Board Minutes 9-29-2020

MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING

MEMBERSHIP AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

September 29, 2020

4:00 PM

VIA ZOOM

Present: Tom Dow, Bob Bushansky, Kate Stornetta, Dina Polkinghorne, Len Tischler, Kathy Rippey, David Hulse-Stephens, Renee Vinyard

Also present: General Manager Marty Durlin, CAB Chair Andy Stein, Ed Keller

A.    CALL TO ORDER  4:07PM by Dir. Dow                                                              

B.     AGENDA APPROVAL   Approved.

C.    APPROVAL OF MINUTES of July 28 Board meeting. Approved.

D.   REPORTS FROM MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

a.     President’s Report

    i.     The Manager’s report contains what I would say.

b.     General Manager’s Report

    i.     See General Manager’s report below. In addition,

    ii.     We want to include Native American oral history and more Hispanic programing

    iii.     Our lease is up at the end of October. Marty and Tom will discuss this after the meeting.

    iv.     Katherine Cole, our Underwriting Director, has sent a newsletter to underwriters and will continue to do so.

      v.     Eddie, our Production Director, is starting his course to become a certified radio operator so he can give Rich more help.

E.    COMMITTEE REPORTS

a.     Finance Committee – Dir. Bushansky

i.     Although we’re about $18,000 short of our budget projection for July and August, on about $88,000 of revenue, we are expecting a large donation in September and have more than enough money in the bank to pay our bills. Our quick ratio is 3:1, which is excellent.

b.     Membership/Fundraising Committee – Dir. Dow

i.     Dir. Dow made an initial contact with KQED for help with fundraising, and Dir. Rippey will begin researching local individuals and organizations who have the wherewithal to donate and/or give grants. 

c.     Planning Committee – Dir. Hulse-Stephens

i.     The Planning Committee met. The discussion was about reviewing progress on our strategic goals from March 2019. This review will be or posted on the Board’s web page. The discussion moved to raising funds for a new station. Dir. Rippey volunteered to research donation sources. The committee agreed to host a brainstorming meeting about how to go about moving from our current station in Philo.

d.     Programming/Publicity Committee – Dir. Rippey

i.     Nothing new to report. 

e.     CAB – Chair Stein

i.     Mr. Stein presented and reviewed PowerPoint slides summarizing the CAB survey. It will be posted on the CAB page of the KZYX web pages.

f.      Bylaws and Policies Committee – Dir. Polkinghorne

i.     No report.

F.    CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

a.     Adoption of Budget Reserve 

i.     The idea was discussed and tabled for the next Board meeting pending a final version of written policy for a reserve. The preference is for an initial reserve of $125,000.

G.   COMMENTS FROM DIRECTORS

a.     No comments.

H.   PUBLIC EXPRESSION

I.     NEXT MEETING: November 17, 2020, 5:15PM. Location TBD, but likely by Zoom. Note: the meeting was moved from Nov. 24 because that was too close to Thanksgiving.

J.     ADJOURNMENT: 5:15PM.

Manager’s Report

September 2020

Quiet Drive: We’ve launched the Fall Quiet Drive, hoping we can amass about $150K without super active fundraising, or at least get close enough so that we’ll need only a few days to wrap it up before the end of the year. The goal represents not only the drive target, but includes the end of year funds we usually receive (about $30K). We’re running a promo from Tom as the Board President — if anyone else on the Board wants to make a one-minute plea for funds, we would welcome your voice! Let me or Renee know and we’ll record it with you, probably via Zoom. Our new premium will be KZYX masks, and we also have solar powered radios, socks, etc. Through two days, we’ve collected $2230.

Social media stats are up: On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we’re reaching more people, getting more engagement and likes. Also we’ve broken several records for online listening. This is due to our programming, and also because of Renee’s increased attention to social media platforms.

CCI: KZYX has been selected as one of a dozen stations nationwide to participate in the second round of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ Community Counts Initiative. There are two other stations in California: KVMR in Nevada City and KIDE in Hoopa. Also, KGNU in Boulder CO, WMPG in Portland ME, KCAW in Sitka AK, KFAI in Minneapolis, KNHC in Seattle, KUYI in Kykotsmori AZ, WSSB in Orangeburg SC, WTJU in Charlottesville VA and WVMR in Dunmore WV. Alicia and I will participate in the year-long program (remotely), but the whole station will be involved in whatever project we take on, which must intersect with the pandemic, climate change and social inequities. The program is designed to make stations more resilient and sustainable by recognizing the relationship between engagement, content, revenue and organizational capacity. Our participation with the group begins in mid-December. We pay a $1000 registration fee, and but receive $6000 from NFCB. The project is funded by CPB.

Firesafe/water/generator: We now have a 3000-gallon water tank filled with (non-potable) water. Our Philo site has been recently weed-whacked, branches trimmed. We also have an agreement with the Firesafe program in Mendo County to produce programming about firesafe issues. Should we have a PSPS or other shut-down, our new 20 KW generator (purchased with a grant from the Community Foundation) will come on automatically if our power goes off, and should take care of everything we need. The station is much better prepared for fire season than we were last year. Thanks to Tom, Renee, Cob and others for making this happen.

Ukiah studio: up and running, with new people being trained every week. Very helpful and useful to have, especially during the pandemic. 

Election season is upon us and you will hear lots of candidates and issues on-air. We’re also running NPR coverage of all the presidential debates, including VP. And we will air the gamut of local contests.

Grants by staff: Our bookkeeper Steve Winkle wrote a grant to the State Fund’s Essential Business Support Fund, and we received $1363 to pay for COVID supplies. Alicia was invited to write a proposal for $6000 to the State Fund Essential Business Fund (EPIC), and has submitted a request for a short-term youth-radio internship to initiate podcasting for our COVID programming and create a youth-centric podcast with COVID information. The project has already begun.

Rich saves the day… every day. We’ve had a number of technical projects, computer and transmitter issues, and crises big and small that have required Rich to interrupt his home life and be at the station or a transmitter site until the wee hours. He recently acquired a new vehicle: beautiful silver pickup that should serve him well!

Listen for new messages of business support: Even in the pandemic, Katharine has been able to find new underwriters.

Operator’s License classes: Eddie is slated to start his online instruction through NPR’s Content Depot in how to become a certified Operator.

Thanks for your support,

Marty