BOD Minutes - 5-29-19
MCPB Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Senior Center, Ft. Bragg
29 May 2019
Present on Board:Tom Dow, Dina Polkinghorne, Bob Bushansky, Len Tischler, Jerry Karp, John Azzaro
Also Present: Marty Durlin, Jeff Zolitor, Kathy Rippey, and two others
A) Call to order@ 5:18, by President Dow
B) Agenda approved.
C) Prior Minutes approvedof 04/24/19 meeting. [posted on station Web page]
D) BOARD PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS
Introduced Marty Durlin as the station’s new General Manager.
E) GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
See report attached below.
F) COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. Finance Committee Dir. - Bushansky
a. April’s income statement shows a small net income for the year so far
b. Our projection is a positive net income on the statement at the end of the year (for the first time in 5 years) but it’s possible that our cash flow will necessitate using our line of credit before the end of the fiscal year.
c. Dir. Azzaro suggests that we should attempt to utilize grant writers and offers the names of three we already know of. He also reminds the Board that KQED offered us access to their list of California donors once we are financially stable.
d. Dr. Polkinghorne repeats from prior meetings that the board needs a monthly financial report that shows the ups and downs of the prior 12 months to properly enact our fiduciary responsibilities.
2. Membership/Fundraising – Dir. Dow
a. Once the transition to our new general manager is mostly complete, Dir. Dow will return to soliciting large donations.
b. GM Durlin remarked that Renee Wilson is doing an excellent job on the membership side.
c. Dir. Dow noted that he and GM Durlin will attend a pre-conference NFCB workshop about major donor fundraising in San Diego in June. Other staff will also attend the overall conference to learn more about their work and to meet colleagues.
3. Planning – Dir. Hulse-Stephens
a. Dir. Tischler outlined the Board’s strategic plan. It is published on our web site as part of the Agenda for this Board meeting.
b. Dir. Azzaro suggested adding planned giving to our fundraising efforts. Dir. Polkinghorne mentioned that the Community Foundation is able to manage such funds for us.
c. A lengthy discussion was held about the October 19th30thanniversary event: whether to continue pursuing it or whether to drop it. No decision was made and the Board will need to discuss this further. The main issues are its purpose vs. its potential net costs (or net revenue).
i. Dir. Hulse-Stephens sent 3 documents outlining a schedule of what needs to be done, of costs, and a schedule of the day’s events.
ii. Kathy Rippey added information about the planning so far.
iii. The Board needs to know how much money has already been spent vs. how much it will still need to spend.
iv. Board members need to solicit donations to pay for much or all of the event. A list of possible donors will be sent to the Board members soon to divvy up the list.
4. Programming/Publicity – Dir. Karp
a. The concert on May 18thwas sold out and produced approximately $1,500 for KZYX.
b. Dir. Karp reiterated that he is willing to help with publicity for our 30thanniversary.
c. A positive article was written in the 29 May AV paper about our Back to the Land series.
d. Dir. Dow noted that 9 May The Ukiah Daily Journal wrote up a positive article about GM Marty Durlin as the new GM.
e. Dir. Karp noted that because of personnel changes his jazz program will be changed to 9am (from 1pm) and will air weekly instead of every other week.
f. GM Durlin noted that the search for a new Program Director is underway.
5. CAB – Dir. Middlebrook
No report
6. Bylaws and Policies – Dir. Polkinghorne
a. New bylaws have been almost agreed to by the committee and will be presented in the future to the Board for approval.
b. Discussion ensued about the need for written operational procedures and policies.
G) COMMENTS FROM DIRECTORS
Dir. Azzaro made a plea that directors begin now to find potential new directors in case any current directors step down and for next year’s elections..
H) PUBLIC EXPRESSON
1. Jeff Zolitor and Kathy Rippey noted that so far their concert events have brought in about $1,000 each for KZYX. They began a discussion about coordinating better with the station and having their concerts become part of the 30thanniversary set of events.
2. Meg … is happy the current Board appears to be a good Board.
I) CLOSED SESSION: Personnel or Legal matters
No closed session.
J) NEXT MEETING: June 26 in Ukiah
K) ADJOURNMENT at6:50
Minutes submitted by Len Tischler, MCPB Secretary
KZYX General Manager’s Report
May 2019
Program Director:After re-writing the job posting to include journalism background and leadership skills, we relaunched the PD search with a deadline of May 23. The committee includes Tom, Rich and me; Jake and Renee will sit in on interviews, which we hope to complete as soon as possible. All the best to Alice, whose last day was Friday, May 24. Tom and I conducted an exit interview with her before her departure.
Fundraising Drive, June 6-15:$75K is our goal. We hired Christina Giannelli to help with preparation, including lining up food and helping to fill the phone schedule. Renee sent out silent drive letters several weeks ago, and as of we’ve had a return of . Jake has handled the PD duties that Alice couldn’t cover before her departure, including contacting programmers who will be on during the drive, lining up pitchers and so on. Premiums in the pipeline. If you haven’t already signed up, it would be great if you could spare a couple of hours once or twice during the drive to help out. The Board could also consider pooling money for a board challenge.
Website:I solicited a proposal to upgrade KZYX.org, using the current NPR template but enhancing graphic design and reorganizing to make it more accessible, informative and attractive. Estimated cost is $1500-2500.
NFCB Conference:Renee, Tom, Rich and I will attend the NFCB Conference in San Diego, June 18-21. Tom and I will participate in a pre-conference session focusing on major gifts and revenue planning.
Philo studios:We had to replace the entire HVAC system this month, including ducting. It cost around $9K and was done very efficiently by Comfort Air out of Ukiah. Also, Rich and Jake cleaned out the caboose, and have another two loads of stuff that should go to the landfill this week. (We plan to get rid of the truck when the registration expires on June 1.) Some of the grass has been weed-whacked per fire code, but we still could use some help with that.
Getting to know you: In the past month, besides meeting programmers, I attended a Mendocino Foundation event, Karen Rifkin interviewed me for an article in the Ukiah Daily Journal, I attended a BBQ at the AV Elder Homes benefit on Memorial Day at the invitation of Jill Hannum, and Rich and I hosted The Discussion. I’m set to meet with former program director Mary Aigner next week, and in general I’ve been trying to get context and perspective on the station and community as I introduce myself. Looking forward to seeing you all again at the board meeting in Fort Bragg.
Marty Durlin