James Ross, candidate statement
[for more, see Twenty questions]
Dear listeners,
WBAI is in trouble, financially and otherwise. It's serious. And the controlling faction on the LSB abets the station's decline by ignoring the very oversight of station affairs the Board is mandated to perform.
I'm a parent, environmental scientist, and WBAI listener. My concern for WBAI has led me to be active in station governance since 2000. For over three years I've warned of the threat posed by WBAI’s deteriorating finances. I've used my scientific skills to analyze available financial information in order to understand this problem (see http://radioactivist.net).
But changes have not been made, and now we face consequences. WBAI will be forced to cut staff and/or payroll this year, just like it was two years ago. Membership has dropped over twenty percent - despite our fundraising three months a year. WBAI is in debt to the Pacifica Foundation by about $200,000. Audits show that WBAI's financial position falls by about $100,000 every year – we can't make ends meet. Now we've run through our savings. Management's response - big premiums and longer drives - has not addressed the root of the problem.
Under the control of the so-called "Justice and Unity" faction, the LSB has not effectively monitored finances, management or programming. We don’t even have minutes of our meetings. Instead, the LSB has focused on vendettas, grandstanding, and keeping listeners in the dark. There is little sharing of ideas, as the "Justice and Unity" listener representatives, several of whom seek air time, say little, but vote obediently with their leaders.
To bring WBAI back to health, we need LSB members that do the job – station governance – mandated in the bylaws. If elected, that's what I'll do:
- Financial: I'll continue to focus on fundraising and budget issues, and work with management to use our MEMSYS database for better fundraising.
- Management oversight: I'll push for thorough and fair evaluation of station management so we can understand their role in the station's decline, and in righting it. And I'll see that we find the best management possible.
- Programming: It's the heart of WBAI. Is it good enough? How are programming decisions made? Why do people get pulled off the air? Currently the LSB doesn’t know. We need to find out.
- Planning: WBAI needs a strategy for success in the new media environment in which FM radio competes with satellite, podcasts, etc.
- Common ground: I'll work with anyone serious about helping WBAI.
I'm confident that WBAI, with proper board oversight, can continue what it does right and improve what needs changing.
Please vote for me, James Ross, and the other independent candidates: Pat Logan, Ken Laufer, Jennifer Jager, Carla Cubit, Robert Gold, Stefan Neustadter, Seth Goldberg, Bernardo Palombo, Lee McClure, and Don Mathisen.
Service in WBAI governance:
-LSB, 2006-present
-WBAI finance committee, 2004-present
-Pacifica's national audit committee, secretary, 2007-present
-WBAI bylaws committee, 2002