Minutes for the regular National Finance Committee meeting May 10, 2011.

Meeting convened at 8:37 PM (ET) a quorum being present, the Chair being absent and the Secretary being present.
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Attending: Ken Aaron, Jim Boyd, Bill Crosier, Campbell Johnson, Kim Kaufman, R. Paul Martin, Tracy Rosenberg, Barbara Whipperman, Lavarn Williams, Bruce Wolf, also attending was Executive Director Arlene Englehardt.
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Agenda:

1. Approve Minutes of April 26th

2. Approve Agenda

3. WPFW Business Manager has access problem

4. WPFW time table to move accelerated.

5. Midyear Budget Reviews - KPFK, KPFA

6. Discussion re Executive Session
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Ken Aaron took the Chair pro tem without objection.

Motion: (Ken Aaron) “To approve the agenda.” (Passed without objection)

Tracy Rosenberg joined the meeting and took the Chair at 8:41 PM (ET).

The committee briefly discussed which stations would report. The Executive Director told the committee that it would have to take a hard look at the cash flow statements when we get them.

Approve Minutes of April 26th 8:51 PM (ET)

Motion: “To approve the minutes of the April 26, 2011, NFC meeting.” (Passed without objection as amended)

It as noted that the WPFW Business manager, not the General Manager had trouble accessing the financial software, and that KPFT was letting KTRU using their HD-2 channel, not their HD-1 channel. The corrections were accepted.

WPFW Business Manager has access problem 8:53 PM (ET)

It was reported that the WPFW Business Manager was having trouble accessing the Great Plains software and so can’t generate financial reports. The committee discussed this problem. Other stations reported a similar problem. The CFO said that there had been a problem with the FSRX report writing software because a Business Manager had changed the formatting, so to avoid this happening again the Business Managers were being locked out of the software. There are training sessions on the FSRX module before and after each meeting between the CFO and the Business Managers. The Chair said that the committee should revisit this item at the next meeting.

WPFW time table to move accelerated 9:06 PM (ET)

It was reported that WPFW is negotiating on properties, the WPFW General Manager has been on a trip around the country looking at other radio stations. A consultant is working with WPFW to look for sites. It was suggested that lobbying Congress might help restore some funding that has dried up. WPFW’s lease expires at the end of November 2012, they are trying to leave their current site by July 2012. They are seeing if they can keep their antenna and transmitter at American University despite that organization’s lead abatement program schedule being moved up by a year. WPFW is reaching out to major donors in an effort to fund the move. It’s possible that the station might move to one space temporarily and then to another after the second one has been prepared.

Midyear Budget Reviews - KPFA 9:28 PM (ET)

The committee heard a report on KPFA’s compliance with its FY11 budget at the mid-year mark. There were some questions with regard to some of the figures which seem to be small typos. The way to read variances was explained by the CFO. The issue of numbers being plugged into some parts of the budgets by the National Office was brought up. The CFO said that some adjustments had to be made and that the differences were minor, she asked that examples be sent to her.

Discussion re Executive Session 10:01 PM (ET)

The committee discussed when it was proper to go into executive session, what could be discussed at executive sessions, what could be said publicly about what had gone on at public sessions and how the committee should report out what had gone on in executive sessions. It was agreed that the discussion of the policy should happen in open session. It was agreed that when the committee goes into executive session that the last item of business of that executive session should be to decide what to report out on the executive session’s activities.

The committee discussed a proposal that will be voted on by the WBAI LSB that would allow non-LSB members of the WBAI Finance Committee to participate in executive sessions of that committee. The possibilities of lawsuits from disclosure of confidential information was discussed. The different structures of the various LSB’s Finance Committees was discussed.

Motion: (Tracy Rosenberg) “To adjourn.” (passed without objection)

Adjourned 10:54 PM (ET)

Submitted by R. Paul Martin, Secretary