Mendocino TV brings you June’s KZYX&Z Board of Directors Meeting
Mendocino TV broadcast live the June 27 KZYX/Mendocino County Public Broadcasting (MCPB) Board of Directors meeting and it is now available for viewing.
Given the contentious nature of the previous meeting, when police were summoned and a member was taken out in handcuffs, this meeting was calm, beginning with a new conduct of business based on Roberta’s Rules of Order.
Of utmost importance was the passage of the FY 2016/17 Budget of $599,500, which is projected to balance and is an 8% increase over last year. According to the adopted budget, the projected FY15/16 Budget will exceed projected revenues and also result in $500 more than expenses. Given all the emails circulating on the MCPB finances, I did spend time researching the financial history, which is now readily available, along with old management reports, on the website. While it does appear that old reserves are gone, it is difficult to readily ascertain where those monies and the lines of credit are recorded and spent. A most important factor is that the Treasurer, now Stuart Campbell, actually serves as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), which is often held by paid staff in other nonprofits. The audit Committee, providing vital financial oversight, has only one member, Chair Clay Eubank. Another issue brought up by a member concerns the money once designated for the Ukiah studio and used for other purposes, although there is money designated in the new budget for the Ukiah studio.
Opening a Ukiah studio was a big announcement as was the fact that a decision needs to be made in the next 6 months about whether to move the headquarters to Ukiah or Willits. So, it does appear that the long anticipated move out of Philo will happen this fiscal year.
It appears that the Community Advisory Board (CAB), now chaired by Tony Novelli is making a tremendous effort to solicit input and conduct business in an ethical and transparent manner. He has codified it in a Memorandum of Understanding, which was adopted by the Board.
Watch the video and draw your own conclusions about what is happening in our county public radio station.
Actually, two budgets have been approved by MCPB. I found this little gem a week before the board meeting:
http://www.kzyx.org/index.php/about-us/volunteering-at-kzyx/102-station-business/249-mcpb-2016-budget-as-passed
It’s not on the KZYX website. Nor on any directory. I got it through Google. Look at the actuals for last year. MCPB took in $501,695 and spent $568,912. For a net loss of ($67,217). Now look at the audited financial statement from the year before:
http://kzyx.org/Board/audits/MCPB-Audit-Report6-30-15.pdf
Check out the Statement of Financial Position on page two. And look at the figure called ‘Total Net Assets’. It’s $78,446. Now subtract ($67,217) for a current balance of $11,229. Then compare that with the figure from 2007:
http://www.kzyx.org/images/pdf/financial_statements/MCPB_FS_07.pdf
The balance then was $346,668. That was ‘BC’ (i.e., before Coate/Campbell). So MCPB has lost almost 97% of its net assets over the past decade. Now check this out:
http://www.kzyx.org/images/pdf/mtg_minutes/KZYX%20Board%20meeting%20minutes%207-09.pdf
John Coate reported a ‘burn rate’ of $374,000 a year back in 2009. Which amounts to $31,000 a month. But that was overstated. The total loss over eight years was $335,439. Divide that number by eight years. And then by twelve months. The net monthly ‘burn rate’ is actually only $3,494. Leaving this reader with a burning question. How’d Mr. Coate get that figure? The answer is right here:
http://johncoate.com/porchlight_story.html
By his own admission, Mr. Coate was rejected by a U.S. Army psychiatrist for being a ‘mystic nomad’. Meaning that he couldn’t tell the difference between $30,000 and $3,000. Which was his total reported income for the period 1968 to 1983 — $3,000.
And now we have the claim that Mr. Coate reduced MCPB’s debt by 93%:
http://johncoate.com/John%20Coate%20Resume%202016%20-%20Web%20Version.pdf
When it was actually the other way around. And none of these board members has ever figured that out!!!
Stuart Campbell is equally remarkable at MCPB’s new treasurer. Stating that MCPB has no control over restricted funds. ‘It all kind of goes into the general pot.’ That’s at 45:00 on the video. Mr. Campbell also has two standards for board members. When he’s not on the board, he claims it’s the board’s job to find major donors:
http://www.kzyx.org/Board/KZYX%20State%20of%20the%20Station%20Report%20November%202015.pdf
But now that he’s on the board, everything has changed. Look at his response to this at 25:50: “Mention anything you’ve done for the station in the last two months.” See anything about finding major donors here?
Equally concerning is the fact that last year’s Form 990 got filed over the past two months:
http://rct.doj.ca.gov
Yet it wasn’t reported by any board members at this meeting. Leaving me to wonder — Who’s running the place?
At any rate, here’s the grim reality. At a burn rate of $3,500 a month, MCPB will be bankrupt inside of four months.