This form letter was received by at least three people, on about
April 29th, who wrote
impassioned letters to the board about the situation at KRFC.
At least one writer remarked that the formulaic reply doesn't
address any of the points in the letter they sent, and another said:
I am enclosing a document written by the
Board. In it we answer some questions and correct some misconceptions
which we believe are circulating. Hopefully this will be helpful.
Thank you for your interest in KRFC.
With respect,
Susan Sternlieb for the Board of Directors
Recently, weve received some thoughtful letters from concerned
members and supporters who are encouraging us to make use of
mediation in the matter of three volunteers who have had their
memberships revoked. Some letter writers are also concerned about
the Boards dismissal of a recently submitted petition calling for
the rejection of our newly adopted Mission, Vision and Values
Statements.
On the face of it, the news of 3 memberships being revoked and a
petition being dismissed sounds somewhat alarming. We are especially
aware of the fact that a number of members who signed the recent
petition in good faith, truly believe it was the right thing to do
and are disappointed with the Boards actions.
However, we strongly believe that the Boards decisions and actions
were appropriate and in the best interests of KRFC. We believe that
they will result in a stronger, more inclusive and ultimately more
successful community radio station for all of us. The reasons for
our actions were not only based on recent events, but on a long and
complex history of personal conflicts and power struggles. Our
decisions were made with care and were the result of many hours of
discussion spanning several years.
While its not feasible to completely explain the reasons for the
Boards recent actions, we wish to clarify some areas where we
believe some of our members and supporters may have misconceptions.
Listed below are some of the points that have been brought to our
attention in the recent e-mails we ve received, along with responses
that describe our understanding of the situation.
1) There is division at the radio station.
The fact is that there
isnt significant division. Please come to the station and see for
yourself! If you talk to people there (the volunteers, staff and
programmers) youll see that the station is cohesive and thriving.
Morale is good. These are exciting and positive times at KRFC.
2) The community spirit at KRFC is being eroded by the recent events.
Its true that a handful of KRFC volunteers were displeased with the
Board s recent actions and some decided to discontinue their
involvement. We also recognize that there is a group of people in
the community who believe that KRFCs leadership is running roughshod
over the will of its members. However, from the Boards point of
view, community spirit at the station has improved significantly over
the past few weeks. Previously, a few people were responsible for an
atmosphere of mistrust, a twisting of the facts to suit their
purposes and to undermine the best efforts of the stations staff and
Board. It created an underlying feeling of constant low-grade
tension. Now, there is less tension and more room for everyone to
express their views without feeling uncomfortable. We dream of
creating a community station that welcomes everyone, especially those
under-represented elsewhere. While all are welcome, a sense of
community spirit at KRFC is based on mutual trust and respect, good
communication and willingness to compromise and work constructively
with others. Those that behave destructively dont have a place in
our community.
3) Long standing members have been removed in retaliation for
circulating a petition.
Unfortunately, because of the timing, this
perception may be unavoidable. The members who were removed and
KRFCs Board have a long history of disagreement over many issues and
decisions. The fact that weve disagreed and the specifics of those
disagreements are not why the Board dismissed them. It was because
of their tactics. Members of KRFCs Board and staff have been
bullied, berated, called disparaging names and undermined whenever
decisions differed from their wishes. While some constructive
dialogue has taken place over the years, their repeated personal
attacks destroyed all trust. The Board cannot function under a
barrage of name-calling and attacks for decisions that are in tune
with our mission and vision (both past and present). This pattern of
behavior continued for too long. The petition was not the issue, but
just one symptom. It was the recurring public voicing of derision,
the bypassing of regular routes of communication and the demonizing
of the Board that necessitated the removal of 3 members.
4) The petition was dismissed frivolously.
The decision to dismiss
the petition was not taken lightly. There was no thought or action
taken by the Board to fight the petition. We considered it part of
the legitimate process. We know that some members signed it for good
reasons - because they did not support the new Mission, Vision and
Core Values document, because they were against changing the old
mission statement or because they believed that the decision ought to
be voted on by the membership. That was the purpose of the petition.
However, during the petition signing process, we heard a variety of
disturbing stories. Some people were given false information about
the purpose of the petition, some were bullied to sign it with
repeated calls at their work and at the station, nonmembers were
urged to become members in order to sign it and so forth. One member
had asked that his name be removed from the petition and it wasnt.
A number of people who signed the petition told us that they realized
later that the real issue seemed more about a struggle for power than
the actual work of the Board of Directors.
Our legal council recommended that we reject the petition because it
was incomplete. Without any identifiers but peoples names,
validating the results would have been difficult and quite time
consuming. For this reason, and our belief that the petition was not
a legitimate expression of the voices of our membership, we elected
to reject the petition as invalid. A later quick cross check of the
89 names on the petition with our membership rosters revealed that
there were not the requisite 50 members needed to cause any action to
be taken.
5) The Board rejected input in creating the new mission, vision and
values statements.
Nothing can be farther from the truth. Months
before we started, we sought input from multiple sources, both within
and outside of the station. This input helped us to see what was
important to members, volunteers, listeners and non-listeners alike,
and how our original mission statement could be improved to be a more
functional, forward thinking document. The Board really felt it got
a good education on what needed to be kept and what could be
improved. All of the input was important in creating the end result,
even if the specific words and phrases of some participants werent
included. Writing these documents was challenging - to explain KRFC
as clearly and concisely as possible. It was a process of thoughtful
discussion and compromise. We think the end result is good, but not
perfect. Reaction to the new documents has run the gamut from
praise to criticism that they dont go far enough to imagine what
KRFC can be. We expect these documents will be revised over the
years as KRFC grows and changes.
Changing the mission statement was a threatening concept for some
folks. Holding on to the original mission statement was seen as a way
of preserving the original intent of KRFCs founders. In changing
KRFCs guiding documents, the Board had absolutely no intention of
changing the key values and factors that make KRFC what it is. In
fact, the old and the new documents have quite similar content.
6) The decision to revoke three memberships was done in haste / The
Board has not engaged in constructive dialogue.
The current and
previous years Boards have made a concerted effort for more than two
years to work with the group represented by these three people. We
like some of their ideas. New policies have been created and
policies have been changed to make KRFC more responsive and
inclusive, where anyone who wishes to may have a say. We have
multiple committees that are advisory to the Board and they have
great influence in decision making. Board meetings are open and we
are all accessible. But what we have repeatedly encountered is that
every time the group disagrees with the Board, we are painted as
unresponsive and authoritarian. The staff and Board experiences
rounds of intimidation and accusatory language. It is unhealthy and
paralyzing.
Another major factor in our long-standing difficulty with the group
is that they do not use KRFCs established ways of communicating.
KRFC encourages everyone to speak directly and openly with each other
for problem solving. We believe that ongoing positive dialogs foster
understanding and compromise. Unfortunately, the 3 members who were
dismissed have never engaged the Board and staff in any ongoing,
constructive dialog. They do not talk to us routinely about their
concerns, and they dont attend our meetings. Instead, they sit back
and watch, and then, when decisions are made that they dont agree
with, they use public forums for airing their opinions and organizing
opposition. Due to their dysfunctional style of communicating, our
impression is that they want things to always go their way, and if
they dont they raise hell. The multiple public attacks leveled on
KRFCs leadership over the years have not been remotely constructive
they harm morale and alienate other volunteers.
This time around, a decision was finally made that we are unable to
function in this ongoing unhealthy environment. Past dialogs and
temporary reconciliations didnt change their behavior. We need to
be free to move forward and to focus on the real work of growing a
community radio station. In accordance with our by-laws, we revoked
the memberships of 3 people because we strongly believe they have
worked repeatedly against the best interests of the station.
7) We are not operating under basic cooperative principals.
We dont
function as a co-op or collective. Like almost all non-profit
corporations, we have a Board of Directors and a Station Manager who
manage the station and committees that are advisory to them. We have
guiding documents that stress the importance of inclusiveness in our
organization. The concept of inclusiveness in our volunteer driven
radio station is important to all of us. We will continue to work
towards the goal of maximizing inclusiveness at KRFC, within a
positive, supportive environment.
8) The Board will not agree to mediation.
The pain felt on both sides
concerning the dismissals of 3 members doesnt negate the
appropriateness of the decision. Sometimes, people and groups need
to give up and walk away from chronically negative situations. We
felt and still feel that our decision was not only fitting, but
overdue. We have a responsibility to the rest of the KRFC family to
protect the environment at the station, to create a healthy place
conducive to getting things accomplished, and to ensure that the
Board and Station Manager can do their jobs. We dont believe that
there is anything to mediate. We made a difficult decision and have
moved on.
9) We glossed over this problem in our recent newsletter.
From the reaction and support we have received from our KRFC family
it doesn
t look to us as though this is a major problem to be addressed in a
newsletter. It has been painful for some, but in fact the station is
doing well. The strategic planning process has on the whole been
very positive and exciting. Kate Tarasenkos excellent article
reflects her take on how things went.
10) There is a change in the direction of the station and the Board
is damaging KRFC.
We have expressed our sincere rebuttal of this fear
in this document. The only way our sincerity can be proven will be
over time. We hope that you will participate, enjoy and watch KRFCs
progress.
