$160,000 is 1% of the total annual Pacifica consolidated budget of $15,486,006 per the proposed FYE 9/30/05 budget. It is 7% of the current (as of June 2004) network working capital of $2,285,313 per the June '04 balance sheet posted at www.pacifica.org
The overall turnout in the last election was about 16% per Dan's Coughlin's press release on the election pasted below. I believe this is regarded as high for non-profit board elections. If I'm not mistaken Andrea Buffa said their voter turnout at Media Alliance was about 2%-3%.
The other expenses listed as "governance" expenses -- $50 legal bills in general corporate advice is no higher than any other similarly complex organization. KQED has a general counsel on staff. $15,000 in phone conferences -- well, one of the new board members has located a cheaper conference service -- a benefit of having creative volunteers on our boards. $168,000 in "national board expenses" includes travel and lodging for 18 of the 22 board members to quarterly board meetings around the country (4 board live in the host city for each board meeting) + travel and lodging for the general managers, program directors, and other senior management for a few extra days of management meetings before each board meeting. Probably about half the cost is for management meetings being charged as "board expenses."
--Carol
http://www.pacifica.org/news/040225_WrapsPoll.html
Pacifica Radio Finishes Historic Poll February 25, 2003 Pacifica Radio Release Contact: pacifica at pacifica.org
BERKELEY (Feb. 25) – A high voter turn-out marked balloting in the transition to the country's first democratically-run national media organization, Pacifica Radio officials announced today.
The five-station Pacifica Radio network last month mailed ballots to some 100,000 active members nationwide who cast votes for 317 candidates running for 120 local board seats.
Listeners and staff returned more than 16,000 ballots in electing the five 24-member Local Station Boards (LSB) representing KPFA 94.1 FM in Berkeley, KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston, WBAI 99.5 FM in New York City, and WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, DC.
The local boards have in turn elected representatives to a 22-member Pacifica National Board that is due to be seated in mid-March at a meeting in Berkeley, California, home of the Pacifica Foundation.
Detailed official results can be found at: pacifica.org/elections.
"The courage of the Pacifica leadership in taking this bold step, coupled with the commitment of listener members nationwide, bodes well for the future," said Pacifica Radio Executive Director Dan Coughlin. "The challenge ahead is to turn this historic milestone for the media and democracy movement into practical action.”
Leslie Cagan, the chair of the outgoing interim Pacifica National Board, praised the network’s election workers and said that the strong turn-out for a non-profit organization reflected renewed confidence in Pacifica and its peace and justice mission. She noted that the elections meant that the Pacifica Foundation successfully executed the terms of a court approved settlement agreement in Dec. 2001.
"In an age in which media giants are becoming ever bigger and less responsive to local needs, Pacifica is renewing its commitment to the communities we serve," Cagan said. "The implementation of our new bylaws opens the door for a reinvigorated network.”
The election caps a stunning 2-year turnaround at the nation's first and oldest listener-sponsored broadcaster, which was founded in 1949 by World War II conscientious objectors.
In January 2002, a new Board and executive leadership took over following a series of bitter internal conflicts and a legal settlement that mandated revisions of the by-laws and empowerment of local boards with listener-member elections. But the network was functionally insolvent, wracked by lawsuits, and facing bankruptcy. The network posted a FY01 deficit of $4.4 million.
Over the last two years, network staff and listeners turned the deficit into a surplus of $1.8 million in FY03, rewrote the Pacifica Radio bylaws in a community-driven process, rebuilt the Pacifica's national affiliates network, saved and upgraded a powerful transmitter in Southern California, and moved Pacifica's national office from Washington, DC, back to its original home in Berkeley, CA.
Pacifica officials also settled more than dozen separate pieces of litigation. Founded in 1949, Pacifica Radio is the nation’s first listener-supported, community-based radio network.
At 12:13 PM 8/20/2004 -0700, Sasha Lilley wrote:
><snip>
>
>The June report from Pacifica’s Chief Financial
>Officer states: “The variance which is most worrisome
>is that of the [Local Station Board] elections. It
>shows a negative variance YTD in April of 138k. On
>projection, I have received word that the new
>elections this summer and fall will cost the network
>an additional 160k. This will bring the total
>election costs in this fiscal to a grand total of
>347k. (I had projected 268k by fiscal end but this
>new figure supercedes that number.) This figure is
>347k is 29% of the Network’s working capital figure!
>Governance costs here are actually higher when we
>include National Board expenses (168k), Board related
>legal expenses (50k), telephone costs (15k) all in
>one fiscal year. This totals 580k!.... Governance
>costs, projected at 580 thousand dollars are 48% of
>our required working capital, and 4.4% of our total
>expenses. This does not include other normal
>administrative expenses, insurance and other
>requirements. We, as a Network, cannot survive this
>kind of expense.”
>http://www.pacifica.org/documents/pdf/Pacifica_CFO_Board_Report_April_and_May_2004.pdf
>
>
>Instead of helping raise money for the stations - an
>essential part of the LSBs’ mandate - the governing
>structure has become a big drain on them. As an
>underpaid worker, and someone who routinely has to
>deal with outdated equipment at the station as do 200
>other KPFA paid and unpaid staff, the costs of this
>(volunteer) bureaucratic stratum, intent on
>increasingly consolidating power, is really troubling.
>
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