04/18/06 WPFW LSB Meeting - Minutes
WPFW Local Station Board Meeting
April 18th, 7:00 p.m.

2390 Champlain Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Quorum declared at 7:45 P.M., Carol Wolfe serving as Chair.

Board Members present: Acie Byrd, Ambrose Lane , Ayo Handy Kendi, Billy Ray
Edwards, Cade Campbell, Carol Wolfe, Gloria Turner, Jane Gatewood, Jim Brown,
Joni Eisenberg, Luzette King, Norberto Martinez, Thomas Ruffin, and Zarina
Shakir.

Absent: Donnie McKethan.

Excused Absences: Dan Logan, Hakam Takash, Joe Chiara, Kalonji Olusegun, Mark
Berman, Mark Roberts, and Rob Robinson.

Also present were WPFW General Manager Ron Pinchback; two officers of the
Pacifica Foundation, Executive Director Greg Guma and Chief Financial Officer
Lonnie Hicks; and Carl Pfluger, nominated in January to be secretary of the
LSB.

Amendments to Agenda: Without objection, it was agreed to bring forward (to
immediately after approval of the minutes) the items dealing with the Board's
composition: election of a new secretary, and replacement of the lately
resigned members, Katea Stitt and Sarah Bittle; and to move Community Comment
ahead of New Business, so that Norberto's Central American guests would have a
chance to speak. Thomas Ruffin moved that his complaint of racial
discrimination concerning his non-inclusion in the Management Assessment and
Search Committee (MASC) be added to the agenda. Seconded by Billy Ray Edwards,
the motion was defeated, 5Y, 6N, 1A.

Joni Eisenberg moved acceptance of the revised agenda, seconded by Jim Brown.
Approved, 8-1.

Minutes of March Meeting: Thomas Ruffin objected that the minutes made no
reference to his complaint; the Chair ruled that minutes need record only
motions actually brought to a vote.

Ambrose Lane moved acceptance of March minutes, seconded by Acie Byrd.
Approved, 6Y, 5N, 1A.

Replacement of Secretary: Jane Gatewood can not continue as secretary. She
reports that plans are in motion to make the sound recordings of LSB meetings
available online via KPFT's web server, hopefully beginning with this month's
meeting, if nothing goes wrong with the technical details. A public Service
Announcement (PSA) was aired this past month, inviting volunteers for the (non-
voting) position of LSB secretary. Carl Pfluger, the only candidate available,
was elected Secretary without objection.

9:00 P.M. Replacement of resigned Staff Member Katea Stitt : After 35 minutes
of discussion concerning what the Bylaws authorize the Board or the Staff to
do, a Resolution, moved by Jim Brown, seconded by Acie Byrd, revised by Jane
Gatewood, was finally put to the question:

"That the entire paid and unpaid Staff of WPFW be allowed to elect a
replacement for Katea Stitt, and that a volunteer Election Supervisor be
utilized to conduct the election, to ensure that it complies with the bylaws,
and that all Staff Members are fully informed and allowed to participate."

Motion passed, 9-1.

Replacement of resigned Listener Member Sarah Bittle: Chairwoman Wolfe declares
that the Bylaws say the replacement should be the next-ranked candidate in the
last election, Alicia Milla; but she has indicated (in communications to both
Carol Wolfe & Acie Byrd) that she is no longer available. Next choice is then
Amanda Sweet, whom Carol will contact next. Luzette King says she knows that
Amanda is still active in some WPFW committee[s], and so presumably should be
available; but in case she is not, Carol should proceed to the next name[s] on
the electoral list.


Committee Reports. [Theoretically limited to 90 seconds each.]

MASC Committee Report by Jim Brown. The Committee intends to use an evaluation
process developed by the Pacifica National Board (PNB), and is preparing a
public announcement for the position of Program Director.

Luzette suggests the committee's membership should be open to anyone who
volunteers, and that it should submit regular reports and minutes to the LSB.

Jane moves that the Committee not make the decisions on evaluation; the motion
dies without a second.

Development and Outreach Committee. Ayo Handi Kendy
has written a self-evaluation form for the Outreach Committee. Gloria Turner
announces a Volunteer Appreciation Event.

Technology Committee. Zarinah Shakir reports that the Committee has not yet
met, but it's clear the station needs a lot of serious upgrading.

Luzette suggests an inventory of all the station's equipment.

Response: Such an inventory already exists. It may require a bit of updating,
to cover some recent acquisitions, but it is substantially complete, and both
Ron and Jim have access to it.


General Manager's Report, and presentations by visiting Pacifica Foundation
Officers.

Ron Pinchback distributed a printed summary, and yielded most of his speaking
time to Executive Director Greg Guma and Chief Financial Officer Lonnie Hicks.
Major issues discussed were financing and program development. Lonnie explained
Pacifica 's general formula for distributing financial responsibilities among
the five stations: the Big Three (KPFA, KPFK, & WBAI) each get 25% of the
total; the two smaller stations (KPFT & WPFW) have 12 .5% each. In general,
WPFW has been the most financially healthy of the 5 Pacifica stations, but all
public broadcasting faces an uncertain future. Greg Guma hopes to raise the
profile of Pacifica as a national network, and to bring in more young
listeners, both by presenting Pacifica 's programs more actively to the
affiliated stations, and by encouraging creative program development in each of
Pacifica 's own stations. But the actual development of programs is still
mostly the task of the individual stations and their managers. Several upcoming
initiatives were mentioned, of which the most urgent should be coverage of the
approaching elections: both Pacifica 's own LSB elections, & the US
Congressional midterms. They did not stay for questions, pointing out that the
meeting had already gone far beyond its announced timetable.


Community Comment. About 9:50 P.M. the Chair moved that Community Comment be
advanced to precede the Pacifica National Board (PNB) reports, in view of the
lateness of the hour. Approved, 9-0. It was already too late for Norberto's
guest, a Mayan leader from El Salvador , so Norberto made a brief presentation
on his behalf.


Reports on Meeting of Pacifica National Board (PNB): Ambrose Lane reports
(orally) that the meeting included a good workshop on racism, but that he was
unable to complete a written report because he (together with the whole
National Board) was laid low by food poisoning. He expects to have a report
written up by next month. Billy Ray has questions about election disputes
previously referred to the PNB; Ambrose says that, to his knowledge, the Board
has not so far acted on the issue.


10:20 P.M. Meeting adjourned.