’ Hewitt (WPFW listener-delegate), completes her 6yrs as a delegate in December – the day isn’t obvious coz WPFW didn’t have a delegates’ assembly that mth, so presumably it’s the 31st; by-law Art. 4, Sec. 8 simply says “[a] Delegate’s term of office, shall be three (3) years, beginning in December” – https://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art4sec8.html. It’s irrelevant that, in virtue of being a delegate, she was seated as a LSB member the following mth, on 11Jan2017 – https://kpftx.org/pacalendar/showfile.php?id=4762&type=minutes.) … (Incidently, PNB Finance Cttee Chair James Sagurton (WBAI listener-delegate) terms out in a month or so, 7Dec – https://glib.com/lsb_attendance_ninth_wbai_lsb.html(no minutes or audio at kpftx.org).) . . .
Which brings us to Julie’s co-conspirator, both locally & nationally, Eileen ‘I know I’m the Audit Chair, but as I don’t like the resolution I’ve torn it up & blocked it being sent to the PNB – and yes, I do think I’m a democrat’ Rosin & her dirty lil secret: Eileen Rosin, who is also the Vice-Chair of the WPFW LSB, termed out 22June2022, having been seated 22June2016, & winning in the elections of 2016 & 2019. So far she has improperly – illegally – attended at least 17 Pacifica meetings: PNB Audit Cttee (3 open, 2 closed), WPFW LSB (4 open, 3 closed), WPFW Finance Cttee (3 open), WPFW Financial Stability Cttee (attended at least 1 meeting; one of the five members; Cttee’s existence is missing from kpftx.org), WPFW Communication Standards & Enforcement Cttee (attended at least 1 meeting; one of the three members; Cttee’s existence is missing from kpftx.org), other WPFW LSB cttees (x no.) … Minutes of 22June2016 WPFW LSB, item V: “Motion: Tony Norman[.] I move that we fill two seats where we had resignations advertised. Then wait 30 days to fill the seats for the resignations during this meeting. No objections[.] New LSB members are: Cliff Smith[,] Eileen Rosin.” Eileen was then elected twice as a listener-delegate: 2016, came in 5-6th, the 2nd “count”, certified by True Ballot, Inc., 20Oct2016 (p. 13 of the PDF), with NES Serpe’s final report, if ever written, not publicly available; & 2019, 7th, the 13th “round”, certified 15Nov2019 (NES Peñaloza’s final report, pp. 1 & 6-7; pp. 3 & 8-9 of the PDF). And yes, minutes/audios/suggested agendas across June2016-Oct2022 show her unbroken attendance – also that the above Mr Norman currently sits next to her on the WPFW Finance Cttee … Eileen ‘honestly, with Trump running that year, 2016, I completely forgot I joined the June LSB’ Rosin …https://kpftx.org/pacalendar/showfile.php?id=4410&type=minutes …https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/0731601-certification-letter-6.pdf… https://mega.nz/file/8IN3RbbI#N2AmLp-WzCIcBaXDcMJ7EJWlEZaNp2YHio7_KHymuCc(Ms P’s report) … https://kpftx.org/archive.php … Last, the unambiguous by-law wording: “[a] Delegate may serve a maximum of two consecutive 3-year terms […] If a Delegate serves as elected or alternate for an incomplete year, those month/s of service must be counted towards the six years cumulative limit” (Art. 4, Sec. 8; all emphases added – especially the heavy-dutied “must“) – https://pacifica.org/indexed_bylaws/art4sec8.html . . . Harby, the carrier pigeon, is readying to fly to Cde First Secretary Vasilieva with the news . . .
~
. . . back to KPFK’s trajectory . . .
The station is currently in fund-drive. The Oct biggie. Michael Novick, hitherto Local Station Board Chair, became General Manager Novick effective M26Sep, replacing Moe Thomas, Magister Pacifica Peripatetica. Two days later he gave drive details to the 28Sep KPFK Finance Cttee: it starts in the dark, at the very beginning of Tu4Oct, & “the plan is probably to be in fund-drive for, urgh, the remainder of the month; ostensibly talking about a $350 000 goal for that, argh, which, unless we can really improve our performance, then the on-air fund-drive [goal] is un-unlikely to be met” (27:58, from 24:38). 350k? Well, thru M31Oct, so 28days, 350k ÷ 28 = $12 500 pledged per day – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/kpfkfin/220928/kpfkfin220928a.mp3.
So how’s it going? Unlike recent drives, such as last Dec, there’s currently no progress thermometer on the station’s homepage, https://www.kpfk.org/, or hidden away on the website. And there have been few public details, the latest seems to be thru day #12:
“[D]aily average, so far in this drive, for a week, is $3 600”
KK (2:29:18), Su16Oct KPFK LSB – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/kpfk/221016/kpfk221016a.mp3 … presumably thru Sa15Oct, so 12days … so, assume actual pledged 12×3500=pledged $42k (sic), @.78=$32760 cash, @.91=$38220 cash – so doing well if it’s $35k gross proceeds
So falling, slightly, not materially – but ~⅓ below the budgeted $5 333. Oh. But what about that phrase of Kim’s, the drive “making $3 500 a day”? So cash, not pledges? Well, one may think that – as have some minions at PacificaWatch – but there’s killer evidence that shows the talk about drives, whenever it’s ambiguous, it’s almost always about pledges, not the $$$ generated.
Kim herself made it plain during her presentation to the 24Aug KPFK Finance Cttee: “we will start with Listener Support […] The total of umm, revenue, according to that, is $790 245”, & she gave the “that” as 162 drive-days, at $5 333 a day. Well, $5333 x 162 = $863 946 … & 790245 ÷ 863946 = 0.9146, so that’s the fulfilment rate, ~91%. (Not that anyone asked why she hadn’t mentioned the rate, & what it was, & how it compared with, say, the last 10 drives, or how it can be justified – why not 90%? Or 85%? Or 80%? Or the stable 78% from May & Oct 2021? Given the public evidence, in the below calculations it’s prudent to use 78%, & not the budgeted 91% which was neither explicitly disclosed nor even mentioned – and certainly with no attempt made to justify this jump to 91%, justified with the presentation of an evidenced argument.)
Note, & to anticipate details of the FY2023 station budget disclosed below, applying a 78% fulfilment rate restates the budgeted loss as $1 233 525, an increase of $116 367, so +10.4% ≃ +10%. (That shortfall in human terms? $116k leaves unpaid 1.5 full-time workers @$80k pa.)
… the restatement: total revenue = listener support & donations + other sources = $ (5333 x 162 x 0.78) + 312000 = 673878 + 312000 = $985 878 … net loss = total revenue − total expenses = $ 985878 − 2219403 = −$1 233 525
[UPDATE: at the W26Oct KPFK Finance Cttee, GM Novick reported on the drive: “I think [cra ckle: incredibly, WordPress won’t accept that word on its own within square brackets without a space!] the 22nd day of the fund-drive [well, the previous day was that; …] Through today, upto a point today, we’ve raised about $92 000 […] raising about $4 200 a day on average” (52:05; $4200 x 22 = $92 400) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/kpfkfin/221026/kpfkfin221026a.mp3. The below calculations (that used $3 600 as the daily pledge level) have been revised, treating the $92k as pledged thru Tu25Oct. This amounts to an attenuation of the variance by ~$76k: $(4200 − 3600) pledged daily x 0.78 fulfilment rate x 162 days = $75 816. So, for example, the increase of the budgeted annualised rate of loss-making becomes $ 218981 − 75816 = $143 165.]
[FINAL UPDATE: as mentioned, at the W9Nov KPFK Finance Cttee, GM Novick gave a one-sentence oral report on the Oct drive, including “we raised a little over a hundred-and-thirty-three thousand [dollars]” (36:40). So, Tu4Oct-Sa5Nov (ended 1800 PDT), ~33days, & ~$133k pledged, so ~$4 030 pledged per day, & x 0.78 fulfilment rate ≃ $3 144 cash per day, & $103 740 total cash from the drive (133000 x 0.78). What he didn’t say – and no-one pointed it out – is that the daily pledged rate dropped at some point during the last third of the drive, from “about $4 200” to ~$4 030: diminishing returns: with the audience punch-drunk, the drive had reached saturation point. https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/kpfkfin/221109/kpfkfin221109a.mp3. Remember, the draft FY2023 station budget uses a daily pledged rate of $5 333 – that’s ~32.3% more than achieved for this Oct-early Nov 33day drive.
And what does the $103 740 buy you? For the period of the drive, personnel costs were ~95.9% of that, leaving $4 288 to pay everything else – giving the station a daily budget of $130 (sic), & that’s the during-drive situation, remember. (Daily expenses? $6 081 – with vendors being $4 708 … see the budget below.) So worth repeating: 33 days of drive = personnel costs (for those 33 days) + $130 from each of those 33 days towards paying all the other expenses incurred on those days . . . with KPFK then dropping thru the trap-door intothe out-of-drive situation: total revenue of $855 a day.
One reason why the PNB focusing on selling a building – be it that housing KPFK/PRA or KPFA or KPFT – is missing the point.
All based on the FY2023 station budget, presented by then Treasurer Kim ‘(sigh) yes, Bella (sigh)’ Kaufman to the Su28Aug KPFK LSB:
total revenue……………………………………… $1 102 245
expenses – operating ……….. $1 718 535
expenses – Central Services … $500 868
total expenses ……………………………………. $2 219 403
total loss ……………………………………………. $1 117 158
Note: the Central Services figure is according to two old formulae (adopted by the PNB for FY2015 only (sic) – but used, improperly, since 1Oct2015 to this very day, so 7yrs & counting), not the one adopted (presumably for the PNO only), with immediate effect, by the directors at the Th18Feb2021 PNB: “Motion: ‘That the central services formula be based on 15% of total revenue of the stations calculated quarterly. All revenue is to be included in the calculations; however the cost of air conditioning for Pacifica Radio Archives shall be deducted from KPFK’s revenue, and the tower, studio and office rent for all stations shall be deducted from their revenue.’ There being no objections, the motion was approved.” (unpaginated; page 3 of the PDF) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnb210218/pnb210218_7017_minutes.pdf.
(A full note is at the end of this post.)
~
So what?
The 7sec read:
KPFK current annualised rate of loss-making is $1 336 139 ≃ $1.3m . . . an extra $218 981 on the FY2023 budget figure$1 260 323 ≃$1.26m . . . an extra $143 165 on the FY2023 budget figure$1 281 805 ≃ $1.28m . . . an extra $164 647 on the FY2023 budget figure
Working [updated immediately below]: annual loss per FY2023 budget (presented to Su28Aug KPFK LSB) + reduction in fund-drive revenue (evidenced by 12days of current drive) = $1117158 + (((5333 − 3600) x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + ((1733 x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + (1351.74 x 162) = 1117158 + 218981 = $1 336 139 ≃ $1.3m
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, with daily pledge level of $4 200, not $3 600 (a ~16.7% increase): KPFK current annualised rate of loss-making is $1 260 323 ≃ $1.26m . . . an extra $143 165 on the FY2023 budget figure…
Working: annual loss per FY2023 budget (presented to Su28Aug KPFK LSB) + reduction in fund-drive revenue (evidenced by 22days of current drive) = $1117158 + (((5333 − 4200) x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + ((1133 x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + (883.74 x 162) = 1117158 + 143165 = $1 260 323 ≃ $1.26m. The change is $ 218981 − 143165 = $75 816]
[FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, with daily pledge level of $4 030: KPFK current annualised rate of loss-making is $1 281 805 ≃ $1.28m . . . an extra $164 647 on the FY2023 budget figure…
Working: annual loss per FY2023 budget (presented to Su28Aug KPFK LSB) + reduction in fund-drive revenue (using GM Novick’s after-drive report) = $1117158 + (((5333 − 4030) x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + ((1303 x 0.78) 162) = 1117158 + (1016.34 x 162) = 1117158 + 164647 = $1 281 805 ≃ $1.28m. The change is $ 218981 − 164647 = $54 334]
The 13sec read, supplementary info:
[UPDATE: compared with the drop in total revenue per the 12-day drive report, that indicated by the 22-day report is a third less: 1 − (143165 ÷ 218981) = 0.346] [FINAL UPDATE: the report after the drive shows a quarter less, 0.248]
[UPDATE:per the 22-day report,total revenue down 13%… (1102245 − 143165) ÷ 1102245 = 959080 ÷ 1102245 ≃ 0.870] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report,total revenue down 15%… (1102245 − 164647) ÷ 1102245 = 937598 ÷ 1102245 ≃ 0.850]
• total revenueonly covers 80% of personnel costsonly covers 87% of personnel costsonly covers 85% of personnel costs
… 883264 ÷ 1100000 ≃ 0.802 … (yes, the revised budgeted total revenue doesn’t even cover the single class-item of personnel costs)
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, total revenue only covers 87% of personnel costs … 959080 ÷ 1100000 ≃ 0.871 … (yes, the revised budgeted total revenue doesn’t even cover the single class-item of personnel costs)] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, total revenue only covers 85% of personnel costs … 937598 ÷ 1100000 ≃ 0.852]
• total revenueonly covers 63% of ‘core’ costsonly covers 69% of ‘core’ costsonly covers 67% of ‘core’ costs
… 883264 ÷ 1392000 ≃ 0.634 … (‘core’ = personnel + utilities + tower rent + drive costs = $90k + 14k + 2k + 10k pm = $116k pm = $1 392 000 pa … notes: (a) this excludes the mthly utilities arrearages, keeping Mr Switchman at bay; & (b) no contract for earthquake insurance – a station responsibility – since c. Dec2021 (or praps Oct2021), per the KPFK July2022 mthly net income statement, line 68; also $0 accrued)
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, total revenue only covers 69% of ‘core’ costs … 959080 ÷ 1392000 ≃ 0.688] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, total revenue only covers 67% of ‘core’ costs … 937598 ÷ 1392000 ≃ 0.673]
• total revenue only covers 51% of operating costsonly covers 56% of operating costsonly covers 54.6% of operating costs– so almost half of these debts arising in FY2023 will be unpaid at year-end
… 883264 ÷ 1718535 ≃ 0.513
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, total revenue only covers 56% of operating costs … 959080 ÷ 1718535 ≃ 0.558] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, total revenue only covers 54.6% of operating costs …
in other words, new debt to vendors budgeted to be created in FY2023 is an incredible $780 937.
Another reason why the PNB focusing on selling a building – be it that housing KPFK/PRA or KPFA or KPFT – is missing the point.
• total revenueonly covers 40% of total costsonly covers 43% of total costsonly covers 42% of total costs
… 883264 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.3979
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, total revenue only covers 43% of total costs … 959080 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.4321] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, total revenue only covers 42% of total costs … 937598 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.4224]
• even if the fulfilment rate is 91% (91.47), not 78%, total revenue only covers 43% of total costs, so +3pcp (43.21 − 39.79 = 3.42)only covers 47% of total costs, so +4pcp(47.20 − 43.21 = 3.99)only covers 46% of total costs, so +4pcp (46.06 − 42.24 = 3.82)
… extra cash from a 91% rate = $3600 (0.91 – 0.78) = 3600 x 0.13 = $468 pd, & x 162 = $75 816 pa … hardly worth re-doing the calculation, but rather than write-up the post on Eileen ‘honestly, with Trump running that year, 2016, I completely forgot I joined the June LSB’ Rosin, & given we are where we are … (883264 + 75816) ÷ 2219403 = 959080 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.4321
… the 91% rate: 790245 ÷ 863946 = 0.91469
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, even if the fulfilment rate is 91% (91.47), not 78%, total revenue only covers 47% of total costs, so +4pcp(47.20 − 43.21 = 3.99) … extra cash from a 91% rate = $4200 (0.91 – 0.78) = 4200 x 0.13 = $546 pd, & x 162 = $88 452 pa … ⇒ (959080 + 88452) ÷ 2219403 = 1047532 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.47198] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, even if the fulfilment rate is 91% (91.47), not 78%, total revenue only covers 46% of total costs, so +4pcp(46.06 − 42.24 = 3.82) … extra cash from a 91% rate = $4030 (0.91 – 0.78) = 4030 x 0.13 = $523.90 pd, & x 162 = $84 871.80 pa … ⇒ (937598 + 84872) ÷ 2219403 = 1022470 ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.4606]
• even in eternal drive, total revenue only covers 60% of total costsonly covers 68% of total costsonly covers 66% of total costs
… per budget, revenue = drive + others ⇒ 1102245 = 790245 + others ⇒ others = $312 000 … revenue in eternal drive = $(365 (3600 x 0.78)) + 312000 = 1024920 + 312000 = $1 336 920 … & ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.6023 (on top of the infeasibility, this also assumes no extra fundraising costs)
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, even in eternal drive, total revenue only covers 68% of total costs … revenue in eternal drive = $(365 (4200 x 0.78)) + 312000 = 1195740 + 312000 = $1 507 740 … & ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.6793] [FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, this becomes 66%: $(365 (4030 x 0.78)) + 312000 = 1147341 + 312000 = $1 459 341 … & ÷ 2219403 ≃ 0.6575]
• current rate of loss-making is 6.0% more than the rate at 6Nov2021 estimated by PacificaWatchis the same as the rate at 6Nov2021 estimated by PacificaWatch is 1.6% more than the rate at 6Nov2021 estimated by PacificaWatch
per the 12-day report, current rate of loss-making is $1 336 139 pa … at 6Nov2021, it was estimated as $1 261 397 pa … the difference, +$74 742 pa, +5.925% – so despite all the cuts over the last year (~25%), materially scaling back the operation, the station is effectively generating losses at the same rate: ~$1.3m a year. But this is happening to, & by, a radically different structural organism, in the double-sense of being structured in the present with the orientation of structuring itself into the future: since Nov2021, the ratio of total costs to total revenue has cranked up from 1.75 to 2.51 (2936208 ÷ 1674811 compared with 2219403 ÷ 883264): the station was slashed, but also butchered was its capacity to generate revenue. Hence the material relative deterioration. So although the rate of incurring costs has fallen 24.4% ($2 936 208 → $2 219 403), that of revenue-generation has collapsed by 47.3% ($1 674 811 → $883 264): almost twice the rate (x1.94) … Pacifica’s lack of strategic governance (by the directors sleepwalkers) has allowed a lack of strategic management (by their available instrument: ED Brazon & then ED Wells): in the parlance of the management of personnelhuman resources variable capital (the scientific concept), KPFK lacked a safeguarding policy – and all associated with it are suffering the consequences, not least the stressed-out GM Michael Novick … sleepwalking into the chainsaw … https://pacificaradiowatch.home.blog/2021/11/19/today-kpfk-is-losing-money-at-a-rate-of-3500-dollars-a-day-105k-a-month-1-point-26m-a-year-as-per-the-docs-publicly-why-does-no-one-recognise-the-scale-the-urgency-qm/
[UPDATE: per the 22-day report, current rate of loss-making is $1 260 323 pa … at 6Nov2021, it was estimated as $1 261 397 pa … the difference, −$1 074 pa, −0.085%, so well below −1%. . . so despite all the cuts over the last year (~25%), materially scaling back the operation, the station is generating losses at the same rate: $1.26m a year. So, the size of the annual loss is the same – ‘loss’ is an accounting term, but understood dynamically, & socially, it’s the creation of new debt – experienced in an inter-group & interpersonal way as extra pressure from creditors. (Hence Markisha’s current distress – of which more anon.) Since Nov2021, the ratio of total costs to total revenue has cranked up to 2.31 (2219403 ÷ 959080) … so although the rate of incurring costs has fallen 24.4% ($2 936 208 → $2 219 403), that of revenue-generation has collapsed by 42.7% ($1 674 811 → $959 080): the difference between the rates increasing x1.75.
[FINAL UPDATE: per the after-drive report, current rate of loss-making is $1 281 805 pa … at 6Nov2021, it was estimated as $1 261 397 pa … so despite all the measures taken, the rate has increased very slightly, by $21 482 pa, +1.617%.The ratio of total costs to total revenue has cranked up to 2.37 (2219403 ÷ 937598) … so although the rate of incurring costs has fallen 24.4% ($2 936 208 → $2 219 403), that of revenue-generation has collapsed by 44.0% ($1 674 811 → $937 598): the difference between the rates increasing x1.80.]
~
At 7+13secs, 20secs, that read is a ⅕ of the time Markisha took when she debuted as Pacifica’s NBM CHC, at the 25Oct PNB Finance Cttee:
after the removal of the last wisp of cotton wool, Markisha was led into the room by Steph, to make her first public appearance, the Tu25Oct PNB Finance Cttee (54:48). She spoke for exactly 100secs, 100secs, so Pacifica members are really getting their money’s worth (55:21-57:01). She said two things, and two things only, but they spoke volumes: she doesn’t have a report, & in fact she isn’t the NBM but the CHC, the Creditor Hotline Clerk. CHC Markisha. Apparently she can’t do any national, or local, business managing coz she spends all day getting calls from creditors, angry calls – all day long. Markisha really needs to tell her union steward she has to file a misrepresentation claim against her employer – and for displaying the truth, yet again, of the Peter Principle. https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/221025/finance221025a.mp3
~
CHC Markisha came in to fill a new post – the chief financial officer position has been left vacant. But does a corporation incorporated in California have to have a CFO? It may be advisable, a good idea, but is it mandatory, say by law? Yes:
“312. (a) A corporation shall have (1) a chairperson of the board, who may be given the title of chair of the board, chairperson of the board, chairman of the board, or chairwoman of the board, or a president or both, (2) a secretary, (3) a chief financial officer, and (4) such other officers with such titles and duties as shall be stated in the bylaws or determined by the board and as may be necessary to enable it to sign instruments and share certificates.”
Seems a bit odd to ask, but if a corp doesn’t have someone with that job title (form), or doesn’t have someone doing that work (substance), does the law recognise someone as the CFO? Yes:
“5213. (a) A corporation shall have (1) a chair of the board, who may be given the title chair, chairperson, chairman, chairwoman, chair of the board, chairperson of the board, chairman of the board, or chairwoman of the board, or a president or both, (2) a secretary, (3) a treasurer or a chief financial officer or both, and (4) any other officers with any titles and duties as shall be stated in the bylaws or determined by the board and as may be necessary to enable it to sign instruments.”
This is in the specific law applied to non-profit public benefit corps, such as Pacifica. In the same passage, it has something else to say about this figure, the “treasurer”:
“Unless otherwise specified in the articles or the bylaws, if there is no chief financial officer, the treasurer is the chief financial officer of the corporation.”
So PNB Finance Chair James Sagurton (WBAI listener-delegate) has been the CFO, per California law, since Th22Sep, when NETA left?
This is the rub: no. Pacifica by-law Article 8, Section 3:
“[…] The chair of the Finance Committee shall be a Director who may be referred to as the Board ‘Treasurer’. However, the Board Treasurer shall not be an officer of the Foundation. The Foundation’s Chief Financial Officer shall be an employee of the Foundation and shall not be the Board Treasurer. […]”
So Mr Sagurton can’t be Pacifica’s CFO, in the eyes of Pacifica law, & hence in California law. Which . . .
. . . means . . .
. . . that given having a CFO is legally mandatory for Pacifica, & Pacifica doesn’t have one – by either of the two legal routes – this means that Pacifica is breaking state law, yes?
And remember, in California law it is the directors who, ultimately, are responsible for protecting Pacifica’s assets, responsible for the organisation being in good order, re its financial management system, & otherwise. It’s because it’s not easy to achieve this standard of performance that directors authorise the hiring of expertise, like certified public accountants, & other suitably qualified & experienced accounts & internal audit staff. People who know what they’re doing. Effectively, protecting the directors from the consequences of their ignorance. But . . . if the directors think they can get by on their own, or they run out of perceived options (not imagining that KPFA’s ~31 full-time equivalents can be reduced in order to fund a CPA) . . . Well, that’s a different matter. With likely different results. Such as personal liability. When, for example, deficit endowment accounts, of hundreds of thousands of dollars, come before the court.
~
On the 21st-century funding of Central Services: is the centre/periphery relationship nominal or real, in both senses?
The current funding policy was adopted by the 18Feb2021 PNB. Even after 20mths (sic) this has never been implemented, & not even mentioned in public (except by PacificaWatch minions) – the new reality has never been recognised by any member on any of a station Finance Cttee, an LSB, the PNB Finance Cttee, or the PNB. Yes, the PNB Finance Cttee repeatedly recommended to the PNB that they adopt budgets using a known false CS figure, & the directors sleepwalkers duly complied, like sheep, amnesiac sheep.
“National Office Shared Services Formula: To meet the budgeted expenses of the National Office not covered by other sources of income in fiscal year 2015, Central Services shall be a fixed cost set at 15% of the prior 4 years’ (2010-2013) average annual listener support. For WBAI, Central Services shall be set at 8% of that average[.]”
“[P]assed[:] 9 Yes, 7 No, 1 Abstention; Y – Edwards-Tiekert, Wilkinson; Brazon; Casenave, Reiter; Roberts; Brown, Diaz, Norman […] N – Kobren; Argueta, Kaufman, Reyes; Lamb; Birden; Gray […] Abs. – Fuentes-Roman”
“To meet the budgeted expenses of the Pacifica Radio Archive [sic] not covered by other sources of income in fiscal year 2015, PRA Assessments shall be a fixed cost set at 2.0% of the prior 4 years’ (2010-2013) average annual listener support for each station.”
Comparison of those FY2015 charges with the audited data . . . the FY2012 auditor’s report is dated 6Sep2013, so those figures could have been used. But the FY2013 auditor’s report is dated 18Mar2015, almost the end of the 2nd quarter. It seems this wasn’t used to make adjustments (see doc distributed to 25Feb2017 KPFA LSB, p. 3 – http://pacifica.org/documents/financial/kpfa_2017/AccountingGlossary.pdf). Anyway, the audited figures for FY2010 thru FY2013, of ‘Listener Support and Donations’ (LSD), generate station figures that are within 0.915% ≃ 1% (14474 ÷ 1580998) of the annual charges applied from 1Oct2014 to this very day. Note that this is achieved using inconsistent data: the FY2013 LSD totals are different in being net of “premium incentives”, of the material sum of $1 221 694 (sic), 11.2% of the gross – https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2013.pdf (note 12, p. 16, being p. 18 of the PDF). I wonder if anyone even noticed, let alone complained?
Re charging, how much of a distortion results from still using the LSD 4yr-average of FY2010-FY2013? What’s been the drift, how big’s the disparity? So at the end of the table the latest audited LSD figures, FY2021, are given, & then contrasted with the average now corrected as ‘all-gross’ (making KPFA $2 862 995, KPFK $3 026 252, KPFT $966 340, WPFW $1 231 257, WBAI $2 557 101, total $10 643 945). However, the problem here is that starting FY2017, station annual gross LSD has never been disclosed – not least because none of the 22 directors, & the other 10 on the PNB Audit Cttee, made a sound in public when the new auditors, Rogers & Co., presented their report only disclosing the Pacifica total. (Everyone was also silent when, astonishingly, in the same report, “current liabilities” disappeared – unlike “current assets”. Probably no-one noticed . . . ships in the night . . .) (Also, thru FY2012, LSD had been given as gross in the two net income statements, with unit-level disclosure of “Premiums and shipping (for donations)” amongst expenses. But effective FY2013, this changed to net: self-injurious because it showed to the world a number ~$1m less than that handed over by the supporters of Pacifica. The saving grace is that for FY2013-FY2016, disclosure of the unit-level expense persisted, in a Note: #12 for the first two years, #6 for the last two. However, for FY2017-FY2021, the only disclosure is the Pacifica total – see Note 2: Revenue Recognition. So given that in the past only ~2% of premiums cost was incurred by PNO & PRA, below it’s assumed stations consumed the whole FY2021 expense.) Note, the percentages would be even lower if adjusted for inflation (+30.8% re from the mid-point, Sep2011, to Sep2022, per Consumer Price Index, so not one tailored to the radio industry – https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm):
KPFA
KPFK
KPFT
WPFW
WBAI
total
LSD 4yr-total (FY2010-FY2013)
11 211 455
11 467 968
3 821 548
4 764 469
10 088 647
41 354 087
LSD 4yr-average
2 802 864
2 866 992
955 387
1 191 117
2 522 162
10 338 522
15% (8% WBAI)
420 430
430 049
143 308
178 668
201 773
1 374 228
2%
56 057
57 340
19 108
23 822
50 443
206 770
total
476 487
487 389
162 416
202 490
252 216
1 580 998
actual PNO (15%; 8% WBAI)
415 992
441 948
142 608
183 684
202 680
1 386 912
actual PRA (2%)
55 464
58 920
19 020
24 492
50 664
208 560
actual annual total charge
471 456
500 868
161 628
208 176
253 344
1 595 472
actual: excess/(saving)
(5031)
13 479
(788)
5 686
1 128
14 474
FY2021 compared w/ ‘all-gross’ 4yr-av.:
new 4yr-av., ‘all-gross’ (FY2010-FY2013)
2 862 995
3 026 252
966 340
1 231 257
2 557 101
10 643 945
FY2021 LSD (net)
2 409 334
1 457 370
463 706
1 311 369
1 131 507
6 773 286
FY2021 LSD (net) as % of new 4yr-av.
84.2
48.2
48.0
106.5
44.2
63.6
FY2021 LSD (gross)
these
station
figures
not
disclosed
7 228 103
FY2021 LSD (gross) as % of new 4yr-av.
–
–
–
–
–
67.9
. . . today’s CS charges spring from the early months of the Tea Party: fair? . . .
These Central Services policies were solely for FY2015. There has been no mention in the last 5yrs that the PNB extended their life. It seems these policies have been applied improperly since 1Oct2015 to this very day, for all of 7yrs & counting.
Prior to this, eons ago, perhaps from the first-third of 2004, the policies seemed to have been 17% & 2.5%: “[t]he first two motions from the Finance Committee concern the formula by which Central Services are assessed. For the past decade, all stations have been charged 17% of their Listener Support to cover National Office Expenses, and 2.5% of Listener Support to cover Pacifica Radio Archive Expenses. (A few years ago, WBAI’s National Office charge was lowered to 7%[.])” (Brian Edwards-Tiekert, PNB Finance Cttee Chair & KPFA staff-delegate – 13Nov2014 PNB minutes, p. 6).
So it seems it is these early 2004 policies that should have been applied from 1Oct2015 thru 18Feb2021.
An ancestor of this has been spotted in the minutes of the 9Jan2004 PNB Finance Cttee, with talk of “20%” being deducted from the stations, 17% to PNO & 3% to PRA, making that the extant policy. (Presumably of LSD rather than total revenue.) It’s also heartening to know that conflict was alive & well, with the Big Guys trying to squeeze the Lil Guy, & give him a shave: “the Policies and Procedures manual that Lonnie [Hicks, the CFO] and Dan [Coughlin, the ED] are asking us to approve shows lowering that to 2.5%” (unpag., p. 2 of the PDF) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/040109/finance040109_1844_minutes.pdf. Nice. Don’t y’just luv these NGO’s?
To summarise the chronology of Central Services policy, as voted by the directors (& what was implemented appearing in brackets):
• upto the first-third of 2004: 17% & 3%, presumably of ‘Listener Support and Donations’, re PNO & PRA respectively;
• from the first-third of 2004: 17% (7% for WBAI, from c. 2011/2012 to 30Sep2014) & 2.5% (2% for KPFK – guess the air-conditioning argument held sway even then) of LSD;
• FY2015: 15% (8% for WBAI) & 2% of the 4yr-average of “listener support”, FY2010-FY2013;
• from 1Oct2015: by default, the continuation of the 2004-30Sep2014 policy (but this never happened: instead, the FY2015 tariff kept ticking); &
• from 19Feb2021: 15% of “total revenue of the stations calculated quarterly” (sic), with some station-specific deductions, this described as “the central services formula” but being 15% it presumably only refers to the PNO charge (policy never implemented: the ticking just carried on ticking)
• [UPDATE … from 19May2023: again presumably only for the PNO charge, “the central services formula shall be 15% of total station revenue (all inclusive) calculated every month on a six[-]month rolling average, starting nine months before the current month, with the exception of any station suffering acute financial distress (as determined by the PNB), for which central services shall be 8%, for a period of no more than one year, with the remaining 7% to be accrued.” (policy never implemented, as of early Oct2023: the ticking just carried on ticking)]
And you need to be careful about changes in terminology. The auditor’s reports this century always refer to “Central services”; as did NETA in their monthly net income statements. But, in some of the Pacifica docs & discussions, ‘Central Services’ is also used as a synonym for the PNO, sometimes ambiguously.
One can end by returning to the title of this note, the two senses of the centre/periphery relationship being nominal or real: does money come thru?; is the centre king, or is the periphery fiefdoms? Who’s in charge? Who’s in control? The directors, or the station managers? Or is no-one in control, just flying blind? It’s why a focus of this blog is on the money dimension of the politics of control – placing boring accountancy centre stage as possibly the supreme technique for controlling an organisation. By contrast, in the conditions that are Pacifica, is it rational for the directors, in practice, to place their ultimate responsibility – and legal liability – in the care of the managers, to trust the managers to act in the directors’ best interests? Especially now with the directors having given up the ghost on financial management?
Despite Pacifica’s 5 x Oct fund-drives, with the cash draining away, will it be payroll deadline 25Nov? or 9Dec? Either way, 6Jan really does look off-limits, with $52 235.23 due 31Dec, at the new rate of 9.25% on the $2 258 821 principal, to FJC – or will it have already sold on the debt to the Marty & Dorothy Silverman Foundation? The die is cast. And the court number is . . .
[UPDATE: the interest rate rose to 10% effective Th3Nov. The charge falling due 31Dec = ((2258821 x 0.0925 x 33) ÷ 365) + ((2258821 x 0.1 x 59)÷ 365) = 18890.550 + 36512.449 = $55 402.99.]
. . .
[UPDATE: new policy adopted Th18May2023 for the PNO charge alone . . .
[Even though on 19Feb2021 the directors sleepwalkers adopted a new CS policy that was never implemented, they tried again on 18May2023. This time, a rolling average; no exclusions, but helping out a station for 12mths only. Note, heed this semantic warning sign: the resolution is confusing coz it uses the phrase ‘central services’ quite differently from its usage in the discourse on Pacifica’s finances: the resolution used it to denote solely the PNO charge, whereas in both the monthly net income statements & the audited financial statements it also denotes the PRA charge. No surprise this formulation passed thru as a ship in the night.
[The chronology: recommended by Tu11Apr2023 PNB Finance Cttee; adopted by Th18May2023 PNB.
[At Cttee, moved by Beth ‘Queen Liz III’ Gunten (sleepwalker & KPFK listener-delegate); no amendments offered; passed 6-3 (no names disclosed in the minutes – sic . . . the business ethics of the mafia).
[The resolution: “The NFC recommends that the PNB pass the following motion, ‘That the central services formula shall be 15% of total station revenue (all inclusive) calculated every month on a six[-]month rolling average, starting nine months before the current month, with the exception of any station suffering acute financial distress (as determined by the PNB), for which central services shall be 8%, for a period of no more than one year, with the remaining 7% to be accrued.’” – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb//230411/230411_8367_minutes.pdf(p. 3)
[But, re the 6-3 vote, we have the audiofile: in support were James ‘I may formally be an anti-breaker, but by also piling in on KPFK, even without a plan, I protect KPFA’ McFadden (sleepwalker & KPFA listener-delegate), Kamau ‘I know Pacifica is out of financial control, but I won’t rock the boat’ Harris (WPFW Treasurer & staff-delegate), Julie Clueless (WPFW listener-member, & squatter on the PNB & WPFW LSB), Queen Liz III, R Paul Martin (WBAI Treasurer & staff-delegate), & Chair-Squatter James Sagurton (WBAI listener-member, & squatter on the PNB & WBAI LSB); & against were Sharon ‘if you think I’m nasty, you should see the other Berkeley hillbillies’ Adams (KPFA Treasurer & listener-member; was elected in the delayed 2018 pseudo-election, results certified 18Mar2019, as a listener-delegate), Teresa ‘I’m so vicious I can slice you with my eyes, & as I’m so rich I shall mock you for being so poor‘ Allen (sleepwalker & KPFT listener-delegate), & Sean ‘I think I’m so funny, & I’ll talk down to you, especially if you have a Japanese name’ McPherson (KPFT Treasurer & listener-delegate) – ‘b-file’, 1:07:57, https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/230411/finance230411b.mp3.
[At 18May PNB, adopted 15 – 1 (against was Fred ‘foul-mouthed nasty’ Dodsworth, KPFA listener-delegate) – 1 (abstainer was Marianne ‘anodyne’ Martinez, KPFT listener-delegate). No minutes at https://kpftx.org; but the audiofile discloses those in support – item is 16:26-35:40, https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/pnb230518/pnb230518a.mp3
[As the formula uses a 10-mth block, it’s reasonable to say the policy became effective not the next day but with the June2023 charge. Obviously, just as with the Feb2021 policy, it’s been ignored by management – ED Steph ‘The Breeze’, Creditor Hotline Clerk Markisha, & the station managers – and the PNB & all 5 local station boards. So not implemented in June2023, or July2023, or Aug2023, or Sep2023, . . .
[How does this policy work? Clearer than you think. It’s a 10-mth block, arranged from the back as 6-3-1, shuffling forward every month: so the last month drops off, replaced by the month ahead, as the munching caterpillar just munches on. And there’s a 3mth gap, ~100days, to give Markisha enough time to get unit info to generate the monthly net income statements. (Info: it would be misleading to deem it data.)
[As example, here are the station PNO charges for June2023 & July2023:
July 2023 PNO charge = ((revenues of Oct2022 + Nov2022 + Dec2022 + Jan2023 + Feb2023 + Mar2023) ÷ 6) x 0.15
The change = ((revenue Mar2023 – revenue Sep2022) ÷ 6) x 0.15 = a fortieth of the increment (sic) … As Trump said of Rubio …
It hardly seems worth it – in either direction: (1) if the new month isn’t fund-drive but the one dropping off was, then the 6-mth total may go down say $150k, & (÷ 6) x 0.15 = the charge goes down by $3 750 (sic); & (2) if a Golden Corpse arrives, a bequest, then the station gets hit, say ($1m ÷ 6) x 0.15 = $25k extra, straight away.
[Can anyone seriously believe that those on the PNB Finance Cttee & especially the PNB thought this thru?
[. . . this is what sleepwalking looks like . . .]
~~~
[Working notes on CS policy:
PNB Finance Cttee minutes: 2004: [… then do 2004 PNB minutes …]
21May: so PRA charge not 3% (as per 9Jan2004 PNB FinC minutes, as mentioned in the post) but 2.5% (but KPFK’s is 2%): “A discussion was held on […] the formula for funding Central Services. [new para.] Next we discussed the situation at Pacifica Radio Archives, which are funded by a levy of 2.5% of listener donations except for KFPK which pays 2%.” (unpag., p. 1 of PDF; hereafter, -/1) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/040521/finance040521_1848_minutes.pdf (no audio recording at kpftx.org – the 2004 ones of this Cttee are later in the year, starting with the 29Oct meet)
29Oct:
(1) “Lonnie described five examples of monetary ‘transfers’ between local stations and the National Office” (but, oddly, fails to mention ‘inter-divisional reversible transfers’, what in the station chauvinistic proprietary ideology, regrettably the common sense for quite a few, is termed ‘loans’);
(2) schedule of actual Fall Drives (KPFA, “22 days @ $44,400 per day for a total of $976.9K”; KPFK, “13 days @ $81,500 per day for a total of $1,060K”, so x~20 (re 5%) that of 2022/early 2023; WBAI, “to-date: 10 days @ $37,400 per day for a total of $374.0 K”) – all emphases added; &
(3) “PROPOSAL FOR $25-50 MILLION CREDIT LINE After a discussion of Ambrose Lane’s proposal for a $25-50 million line of credit, Henry Cooper agreed to draft a motion for the next meeting that would ask Ambrose to explain the purpose and motivation of his proposal.” (sic; emphases added) – and peeps were upset by how he almost single-handedly signed the 2005 ESRT 15-year contract behind the backs of his fellow directors &, somewhat less surprisingly, blindsiding the WBAI GM & WBAI LSB. https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/041029/finance041029_1834_minutes.pdf
. . . 10yrs on: the last time Pacifica had audited net assets was 30Sep2012 . . . audited net liabilities went as far south as $4 525 638, at 30Sep2016 . . . the latest audited net liabilities are $1 241 649, at 30Sep2021 . . . almost all of the improvement, 99.5%, is due not to operating performance but the auditor agreeing to three adjustments to total liabilities – screenshot of the FY2013 auditor’s report (page 3; page 5 of the PDF),https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2013.pdf . . .
When did Pacifica last have audited net assets? That was 30Sep2012, $495 924. It was wiped out by the FY2013 loss of $2 824 046.
The zenith for audited net assets had been $7 684 012, at 30Sep2006. (Note that the higher figure in the FY2008 auditor’s report was restated downwards in the following year’s report.) FY2006 was indeed Pacifica’s last annual net income until it earnt an audited one for FY2020 . . .
. . . 13yrs of financial – and political – failure: the times of war against Afghans & Iraqis, of Obama hope & the $$$ crash, of Trump. Year after year when the directors responsible for Pacifica – with all these opportunities before them – proved they couldn’t turn a penny. Not one penny. Failures. All of them. No vision. No plan. No self-awareness that they failed – repeatedly. No recognition of their limitations – the need to ask for help from experts. No humility. No grace. So, arrogant. Zombies too.
One needs to say ‘audited’ coz for FY2019 NETA did present a net income to the auditors, but they effectively rejected it: they refused to express an opinion on the material accuracy of the three financial statements given to them coz they were unable to agree with NETA an evidenced estimate of the pension plans liability. In the jargon, the auditors issued ‘a disclaimer of opinion’ – auditor’s report (p. 2; p. 4 of the PDF), https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2019.pdf.
(In the consideration here, highs & lows, it’s adequate to use data in money terms, not real terms, coz in the period there hasn’t been enough inflation to distort the meaning of the plain figures.)
The failing of Pacifica found expression in successive annual losses &, as its correlate, falling net assets, & during FY2013 these turned into net liabilities.
The nadir of audited net liabilities was $4 525 638, at 30Sep2016. This sum may even be an understatement because those financial statements had the added uncertainty of receiving a qualified opinion from the auditors – auditor’s report (pp. 1a-1b; pp. 3-4 of the PDF), https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2016.pdf. Furthermore, until the 2019 Democracy Now! event mentioned below, net liabilities were presumably even greater coz NETA presented a loss for both FY2017 & FY2018, statements that were met by disclaimers of opinion from the auditors (in the URL above, just insert the relevant year).
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Things have since improved. The latest audited net liabilities, at 30Sep2021, are $1 241 649, a shift of $3 283 989. However, this has had little to do with operating performance – 5yrs of trying yielding a mere $16 566, unaudited (coz it involves the FY2019 record that was effectively rejected) – and was all down to three liabilities adjustments agreed to by the auditors, one in each year of the FY2019-FY2021 period:
• $427 677, the ‘KPFA property tax hiccup’ (convincing the California State Board of Equalization to accept that the tax shouldn’t have been levied) – FY2021 auditor’s report (p. 4; p. 6 of the PDF), https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2021.pdf
• $477 918, provision for the pension plans liability (this portion was eliminated when Pacifica finally rectified the neglect). And now? Is there neglect? Even negligence? Are the two 2019 pension plans audits completed & filed with IRS, etc.? The two for 2020? The two for 2021? Have those auditors been paid in full for their work? . . . Not a word, from the PNB Finance Cttee, or the PNB Audit Cttee, or the directors sleepwalkers . . . The two plans: a 403(b)-defined contribution retirement plan, & a profit-sharing plan (sic); they are known in Pacificese as ‘the 403(b) Plan’, & ‘the Pacifica Retirement Plan’ – FY2020 auditor’s report (pp. 5, 24-6; pp. 7, 26-8 of the PDF), https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2020.pdf.
And the recent cost to the Pacifica members & the other donors? It’s disclosed in the auditor’s reports. To take the FY2017 one, the total is in the functional expenses statement, p. 7 (p. 9 of the PDF), with the previous year’s on the next page; & the sum for each plan is in a note, p. 21 (p. 23 of the PDF). The charge for the last five years (total, 403(b), profit-sharing): FY2017, $150 288, $61 736, $88 552; FY2018, $103 944 (incorrectly given as $103 940), $52 540, $51 404; FY2019, $134 640 (incorrectly given as $134 741), $53 202, $81 438; FY2020, $120 067 (an incorrect figure was given, see below), $58 289, $61 778; FY2021, $126 279 (ditto, see below), $65 439, $60 840. These total as $635 218, $291 206, $344 012. (And the year before this period, FY2016? $425 399, $70 483, $201 941 – with no explanation by the auditor of the unidentified $152 975. An ‘indeed’ – to both the anomalous total charge (x~3), & the absent explanans. And to the 6yr charge being >$1m.)
Note, the FY2020 & FY2021 auditor’s reports give three wrong totals in the functional expenses statements: they’ve solely taken the 403(b) plan figure. Presumably the profit-sharing total was mis-posted to “Employee benefits”. Not spotted either year by the auditors, the PNB Audit Cttee, or the PNB. The FY2020 error was repeated in the ‘copy & paste’ into the FY2021 auditor’s report – will anyone stop them next year? Auditor’s report, FY2020, p. 7, p. 9 of the PDF; ditto, FY2021, pp. 6-7, pp. 8-9 of the PDF.
Odd is the very wide range of per capita 403(b) charge between the operating units (formerly termed ‘the divisions’). For FY2020: WPFW $268, WBAI $283, stepping up to KPFK $640, KPFA $668, KPFT $733, & all contrasting with PNO (includes PAN) $1 953, PRA $2 168. Why? (Sources: auditor’s report FY2020, & Oct2021 NETA-produced net income statements (using the comparative). FY2021 data can’t be used coz the NETA figure is way off the auditor’s: auditor agreed the total charge as $65 439, but NETA has $55 244 (Oct2021 set). Whereas the FY2020 totals are, respectively, $58 289 & $58 317. The unit-level charge isn’t in the auditor’s report, only the monthlies: KPFA $19 026, KPFK $16 317, KPFT $2 200, WPFW $2 282, WBAI $2 119, PNO (includes PAN) $8 787, PRA $7 587. The number of full-time equivalents is computed using $80k (see appendix to the 19Nov2021 post) as the per capita personnel cost: KPFA 28.5, KPFK 25.5, KPFT 3, WPFW 8.5, WBAI 7.5, PNO (includes PAN) 4.5, PRA 3.5, totalling 81.)
• $2 361 828, the write-off of the Democracy Now! debt – FY2019 auditor’s report (p. 4; p. 6 of the PDF), https://pacifica.org/finance/audit_2019.pdf. It was first publicly disclosed by Pacifica Executive Director Maxie Jackson, to the 12Mar2019 PNB Finance Cttee (17:53) – https://kpftx.org/archives/pnb/finance/190312/finance190312a.mp3. No-one asked why Amy waited 5mths to tell Pacifica. And no Pacifica employee or officeholder has described how DN! chose to manage that debt, but it is in their public record (especially the 2017 IRS Form 990, stamped received 20Nov2018): debt at 31Dec2017, $2361828 = 807000 (doubtful debt provision made FY2012, so both removing it as an asset from its balance sheet (but still leaving it money that Pacifica owed: it wasn’t being treated as uncollectible, a bad debt), & charging it as an expense) + 777000 (FY2017, both removing it as an asset from its balance sheet, & charging it as an expense, in the form of a grant) + 777828 (FY2018, ditto). Like in Iraq, a phased withdrawal. (Obvious Q, asked by no-one: has Pacifica Foundation, Inc. been invoiced since 31Dec2017 for airing DN!, now getting on for 5yrs? That Pacifica may be getting it for nowt or close to is suggested by the change in the pattern of DN!’s annual total broadcasting fees, FY2005-FY2020, with the level falling across 2012-14 from $1.1m to <$200k – when it was decided to start to unload Pacifica from the balance sheet, beautifying the accounts receivable figure, putting a stop to its rise, avoiding a flashing red light.)
DN! is the commodity of Democracy Now! Productions, Inc., founded in 2002 (per its 990’s). How’s it doing? FY2020, coinciding with the calendar year, per their latest 990 (the auditor’s report wasn’t filed with the NYS Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, https://charitiesnys.com/): total revenue $11 442 800, total expenses $8 267 813, net income $3 174 987; total assets $36 302 179, total liabilities $659 173, net assets $35 643 006. (And Pacifica? FY2020, thru 30Sep2020, link above: total revenue $11 507 060, total expenses $11 241 966, net income $265 094; total assets $3 689 886, total liabilities $4 916 323, net liabilities $1 226 437.)
. . . page 1 of Form B 201, VPFB, voluntary petition for filing for bankruptcy . . . 11 U.S.C., Title 11 United States Code (commonly known as the Bankruptcy Code), & its Chapter 11 is ‘Reorganization’; section-wise, 101-1532 & 1101-1195 – https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/uscode/2020/title11 . . .
Chapter 11: protected bankruptcy, for a wannabe phoenix. Forbes puts it succinctly: “[t]he goal is to keep your business afloat and keep creditors at bay while you restructure your debt obligations”. Restructuring to praps slow the speed of repayment, praps even get write-offs. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/debt-relief/chapter-11-bankruptcy/
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“Chapter 11” was mentioned in passing at the W28Sep WBAI Finance Cttee by Jim ‘I know I talk a lot, but I know I’m the best at knocking it out’a the park, OK’ Dingeman (director semi-woke sleepwalker, & WBAI listener-delegate). Hence this post.
The D-Man:
[…] in situations like this, that is, you know, we, we’re, you know, in a, you know, near Chapter 11 situation throughout the whole network, […]
The essence of Chapter 11, especially the main effects, will be described in another post, along these lines:
• from the KPFA Protectors to the Fed Protectors: but who’s benefiting?
• the automatic stay of creditor action (including by FJC or, if they sell the debt, by the Marty and Dorothy Silverman Foundation – please note, Miss Grace; even though, by Section 9.1 of the FJC loan agreement, the whole debt, $2 258 821, would otherwise immediately become due)
• Pacifica management functions effectively as a trustee of the assets
• debtor in possession – a concept in bankruptcy law, referring (in part) to the conditioned possession of property, its usage being supervised by the judge
• the exclusive period of 120 days for management to file a plan for reorganisation & debt repayment
• and what can the members do during the whole period – will the judge be their champion? . . . wishing on a star
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A crucial matter is this. Will the current Pacifica fiduciaries – the passive ED Wells & the Fabian directors – survive scrutiny under Chapter 11 bankruptcy? The judge may be presented with evidence that Pacifica lacks competent fiduciaries for protecting its assets. Glaring evidence since 30June is that the directors have chosen not to hire a suitably qualified & experienced chief financial officer to be responsible for the financial management tasks mandated by California law – albeit a responsibility that ultimately remains with the directors. If persuaded, the judge will issue a rare order to the Office of the United States Trustee to provide a ‘case trustee’: new management in the house – 11 U.S.C., § 1104, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2020-title11/pdf/USCODE-2020-title11-chap11-subchapI-sec1104.pdf; & https://www.justice.gov/ust-regions-r16 (re federal law, Pacifica is in the Central District of California, & its US Trustee is Peter C Anderson)
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Sources on Chapter 11: law, process
In reading the law itself, the fed website encumbers it with annotations. Better flow is achieved by the Cornell University version, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11.
• Pacifica’s local Office of the United States Trustee, UST (the body administering the process, the US Trustee Program), Central District of California, Region 16, https://www.justice.gov/ust-regions-r16
•the MOR (Monthly Operating Report): strikes terror even into CPA’s on top of their game . . . this UST form is a stark indication of the standardof financial reporting demanded by the bankruptcy court – much higher than NETA ever provided – a report that has to be submitted every calendar mth, within 21days. This is the legal expectation of how a fiduciary has to behave financially. It stands in sharp contrast with the abdication of responsibility exercised by successive sets of directors sleepwalkers.
PacificaWatch 