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Community
Organizations
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- Community Organizations (CO's) are groups outside of
KO.OP which share KO.OP's values, such as groups working
on issues of economic and social justice. The BoT is
supposed to do outreach to groups to encourage them to
apply to join KO.OP as CO's, but one of the many
shortcomings of the BoT is that they've been negligent in
courting CO's. When groups apply, the BoT decides which
groups get to be CO's and which don't. CO's elect half
of the 20 positions on the Community Board, which in
turn elects the BoT, so CO's are very important.
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General Membership
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- Also called "Supporters", these are members who have
paid to join and support KOOP (usually signing up during
a pledge drive), but who don't do volunteer work at the
station. KO.OP has not been very successful so far in
encouraging member involvement with the station or
soliciting member feedback. Supporters elect 6 of the
20 positions on the Community Board. (Business
members elect 3, and individual & family members
elect 3.)
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Unpaid Staff
(aka "Volunteer
Members", "Programmers")
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- That's us! The bulk of the work in running the
station is done by unpaid volunteers. This includes all
kinds of tasks such as answering the phone, reviewing
CD's, coordinating benefit events, producing radio shows,
and renovating the building which houses the station.
We're also referred to as "programmers" since most of us
are involved in the production of a radio program on
KO.OP. Given our hands-on role in operating the station,
we feel that we are the primary members of KO.OP, and
that KO.OP's governing bodies should be interested in
hearing what we have to say. Unfortunately, the
BoT has made it clear that programmers' concerns don't
matter to them. Volunteer Members elect 4 of the
20 positions on the Community Board.
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Community Board
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- The Community Board ("CB") is elected by Community
Organizations, the General Membership, and Unpaid
Staff. Their primary duty is to elect the Board of
Trustees. Here's where the problems begin. In 1997,
the CB elected three of its members to the Board
of Trustees! Then they filled the vacancies in the CB
themselves, instead of having an election, contrary to
KOOP's bylaws. It also bears noting that CB Chair Eduardo
Vera is married to Board of Trustees President Teresa
Taylor.
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Board of Trustees
(BoT)
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- The BoT is elected by the Community Board. We
feel that the BoT has made a
number of very bad decisions, and has done so
in opposition to the wishes of KOOP
members. That's why we're working to recall of the
BoT.
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General Manager
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- Jenny Wong was KOOP's first GM, a position she
held for five years until Summer 1998 when the board
failed to renew her contract. The GM position is one
of only two paid positions at KOOP, and it's part-time.
(The other is the Asst. GM.) One of the issues that
ignited our recall drive is the BoT's dismissal of the GM
-- the majority of the station feels that she's done an
outstanding job. Jenny started working with KOOP as a
volunteer five years ago, long before we were on the air,
and her dedication to the station is remarkable. We think
there is little more ruinous than ousting one of KO.OP's
strongest and most effective proponents. In dismissing
Jenny, the board also left the station without a General
Manager for August until December, 1998. (In December,
the board hired an Interim GM, Marcelo Tafoya.)
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Assistant General
Manager
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- The Asst. GM, Ellen Stader, is one of only two
paid staffpersons, and works part-time. (The other is
the GM.) Below the BoT box in the diagram above, there
are arrows pointing to both the General Manager and the
Assistant GM. Normally we'd only show a relationship
between the BoT and the GM, and another one between the
GM and the Asst. GM. (The GM is supposed to hire &
supervise all other staff, including the Asst. GM.) But
the BoT usurped the GM's authority, and exerted their
power over the Asst. GM as well, including their
insistence on comandeering the interview and hiring
process for the Asst. GM position. This is an example of
the BoT grabbing power they're not supposed to have, and
micro-managing personnel matters at the station (which
are supposed to be the job of the GM).
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"The Community"
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- In the diagram above, you'll see "The Community" in a
box with a hazy arrow pointing to the BoT. This is
because whenever any of us says that the BoT should
reflect the interests of the membership, Eduardo Vera is
quick to argue that the BoT is not accountable to us, but
rather is accountable to "The Community". What is "The
Community"? Well, that's hard to say. KOOP's Mission
Statement identies several groups which are traditionally
under-served by mainstream media, and which KO.OP is
supposed to serve. Eduardo says that it's these
communities which the BoT is accountable to. But
conveniently for Eduardo and the BoT, these communities
are intangible -- they're not actual people or
organizations we can go to in order to ask what they
think. So Eduardo just claims that whatever action the
BoT has taken is supported by (or is in the interests of)
"The Community". End of discussion. Eduardo and the BoT
seem decide what "The Community" wants through some kind
of divine knowledge, and then they can carry out their
policies without having to answer to anybody. It's a
rather convenient way for them to justify every action
they take without having to worry about real
accountability.
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