(Portland Free Press, May/June 1997)

In response to a complaint filed in July 1996, the Office of Inspector General of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) completed an audit of Pacifica Radio. On the positive side, the report "noted a strong willingness [by Pacifica] to continually improve the organization...."

It then went on to list these deficiencies:

• Pacifica did not properly announce upcoming board meetings.
  
• The public was not allowed "to observe Board of Directors deliberations as all board sessions were being held in closed session, with the exception of one hour for Public Comments."

• Pacifica did not give written notices as to the reasons for the closed meetings.

• Local station advisory boards were not given the chance to do their job. "Advisory Boards bad not been advising the Board of Directors." The local boards did not participate in programming changes of August 1995; the changes were made by the Executive Director. The National Board also threatened to remove local board members who resisted changes.

 The report made these recommendations:

• Pacifica should announce upcoming board meetings "in all five cities where stations are located" and these "public notices should include the time for open sessions."

• Pacifica "should allow the public to observe all board deliberations, with the exceptions of those subjects authorized by the Communications Act," with minutes made public.

• Pacifica should give written reasons for closing parts of any meeting.

• Pacifica "should relieve the advisory boards of all operational matters, and allow those boards the autonomy needed to... report their recommendations.... Local advisory boards should not be threatened to blindly support Pacifica and local station policies and procedures, as well as their programming."

The long-awaited audit was done by current Inspector General (IG) Joe Arvizu. Previous investigators were:

• Brian McConville, fired in November 1996
• Lester Latney, who retired due to ill health
• Acting IG Michael Donovan, who was let go because his old job (deputy IG) no longer existed.

 The audit now goes to the CPB, which has given Pacifica more than $1 million in support every year since 1992. The audit recommends that CPB make Pacifica comply with legal requirements. It would give Pacifica six months before fiscal year 1998 funds are released in November 1997.

The next deadline is June 15. That's when the Inspector General wants to know whether CPB will adopt those recommendations. 

On April 16, a few days before the IG report was presented to Pacifica, the KPFA Advisory Board met in Berkeley before a packed house. Rumors and not-so-idle speculation had been zipping about the Internet that Pacifica might sell off one or more of its five stations.

These were prompted by an article in the San Francisco Examiner, in which Pacifica Executive Director Pat Scott mentioned that offers were continually being made for Pacifica stations - $60 million for KPFA in Berkeley and $90 million for WBM in New York.

 Quite a chunk of cash. If Pacifica turned around and bought a cheaper station, the invested profit could make the network financially independent; or, according to a nastier view, Pacifica directors could enrich themselves through various cozy deals. Scott says Pacifica has refused all offers: "We're just not interested." But critics say that, given Pacifica's secretive ways, none of these or other possibilities could be ruled out. 

The fears were heightened by Pacifica's plans to decrease the power of local boards. The national board is now made up of two representatives from each station's listening area, plus five at-large. But according to a memo obtained by the San Francisco Bay Guardian one of the two local representatives would now be unilaterally picked by the national board. Pacifica's public relations man, Burt Glass, would not comment, saying the changes are "in flux." The big fear was that Pacifica is making these changes in order to make it easier to sell a station or two.

 At the meeting, KPFA Advisory Board Chairman Hank Levy assured the audience that the station was not for sale. The board received a report from Tomas Moran, who had conducted a series of listener forums throughout the Bay Area At those forums, many people had criticized KPFA's program changes and asked that the station be more responsive. 

The advisory board took no action on Moran's report. It scheduled more discussion of it (and the station's gag rule) at the board's next meeting.

Levy feels somewhat in the middle of the Pacifica battle, and says he is critical of management and some Take Back KPFA people. He senses ""a new energy" in the community, and a movement toward a resolution of the conflicts. 

On the labor front, however, there is little movement. Three Pacifica stations (KPFA, KPFK and WBAI) are negotiating contracts with the United Electrical Workers. Some of the talks have been going on for more than two years. In February, the National Labor Relations Board ruled against WBAI [management] regarding union representation of unpaid volunteers. Pacifica had also hired a notorious union-busting law firm, American Consulting Group (ACG), to provide some sort of assistance.

Pacifica's spokesman, Burt Glass, sent what he called a "cheat sheet" to his colleagues to help them answer questions by reporters. Regarding the union-busting, the "cheat sheet" response was: "To our chagrin, we then heard allegations that the firm [ACG] had participated in some anti-union activities in its history: To this day, we have been unable to verify these allegations."

At its April meeting, the KBOO (Portland) Board of Directors viewed a promotional video put out by ACG. As the accompanying story indicates, the video leaves no doubt as to ACG's sleazy purpose. So the question then becomes, "Should Pacifica have been aware of this?"

According to dissidents, Pacifica's own stations have aired stories about ACG, which has worked for several large corporations. ACG also worked for the Lafayette Park Hotel, the target of an organizing drive. The hotel is only a few miles from Pacifica's offices, and KPFA had interviewed the union's organizer. One has to wonder.

 The KBOO board saw the ACG video and voted to continue its "disclaimer," which precedes Pacifica news and also lets people know that the Pacifica news staff belongs to a different union. KBOO, an independent community station, followed up with a news story on the Inspector General's report. The station interviewed Maria Gilardin of Take Back KPFA and intends to present the other side - if Pacifica's people will consent to be interviewed.

In this reporter's experience, people from Pacifica and its stations have been (with a few exceptions) remarkably close-mouthed. On the other hand, dissidents will talk to anyone, anywhere. Leaving the issues aside, Pacifica has a lot to learn about dealing with the public. Maybe Burt Glass could help - if he would only put away his "cheat sheet"

[Editor's note: Since Per finished this article, Pacifica Foundation issued a press release, 24 April 1997, responding to the 17-page CPB-IG report. Pacifica Executive Director Pat Scott "plans to submit a formal complaint to CPB [because she is] shocked that a report by a new Inspector General unfamiliar with the law and totally unfamiliar with public broadcasting was immediately made public."

 The Take Back KPFA (TBK) group who filed the formal complaint against the Pacifica cabal in July1996, also issued a press release, 5 May 1997. Rather than wild charges against the IG or anyone else, TBK simply reported the facts contained in the report and offered copies of it.

 The contrast is striking.

The reason for this might have some-thing to do with the fact that Pat Scott authored the programming changes that are tearing Pacifica and community radio apart. 

When thousands of people objected to the arbitrary changes Scott imposed, she clamped down on all institutional channels of opposition. This unremitting arrogance sounds like some tin-pot dictator. Why Pat Scott is still executive director of Pacifica is a question begging for an answer.] M