WPFW Regular LSB Meeting
December 11, 2019
WPFW
1990 K St NW
Suite 14R
Washington, DC
Sabooh Hakim –
Chair
Ellen Williams Carter - Secretary
I. Call to order
Sabooh Hakim, chair called the meeting to order at
6:35 pm. Quorum was established at 6:40pm.
II. Roll call
19- Members that were present at roll call: Chuk Nixon,
Craig Hall, Craig Williams, Donna Grimes, Dennis Williams, Eileen Rosin, Ellen Williams Carter, Julie Hewitt, Louis
Wolf, Marsha Coleman Adebayo, Martha Peterson, Maskeelah Washington, Nancy Sorden, Nick Arena, Sabooh Hikim, Segun
Adebayo, Thomas P. O'Rourke, Thomas Blanton, Tony Leon, Vanessa Dixon-Briggs, Wayne Bruce
4- Excused Absences: Ron
Pinchback, Jay Winter Nightwolf, Kathleen Malloy, Arthur McCloud
There were no
resignations.
The IPD Katea Stitt was absent. A report was not submitted.
Timekeeper: Robert Simms
Sergeant at
Arms: Maskeelah-Myrtle Washington
III. Agenda
The Agenda was approved
IV. Approval of the Minutes
The
November 13, 2019 minutes were approved.
V. Management Reports
The General Manager, Jerry Paris stated the
following:
December Pledge Drive
The Drive will take place from December 26 through 31. Volunteers are needed for
the pledge drive. February is the next pledge drive. The drive was delayed because of the long October –November
drive.
Expenses Paid
Accounts payable are in good standing with venders.
Fundraising and Grants
He is
planning a fundraiser at Howard Theater in January. The BB&J Nona Hendricks fundraiser is expected to raise $5,000. He
is working on getting additional donors for WPFW.
Antenna/Transmitter
The Transmitter is working okay; however, we
are still on low power from 9am to 6pm. At this time there is work going on at the American University tower. They are
reinstalling the backup transmitter. Still working on installing HD radio 4 additional channels but $50,000 is needed
for the project.
Info@WPFW.org
He said that he found 1000 responses on Info@WPFW.org and he will provide the
information.
Human Resources
NETA is helping with staff evaluations and setting up a HR program.
FCC
license
The license was renewed on 10/19 for another 5 years.
Question
Segun Adebayo asked what the
fundamental problem at the station is and what some of the issues are.
General Manager’s response: Money, Money,
Money
VI. Finance
Station Cash Flow
The Bank Balances were $80,000 as of November 30, 2019. The Fall Pledge
Drive reached $275,000 on a goal of $350,000. Funds continue to be received from this Drive; however, $277,000 is
needed to fund the Station’s expenses thru the end of January, 2020. A December year-end mini-drive will take place
12/26-12/31. Several off-air fundraisers are planned thru the end of February. LSB members should consider
volunteering during for these fundraising activities. We still need a Grant writer and potential major donor referrals
to the Station.
Budget Revenue and Expense
There are 5-8 past due Central Services payments due and other past
due payments including approximately $20K in National Election costs that are not included in the FY2020 budget. The
Station has not been asked to make payments for the National Election to date. Additional Off-air fundraising
activities/events are needed in 2020.
VII. Community Comment
Eric Ramey
He said Chair your leadership is
needed. He feels we need to have the December pledge drive earlier since all the other stations in the area are already
having their drives.
Arnold
He thanked everyone for allowing him to see how the station is run.
Reed
Dewey
Donors need more explanations regarding how the WPFW pledge drive funds are used.
John Anthony
He would
like a piggy bank for donations in the lobby of WPFW.
Michael A. Lee
He said we need more diversity at the
station.
Joe Brown
We need fundraiser sponsors. He said that we need more professional voices for fundraising,
i.e. get organizations involved in the fundraising.
Cliff Smith
He is concerned with programming. He thinks we
need more news.
Wayne Bruce – He questioned whether we could plan a fundraiser in a month or so. He said we need
at least 6-12 months.
VIII. PNB Report
Nancy Sorden reported:
There is a new IED her name is Lydia
Brazon.
Bylaw amendments were submitted to the PNB. They would rearrange the structure of the foundation. It would
reduce the LSB boards to 6 appointed individuals. Craig Williams asked what percentage of membership must approve the
bylaws. She said 10% of the members need to vote.
She stated that WBAI is back on the air.
IX. MASC
Committee
The committee reviewed 200 resumes. Candidates that received an unanimous yes, were interviewed by the MASC
members. Thirteen (13) candidates were interviewed in round 1 and six (6) in round 2. After actually interviewing 19
candidates the MASC made the decision that they didn’t have 3 qualified candidates that could be presented to the LSB
and General Manager for selection. They recommend that the search continue in 2020.
X. Outreach and
Development
No report was submitted for Outreach and Development. The U street jam is scheduled to take place the 2nd
Saturday in April. Jerry (GM) is talking with Howard Theater about using that venue for the fundraiser. A Town Hall
meeting will be planned for 2020. They will need help with U Street Jam in the spring, the Blues festival in August and
the Spring Fling.
XI. Programming Committee
Thomas Blanton requested that we have a vote on the following
Motion:
I move that we have an assessment of the programming during the drive time and weekend to determine whether
more news and public affairs are needed. In three months an assessment will be made.
Vote: passed
14 in favor- 1
no- 1 abstention
Cliff wants a study of programming during drive time. Lou wants more news on the weekend. The next
LSB show is December 27, 2019. On the November LSB show they received a sustainer pledge. They want to report the
stations finances on future LSB shows. They want to rotate the hosts for each show. They made recommendations that
management should reconsider the evening drive time format.
XII. New Business
Lou introduced a fund-raising
proposal to contrast WPFW’s community support with a model of three to six promos each hour of the day and evening of
their mostly funders.
A vote was taken and Craig Hall was welcomed to the board. The vote was unanimous.
XIII.
Adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:45pm
Convened the Executive Session 8:55pm
Sabooh Hikim, Chair adjourned the
meeting at 9:45 pm
Minutes submitted by: Ellen Williams Carter