|
|
|
|
|
Home | Program Grid | ::-
Bylaws | ELECTIONS | | ARTICLES |
| EVENTS | | Annual Reports | | MEDIA | | Search Engines | | Press Releases |
|
FFCF Board Meeting Minutes
FFCF Board Meeting - February 27, 2007 Meeting convened at 7:15PM by Board President Rychard Withers. Attending are Rych Withers, Marc Scalzo, Deb Speer, Mark Hernandez, Ali Rezapour, Sue Kern, Dave Gendron, Vicki Fouts, Gerry Bill, and Executive Director Vic Bedoian. Excused: Alex Vavoulis. Agenda adopted on motion of DS/AR
by unanimous consent, with addition of items F ( Approval of Minutes of 1/2007 was tabled by DS/GB by unanimous consent. Spelling and addition of author of the minutes was also approved by unanimous consent. President’s Report was delivered by RW, discussing issues with the KU uplink; a report on the Homelessness Marathon; an update on the FCC inspection audit; a report on the office burglar alarm; e-mail list status following a ‘spam attack’; and a report on the sale of KFPT-AM. Executive Director/Programming Director Report delivered by VB. Discussion of FFCF financial report; development of a media kit by Devoya Mayo, including development of promotional materials for programs; a report that Outdoor Billboard is offering discount space. Engineer’s Report delivered by RW in absence of Rand Stover. Discussed technical problems with the Homelessness Marathon. Committee Reports: Budget Committee: Addition of MS to committee. Community Outreach Committee: AR reports that it met 2/5 at the Phoenician Restaurant. Issues presented were for different people to be tabling events; passing out of literature to different communities; block parties for KFCF to be attending; fliers to be made for issues to educate the public. Fundraising Committee: Report attached to agenda. Discussed Jeremy Scahill event proposal. Governance Committee: MH failed to attach to agenda during agenda assembly. Programming Committee: Report attached to agenda. KFCF Representative Report to LSB: Report attached to the agenda. Old Business: Retreat Planning and Coordination: DS attempting to coordinate event. Board reaches consensus on April 1, 2007 for tentative date of retreat, pending schedules of members. KFCF/FFCF Web site: VB has started to update the site with minutes and other information, and will be loading financial reports. No action. FCC Compliance Audit Update: Discussed in Engineer’s Report. No answer on DTV signal affecting EAS alert transmissions; additional issue may develop due to new DST changes this year. Appears KFCF will meet deadlines for compliance. No action. There was no additional Old Business. New Business: DS requests Item e (Rogue Festival) be moved to A on the agenda, and all other items move down one place. Agreed by unanimous consent. Rogue Festival: DS and Devoya Mayo will cover representing FFCF/KFCF at both the Rogue Festival and Art Hop events. No action. Prison Moratorium Project Co-Sponsorship: Intention is to co-sponsor and split door take. No action. Jeremy Scahill Event: Discussed in Fundraising Committee report, bypassed by unanimous consent. Internships with CSUF Media/Mass Communications: VF suggests using interns at Foundation offices and KFCF. VB presents cautions on using interns relating to work, scheduling and supervision. No action. Signal Issues in New Announcements: There were no announcements. Adjournment: SK/VF move to adjourn. Adjourn by unanimous consent. FFCF Board Meeting
January 16, 2007
DETERMINATION OF QUORUM.
Present: Debbie Speer, Rych
Withers, Rand Stover, Ali Rezapour, Gerry Bill, Dave Gendron, Mark Hernandez.
Absent: Alex Vavoulis (excused), Sue Kern (excused).
Devoya Mayo introduced as FFCF
Executive Assistant.
MOVED (Speer) and SECONDED
(Bill) to adopt agenda. PASSED
MOVED (Rezapour) and SECONDED
(Bill) to table approval of minutes until next meeting. PASSED
Vote totals from November
directors election: Fouts, 175; Speer 170; Scalzo 163. One write in for Rick
Nagle. MOVED (Speer) and SECONDED (Bill) to accept election report and certify
results. PASSED. New board members Fouts and Scalzo are seated and introduced.
President: WITHERS – by
acclamation
Vice President: w-REZAPOUR
(5-4), Speer
Secretary: w-HERNANDEZ (5-4),
Kern
Treasurer: BILL – by
acclamation
KPFA Local Station Board
Representative -- MOVED (Rezapour) and SECONDED (Fouts) to postpone KPFA
Location Station Board Representative election one month because of member
absence. Speer requests ruling of the chair. Withers rules the motion out of
order. w-HERNANDEZ (5-4), Bill.
Homelessness Marathon is
February 20, 2007, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. and based this year in Fresno. Live
national broadcast from the Mexican American Baptist Church on E Street. Please
note the broadcast conflicts with next regularly scheduled board meeting.
Broadcasting issues: Satellite/transmitter system between Fresno and Berkley is
in need of upgrading. Pacifica also uses amplifier to feed national program
however there is a push within Pacifica toward Internet program distribution and
away from satellite distribution. Hernandez and Withers will keep eye on these
issues; in the meantime there is money left in the transmitter fund to purchase
new equipment.
Bedoian distributed annual
report for last fiscal year from CPA Sharmayne Sikora. Final statement needs to
be looked over in detail. Please direct questions to Bedoian. FFCF office uses
Quicken to keep up the day to day books. All federal and state taxes are done by
the foundation accountant, who submits a year end financial statement. Devoya
Mayo started her position as Executive Assistant January 2, 2007. She has
already attended one community outreach event and will attend others, and is
interested in assisting with fundraising events and promotions in addition to
assigned general duties. Programming: KFCF began airing “Alternative Radio”
with host David Barsamian Thursdays at 1 p.m., replacing “Herbal Highway.”
Pacifica Radio Archives’ “Pacifica: From the Vault” will air on the first Friday
of the month at 3 p.m. to replace a local program that is no longer being
produced.
Stover reports he is in touch
with Pacifica engineer Don Mussel and others for alternate transmitter re:
satellite issues already reported on. KFCF passed "test" inspection/audit and is
"immune" from FCC inspection for 3 years. Need to paint the transmitter tower at
Meadow Lakes.
1.
Budget: No report
2.
Outreach – Rezapour:
“Common Ground” is recording new programs and doing outreach to CSUF Civil
Liberties Coalition to co-sponsor events. Meetings are the first Monday of the
month at the Phonecian restaurant at 6:30 p.m.
3.
Fundraising: No report
4.
Governance: No report
5.
Programming – Gendron:
Will meet second Wednesday of the month. until further notice. Reviewed
Interstellar Lounge, Nuestro Foro. Both received favorable reviews. Next
evaluation: Saturday Evening Concerts and Stir It Up: WILPF Style. In general,
programmers have been absent in some instances.
Hernandez reports that the
KPFA LSB has elected Bonnie Simmons, chair; Conn Hallinan, vice chair; Tico
Chacin, secretary; and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, treasurer. The LSB also elected
Sarv Randhawa, Lavarn Williams, Mary Berg and Chandra Hauptman to be seated at
the next Pacifica National Board meeting this weekend in Houston. The LSB
rejected a bylaws amendment that would have allowed more telephonic meetings and
reduced the number of in-person meetings from four to three. Four Pacifica
stations are being subsidized in part by KPFA. In total, some $750,000 is owed
and likely will never be repaid. Some is money taken by the PNB prior to the
2000 lawsuits. Only KPFA has reached its mandated 3-month operating budget
reserve. KFCF is owed an additional $3,000 from prior fund drive. Sasha Lilley
has been appointed KPFA interim Program Director by interim General Manager
Lemlem Rijio. Both may replaced when permanent hires are made. GM and PD Hire
Committees had met but many candidates have dropped out and a new candidate
recruitment is underway. There are still flooding problems with KPFA sitting on
top of Ohlone Creek that runs under basement. May require leaving the building,
which may not be salvageable.
Engineering is working KFCF
through compliance. There are about a half-dozen points including tower
painting, remote control switch needs repair, etc.; otherwise in pretty good
shape. Working to improve Emergency Alert System reporting. Handbook will be
available at office. KFCF was billed $825 for the audit rather than the $1,000
estimated.
Budget: Bill, chair; Withers,
Hernandez.
Outreach: Rezapour, chair;
Fouts, Kern
Fundraising: Kern, chair;
Fouts
Governance: Hernandez, chair;
Bill, Speer
Programming: Gendron, chair;
Withers, Speer, Stover
Promotions: Speer, chair;
Hernandez, Withers, Scalzo
Speer recommends postponing
retreat and searching for a outside nonprofit board trainer to work with the
Board. Fouts agrees and offers to do a search and get price quotes. Best
upcoming dates are the second and fourth Sundays of February or the first or
second Sunday of March. Retreat postponed until further notice. Meeting adjourned by acclamation at 9:15 FFCF Board Meeting
Minutes: 11/21/06 (Not yet corrected) In attendance: Vic Bedoian,
Rych Withers, Dave Gendron, Ali Rezapour, Diane LaRue, Gerry Bill, Sue Kern; Excused absence: Alex
Vavoulis, Debbie Speer, Mark Hernandez Absent: Waldo Porter, Rand
Stover I. Adoption of Agenda: Will
approve minutes of executive session in a brief executive session for that
purpose. With that comment, agenda adopted as proposed. II. Minutes of 10/17/06:
Gerry moved, Ali seconded approval without change. Motion carried. III. President’s Report:
Rych reports that the profanity delay has been installed at the office. Still
have some adjustments to make but it’s functioning and all programmers will be trained on it. Had our FCC FFCF
Board Meeting Minutes FFCF Board Meeting
January 16, 2007
DETERMINATION OF QUORUM.
Present: Debbie Speer, Rych
Withers, Rand Stover, Ali Rezapour, Gerry Bill, Dave Gendron, Mark Hernandez.
Absent: Alex Vavoulis (excused), Sue Kern (excused).
Devoya Mayo introduced as FFCF
Executive Assistant.
MOVED (Speer) and SECONDED
(Bill) to adopt agenda. PASSED
MOVED (Rezapour) and SECONDED
(Bill) to table approval of minutes until next meeting. PASSED
Vote totals from November
directors election: Fouts, 175; Speer 170; Scalzo 163. One write in for Rick
Nagle. MOVED (Speer) and SECONDED (Bill) to accept election report and certify
results. PASSED. New board members Fouts and Scalzo are seated and introduced.
President: WITHERS – by
acclamation
Vice President: w-REZAPOUR
(5-4), Speer
Secretary: w-HERNANDEZ (5-4),
Kern
Treasurer: BILL – by
acclamation
KPFA Local Station Board
Representative -- MOVED (Rezapour) and SECONDED (Fouts) to postpone KPFA
Location Station Board Representative election one month because of member
absence. Speer requests ruling of the chair. Withers rules the motion out of
order. w-HERNANDEZ (5-4), Bill.
Homelessness Marathon is
February 20, 2007, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. and based this year in Fresno. Live
national broadcast from the Mexican American Baptist Church on E Street. Please
note the broadcast conflicts with next regularly scheduled board meeting.
Broadcasting issues: Satellite/transmitter system between Fresno and Berkley is
in need of upgrading. Pacifica also uses amplifier to feed national program
however there is a push within Pacifica toward Internet program distribution and
away from satellite distribution. Hernandez and Withers will keep eye on these
issues; in the meantime there is money left in the transmitter fund to purchase
new equipment.
Bedoian distributed annual
report for last fiscal year from CPA Sharmayne Sikora. Final statement needs to
be looked over in detail. Please direct questions to Bedoian. FFCF office uses
Quicken to keep up the day to day books. All federal and state taxes are done by
the foundation accountant, who submits a year end financial statement. Devoya
Mayo started her position as Executive Assistant January 2, 2007. She has
already attended one community outreach event and will attend others, and is
interested in assisting with fundraising events and promotions in addition to
assigned general duties. Programming: KFCF began airing “Alternative Radio”
with host David Barsamian Thursdays at 1 p.m., replacing “Herbal Highway.”
Pacifica Radio Archives’ “Pacifica: From the Vault” will air on the first Friday
of the month at 3 p.m. to replace a local program that is no longer being
produced.
Stover reports he is in touch
with Pacifica engineer Don Mussel and others for alternate transmitter re:
satellite issues already reported on. KFCF passed "test" inspection/audit and is
"immune" from FCC inspection for 3 years. Need to paint the transmitter tower at
Meadow Lakes.
1.
Budget: No report
2.
Outreach – Rezapour:
“Common Ground” is recording new programs and doing outreach to CSUF Civil
Liberties Coalition to co-sponsor events. Meetings are the first Monday of the
month at the Phonecian restaurant at 6:30 p.m.
3.
Fundraising: No report
4.
Governance: No report
5.
Programming – Gendron:
Will meet second Wednesday of the month. until further notice. Reviewed
Interstellar Lounge, Nuestro Foro. Both received favorable reviews. Next
evaluation: Saturday Evening Concerts and Stir It Up: WILPF Style. In general,
programmers have been absent in some instances.
Hernandez reports that the
KPFA LSB has elected Bonnie Simmons, chair; Conn Hallinan, vice chair; Tico
Chacin, secretary; and Brian Edwards-Tiekert, treasurer. The LSB also elected
Sarv Randhawa, Lavarn Williams, Mary Berg and Chandra Hauptman to be seated at
the next Pacifica National Board meeting this weekend in Houston. The LSB
rejected a bylaws amendment that would have allowed more telephonic meetings and
reduced the number of in-person meetings from four to three. Four Pacifica
stations are being subsidized in part by KPFA. In total, some $750,000 is owed
and likely will never be repaid. Some is money taken by the PNB prior to the
2000 lawsuits. Only KPFA has reached its mandated 3-month operating budget
reserve. KFCF is owed an additional $3,000 from prior fund drive. Sasha Lilley
has been appointed KPFA interim Program Director by interim General Manager
Lemlem Rijio. Both may replaced when permanent hires are made. GM and PD Hire
Committees had met but many candidates have dropped out and a new candidate
recruitment is underway. There are still flooding problems with KPFA sitting on
top of Ohlone Creek that runs under basement. May require leaving the building,
which may not be salvageable.
Engineering is working KFCF
through compliance. There are about a half-dozen points including tower
painting, remote control switch needs repair, etc.; otherwise in pretty good
shape. Working to improve Emergency Alert System reporting. Handbook will be
available at office. KFCF was billed $825 for the audit rather than the $1,000
estimated.
Budget: Bill, chair; Withers,
Hernandez.
Outreach: Rezapour, chair;
Fouts, Kern
Fundraising: Kern, chair;
Fouts
Governance: Hernandez, chair;
Bill, Speer
Programming: Gendron, chair;
Withers, Speer, Stover
Promotions: Speer, chair;
Hernandez, Withers, Scalzo
Speer recommends postponing
retreat and searching for a outside nonprofit board trainer to work with the
Board. Fouts agrees and offers to do a search and get price quotes. Best
upcoming dates are the second and fourth Sundays of February or the first or
second Sunday of March. Retreat postponed until further notice. Meeting adjourned by acclamation at 9:15 FFCF Board Meeting
Minutes: 11/21/06 (Not yet corrected) In attendance: Vic Bedoian,
Rych Withers, Dave Gendron, Ali Rezapour, Diane LaRue, Gerry Bill,
Sue Kern; Excused absence: Alex
Vavoulis, Debbie Speer, Mark Hernandez Absent: Waldo Porter, Rand
Stover I. Adoption of Agenda: Will
approve minutes of executive session in a brief executive session for that
purpose. With that comment, agenda adopted as proposed. II. Minutes of 10/17/06: Gerry moved, Ali seconded approval without change. Motion carried. III. President’s Report:
Rych reports that the profanity delay has been installed at the office.
Still have some adjustments to make but it’s functioning and all
programmers will be trained on it. Had our FCC inspection by Orchard Media
Service. There were a number of issues and we should get a written
report in a week or two. The cost was $800 which Tim Pozar has offered to
pay. The public file was OK, but several things posted in the office
weren’t current. There was no remote for the transmitter and there were
some problems with the EAS log even though Rych had updated it before
the inspection. Also part of the EAS receiver wasn’t working. We have 150
days to fix the problems they identify and then they inspect again.
Then FCC gets a letter and they can’t conduct a random inspection for 3
years. Only “fix” that might be costly is if we have to help pay for re-painting
the tower. We’ll wait for the written report and there are several others we
may be able to share this cost with. Haven’t yet gotten the bill from
the auditor. We have agreed to host the
Homeless Marathon in Fresno this February, but we’re looking for a
site. Mike Rhodes said Jerry Duncan may cooperate to hold it in
front of City Hall, or we might hold it in the Baptist Church near the freeway.
Jeremy came to meet with us about it, and we’ll need volunteers to help
work on it. IV. Executive Director’s
Report: No financial report this month. Gerry and Vic worked on a job description
for the assistant position we agreed to hire. The deadline for
applications is 11/30/06. Have two applicants so far. Regarding the FFCF Board
election, 1900-2000 ballots were sent out, each with a return envelope
and special return label so we can track. We don’t have the same
percentage requirement that KPFA has (i.e. votes will count no matter how many
respond). For Programming, see the written report from Programming
Committee. We were notified by listeners of interference with our
signal. It was the same Spanish language station as before. Our Washington
attorney called theirs and it was back off in a couple of days. They may apply for a license, but we have a flagging service with the National
Association of Community Broadcasters and they let us know if someone
within a 120 mile range of our signal applies. Also, Larry Bensky asked if we’d
like him to do his show from Fresno for 12/17/06. V. No Chief Engineer’s
Report. VI. Committee Reports: A. Budget Committee: See
written budget proposal. Went through the accountant’s report for
last year to see what we actually spent. Personnel costs increased
because of pay raise and new position to be hired. Sharmayne
treated new transmitter as a depreciating asset. Her report will by ready by next meeting. Gerry moved to adopt proposed budget, and
Sue seconded. Motion carried. Rych noted that he’s sent a
proposal for a billboard, something like “88.1, “hippie granola
spoken here…” Can discuss this at next Outreach and next Board
meeting. There will be no budget committee meeting in
December. B. Outreach Committee:
Mohinder Puna interview will be aired next Friday. Still working on
representatives from Japanese and Filipino community. Sold about $150
of the new t-shirts at the Cindy Sheehan event. Ali knows of
11 new subscribers who’ve been listening due to outreach
activities. Ali and Sue propose to front money to purchase sweatshirts with a 2nd new design, and to get reimbursed from sales. Will
make sure they’re sweatshop free. Ali met with Whitney Thompson
from Campus Peace & Civil Liberties group at the Cindy Sheehan
event. Trying to coordinate a table at Fresno State on a regular
basis to get a presence there. Mary Husein (an outreach
committee volunteer) is putting together an email list of professors at
Fresno State like Gerry did for Fresno City, and these can get e-mail
notices of our events and special radio shows so they can invite
their students. We missed having a table at the Community Alliance 10th Anniversary Party. Ali asks that if Board members are aware of
special events we should table, to call him so they can be covered.
Looking for volunteers at the 12/2/06 table at the WILPF crafts
fair. Sue will be there all day and Dave, Gerry and Vic offered to
help. C. Fundraising: The
committee didn’t meet in November and won’t meet again until February. D. Governance: No meeting
in October. Mark cancelled the last one, but should be meeting next
Tuesday (11/28/06). E. Programming: See written
report from 11/14/06. 20 Second Soundbite was reviewed.
There was a language problem with a guest and some music.
Programmers will be reminded they need to edit anything they’re
playing and listen ahead to the music. Vic suggests use of the delay
device should be a last resort and shouldn’t be counted on,
since a programmer may miss something. There was also a call-in on
the Earth First show that was problematic. Will be
training all programmers in use of the delay device. The device is at
the Wishon studio and there’s a separate delay at Rand’s studio, but
it’s a different kind and doesn’t work well with the downtown one. It’s
left on all the time and can’t be ramped up or down, so when we
switch back to the Wishon studio there’s a period of silence. Rych
suggests we consider buying a second unit so they’re compatible. It
was noted that broadcasting from Rand’s studio saves us phone line
time. Wasteland of the Free and It’s a Queer Thing both still run
from Rand’s studio. There was consensus to buy a second
delay unit. Vic notes there will be 2 days of special Pacifica
Archive programming to raise funds for archiving. He hasn’t yet
announced the change in the Herbal Highway show but will
before making it. Hasn’t yet met with Scott, the person who has offered
to help with engineering. Next committee meeting is
1/9/07. F. No formal KPFA report
but see election results on their website and announcement about Sasha
Lilly being their new Programming Director. She’s in close
contact with Vic on programming issues, so that should help.
Lem-Lem is still interim KPFA General Manager. VII. Old Business: A. KFCF Election Update:
Vic will do a cart about what do do if ballot not received, and to remind
about deadline. B. KPFA Election Update:
See their website for results. C. FCC Audit: See
president’s report above. VIII. New Business: A. Pro-rating health
benefits for p/t employees: Gerry notes that the premium we pay is based on
age of employee. For younger person the premium is less. Wanted
to discuss whether it would be considered age
discrimination if we required part timers to pay half their premium, and it’s
more for an older employee. Sue opined that it wouldn’t be
discrimination if we had a standard policy of each part timer paying half,
since it would be the insurer, not us, that is charging more. The range of
pay we’ll be offering for the new position is $10-$12/hour.
An alternative is that we pay a flat amount towards the premium
and the employee pay anything above that. It was noted
that we went to a less expensive plan for Rand and Vic but we pay
their co-pays which are higher than previously. Sue moved to
adopt a policy that for employees who work between 20-32
hours/week, we offer a flat $200/month and they pay
their own co-pays. Gerry seconded. Motion carried. B. December meetings:
Propose to cancel the December board meeting (including
committee meetings, except that there will be no Budget or Fundraising
committee meeting in January). The regular January meeting will be
1/16/07 and we will tentative schedule a board retreat for Saturday,
2/3/07. Candidates for Board officer positions and for our
representative to KPFA can be discussed at the January meeting, but
will be decided at the Board retreat. Board then adjourned to
Closed Session. Board meeting resumes: It
is noted that this is Diane LaRue’s last meeting. She reports that her mother is
recovering well so she may be able to help and to run again next time. She has
agreed to continue helping with Fundraising Committee. Vic and the
Board thanks her for her service to the Foundation. Meeting adjourned. FFCF Board Meeting
Minutes 10/17/06 In attendance: Vic Bedoian,
Rych Withers, Ali Rezapour, Dave Gendron, Debbie Speer, Mark
Hernandez, Diane LaRue, Gerry Bill, Sue Kern; Guests: Mike
Beavers, Fran Fried Excused absence: Alex
Vavoulis Absent: Waldo Porter, Rand
Stover Debbie suggests as regular
practice adoption of agenda should precede review of last meeting’s minutes.
Board agrees by consensus. I. Agenda: Rych asks to add
Executive Session (Personnel Matter) under Old Business and Debbie
asks to strike VI (F), Pacifica Report. Vic asks to add a second personnel
item to the executive session. Rych asks to strike Budget and
Programming Committee reports except to announce next committee meetings.
Also add “Announcements” as item IX. With those changes, agenda
adopted. II. Minutes: Corrections:
No need to include reasons why each board member was absent and
should report that Rand was excused by agreement of the Board.
Debbie suggests that if what is discussed in committee reports is in
written report, minutes can just refer to written report. Need to clarify
that discussion of considering Vince Lavery for Free Speech Award next year
was just a suggestion, to be discussed next year. Debbie requested
correction to section on upcoming elections. Under new business, don’t
need to include content of discussion with third parties, just any decisions
that are made. And Debbie notes that minutes of executive sessions
should be taken but kept confidential in a separate file in the office to be
approved by board at next executive session. With those changes, Debbie
moved and Mark seconded approval of 9/19/06 minutes. Motion carried. III. President’s Report:
Rych reports that the Archive Studio is finished and will be scheduling a date
to train volunteers. Program for archiving seems to be working. We’ve been
offered the opportunity to host this year’s Homeless Marathon in
Fresno. Would be sometime in February, from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. next
morning. Rych is concerned about whether we have the personnel to do it. The
offer was because they appreciated Fresno’s help with the KU feed and
there was a recent action about homelessness in Fresno. Rych will be
contacting Jeremy to see what’s involved and they may have staff to help, but
there’s lots of preparation work with phone lines, etc. Rych will also
talk to Mike Rhodes about this, and would need to see if he can take some
time off from work to help with the project. IV. Executive Director
Report: Vic reports that he spent most of last month on preparation for the Amy
Goodman event and Banquet, and has been playing catch-up with
database entry in preparation for election. Will need to send out ballots with an
updated database. Should have report from Sharmayne in time for next Budget Committee meeting (2nd Tues.). V. Chief Engineer report
deferred due to Rand’s absence. VI. Committee Reports: B. Outreach Committee: Ali
reports that Mary Husein (a CSUF instructor in Mass
Communications) attended last committee meeting along with Vida
Samiian and Maribel Valencia. Met with 2 members of the Sikh
community (a young person and an older member who is an author and
poet who writes articles in the religion section of the
Fresno Bee). They offered two different perspectives on the same
community. Also hope to have new Tshirts (approved at last meeting)
for the Cindy Sheehan event. Sue suggested that for future
t-shirt production, we make sure that the shirts aren’t made in
sweatshops. Ali noted that the artist who’s doing the t-shirts can also
make banners and Ali proposes we produce 2 more banners for
use on outreach events. He will check the price and consult with
Vic on this. The Intermountain Nursery Harvest Festival was tabled
this month, and the Irvine Foundation received our application
and will be sending a $500 check to be used for outreach
activities. C. Fundraising-See written
reports on Amy Goodman Event and Banquet, prepared on new
Event Form. It was suggested that a “Suggestion” space be added
to the form. And in light of the fact that we netted $5,626.98 at
the Amy Goodman event and with the program ads, we netted
$2,005.27 on the banquet, it was suggested to start earlier
trying to get a well known speaker and be prepared to pay more for
the speaker to attract someone who will bring a good turnout. D. Governance Committee did
not meet regarding committee report and grant application policies. Will meet at Irene’s the 4th Tuesday and hope to have a report
by next meeting. VII. Old Business: A. KFCF election update: 2
qualified members applied and 1 wasn’t a member so sent that person
a membership application. Deadline is Friday. 3 open slots and
currently 2 possible candidates. Ali reports that he has someone
he’ll be inviting to apply. Rych also has someone that’s
interested. Debbie notes that the KPFA Election Forum is the next
day and Tracy Rosenberg has agreed to have FFCF candidates there
too. Tracy is working on trying to get KPFA candidates to come to
the forum, but there’s an LSB meeting in Santa Rosa the same so 4
incumbents have a conflict. B. Cindy Sheehan update:
Sue reports that volunteers are needed to help with cleanup at the
Unitarian Church reception and to help with tabling at both events. Ali
volunteered to table both events and Gerry will help with
clean-up at the reception. VIII. New Business: A. KPFA Election protocols:
See written procedures provided by Debbie. “Fair Campaign
Provisions” are posted on the KPFA website. These rules also
apply to KFCF airways. There are two candidates from the Fresno
area running in the KPFA election. Can’t use airtime to
endorse candidates and all candidates must have equal time on air. If
a programmer is a candidate, have to sit out their program during
the election period. Rych suggests we send staff
members/programmers a link to the fair election rules to remind them. It was noted
that KFCF listeners make up 10% of the KPFA audience. Debbie notes
that general Fair Campaign Rules are in the Pacifica bylaws,
and that even mentioning a candidate’s name on air is a violation
unless they’re all mentioned equally. There was discussion of
rules concerning handing out campaign materials at KFCF sponsored
events such as the banquet, and the rules (as interpreted by
Tracy Rosenberg, KPFA Elections Supervisor) prohibit
handing materials out in the main room but it’s OK to do outside of where
the event is taking place (e.g. in the lobby) as long as all
candidates have equal access. Debbie noted that if anyone had
questions or concerns about whether a candidate or slate was
violating the rules, she can bring the issue to Tracy for resolution. There
was clarification that the KPFA election is a “ranked choice” system
where each voter ranks all candidates in order of preference and
if your first choice doesn’t have enough votes to make it, your vote
goes to your next choice. There are two “slates” involved in the
current KPFA election: Committee of Concerned Listeners of
which Mark Hernandez is a member, and Alliance for Democratic
KPFA. Then there are several independent candidates including Vida
Samiian. Ballots went out yesterday and more information is available at election@kpfa.org. That’s who to contact if you don’t get a
ballot. It was noted that if subscribers don’t get a KFCF ballot,
they should contact the KFCF office by phone or at office@kfcf.org. It was also noted that there is a Rally for the Homeless at City
Hall the same afternoon as the KPFA elections forum. B. Posting of Minutes on
KFCF website: It was noted that we haven’t been keeping current with
posting minutes on our website, mainly because minutes that have
been corrected and adopted haven’t been sent to Vic
electronically. Sue will be sending “corrected” minutes to Vic within a few
days after each meeting, so that Vic can work with Rych on getting
them posted on the website. Gerry asked about Committee
minutes, and whether they should first be approved by committee
members before being forwarded to the Secretary for posting.
However it was noted that there’s a difference between a
committee report and minutes of committee meetings, and reports are action items agreed or recommended by the committees. These
should be agreed to when each committee meeting ends, and the
committee chair can forward the report to the secretary. Those
reports then get sent to all board members before each
Board meeting, and once the report is given, it can be posted
along with the corrected minutes from the Board meeting if
there are no objections to the report made during the meeting. Committee minutes are the actual notes of the business done
during committee meetings and those are kept in files at the
office but don’t get posted. C. Other New Business: Mark
and Rych report that Tim Pozar has proposed that we ask
California Broadcaster’s Association to do a technical audit of our FCC
compliance. (See flyer). They check log compliance, whether we’re
over or under power, etc., and once we’re inspected, they send
FCC a letter that prevents FCC from conducting a random
inspection of our station for a 2 year period. (It can still inspect if
there’s a specific complaint.) The cost is $1500 to $2000, and Tim has
offered to pay for it. Debbie moved and Diane seconded
accepting Tim’s offer and having the audit conducted. Motion carried. It was noted that even though Rand wasn’t present for the
vote, his studio would have to be open for inspection since it’s
the main station listed on our license. Meeting then adjourned to
Executive Session. Following executive
session: 1. Mark moved to approve
proposal that Vic and Gerry develop job announcement
and job description for 2 staff positions. Also
moved to approve creation of a Personnel Workgroup to
oversee this process. Debbie seconded and motion
carried. 2. Also Debbie moved to
approve FFCF membership for Scott Dean in exchange
for his agreement to provide engineering services to
the foundation. Gerry seconded; motion
carried. IX: Announcements: A. WILPF annual crafts fair is December 2nd. Outreach Committee to arrange for
tabling and those who can volunteer should call or
e-mail Sue or Ali. B. Metro Ministries will be
honoring T&D Will Farms at their annual event. It was also
noted that they will be running a comp ad for us in exchange
for the ad we gave them in our Banquet Program. Vic should
get this to Metro Ministries. C. Committee Meetings: Budget committee will meet 2nd Monday, 11/13/06, at 7 p.m.
at the Studio. Outreach Committee will meet 6:30
p.m. on 11/6/06 (first Monday) at the Phoenician Garden
restaurant on Herndon. Governance Committee will meet 4th Tuesday at Irene’s, and Fundraising the 1st Tuesday at 6:30 at the Studio. Debbie moved to adjourn;
Diane seconded. Motion carried. FFCF Board Meeting
Minutes
9/19/06 In attendance: Vic Bedoian,
Rych Withers, Ali Rezapour, Dave Gendron, Debbie Speer, Mark Hernandez,
Diane LaRue, Gerry Bill, Alex Vavoulis, Rand Stover, Sue Kern Excused absence: Waldo
Porter I. Approval of minutes of
8/15/06: Debbie moved to formally excuse absence of Alex and Waldo
from August meeting. Also Rand’s absence was excused by agreement of
the board. With those changes, Debbie moved and Ali seconded
approval of minutes. Motion carried. II. Agenda: Ali asked to
add under New Business discussion of inappropriate comments by
board members. Alex asked to add a report on his next 3 month
schedule. With those changes the agenda was unanimously approved. III. President’s Report:
Rych reports that the alarm has been installed in the Tower office. There
were 2 incidents in which Rych’s and Mark’s codes were transposed, but
they were able to call the alarm company before the police were
called. Also installed new CD recorder in tower studio. Set up 2nd studio for dubbing archives in back. Will be transferring tape to CD and duplicate
CDs. Project should be finished this week. The annual financial report not
yet ready though state law requires it. Vic is aware of it and will talk
to Sharmayne about it. IV. Executive Director
Report: Vic has been mainly working on the upcoming events and on database
entry. Will discuss programming matters in the Programming Committee
Report. V. Chief Engineer’s Report:
Rand reports that things have been quiet except for power outage one day
when generator was used to keep us on air. Still trying to finish
setting up profanity delay. Rych is working on Tower studio but waiting for
information from Rand. Will be showing programmers how to use it. VI. Reports: A. Budget Committee: Gerry
reports there was no meeting last month. Need to know when
Sharmayne will have something for them to look at. Vic says
he won’t have his part done for about 2 weeks. Gerry will wait
until after then to call next committee meeting, probably 2nd Monday in November. B. Outreach Committee: Ali
reports a meeting was held 9/11/06 with Maribel Valencia, Vida
Samiian, Ali R. and Sue K. Discussed Common Ground which is
going well except for one time when CD they pre-recorded was
accidentally locked in Vic’s office. Have recorded interview with
Hmong attorney who is running for City Council but will wait to
air it until after the election. Community Technology Foundation grant
application tabled until 2007, since their funding cycle has
closed. Will turn grant application over to Fundraising Committee.
Tried to accept $500 grant from Irvine Foundation offered by an
Irvine Foundation board member who is a friend of Ali’s wife. Each
of their board members get some discretionary funds that
can be used for mini-grants. She offered $500 to be used for
promoting Common Ground. Rych talked to her but was not agreeable
to accepting grant on those terms. This issue was further discussed
under New Business, criteria for grant applications. C. Fundraising Committee:
Sue reported that only committee discussion was of planning
for Amy Goodman event and Banquet. Vic reports that Democracy
Now wants volunteers at door with clipboard and to hand out
flyers. Dennis Moynihan will be there. Vic talked to Mark
Halverson from Barnes and Noble who will have books there to sell. Amy
will need a table where she can do book signing. D. Governance Committee did
not meet. E. Programming Committee
(See written report): Dave reported that committee recommends
replacing Herbal Highway with a Pacifica Archive’s Program
“From the Vault.” There were strong comments pro and con for
Herbal Highway in the last listener survey, and some board
members are concerned about possible liability issues. KPFA
doesn’t broadcast “From the Vault” programs since they don’t generally
put “off site” programs on the air, but they (and David Barsamian’s
“Alternative Media”) are high quality shows. It was noted that
one of the Thurs. afternoon Herbal Highway slots is already
replaced with our local Literary Mosaic program. The Pacifica
Archives releases a new “From the Vault” program every week. Will
notify listeners of the new “From the Vault” programming. Would
also like to find a place for Barsamian’s program. Next
Programming Committee review will be of Underground Railroad. F. KPFA Report: Debbie
reports that Tracy Rosenberg, their elections supervisor, has
reserved the Sarah McCardle Room of the downtown library for an
election forum to be held Saturday, 10/21/06, from 3-6 pm.
Candidates will come to Fresno to meet the listeners. Nomination
period closes 9/25/06 and ballots will be sent out a week or two before
this event. Debbie suggested that we could combine this with an
event for candidates for our board. Next LSB meeting is also on
10/21/06 in Santa Rosa. There are 9 slots up for election this year.
May need volunteers to help at the 10/21/06 event. Pacifica
National Board is meeting in Berkeley from 9/29-10/1/06. Debbie
will not be attending. VII. Old Business: A. Amy Goodman Event:
Update given in Fundraising report. Still need volunteers to help
with food, info tables, clean-up, etc. B. Banquet: Need to decide
on Free Speech Award. Alex proposed that next year we
consider giving award to Vince Lavery and pay his plane fare to
accept it. Lloyd Carter is already raising money for that. It was
agreed to revisit that proposal next year. Sue proposes that we give
this year’s award to Valley Voices for Animals, the group of four
that were arrested last year for refusing to limit their protest of
the circus to a designated “free speech” area. Sue moved and Gerry
seconded; motion carried with one opposed. Gerry will get their names and Sue will send Board members an e-mail with what
she will be including in the Banquet program about this award. C. Election Update: Our
nomination period is from 9/20/06 through 10/20/06 and there are
three seats (Debbie’s, Diane’s and Waldo’s) up for election. Debbie has
a packet of election materials to give Vic. Vic will start running
the cart for the nomination information tomorrow. VIII. New Business: A. Discussion of Process and Criteria for Grant Applications: General rule is that those
proposing applying for a grant submit to the board all written
criteria and requirements and outline of proposal, as well as what
reporting requirements and who would handle the reporting. Rych
noted that it is problematic to accept funding for particular
programs since FCC requires that if specific programs are funded, there
be an on-air announcement that the funding for the show was
provided by “X.” Mark proposed to refer the issue to the Governance
Committee to come up with a proposed policy on grant
applications. Vic noted that we need to consider the impact on
staff and should perform a “due diligence” investigation on where the
grant money comes from and what type of reporting or audit
requirements are attached. Gerry proposed (and Alex seconded)
accepting this $500 grant if it is changed to be for general
outreach for KFCF, and not tied to any specific program. Motion
carried with one opposed. B. Inappropriate Comments
from Board members: Some of this was subsumed in discussion
of Grant Application policy. It was noted that while board
members may have disagreements with or criticisms of other board
members, such comments should be directed in a principled
way to the board member directly and/or in the Board meetings, and not
be made to third parties. C. Alex’s schedule: Alex
reports that he will be out of the country for 3 months starting
10/12/06 through 1/11/07. He has prerecorded his shows for this period
and will still be available by email. An attorney will be working
on maintaining the Greek Culture Foundation website in his
absence. IX: Executive Session
(Concerning Personnel and possible litigation issues). Following Executive
Session: Sue moved to adjourn regular meeting; Rand seconded. Motion
carried. [These minutes were
corrected and approved at meeting of 10/17/06.] FFCF Board Meeting Minutes 7/18/06 In attendance: Vic Bedoian,
Rych Withers, Dave Gendron, Mark Hernandez, Diane LaRue,
Gerry Bill, Alex Vavoulis, Sue Kern Excused absence: Debbie
Speer, Waldo Porter Absent: Rand Stover, Ali
Rezapour I. Approval of minutes of
6/20/06: Corrections: VI(E): KPFA report should describe local board as LSB, not LAB, and Willie Ratcliffe, not Willy Radcliff. With those
changes, Alex moved and Mark seconded approval of minutes.
Motion carried. II. Agenda: Board agreed to
table Item VII (A) (Governance Committee proposals) and VII (D)
(Sick Leave discussion). With those changes the agenda was unanimously
approved. III. President’s Report:
Rych reports that there is still some concern about the status of Foundation
equipment located at Randy’s home. There’s a Memorandum of Understanding
identifying what is Foundation property but Randy has not yet
prepared additional legal documents necessary to insure that the Foundation
has access to its property in the event of Randy’s death or
disability, though Bruce Kennedy is willing to assist in drawing up the necessary
documents. There was some discussion of moving the equipment now to
the Wishon studio, but it was noted that the station satellite dish and
other equipment necessary to receiving KPFA’s signal is currently located
at Rand’s home since the Tower District will not allow it to be located
there. Rych will look into alternative sites for the sites for the satellite
dish and alternative ways of getting the KPFA signal. |
